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Background Information
The UN Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID) Community of Expertise on Enhancing Access to and Application of Scientific Data in Developing Countries (e-SDDC) was formally launched in May 2007 in Atibaia, Brazil.

As the title implies, the main goal of the eSDDC is to promote and enhance better access to, management, dissemination and preservation of scientific data in the developing world, especially in the following three priority applications areas: poverty reduction, disaster mitigation, and public health.

Also, under the UN GAID framework, the eSDDC plans to create a forum or platform for dialogue for all stakeholders to: (1) identify and evaluate different mechanisms and policies for promoting greater access to and use of digital S&T resources for meeting the needs of developing countries in policy reform in scientific data management and applications; and (2) help build a distributed and decentralized network of networks in scientific data and information resources for innovative research, sustainable development, and better life in the developing world. The implementation strategy for the e-SDDC activity may be summarized as: Networking – Open Access – Innovation – Development.

To achieve this main goal, the eSDDC developed the following action items to guide the actual work of the Community:

1-  Think Tank Network;

2-  Scientific Data Sharing Network;

3-  Technology Transfer and Assistance Network;

4-  On-line Teaching and Training Network; and

5-  Priority Application Network.

Currently, the eSDDC partners include 20 networks and 18 individual organizations from 23 countries (15 from developing countries and 8 from industrialized countries).

The eSDDC activities are managed and supervised by an international team (Steering Committee, Executive Committee, and Secretariat) representing scientists, practitioners as well as policy makers in the area of science and technology.

Given the strategic importance of the areas that the eSDDC focuses on and the potential positive impact of its action items on the future development and advancement of science and scientific communities, especially in the less economically developed nations, the eSDDC recognizes the important role that young scientists can play in these areas and promotes more active involvement and participation of young scientists in the different eSDDC activities as well in the broader area of science and technology policy.



The eSDDC Young Scientists Forum
The main goal of the Young Scientists Forum (YSF) is to enhance the role of young scientists in maximizing the value of science, especially scientific data, in the information age. This could be done through:

1-  Awareness raising activities for young scientists in areas of special importance to their future scientific careers such as the new paradigms of scientific communication and publishing (e.g., open access models, IPR and new licensing models, and scientific rewards system), international scientific collaboration and scientists professional and ethical responsibilities.

2-  Specialized capacity building and training activities to develop and enhance young scientists skills in important areas such as scientific data management, proposal writing and fund raising, and teamwork.

3-  Communication mechanisms and tools to ensure continuous interaction and collaboration between young scientists.

4-  Mentorship and partnership programs for YSF members in collaboration with other young scientists programs and activities, universities, research centers and other UN programs and activities.

5-  Active presence and participation of young scientists at scientific (and other) conferences and meetings at local, regional and international levels.



YSF Suggested Structure
The YSF will consist of 6-8 core team members as follows:

1-  Team Leader: will oversee the work of the team members and will work with them to develop the YSF strategic plans.

2-  Communication officer: will be responsible for marketing the YSF activities, communicate and coordinate with other organizations and prepare the newsletter and other news items.

3-  Fund raising and events organization officer: will be responsible for securing some funds for the YSF activities, organizing these activities and updating the YSF website with relevant news and events from other organizations.

4-  Membership officer: will be responsible for recruiting and managing the YSF members. S/he will also help in events organization for the YSF members.

5-  Web design officer: will be responsible for building and maintaining the YSF website and other technical issues.

6-  Capacity building and training officer: will be responsible for developing and initiating capacity building, training and awareness raising materials and programs. S/he will also work with event organizer to execute these programs.



Membership
YSF membership is free and open for all, given that they meet the following criteria:

1-<span style="font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">  Undergraduate student, graduate student or a recent graduate from any scientific field.

2-<span style="font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">  Less than 40 years old.

3-<span style="font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">  Interested in scientific data access, sharing, management and preservation

<p style="text-align: right;">(<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">Prepared by Dr. <span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"> Raed M. Sharif )

Useful documents

 * Official brochure of UN GAID e-SDDC YSF
 * A Proposal for Creating a Young Scientists Forum (YSF): The UN GAID Community of Expertise on Enhancing Access to and Application of Scientific Data in Developing Countries (e-SDDC) in 2008
 * Summary of The UN GAID e-SDDC Young Scientists Forum (YSF) in 2008