المنتدى

The Arab Public Data Initiative is part of the global movement toward open science and knowledge as a public good and aims to promote the norms and practices of data management and data sharing among social scientists and research institutions in the Arab region. The Initiative, launched in June 2018, is implemented in collaboration with the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and, as of January 2023, the University of Oxford.

An Advisory Committee guides the work of the Initiative.

Abla Amawi, (Jordan)

Ragui Assaad, University of Minnesota (USA)

Mabrouk Boutagouga, University of Batna1 (Algeria)

Ibrahim El Badawi, Economic Research Forum (Egypt)

Hala Ghattas, University of South Caroline (USA)

Sari Hanafi, American University of Beirut (Lebanon)

Amaney Jamal, Princeton University (USA)

Neil Ketchley, University of Oxford (UK) – Co-chair

Charles Kurzman, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA) – Co-chair

Seteney Shami, Arab Council for the Social Sciences (Lebanon) – Co-chair

The Objectives of the Initiative:

1-Preservation and facilitation of access to social science research data on/in the region

To provide a data sharing infrastructure, the Initiative established – ACSS Dataverse –  a multidisciplinary social science data archive, available to both individuals and institution. Those interested in depositing their social science datasets in the ACSS Dataverse, please contact dataverse@thecss.org

 2-Building capacity in managing social science research data

The ACSS organizes training and training-of-trainer workshops for researchers and information specialists from across the region to introduce the principles, best practices and tools of data management and sharing. The workshops also aim to create social science data management networks in the region.

3-Forging institutional partnerships in the region and cross-regional engagement on the issue.

The ACSS partnered with the Economic Research Forum (ERF) to expand work on social science research data management in the region.

The ACSS is an Associate Member of the World Data System (WDS).