anasr.org held its first Open Strategic Meeting on the 19th of October 2013 at Queen Mary University of London, Mile End road, London, E1 4NS, UK. The aim of the meeting was to review anasr.org's past and current activities and to plan for future ones.
2. Overview
• Our
aim
of
the
mee3ng:
– Expose
anasr.org
– Reflect
on
past,
current
&
future
ac3vi3es,
collec3vely
– Exchange
and
discuss
feedback
• Structure
– Review
+
Quick
Q&A
• Break
– Discussion
– Housekeeping
3. What
is
anasr.org?
• An
independent
ini3a3ve
to
develop
a
plaMorm
of
interac3on
between
Algerian
academics,
scien3sts
and
researchers
inside
and
outside
of
Algeria.
• An
interac3on
space
to
discover,
share
and
inspire
Algerian
intellect
across
the
globe.
• Objec3ves,
etc.
5. What
is
anasr.org?
• Key
characteris3cs:
– Open
network
– Independent,
transparent
– Community-‐led
– Grassroots
– Prac3cal
ac3on
• A
means
to
contribute
towards
posi3ve
change
– Focus
on
science,
research
and
academia
8. Concep.on
• APGUK:
a
network
for
postgraduate
students
• Established
in
2007
– A
community
• Events,
discussions,
etc.
– A
virtual
campus
• Facebook
group
• Last
mee3ng
2011
– Redundant
of
its
name?
– Redefine
its
vision
9. Concep.on
• APGUKs
wanted
to
keep
working
together
• Focused
projects
– …
– Directory
of
academics
– Networking
space
• Directory
of
people,
products,
places
• Field
specific
groups,
newsle]ers
• Project
spaces
– anasr.org
was
born
10. Vision
&
Objec.ves
• An
interac3on
space
to
discover,
share
and
inspire
Algerian
intellect
across
the
globe.
– Promotes
interac.on
and
exchange
that
transcends
physical
constraints
and
borders
– Build
bridges
between
members
in
and
out
of
Algeria
– Promotes
posi.ve
ac.on
• Objec3ves
so
far
realised
through:
– Website
– Magazine
– Awards
11. Milestones
• April
2011:
anasr.org
conceived
• Regular
mee3ngs
• Coding
&
development
• Dec/Jan
2011/2012:
ini3al
websites
developed
• Directory,
profiles
• April
2012:
Inspire
Magazine
launched
• Jan
2013:
Algerian
Paper
of
the
Year
Awards
launched
• April
2013:
Extra
website
features
launched
• Q&A,
Stories
13. What
is
anasr.org?
• A
virtual
academic
network
• A
plaMorm
for
sharing
and
interac3on
• A
promoter
of
Algerian
intellect
and
academia.
• Hence
the
mo]os:
– Discover
– Share
– Inspire
14. A
brief
history
of
anasr.org
• Student
early
days
• The
end
of
big
Government
• A
directory
to
expose
and
inspire
15. The
last
genera.on
grows
apart
• At
APGUK’s
last
general
mee3ng
• Strong
desire
to
keep
community
alive
• And
work
for
the
benefit
of
Algeria
• New
projects
are
welcomed.
• A
network
is
created
17. The
rise
of
the
social
web
• A
new
paradigm
• Bo]om
up,
organic
• Empowers
and
engages
individuals
• A
plaMorm
to
share
knowledge:
– Q&A
– Stories
18. Q&A
• Inspired
by
StackExchange
• Social
media
version
of
discussion
forums
• Focus
on
ques3ons.
• Let
users
vote
on
important
ques3ons
• And
good
answers.
23. Social
media
spirit
• Not
just
tools
but
also
our
values
• Bo]om
up.
Community
driven.
• Transparency
and
openness
• Open
website
– Content
management
system
– Non
technical
people
can
contribute
25. What
about
Inspire?
• Tools
and
technology
are
great
• But
passion
and
inspira3on
is
what
drives
– Inspire
Magazine.
– Awards.
26. Achievements/Challenges
• The
website:
– 5,228
visits,
19,000
page
views.
– 2,594
unique
visitors
– 51%
returning
visitors
• Directory:
– 112
members.
– From
all
over
the
world.
55%
From
Algeria.
– Varied
members
– Beyond
our
social
network
Country Visits %
Visits
United
Kingdom 2,432 45.99%
Algeria 2,199 41.58%
United
States 212 4.01%
France 174 3.29%
Canada 62 1.17%
(not
set) 28 0.53%
Saudi
Arabia 20 0.38%
27. Achievements/Challenges
• Directory:
– Missing
profiles
• Stories:
– A]racts
visitors
especially
from
facebook
– No
contribu3ons.
Only
the
team.
• Q&A:
– No
ac3vity
28. Aims
for
the
future
• Increase
membership
base
– Especially
young
academics
in
Algeria
• Increase
interac3on
– Brain
storm.
