2026-10-29 –, Naturalis 01
Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) are critical infrastructure for open science, yet their adoption across Africa remains uneven. In this presentation you will discover the challenges to PID adoption in Ghanaian Higher Education Institutions (HEI), offering insights for keeping knowledge connected. Drawing on interviews, policy analysis, and institutional case studies, we identify interoperability gaps, limited awareness, cost constraints, and fragmented governance/policies as key barriers. Legacy systems and inconsistent metadata practices further impede integration with global PID ecosystems. Despite these constraints, library-led initiatives, and researcher champions demonstrate scalable pathways forward. We propose actionable recommendations: coordinated policy frameworks, sustainable funding models, capacity building, and regional collaboration to align with initiatives like ORCID, ROR, and Crossref. By strengthening PID infrastructure, Ghanaian institutions can enhance research visibility, trust, and, advancing open science across Africa. This study highlights implications for PIDfest stakeholders seeking inclusive, interoperable knowledge systems that transcend institutional and continental boundaries for impact.
Struggling to implement Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) effectively in your institution or unsure how to overcome adoption barriers in resource-constrained settings? In this session, you will discover practical insights from Ghanaian Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and learn how real challenges are being addressed to keep knowledge connected.
You will explore why issues like limited awareness, fragmented systems and policies, and funding constraints continue to slow PID adoption—and how these barriers affect research visibility and collaboration. Through grounded examples, you will also see how libraries via LIBSENSE - Library Support for Embedded NREN Services and E-infrastructure, Open Science enthusiasts, and researcher-led efforts are creating workable solutions.
After this session, you will:
• Understand the key institutional and systemic barriers to PID adoption in African contexts
• Identify practical strategies to improve PID integration and interoperability
• Gain ideas for building sustainable, collaborative approaches to strengthen open science infrastructure
If you are looking for actionable lessons beyond theory, this session offers clear, relevant takeaways you can apply immediately.
Dr Amy Pascalia Abra Asimah is the University Librarian at the Regional Maritime University (RMU), Ghana. She holds a PhD in Information Science from the University of South Africa. Amy is a Library and Information Science (LIS) researcher, and passionate advocate for PID, Open Science, and the broader Open Movement. With a strong background in scholarly communications, Amy has championed initiatives that promote research publication, visibility, transparency, accessibility, and collaboration. She has won grants from recognised funding agencies such as ORCID, and leading several consortia projects in the OS and maritime spaces. Amy has a wealth of experience in research infrastructure, metadata standards, researcher identity management, and continues to support efforts that empower researchers through open and equitable scholarly ecosystems. She is a member of Ghana Library Association, Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Ghana, Library Support for Embedded NREN Services and E-infrastructure and Creative Commons Global Network.
Dr Dominic Dankwah Agyei is a practising librarian at the University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ghana, where he heads the E-Resources and Training Department. Dominic leads the LIBSENSE ECR Group in Ghana, and also chairs the working group on Open Science and Open Publishing at Public Health Africa (PHA). He is the 2024 MLA Cunningham Fellow. His research interests span open science, open access publishing, research data management, and policy issues in minority languages. Follow his publications here.