Addis Ababa, Ethiopia —- In a landmark move that echoes the commitment of the Organization of Southern Cooperation (OSC) on technological advancement, the recently launched the Greater South Information System (GreSIS) will serve to democratise access to knowledge in the Global South.
During the official roll out of the GreSIS digital platform held at the iconic Ethiopian Science Museum in Addis Ababa on February 13th, the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Southern Cooperation (OSC), Sheikh Manssour Bin Mussallam, in his opening speech, emphasised the significant role of the Greater South Information System (GreSIS) in improving access to transdisciplinary knowledge for higher learning across the Global South and beyond.
The Secretary-General further stated that countries in the South need to strengthen their research capabilities, because as “we democratise access to knowledge, we must do so with the understanding that we must also democratise the production of knowledge”.
Among the officials who graced the launch of the digital platform were H.E. Dr. Bayissa Bedada, State Minister of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Ethiopia, high level officials from the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Ambassadors of OSC Member States and others, educational institutions, CSOs, development agencies, intergovernmental agencies, researchers, instructors and students.
The GreSIS launch is poised to unlock a revolution on digital, open-access hub for the advancement of academic and endogenous knowledge.
Moreover, the birth of GreSIS is not only a creation of digital connectivity, it is a technological shift that serves as catalyst for educational transformation and innovation.
GreSIS is basically a technological tool prepared to thrive in an increasingly digital landscape. In fact, it is a vehicle that carries a transformative agenda of collaboration and engagement among educational institutions, researchers, instructors, students, government officials, and Indigenous people’s organisations.
GreSIS objectives are the following:
- Improve access to knowledge across academic and non-academic knowledge domains
- Make higher education more accessible to all
- Collect, preserve, and make indigenous and endogenous knowledge of the Global South accessible
- Make research from the Global more visible, and
- Develop and scale new ways of collaborative research across the Global South.
During the GreSIS walkthrough, future users can “look up” knowledge and “link up” with other knowledge producers across the Global South.
The Organisation of Southern Cooperation (OSC) was established on 29 January 2020 by countries and organisations from across the Global South at the International Summit on Balanced and Inclusive Education held in the Republic of Djibouti. As the first intergovernmental organisation of and by the Greater South, the OSC acts as an instrument of intellectual, technical and financial cooperation and solidarity between its member mtates as well as its Associate members in the pursuit of a Third Way of Development – from the South, for Humanity.
