The National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation (Senacyt) presented the “CONECTO” platform, a system of science and technology profiles, with the vision of being a tool to link, make visible and evaluate the trajectory of the different actors of the Science, Technology and Innovation System (CTI) that are related to the areas of knowledge (science and technology) at the national and international level.

CONECTO is a digital platform with national reach, which makes visible the trajectory and activities of the actors of the Panamanian system of science, technology and innovation, and whose purpose is to facilitate collaboration between scientists, students, professors and society in general, and likewise, allows the discovery of the trajectory and results of the research staff, in addition to their bibliometric indicators. Get to know CONECTO on the site web:http://conecto.senacyt.gob.pa/conecto/

Dr. Eduardo Ortega Barría, national secretary of Science, Technology and Innovation, points out that he views science as an extremely important evolution in the field of research. “It is our task to provide adequate training to human resources to be able to optimize their research potential to the maximum. For this reason, Senacyt provides training and information resources for researchers who are beginning their careers. This is why CONECTO is an initiative aimed at future generations of researchers, which are crucial to achieving the development of science and innovation in the Republic of Panama,” commented Dr. Ortega Barría.

Meanwhile, Mgtr. Robinson Zapata, head of the Scientific and Technological Information department of the Research and Development (R&D) department of Senacyt, said that the platform is aimed at the local and international scientific and technological community, decision makers, financing organizations, the business sector, academia, research and development organizations and society in general. “The CONECTO system is a discovery tool focused on allowing collaboration between people related to knowledge disciplines,” added Zapata.

At the launch ceremony, Mgtr. Zapata moderated a panel in which Eng. Lautaro Matas, executive secretary and technical manager of LA Referencia, Mgtr. Andrea Mora Campos, advisor to the National University of Costa Rica and Eng. Washington Ribeiro, coordinator of Treatment, Analysis and Dissemination of Scientific Information of the IBICT of Brazil.

Likewise, at the event, Eng. Milagro Mainieri, director of R&D at Senacyt, alluded to the importance of this initiative that promotes Open Science, “this platform will support the development of other initiatives, such as scientific diplomacy, new research and technological development, promotion of research and collaboration groups, among others, hence the importance of CONECTO.”

The CONECTO initiative formally began in October 2019 as a project of the R&D management of Senacyt. But, in 2018, through the Senacyt Scientific Bibliography Access Platform (ABC Platform), different technical and administrative possibilities are explored to have software that shows information on people associated with the research.

In the words of Eng. Mainieri, the platform was born from the need to fill a gap in a centralized site that highlights experts in the different thematic areas. “CONECTO also includes the profiles of science managers, technologists, innovators, teachers, academics, among others.”

The CONECTO platform has the support of different regional organizations such as the National University of Costa Rica, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, LA Referencia and Lyrasis.

“Senacyt has been the implementer and the one that carries the vision. In the last two months, the idea of ​​carrying out a joint administration of the software and the project in general was incorporated. For this, some institutions were invited to be part of the initiative (Team CONECTO), in which each one will manage the profiles associated with their organization. In addition, the CONECTO team will receive continuous training and will be an integral part of the development of the project,” commented Zapata.

The CONECTO platform is based on the VIVO free software, which was initially devised by Cornell University and is currently developed by the international Lyrasis community. The software allows integration and interoperability with other platforms such as scientific journals, persistent identifiers, repositories, among others.

Approximately 240 profiles have been included in the CONECTO platform, this was achieved thanks to the participation of young people belonging to the Senacyt Internship Program.

“The information on the profiles of research personnel is shown individually, by organization, by type of research and finally through a map of international capabilities,” says Robinson Zapata.

The CONECTO project is divided into four phases or stages that are: implementation and configuration of the system (phase 1), loading of profile and trajectory information (phase 2 pilot or operation test), loading of information from publications and projects (phase 3A or operational test), population of profiles (stage 3B or loading of post-launch profiles) and stage four development, strengthening and interoperability with other systems (PRICILA, ORCID, Data Repository, connection with the regional node, among others). others). CONECTO is currently in operational testing (phase 2).

CONECTO is part of the Open Science actions carried out by the Senacyt ABC Platform and which are framed in the document on UNESCO Open Science Recommendations, approved at the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), meeting in Paris from November 9 to 24, 2021 at its 41st meeting.

Source: SENACYT, September, 2022.