Feedback
30. Inspire
Magazine
• Promote
and
inspire
the
work
of
Algerian
scien3sts
and
researchers
across
the
globe
• Ini3al
editorial
mission:
– Expose
the
work
of
Algerian
researchers,
scien3sts
and
prac33oners
• Build
bridges
between
Algerians
in
and
out
of
Algeria
– Engage
and
inspire
young
researchers
– Promote
a
culture
of
outreach
and
science
communica3on
• Including
wri,ng
and
communica,on
skills
31. Inspire
Magazine:
Overview
• Launched
in
April
2012
• 5
type
of
publica3ons
• Features
• Event
reports
• Interviews
• Opinions
• Theses
• Contribu3ons
sought
through
invita3on
only
• Three
editors
• Managed
online,
including
adver3sing
32. Inspire
Magazine:
in
numbers
• Sept
2012
–
Oct
2013
– Published
31
ar3cles
(rejected
5)
• 11
contribu3ons
from
Algeria
– Received
about
15K
page
views
• 5600
unique
visitors,
~30%
returning
visitors
– Reach
8K
readers
• 2.7K
Algeria
• 2K
UK
• The
rest
of
spanned
the
US,
India,
Malaysia
and
the
UAE
33. Inspire
Magazine:
Setbacks
• Far
from
a
“professional
magazine”
• Small
number
of
contribu3ons
– Avg.
~2
publica3ons
per
month
– Long
editorial
process
• Sparse
engagement
– 25
comments
• Need
to
improve
on
the
number
of
publica3ons
• Need
to
improve
engagement
35. Awards
• Recognise
and
celebrate
the
achievements
of
Algerian
scien3sts
• Do
so
while
fully
engaging
the
wider
community
of
Algerian
scien3sts
and
researcher
in
and
out
of
the
country
36. Awards:
Overview
• Launched
in
January
2013
• 5
categories
of
nomina3ons
– Biological
sciences
– Chemical
Sciences
– Computer
Science
and
Engineering
– Medicine,
Pharmacy
and
Veterinary
Science
– Physical
Sciences
and
Mathema3cs
• Process:
Nomina3on,
shortlis3ng,
detailed
review
• Announcement,
and
report
37. Awards:
in
numbers
• 160
nomina3ons
– 62
Biological
Sciences
– 19
Chemical
Sciences
– 33
Computer
Science
and
Engineering
– 16
Medicine,
Pharmacy
and
Veterinary
Sciences
– 30
Physical
Sciences
and
Mathema3cs
• 15
researchers
for
shortlis3ng
• 26
interna3onal
senior
researchers
to
review
38. Awards:
Prizes
• Commemora3on
plaques
and
cer3ficates
• Exclusive
interviews
with
Inspire
Magazine
39. Awards:
Achievements
• Engaged
the
Algerian
and
the
wider
community
in
a
posi3ve
ac3on
• Iden3fied,
rewarded
and
exposed
interes3ng
and
cuung
edge
research
stemming
out
of
Algeria
40. Awards:
Setbacks
• Excluded
some
disciplines
– Namely
social
sciences
• Categorisa3on
/
reviewing
issue
• More
incen3ves?
46. Finances:
Setbacks
• Cost:
anasr.org
ac3vi3es
are
non-‐profit
• Crea3ng
and
maintaining
the
website
+
organising
events
under
its
umbrella
takes
effort,
3me
and
money.
– Need
for
fund
development.
– Dependable
source
for
website
maintenance.
– Improved
cashflow
⇒
wider
prospects
and
be]er
opportuni3es
for
events/
conferences.
49. Structure
• Open
discussion
(~30
min)
• Closed
discussion
(~1hr
30mins)
– Feedback
on
• (Re)
vision
and
objec3ves
• anasr.org
ac3vi3es
and
features
• Future
plans
50. Open
discussion
• Ques.on:
How
to
mo3vate
the
Algerian
community
of
academics,
scien3sts
and
researchers
to
connect,
engage
and
collaborate
towards
posi3ve
change?
Probing
ques,ons
• Is
the
Algerian
scien3fic
community
willing
to
connect?
• What
might
stand
in
the
way?
• Do
they
have
the
3me
beyond
their
busy
day
jobs/lives?
• Is
there
a
use
for
such
a
network
as
anasr.org?
• Is
science
and
academia
so
vast
and
specialised
that
a
general
network
is
not
feasible?
51. Closed
discussion
(part
1)
• (Re)
What
is
our
vision
and
objec3ves?
• How
can
we
improve
our
current
ac3vi3es
(assuming
we
do
not
want
to
alter
them)
to
realise
our
vision
and
implement
our
objec3ves?
– How
can
we
improve
the
website?
– How
can
we
improve
Inspire
Magazine?
– How
can
we
improve
the
Awards?
– How
can
we
improve
our
finances?
52. Closed
discussion
(part
2)
• Should
we
expand
our
ac3vi3es?
• If
so,
which
ac3vi3es
could
help
us
realise
our
vision
and
objec3ves
more
effec3vely?
E.g.:
– Collabora3ng
with
other
groups/organisa3ons/ini3a3ves
– Launching
the
annual
conference
– Regular
informal
discussion
sessions
• Possible
ques3ons
to
address
for
each
item
above
– How
does
this
ac3vity
fit
our
vision/objec3ves?
–
What
is
the
3mescale
to
realise
this
ac3vity?
– What
do
we
need
to
do?
– How
should
we
do
it
/
resources
needed?
