Ghana
Open Science Symposium

Dr. Kwaku Afriyie is a Medical Doctor by profession and has previously served as Minister of the Ministries of Health, Lands and Natural Resources, Western Regional Minister, and Minister of State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA) at various stages of his political career.

As a former Minister of Health from 2001 to 2005, Dr. Afriyie led the introduction of the National Health Insurance Scheme, from concept, through legislation, to implementation.

Mr Keith McMahon MBE has been the Deputy High Commissioner to Ghana since June 2022. As a career diplomat, Keith has a wide range of overseas experience. Before Ghana, he was Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Khartoum. Other postings have included Zambia, Armenia, Greece and the USA.

In the UK, Mr Keith McMahon has worked as the Desk Officer for China, the Democratic Republic of Congo/Rwanda/Burundi and was Deputy Director of Operations (2016-2019). From 2014-2016, Keith took a short career break and spent two years working for Chevron, one of the world’s largest energy companies.

As Deputy High Commissioner in Ghana, Keith deals with the full spectrum of Ghana and West Africa issues. Keeping the plates spinning is often described as the main role of the Deputy High Commissioner.

Dr Wilhelmina Quaye is the first woman Director of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research - Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (CSIR-STEPRI).

Dr Quaye obtained her PhD in Rural Sociology from Wageningen University in the Netherlands in 2012. Before then, she had her Master of Philosophy (2002) and Bachelor of Science (1993) in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ghana, Legon.

She also has a certificate in Gender Mainstreaming from Institute of Capacity Development in South Africa and a certificate in Monitoring and Evaluation of Development Projects from Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).

She is an African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) fellow and Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist for Sustainable Development and Relief Associates (SUDRA).

She has over 30 peer reviewed publications and has attended several international conferences.
She has consulted for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ghana Cocoa Platform, African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) on Gender and Tradeline Consult on Household Dietary Diversity Scores.

Her areas of specialization include Socio-economic related research, Monitoring and Evaluation, Policy and Gender Issues. She has over 20 years working experience both in research and practice.

Kathleen Shearer has been the Executive Director of COAR since 2013. She has worked in open access, open science, scholarly communications, and research data management for over 15 years. She is based in Montreal, Canada and participates in numerous other organizations to advance open science worldwide. She is the author of numerous publications and delivered many presentations at international events. Most recently, she was the lead author of the paper Fostering Bibliodiversity in Scholarly Communications: A Call for Action (April 2020) and presented the keynote speech at the Open Repositories Conference in June 2020. Shearer is also a Research Associate with the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) and has been instrumental in many of CARL’s activities related to open science, including the launch of the Portage Initiative in Canada, a national research data management network.

Lucas Yikimpa Chigabatia is the CEO for Ghanaian Academic and Research Network (GARNET). He is the former Chief Information Technology Officer (CITO) of the University of Ghana. In this role he led the delivery of the IT strategic objectives and operational support activities of the University of Ghana, providing leadership in the development and use of ICT to enhance Teaching, Learning, Research and Administrative activities in the University.

He has accountability for IT transformational agenda of the University for improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness, He made IT Service Delivery a priority on his assumption of the role in 2013 and has championed the documentation, upgrade and re-alignment of key business processes culminating in the automation and improvement of key business processes in the University of Ghana.

Lucas has a long track record in the planning and management of large and complex Information Technology infrastructure and systems projects in the manufacturing, services, mining, and education industries.

He began his career at Unilever Ghana Limited in 1994 as the Information Technology Manager for the Lever Brothers Division, and quickly established a reputation for getting things done.

After taking a two year break in 1996 to pursue an MBA Finance Degree at the University of Ghana, he joined the consultancy firm Conseil Gestion Assistance (CGA) in 1998 and consulted widely for organizations locally and internationally in Zimbabwe, the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.
In October 2000, Lucas joined Ashanti Goldfields and led the successful integration of the ICT infrastructure following the merger between Ashanti Goldfields and AngloGold, which created the new global mining company, AngloGold Ashanti in 2004. Following the merger, Lucas was promoted and appointed IT Manager for the West Africa Region of AngloGold Ashanti.
In 2008 he was again promoted and appointed the Manager, Knowledge and Information Technology for the Continental Africa Region of the company with accountability for IT in seven African countries in West, East and Central Africa. He stayed in this role until he joined the University of Ghana in October 2013 as Chief Information Technology Officer.

Lucas has an MSc. in Computer Science from the Kharkov Institute of Engineering and Economics (Ukraine), a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Ghana, and an Associate Degree in General Management with a focus on Transformational Leadership and Managerial Practice from the University of Cape Town (South Africa).
He is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI).

Dr. Mac-Anthony Cobblah is an Information Scientist and Academic Librarian with 23 years working experience in Academic and Research Environment.

Before joining the University of Cape Coast, he served as a Librarian for the Methodist University Ghana (2005 – 2017) and the Institute for Scientific and Technological Information of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – CSIR (1999 – 2005)

He holds a PhD in Information Science, MA in Library Studies, MBA in Human Resource Management and Certificate in Scientific Information Management.

He has attended and presented papers at several international conferences and published extensively in the field of information science and library management.

He is currently the Chair of the Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana (CARLIGH) and Chairperson for Academic Libraries and Library Consortia Section, Africa Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA). He is also the Licensing Coordinator of EIFL for Ghana.

