Bakeng se Afrika

The objective of Bakeng se Afrika is to develop and manage a comprehensive digital imaging collection of South Africans as a capacity building resource for improvement in internationalization of HEI’s. Establishing universal SOP’s for storing and utilizing digital images are paramount for medical and biomedical professionals. Outputs will impact teaching and research in HEI’s, forensic science, healthcare, and business such as dental implant companies.

This project aims to: 1) develop, maintain, and manage a comprehensive digital imaging database on South Africans, storage of this digital collection will be on a DSAN server at Nesca, 2) develop quality assurance guidelines via SOPs for the access and ethical use of the images in this database, and 3) to use this database to establish strategic relationships with partners abroad for the purpose of stimulating the international dissemination of knowledge. The benefits of a digital repository includes: 1) invaluable and unqiue resource for research and teaching; 2) a large, centralized databank with quality control (SOP’s), 3) sustainability with long-term, safe storage and documentation of digital data. Creating SOPs for acquisition of data and ethical use supports: 1) inclusiveness of all researchers and educators; 2) worldwide accessibility, harmonization and internationlization of data, and 3) promote postgraduate research and obtainment of advanced qualifications in HEI’s. The scanned images will be used to establish collaborative research networks between South African and European partners with exchange of teaching technology and experiences through workshops.