Dr Dick Kawooya coordinates advocacy in Africa for the project ‘Contributing to Public Interest Copyright Policy at WIPO: Promoting Access to Knowledge and the Right to Research’. He works closely with the EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager, Teresa Hackett. 

Dick is an Associate Professor at the School of Information Science (iSchool), University of South Carolina. He has 18 years’ experience of research, teaching and advocacy in the field of intellectual property (IP), with a special focus on IP and innovation, IP and the informal economy in Africa, and copyright and access to knowledge.

Dick has been involved in several major international projects. He was Lead Researcher for the African Copyright and Access to Knowledge (ACA2K) Project (2006-2010), and he participated in Open AIR, the African Innovation Research and Training Project (2010-2014) where he studied the role of IP in technology transfer in Africa’s emerging informal economies. 

Dick has served as a member of the Commonwealth of Learning (CoL) Copyright Expert Group and was EIFL’s first national copyright expert in Uganda, representing the Consortium of Ugandan University Libraries. 

Dick has consulted with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) on the study of innovation and intellectual property in developing countries. He has participated in negotiations at WIPO on copyright limitations and exceptions, including the Marrakesh Treaty for persons with print disabilities, and was an expert panelist at an International Conference on Copyright Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries, Archives, Museums and Educational & Research Institutions organized by WIPO in 2019. He has advised African delegates on copyright issues, and has participated in consultative meetings with the African Union Permanent Delegation in Geneva on copyright in the digital environment.

Dick holds a PhD in Communications and Information from the University of Tennessee, where his doctoral research explored Ugandan traditional musicians’ and their IP ownership.

Languages: English, Luganda

More about the EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme

Iryna Kuchma has been managing the EIFL Open Access Programme (EIFL-OA) since 2008. Working in collaboration with libraries and library consortia in more than 60 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe, she advocates for open access to research results, facilitates the development and implementation of open science policies and infrastructures, and provides support and training.

An expert in open access, open data and open science, Iryna has published several works (see the full list here), and contributed to recent reports including ‘Fostering Bibliodiversity in Scholarly Communications – A Call for Action!’; ‘Towards Sustainable Cooperative and Non-APC Publishing Models’; ‘Training in the European Open Science Cloud’, and ‘RDA COVID-19 Data Sharing Guidelines and Recommendations’.

Under Iryna's management, EIFL-OA’s many achievements include the establishment of more than 1,200 open access repositories and more than 4,000 open access journals in EIFL partner countries, opening up a wealth of new knowledge and research to the world. The programme has also supported the development of 176 institutional and eight national open access policies in EIFL partner countries, and has trained over 289,400 librarians, researchers, policy-makers and open access champions across the EIFL network.

Iryna’s contributions to EIFL’s work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic include curating the OpenAIRE COVID-19 Gateway and the Coronavirus Disease Research Community - COVID-19 on Zenodo.

Iryna sits on the boards of Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR), the Global Sustainability Coalition for Open Science Services (SCOSS) and the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD). She serves on the UNESCO Open Science Advisory Committee as an international expert. In addition, she serves on the advisory boards of the Community-led Open Publication Infrastructures Project (COPIM), and Open Access Week. Iryna co-chairs the OpenAIRE Training and Support Standing Committee, and is a member of the Coalition Publi.ca International Committee, the DSpace Community Advisory Team and the CODATA Policy and Legal Working Group. She is an Associate Editor for the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and a member of the DOAJ Council. In 2020 Iryna served as a Rapporteur for the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) Skills and Training Working Group, and is now serving on the EOSC Association Data stewardship curricula and career paths Task Force.

In 2013, Iryna received the Electronic Publishing Trust (EPT) for Development Annual Award, in recognition of her ‘efforts in the furtherance of open access to scholarly publications in the developing and emerging countries’.

Before joining EIFL, Iryna worked as an Information Programme Manager at the International Renaissance Foundation (part of the Soros Foundations Network in Ukraine) and also coordinated the Arts and Culture Programme there.