Oliver Boachie is currently serving as Special Advisor to Ghana’s Minister of Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation (MESTI). Prior to his appointment in February, 2017, Mr. Boachie was the Managing Director of NTS Telecom Ltd., a Ghanaian-registered company based in Accra. In his current position, Oliver works closely with stakeholders within Government, public research institutions, academia, the private sector and with Ghana’s Development Partners to establish the foundation for sustainable management of the Environment, and to develop strategies for the development and application of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for Ghana’s socio-economic development. He is also overseeing the implementation of STI strategies that have already received Cabinet approval under Ghana’s current administration.

Before setting up NTS Telecom in 2000, Mr. Boachie was the first Managing Director of DATATEL, a Joint-Venture company that was established in partnership with Ghana Telecom in 1995 to provide data services as add-on services to the voice communication services of Ghana Telecom. DATATEL was the first to provide online data services for multi-nationals such as Barclays Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Shell Oil, Mobil Oil, Petrofina-ELF and local institutions such as SSB Bank and Ghana’s Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT).

Prior to his migration back to Ghana, Mr. Boachie worked in the United States with several companies, including Texas Instruments and IBM Corporation. He specialized in the design and implementation of software for communication systems in various application areas such as telecommunications, banking and retail. Oliver sees current and emerging Technology & Innovation initiatives in Ghana as the building blocks of a framework based on which the country will leverage on science, technology and innovation to drive its economy, moving it from one that is resource-dependent to one that is technology-driven.

Mr. Boachie graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in Physics and Computer Science in 1980. In 1992, he earned a post-graduate Diploma in Software Engineering from Florida Atlantic University and the Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. He attended the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology in Ghana before proceeding to the United States in 1977 to study Computer Science under a Rotary Foundation Graduate Fellowship.

Mr. Francis Prince Ankrah is the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, Ghana’s premier learned society. He doubles as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Ghana. He is the Programme Officer in charge of International Relations of the Academy. He has practiced as Host, Editor, Journalist in the Ghanaian Media space for more than a decade and hosted award-winning shows such as Radio Univers' Media Review; Joy FM’s Newsfile; TV3’s Agenda & Hot Issues and Citi FM’s Eyewitness News. He was also a Columnist in the Ghanaian Observer newspaper.

Mr. Ankrah holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography and Resource Development with English, as well as a Master of Philosophy Degree in Geography and Resource Development from the University of Ghana, Legon. In addition, Francis Ankrah holds a Commonwealth Executive Masters Degree in Public Administration from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; a Bachelor of Law Degree from the Mountcrest University College, Accra and the Qualifying Certificate of Law from the Ghana School of Law, Accra.

Dr. Dominic Agyei Dankwah is a practising librarian at the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Ho, in Ghana. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Information Studies and a Master of Arts degree in Library Studies, all from the University of Ghana, Legon. Dominic subsequently enrolled at the University of South Africa, where he completed his PhD programme in Information Science.

He is a co-recipient of the UHAS Seed Grant and a beneficiary of the University of Pretoria-Carnegie CPD Programmes. At UHAS, he leads a team of experts at the Cataloguing and Classification Department of the UHAS Library in resource description and discovery. As well, he lectures in Information Literacy, a university-wide course for first-year undergraduate students of UHAS.

Dominic has been a key facilitator in several training programmes, locally and internationally. Dr. Dankwah is a certified Mendeley Advisor and a keen advocate of open publications. He has, so far, published in several esteemed scientific journals, written book chapters, and continues to contribute to the Library and Information Science community as a peer-reviewer for several scientific journals, including IGI-Global, and Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication.

His research focuses on health information literacy, open-access publication, library management, as well as documenting policy challenges in minority languages. He has also presented some of his research findings at local and international conferences. Dominic has a specific interest in mixed methods research. Dr. Dankwah is a chartered member of the Ghana Library Association and a member of the Medical Library Association, USA.

Dr. Thomas Amatey Tagoe is an award winning science communicator and neuroscientist at the University of Ghana where his research focuses on understanding how the brain changes in response to experience.

He is the co-founder of GH.Scientific, an organization focused on increasing public access to science through public engagement and outreach activities. Thomas is the co-chair of the Ghana Young Academy and holds leadership positions in other organizations including the Ghana Science Association and the Africa Regional Committee of the International Brain Research Organization.

He holds dear the believe that collaborative efforts across disciplines is key to scientific progress

Omo is WACREN’s Chief Strategy Officer (CSO). He leads the development, execution and sustenance of WACREN business plans and initiatives. He was the pioneer Chief Technology Officer of the organisation and continues to work with development partners and sister regional networks on the technical development of high-capacity Internet network infrastructure for research and education.

Before WACREN, he was CEO of Datasphir Solutions Limited, a private sector consultancy company. A certified SIM3 Auditor, he uses the model developed with the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) to assess the governance, performance and function of security teams and processes.

Omo leads the LIBSENSE programme aimed at building the information management capability of librarians and researchers, fostering communities of practice, and strengthening local services to support open science and research in Africa.

He has taken courses towards a Masters in Learning Technology from Birkbeck College, University of London and has a Pharmacy degree from the University of Benin, Nigeria.