The CODATA member organisation for South Africa is the National Research Foundation.
The mandate of the NRF is to promote and support research through funding, human resource development and the provision of the necessary research facilities in order to facilitate the creation of knowledge, innovation and development in all fields of science and technology, including indigenous knowledge, and thereby contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of all South Africans.
What do we do?
South African CODATA supports the activities of the South African research community through the following activities:
- With “Everything Happening Somewhere” the integration between the activities of the CODATA and Spatial Data Infrastructures is crucial for achieving CODATA Decadal Programmes and delivering a Geospatial Knowledge Infrastructure.
- Making data work for cross-domain grand challenges to address challenges and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The initiative for interoperability includes the development and implementation of standards to support data integration.
- We need to work on improving data access and reusability. Data must be collected once, shared and reused. We advocate to avoid data duplication and data loss.
Meet the South African CODATA National Committee Members
Chair: Daisy Selematsela PhD and Professor of Practice of Knowledge Management |
Daisy Selematsela (PhD) is the Executive Director Library and Information Services at the University of South Africa (UNISA). A Professor of Practice of Knowledge Management of the University of Johannesburg. She is involved in knowledge management, records management, open scholarship, Research Data Management, preservation of and access to data and material of national heritage. Her role in academic citizenship involves being a member of the Board of Directors of COAR (Confederation of Open Access Repositories) until September 2021, CODATA (Committee on Data of the International Science Council); Research4Life and ORCID. At national level serves on the Board of Directors of ITOCA (Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa), SANLiC (South African National Licensing Consortium) and the Chairperson Elect of CHELSA (Committee for Higher Education Librarians of South Africa). She previously served on the Board of the National Library of South Africa, Council for Library and Information Services (NCLIS) and Council of the National Archives of South Africa. Chair of the South African National Committee of CODATA. She served on the Editorial Board of Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA) Data Science Journal (DSJ). Currently on the Editorial Board of both Global Change Research Data Publishing and Repository and Preservation, Digital Technology & Culture (PDT&C) Journal. Daisy is the recipient of the 2016 and 2019 Knowledge Management Leadership Award by the Global Knowledge Management Congress & Awards in association with World Education Congress: and the 1st International Conference on Knowledge and Innovation Management (ICKIM) Babcock University. |
Deputy Chair: Ms Refiloe Mabaso |
Refiloe Mabaso is an accomplished senior business leader with over 20 years’ experience that spans the full spectrum in both private and public sector. Areas of specialization include amongst others, Data Management, Information Management, Knowledge Management, Library Management, Records & Document Management and Business Intelligence with a proven record of accomplishment in planning and leading comprehensive information and knowledge management strategies in support of business goals and objectives. Experience in growing start-up organizations to leading business units and growing teams in large multi-national corporates. Recently have been nominated by the American Productivity and Quality Centre (APQC) to participate ON Making It Stick Knowledge Management Research Project, to share and develop a case study on the successful practices to manage KM-related change and engage end users in KM tools, approaches, activities, and work which will be published on APQC’s Knowledge Base library. Holds, among other qualifications a degree in Library and Information Studies with the University of South Africa, Management Development Programme with the University of South Africa, Postgraduate Certificate in Knowledge Management with the University of Pretoria, Masters in Business Administration (MBA) with the University of South Africa, International Women in Leadership Programme with the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) and General Manager Programme with the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), Postgraduate Diploma in Knowledge and Information Systems Management with the University of Stellenbosch. Currently registered for PhD with the University of South Africa. Working for Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) as a Senior Manager: Information and Knowledge Management, leading a team of Specialists covering areas of Library Management, Records Management, Knowledge Management, Data Analyst, Business/Market Intelligence and Digital Enterprise Content Management. Serving as Deputy Chairperson of the South Africa CODATA Committee, Chairperson of the Knowledge Management South Africa, Chairperson of National Libraries of South Africa, Board Member of Knowledge Management Global Network and Chairperson of Kitso Lesedi. |
Mrs Gaborekwe Esther Khambule |
Gabo Esther Khambule is the Senior Manager and head of national aeronautical meteorological services within South African Weather Service, a position she has been holding for more than ten years. She holds an MBA degree, NH diploma in Meteorology, Management Advancement Programme (MAP) and Diploma in Management Studies (DMS).and is the member of Institute of Directors in Southern Africa (IoDSA). She served as the Board member of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) for two terms ending Aug 2018.She is the member of National Committee of Data (CODATA) for science and technology under Depart of Science and Innovation (DSI). She was a finalist in the CEO meritorious awards event of “Most influential women in business and government in Aug 2012. She is recognized for her contribution to the global agenda on the aeronautical meteorology in both International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). She served as co-chair of WMO Expert team on Education, Training and Competency, Co-chair of Communication, Collaboration, and stakeholder and currently the vice- chair of WMO Standing Committee on Aviation and a member of the WMO Services Commission. She served as the chair of the Working Group on Space weather for two years ending early 2021. She represents SAWS at different fora, nationally and internationally, co-ordinates SAWS Advisory Committee for Aeronautical Meteorology (ACAMS), She serves in various ICAO and WMO working groups and Expert teams respectively. |
