Director of Documentation Services in the University of Minho, the Portuguese academic Eloy Rodrigues is one of the international speakers of TICAL2015, to be held between July 6 and 8, in Viña del Mar, Chile. In this interview, Rodrigues talks about his expectations for the conference and reveals the most important thing he will share with the participants of TICAL.
What are your expectations for the Conference and your participation in it?
I hope to better understand the reality of the Latin American universities, the challenges they are facing, the strategies they are developing to address these challenges and, in particular, the role of the information systems and the ICT in those strategies.
I also hope to contribute to TICAL participants experience by helping them to learn and think about the challenges and opportunities that the open science presents to the university information systems.
What motivated you to cross the Atlantic and join the event?
I accepted the invitation to participate in TICAL becuause of the desire to, as I said, better understand the reality of Latin American universities, but also to share with colleagues in the region my view of the role of the institutional repositories and because of the opportunity that I will have to make some additional visits and meetings in Chile and Peru, related to open access repositories.
How do you evaluate the importance of events like TICAL for the development of ICT and the professionals of the area?
Events like TICAL are always a great opportunity to share knowledge and experiences, either through the formal conference sessions or through personal contacts during the breaks and the social program. It is a favorable opportunity not only to meet new colleagues, but also to establish new collaborations, partnerships and projects.
Talking about the issues that will be addressed by you in the Conference, what is the most important thing you would like to highlight?
The scientific research is an international and global activity, supported by information infrastructures (e-infrastructures). On the other hand, there is a strong tendency for sharing and opening its results, which results in a growing recognition that the major investments that our societies are making in Science must have a greater impact if their results are openly available.
In this context, I intend to emphasize the role that the institutional repositories can play in the new environment of the digital, global, distributed and open science. In fact, the repositories can be the essential tool for the management of the search results (publications and data) produced locally and, simultaneously, through the adoption of interoperability standards, to participate and contribute to the global network of open access repositories. This network, supported by universities and other research centers around the world, is a sustainable, equitable and efficient way for the academic and scientific community to ensure the curating, the dissemination and the sharing of knowledge it produces.
Is this your first time in Chile? What do you know about the country and what do you want to do in your spare time during the Conference?
Yes, this will be my first visit to Chile. I hope to have the opportunity to meet other parts of the country after finishing TICAL because I'll be there a few more days for some additional visits and meetings, and also for a few days off at the end.
