Impact case study database

Just a decade ago the few astronomers in African VLBI Network partner country universities outside South Africa faced difficulties of isolation and lack of access to facilities. Likewise, these countries also suffered from a dearth of opportunities and skills training in computational and data-science techniques vital for the development of competitive and sustainable research communities. These skills and opportunity gaps threatened the sustainability of new research infrastructures being built in Africa, such as the SKA, and severely reduced the benefits for hosting countries. However, the largest impact of these skills deficits is that they impede developing countries’ ability to compete and thrive as data driven economies [A, B].

To help address this in multiple low income and developing countries the UoM has been at the forefront of a global network of projects, established between 2015-17, delivering advanced STEM and data science human capital development training inspired by radio astronomy. These include the UoM-led DARA Big Data, EC JUMPING JIVE ‘VLBI in Africa’ programmes, DARA (led by the University of Leeds with the Universities of Manchester, Oxford, Hertfordshire, Bristol, and UCLAN) and parallel initiatives in Latin America (UoM-led ‘Radio Astronomy for Development in the Americas’ RADA, Colombia), and south-east Asia (Thailand) [A]. These programmes have been shown by independent reviews [A, B], and the African Governments [C, D, E, F], to be “building self-sustaining research communities” across Africa, and “using Big Data challenges… to develop, promote and encourage the translation of data intensive methodologies between diverse research fields such as astrophysics, health data, and sustainable agriculture, and providing science communication training essential for data-informed policy engagement” ( [F], Deputy Director-General, Department of Science and Technology, South African Government).

Figure 1: Training by numbers. Globally these programmes have reached thousands of young individuals with direct involvement of UoM staff spanning multiple continents. JBCA, UoM, is the largest UK provider of expert trainers and staff time to these projects.

Upskilling the local workforce in data intensive science and STEM skills aids economic growth; supports development and investment in new research infrastructures like the African VLBI Network, and is providing the foundation for African partner countries to realise the benefits from major research infrastructure investment such as the SKA. These programmes have provided STEM outreach, training, and advanced postgraduate opportunities for African trainees, which translate into skills and opportunities for African communities. This impact is further corroborated by the South African Commissioner for the 4IR (‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ , and former SKA South Africa Director, who describes the work of DARA/DARA Big Data as “an important catalyst in South Africa and its African partner countries (and beyond) in developing readiness for the 4IR” [E].

Pathways: So far over 550 people have received up to 8 weeks of intensive training, hackathons and workshops delivered by programmes across 8 African countries (Botswana, Kenya, Ghana, Namibia, Zambia, Madagascar, Mozambique and Mauritius – see Figure 1), plus South Africa and Colombia, Thailand, Mexico and Indonesia. These programmes bring together academics and their research, alongside industry and space agency experts, professional outreach and development partners, and experts in international science policy advocacy to provide a full spectrum of training. Using this wide array of expertise and a tiered approach these projects have, to date, reached 1000s of school-aged children, community leaders and policy makers through STEM outreach, science promotion and science policy training. The projects have provided STEM and data-science training for young adults, advanced science and technology internships in Europe, and hosted postgraduate positions for 56 students to date, along with soft-skills and business/entrepreneurial mentoring [A, C, F, G].

Human Capital Development: Our programmes focus on STEM training, and computational data-driven techniques and skills, which enhance capacity across these countries. UoM research [1-6] has informed and been widely incorporated into the syllabus content and activities. The DARA Big Data hackathon format uses relevant local real-life datasets and issues, from crop development and drought management in Kenya, to machine learning analysis of social media’s role in influencing attitudes to the COVID-19 pandemic such as public perceptions of schools reopening in Zambia or the tendency for people to see COVID-19 as a hoax. This format has gone on to inspire hackathons run by the International Astronomical Union’s Office of Astronomy for Development, the Inter-university Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy and the Big Data Africa initiative reaching an even large international audience [B, E].

DARA graduates receive “ high-quality training helping to develop the first generation of astronomers and operational scientists within these developing nations” [A]. In many cases similar opportunities were not available prior to DARA/DARA Big Data, and essentially no professional astronomers previously worked in many of the countries where these projects run. The returning DARA/DARA Big Data postgraduate alumni are amongst these countries’ first research astronomers. They are role models for the next generation, and are fostering a self-sustaining pipeline of talent and interest in science [C, D, H, G]. Furthermore, several businesses and outreach programmes have been set up by DARA/DARA Big Data alumni, benefiting from the skills and guidance provided. Examples include; ethical astro-tourism businesses, such as Sayari and M87 founded in 2018-19 in the Maasai Mara, Kenya; start-up businesses in Zambia, and schemes promoting STEM subjects and supporting gender equality in science education in Ghanaian and Kenyan schools reaching 1,000s of students.

DARA/DARA Big Data projects are internationally recognised to have solidified research infrastructure investment in Africa through skills enhancement and influencing the views of leaders and politicians [D, E, F]. A 2019 Ministerial Joint SKA Africa partner meeting highlighted the “significant advances in (a) human capacity development initiatives, (b) the strengthening of relevant institutional capacities, (c) the formulation of new academic programmes around physics and astronomy, (d) the roll-out of high-performance computing capability and big data training interventions and (e) science engagement and outreach”, and expressed “unanimous appreciation of the DARA and DARA-BD [DARA Big Data]” [C].

Data-informed policy: Wide engagement in data-informed policy is more prescient than ever. A central theme of DARA Big Data is science communication and advocacy for policy engagement. Six UK-based policy fellowships and two MScRs have been created for African students, providing rigorous science policy development and communication training. This has fed into high level discussions, resulting in the development of white papers with the Kenyan government on Food Security and Drought Management, and contributed to UK Government briefing notes detailing environmental remote sensing and machine learning [I]; helping to inform and shape future government policy both in Africa and the UK [E, F]. The UK BEIS’s independent thematic impact assessment [A] summarised influence of these actions as: *“The success shows that the concept of development for astronomy and the DARA project, has managed to capture the imagination of policy makers and funders, and created a pipeline of interest in Africa and beyond” .

The GRAO antenna: UoM research, exemplified by [1, 2, 5], has helped to motivate and inform the conversion of a redundant telecommunication antenna for radio astronomy and developed key components (such as, advanced receiver backend processing system **[1]**) and data handling (software e.g. Hebe **[2, 5]**). This has been deployed on, and essential to the success of, the former Vodafone 32 m antenna at GRAO, Ghana. The GRAO antenna was inaugurated by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana [D, J] in 2017. At this event the Head of Africa Planning, SKA South Africa commented that ‘ attaining the SDGs [United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals] depend very much on Africa’s ability to gather data on health, education, agriculture, sanitation and the economies to make informed decision, and that was what the observatory would help in attaining’ [J]. Thus far over GBP4,500,000 [J] has been invested by the South African and Ghanaian Governments in the conversion at GRAO, benefiting communities by improving local services ( e.g. roads and internet provision) and training essential skilled workers such as “ electrical, software, and mechanical engineers”, as stated by the Director of GRAO [J]. The accompanying human capital development programmes are an essential part of this, encouraging “young people to take up science” and “increasing science and innovation”, according to the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation, Ghana [D], thus providing wide and sustained community benefits ( ibid, **[C]**).