Dr Anwar Vahed |
Anwar Vahed is the director of the Data Intensive Research Initiative of South Africa (DIRISA). He manages the implementation of a national research data infrastructure that supports data intensive research, and coordinates the development of relevant expertise and strategies, as well as the implementation of policies for research data management. DIRISA, together with the Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC) and the South African Research Network (SANReN), comprises the technology component of the National Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System of South Africa. Anwar’s professional career spans leadership, managerial and capacity development roles in diverse academic, research and production ICT environments. He is a computer scientist with more than 20 years’ experience in academia, and in research and development in the fields of data science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, artificial neural networks, and research data management. He was Principal Researcher and the Research Group Leader of the ICT for Earth Observation Research Group at the CSIR and prior to joining the CSIR, he managed the data and information delivery systems of Statistics SA and chaired the Department of Computer Science at the University of the Western Cape.He has developed the national strategy for research Big Data, is editor of data science journals and serves on several local and international committees in the data sciences, including the Research Data Alliance (RDA), US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and CODATA. |
Ms Maroale Mimi Chauke. Geomatics Professional GPr GISc 1402 |
Mimi Chauke is the Director: National Spatial Information Framework at the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. Her role is to implement the South African Spatial Data Infrastructure and the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework. She is also a Secretariat for the Committee for Spatial Information, a statutory body established in terms of section 5 of the Spatial Data Infrastructure Act, 2003. She represents South Africa on the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management, Committee of Experts and Chairs the Working Group on Fundamental Datasets and Standards of the UN-GGIM Africa. |
Ms Lynn Woolfrey |
Lynn Woolfrey is a data scientist with 20 years’ experience curating and sharing disaggregated African data with researchers worldwide. She manages data operations at DataFirst, a data service and research unit at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She set up and manage Africa’s only CoreTrustSeal certified open data repository. She also established the only secure data centre in Africa, to give researchers safe access to highly disaggregated government data. She trains data managers in government and research institutions across Africa and assist governments to assess their data-readiness for Sustainable Development Goal planning and monitoring. Her research field of interest is open government data and information ecosystems for data-directed decision-making in African countries. |
Dr Jeremy Main |
Jeremy Main has a research Master’s degree in Climatology from UCT, and over 25 years making use of Linux, Open Source Software and Enterprise hardware and software systems to meet the requirements of science computing, simulation and computing infrastructure, networks and storage as well as day-to-day IT. He has experience in both science research, providing computing services for science computing, design and specification of science computing systems, high performance computing, enterprise computing and customer support. The experience includes working with customers / scientists, engineers, designers, suppliers, strategic partners and stakeholders. Recent education at the University of Stellenbosch Business School has given him necessary skills and insights into strategic, financial and human capacity management required to deliver present day science computing systems that integrate compute, data storage, network data transmission and interconnect networking fabrics.He enjoys spending time with his family in the outdoors and am committed to sustainable use of our planet’s limited resources. He is interested in climate and weather, space, aviation, astronomy, computing, amateur electronics, natural science, and education. |
Mr Ntsundeni Mapatagane |
Ntsundeni Mapatagane is a dynamic professional with more than 5 years of managerial experience who began his career in Strategic Planning and Institutional Research at Wits University where he coordinated a student success project to build capacity for integration of institutional research, technology, academic development, student services, and faculties. As a Researcher and Data Analyst he contributed to rigorous analysis of actionable information which has been structured analytically and contextually in order to measure organisational performance against strategic and operational targets and thereby to support management, decision-making and planning and, in particular, the attainment of organisational goals and effectiveness as juxtaposed against the external environment, global trends and international benchmarks. In his current role at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology as Director of Institutional Planning, he is responsible for Academic Planning which supports the University’s academic planning activities, facilitating strategic planning events, and making contributions in terms of information, consolidation, and development of planning documents. He is also responsible for the submission of HEMIS information to the Department of Higher Education and Training regularly to enable the institution to claim its state subsidy – the bulk of the annual income; Analytics and Business Intelligence function which supports the university to take an evidence-based approach to planning and decision-making; as well as, Institutional Research – this function carries out regular surveys among staff and students in order to produce useful information about the institution, aiding planning and pointing to areas where there is a need for action. Ntsundeni was elected to be an Executive member of the Southern African Association for Institutional Research (SAAIR) for two consecutive terms. holds an MSc in Environmental Science, BSc Hons and BSc from Wits university. |
How can you get involved?
Please contact Ms Busiswa Molefe at busiswa [AT] nrf.ac.za
Page last reviewed 2022-05-11.