We are thrilled to announce the keynote speaker for the National Open Research Festival, NORFest 2025: Ms. Joy Owango, Founding Director of the Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa).
NORFest 2025 will take place on 6-7 November 2025 at the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. This two-day festival will spotlight global open science, cross-cutting policy agendas and emerging themes in open research and innovation. The 2025 festival will centre on the theme of synergies, highlighting the interconnectedness of open research across national and international policy frameworks. The festival will bring together researchers, policymakers and innovators to explore how collective efforts in open research can drive meaningful change through both global and local research initiatives.
About Joy Owango
Ms. Joy Owango is an award-winning leader and advocate for open science. She is the Founding Director of TCC Africa, a pioneering trust established in 2006 and hosted at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. As the first African-based training centre dedicated to teaching effective communication skills to scientists, TCC Africa provides critical capacity support to improve African researchers’ output and visibility in scholarly and science communication.
Through her leadership, Ms. Owango has successfully built Global North–South collaborations, championing equitable access to open-source research discovery solutions for African governments and academic communities. TCC Africa plays a vital role in advocacy and awareness-building on open science across the continent of Africa.
Among her many initiatives, the latest TCC Africa project is the Africa PID Alliance, an open infrastructure activity whose mission is to secure the future of African innovation, indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage through the use of (Persistent Identifiers) PIDs. Her influence also extends globally: she serves on the Steering Committee of the Research Organization Registry (ROR) and at the International Science Council, as a member of the Steering Group on the Future of Scientific Publishing project.
Synergies at NORFest 2025
Ms. Owango’s expertise and vision align powerfully with this year’s theme of synergies. Her work exemplifies how open research can bridge geographies, foster collaboration and drive innovation on a global scale. Her keynote will inspire participants to consider not only how open research strengthens international connections but also how it can ensure that diverse knowledge systems across the globe are valued and preserved.
Join us at NORFest 2025, 6–7 November in Dublin, for an inspiring keynote by Ms. Joy Owango and a dynamic programme of panel discussions, lightning talks and interactive workshops. Full programme to be announced at the end of September.
