Muscat, The Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation and Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) signed here today a programme of cooperation to run and manage the Oman Research Repository, codenamed “Shuaa”.

The programme was signed by Dr. Rahma Ibrahim Al Mahrouqi, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation and HH Sayyid Dr. Fahd Al Julanda Al Said, Vice Chancellor of SQU.

As per the programme, SQU will archive, review and contract with data entry specialists, as well as monitoring the entries to the platform by using the DSpace software.

The signing ceremony coincided with the launch of the electronic platform of Shuaa.

Dr. Said Abdullah Al Haddabi, Undersecretary for Research and Innovation said that the repository is considered a central archive for Omani intellectual production. Shuaa is based on cooperation between individuals, Omani academic institutions and higher education institutions, as well as research, intellectual and cultural establishments. He added that Shuaa supports and publishes e-academic research papers and the content can be accessed through a single e-portal.

On his turn, Dr. Nabhan Harith Al Harrasi, Dean of the College of Arts and Social Sciences at SQU, Head of the Executive Committee of Shuaa, said that over 10,000 full-text scientific resources have already been uploaded into the platform and the committee aims to add another 10,000 resources annually, starting from 2022.

Source: Oman News Agency