Ten Simple Rules for Organizing a Virtual Conference—Anywhere

Bourne, Philip E. and Gichora, Nelson N. and Fatumo, Segun A. and Ngara, Mtakai V. and Chelbat, Noura and Ramdayal, Kavisha and Opap, Kenneth B. and Siwo, Geoffrey H. and Adebiyi, Marion and El Gonnouni, Amina and Zofou, Denis and Maurady, Amal A. M. and Adebiyi, Ezekiel F. and de Villiers, Etienne P. and Masiga, Daniel K. and Bizzaro, Jeffrey W. and Suravajhala, Prashanth and Ommeh, Sheila C. and Hide, Winston (2010) Ten Simple Rules for Organizing a Virtual Conference—Anywhere. PLoS Computational Biology, 6 (2). ISSN 1553-7358

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Abstract

The First African Virtual Conference on Bioinformatics 2009 (AFBIX09) [1], organized by the Bioinformatics Organization [2] and the International Society for Computa�tional Biology Student Council’s Regional Student Groups of Africa and Morocco (ISCBSC RSG-Africa and RSG-Morocco) [3] received support from the African Society for Bioinformatics and Computa�tional Biology (ASBCB) [4]. The aim was to provide students and scientists in the bioinformatics and computational biology fields a chance to network through a unique platform conceptualized as ‘‘hubs.’’ These hubs then gave participants the opportunity to foster both physical and virtual interac�tions as well as develop collaborations, irrespective of geographical location. Virtual conferencing may prove to be an effective low-cost strategy for conveying bioinformatics and computational biology education to African scientists who other�wise would be deprived of the opportunity. Unlike conventional conferences, virtual conferencing permits the involvement of a greater number of participants who would otherwise be unable to participate in events of this breadth owing to (1) limited travel fellowships, if any; (2) lack of time to travel to distant conference locations; and (3) insufficient accommodation and subsis�tence funds. These factors apply in general to the post-/undergraduate student com�munity and especially to the target audi�ences that reside in developing countries. Minimizing the requirement to travel also means that the availability of invited speakers is greatly increased, improving the chances of attracting highly relevant and high-impact presenters.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science
Depositing User:	Mr Uchechukwu F. Ekpendu
Date Deposited:	07 Jul 2021 10:51
Last Modified:	07 Jul 2021 10:51
URI:	https://eprints.lmu.edu.ng/id/eprint/3226

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