Opencon2015 satellite event Cameroon

The venue would be the amphitheater 1500 of the University of Yaoundé: auditorium capacity of 1500-attendees, a registration area, and a foyer for social events/round-table discussions. The targeted audience would be: students, early career researchers, librarians, professors, and publishers, (bio) informaticians interested in open data, OA activists, and academics working in international partnerships or science policy, the media. Based on the richness of the science-related community in Cameroon, one could expect at around 1000-1500 participants. Aims would be to: familiarize audience with general OA concepts, discuss milestones achieved, future goals, hurdles, and what can be done to overcome them. The format would be an open panel discussion, with short introductory presentations to avoid lengthy slide presentations to keep an engaging atmosphere. Panelists would be experts as well as non-experts who would share their expectations (young scientists faced with limitations posed by their institutions or bosses). This will be followed by a workshop-like round table discussion involving all participants working in groups chaired by a member of the organizing team or an expert to moderate the discussion and take notes. The focus would be on different aspects of Open data, its importance, personal expectations, and what different members can do to reach such goals. The idea is to use this information to draft an open letter to local university/institute officials to adopt open data-promoting policies.