About this event#
The National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) hosted this two-day online discussion forum on 7–8 October 2026. It was run in partnership with the NSTF Science Councils and Statutory Bodies Sector (SciCom) and the UCT eResearch Centre. Day 2 coincided with International Research Software Engineer (RSE) Day.
Research software (source code, algorithms, scripts, computational workflows, simulation models and executable tools) underpins a growing share of research across disciplines. Yet it is often not systematically recognised in research evaluation, funding or institutional support. The forum brought together science councils, statutory bodies, universities, policymakers, infrastructure providers, research software practitioners, publishers and open science stakeholders to:
- build a shared picture of how research software is developed, used and supported across South African public research organisations
- connect South African experience to the international RSE movement
- examine research software as a first-class research output and research software professionals as a critical part of the research workforce
- explore national and international policy developments, including OECD work, Research Software Alliance (ReSA) initiatives and the 2026 South African Open Science Policy
- consider expectations for sharing the code that underlies academic publications
Day 1 mapped research software in practice across South African organisations. Day 2 focused on recognition, policy, open science and scholarly publishing, and ended with a multi-stakeholder panel.
Programme#
Speaker names link to their biographies (PDF). Slides, videos and biographies are all published by the NSTF.
Day 1 — Research software in practice: mapping the South African landscape (7 October)#
| Talk | Speaker | Slides | Video |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome and introductions | Jansie Niehaus (NSTF) | — | — |
| Research software as enabler and research output | Peter van Heusden (South African National Bioinformatics Institute, UWC) and Anelda van der Walt (UCT) | 📄 Slides | ▶ Video |
| The missing middle: who employs the people who maintain research software? | Prof Mattia Vaccari (UCT eResearch Centre) | 📄 Slides | ▶ Video |
| Q&A | Peter van Heusden, Anelda van der Walt and Prof Mattia Vaccari | — | ▶ Video |
| From Code and Platforms to Impact: Research Software in Biostatistics and Public Health | Prof Tarylee Reddy (SAMRC) | 📄 Slides | ▶ Video |
| Hardware is not enough: research software as enabler and output at South Africa’s national HPC | Mthetho Sovara (CSIR) | 📄 Slides | ▶ Video |
| Q&A | Prof Tarylee Reddy and Mthetho Sovara | — | ▶ Video |
| Beyond the Data Portal: From Scripts to Systems — Evolving Research Software for Environmental Science at SAEON | Dr Marc Pienaar (SAEON, NRF) | 📄 Slides | ▶ Video |
| Drop in the Digital Ocean: A Smartphone-based System for Water Quality Monitoring in South Africa using Machine Learning | Sanet Witbooi (Ninety One, previously Water Research Commission) | 📄 Slides | ▶ Video |
| Q&A | Dr Marc Pienaar and Sanet Witbooi | — | ▶ Video |
| Code for conservation: The data science evolution of South Africa’s National Biodiversity Assessment | Dr Lize von Staden (SANBI) | 📄 Slides | ▶ Video |
| The role of research software at the Council for Geoscience | Dr Patrick Cole (Council for Geoscience) | 📄 Slides | ▶ Video |
Day 2 — Recognition, policy and the future of research software (8 October, International RSE Day)#
| Talk | Speaker | Slides | Video |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome and introductions | Anelda van der Walt (UCT) | — | — |
| Unpacking the NRF’s Role in South Africa’s Research Software Development | Alistair White (NRF) | 📄 Slides | ▶ Video |
| Q&A | Alistair White | — | ▶ Video |
| Shaping International Research Software Policy | Dr Michelle Barker (Research Software Alliance) | 📄 Slides | ▶ Video |
| Policies concerning Publicly Funded Research Software in the Age of Artificial Intelligence | Dr Alan Paic (OECD) | 📄 Slides | ▶ Video |
| Open Science Eco-System and its Implications on Research Software | Dr Adrian Tiplady (SARAO) | — | ▶ Video |
| The role of Research Offices in supporting research software as research outputs | Natalie le Roux (UCT) | 📄 Slides | ▶ Video |
| Repeatability and transparency: why code belongs in the main text | Dr Christel Hansen (South African Journal of Geomatics) | 📄 Slides | ▶ Video |
| Panel discussion — Building Recognition: What Does Research Software Need to Thrive? Central question: What will it take for research software and the people who develop, maintain and sustain it to be recognised and supported as an integral part of South Africa’s research system? |
| — | ▶ Video |
| From Research Data and Computational Methods to Policy Intelligence and Societal Impact at the HSRC | Dr Mercy Ngungu (HSRC) | 📄 Slides | ▶ Video |
Recordings and resources#
- Forum concept document (PDF)
- Speaker biographies for Day 1 and Day 2 (PDFs)
- NSTF event page with recordings, slides and useful links
Background reading#
- van der Walt, A., Martin, K., Panji, S., Trusler, A., Vaccari, M., & Van Heusden, P. (2025). Research software: A key (neglected) component of the digital research infrastructure ecosystem. South African Journal of Science, 121(11/12).
- Barker, M., et al. (2025). PRO4RS WG Final Report. Zenodo.
- South African Open Science Policy (2026)