UCT researchers can benefit science and society by sharing full datasets from their research after project close-out. DataFirst can assist researchers to share their data. The DataFirst team creates anonymised research-ready versions of project data and posts the data on an open data portal for long-term use.
DataFirst is the only African data repository that is internationally certified as a trusted repository. The repository preserves and shares data in compliance with national data legislation and according to international standards and best practice. We assist depositors to comply with funders’ data sharing stipulations and abide by research ethics and data privacy norms. Where data is too sensitive or disclosive to share online, we assist research teams to share their data with accredited researchers in our Secure Research Data Centre at UCT.
The DataFirst team has set up a helpdesk to help researchers analyse the data they download from the data portal. The team also offers data analysis training courses to strengthen quantitative capabilities among African researchers. To build further data science skills, the team runs research data management training workshops for researchers, data curators and data librarians at universities. They also train data managers in government agencies across Africa.