DataCite in Ethiopia: Building a Community of Practice Among Academic and Research Institutions

In this presentation, Mohamad Mostafa provided an overview of Open Science principles, the role of open research infrastructure, and the importance of adopting Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) and open metadata in research workflows. He also introduced the DataCite community, highlighting its global reach and impact. A key part of the session was listening to Ethiopian institutions as they shared their challenges and insights into the current research infrastructure in the country. Additionally, we discussed our collaborative efforts with Mekelle University to establish the Ethiopian DataCite DOI Consortium, which aims to offer a sustainable and cost-effective solution for research institutions to register their research outputs and resources with DOIs and embrace open research practices. The presentation was hybrid, hosted at Mekelle University, Ethiopia, and Mohamad's presentation was delivered virtually on April 2, 2025.