Iryna completed the PhD programme at the Institute of Social Sciences, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and has an M.A. in Cultural Studies from the National University ‘Kyiv-Mohyla Academy’, Ukraine.

Languages: English, French, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian

More about the EIFL Open Access Programme

Jevgenija Sevcova joined EIFL in 2016. Her key responsibilities include managing the General Assembly, supporting training and resource development for EIFL licensing coordinators and librarians in EIFL partner countries to ensure widespread adoption and usage of negotiated e-resources, and maintaining records of licensed content.

Jevgenija joined EIFL from the Lithuanian Research Library Consortium, where she works as databases manager and is responsible for projects administration, training, and for supporting Consortium members in ensuring sustained access to licensed content. In addition, Jevgenija provides methodological assistance to Lithuanian public libraries in evaluating, administrating and promoting e-resources.

Jevgenija is active in the field of information literacy. During the project ‘Libraries for Innovation’, she co-authored and published training materials to build library staff and library users’ online information skills. In addition, she provided training on information retrieval for journalism students.

Jevgenija holds an M.A. in Communication and Information from Vilnius University, Lithuania.

Languages: Lithuanian, English, Russian

Louise Stoddard’s portfolio includes raising the profile of EIFL by managing external communications, and communicating through international and regional print, broadcast and social media.

Louise joined EIFL in 2019. She has worked in journalism and development communications for the last 13 years. Her experience has been gained working across organizations including the United Nations, the Institute for Development Studies and various media outlets such as The Guardian and Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Louise has lived and worked in Timor-Leste, Nepal, Malawi, the Netherlands and the USA.

She holds a Masters in Journalism and a Bachelor of Science and Economics in International Development from The University of Wales, Swansea.

Languages: English, learning French and speaks some Dutch.

Ramune Petuchovaite oversees and contributes to development, delivery and evaluation of a range of activities which support piloting innovative public library services that contribute to community development.

Since 2012, Ramune has worked with over 30 public library projects focused on crucial community development needs, such as farming, health, employment, education and social inclusion, in more than 20 developing and transition economy countries. She managed and contributed to the development of a framework for capacity building of public librarians in Africa, and an international leadership programme for young African librarians.

Before joining EIFL, Ramune served as Chief Specialist at the Division of Information Society Development of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania. During her term at the Ministry of Culture, a countrywide project, ‘Libraries for Innovation’, was launched. This US$36-million government project, co-funded with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, supported over 1,300 public libraries in Lithuania to launch and improve services offering public access to computers and the internet, and to provide ICT training in communities. The project contributed to a significant increase (15%) in the number of regular internet users in Lithuania in the period 2008-2013. During Ramune’s term as Chief Specialist, the Ministry of Culture initiated changes to library legislation, improving library management and services.

Ramune has also lectured library and information students on library management, project management and other subjects at the Faculty of Communication, Vilnius University.

Ramune holds a library postgraduate degree from Vilnius University, Lithuania.

Languages: English, Lithuanian, Russian

More about the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme

Teresa Hackett oversees the delivery of a unique copyright service for libraries in over 25 developing and transition economy countries, developing  specialist copyright resources in multiple languages, and providing bespoke assistance on legislative issues.

With over 20 years’ experience as a leader engaged in public interest in national and international copyright reforms in the library sector at national and international levels, Teresa has been a frequent contributor at conferences and events around the world.

Her commitment and advocacy skills have helped make EIFL a leading voice for copyright law reform at the international level. At the the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), where EIFL has observer status, Teresa participates in negotiations for global copyright rules that promote access to knowledge for all, and has contributed to over 20 nations joining the landmark WIPO Marrakesh Treaty for persons with print disabilities

Prior to joining EIFL, Teresa held a number of policy, advocacy and technical positions. From 2000-2003, she was Director of the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations; before that she provided support to the European Commission library research programme. Teresa was a member of the Committee on Copyright and other Legal Matters of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) from 2011-2015 and the World Blind Union (WBU) Marrakesh Strategic Advisory Group.

In 2015, Teresa was awarded a Flash Grant as an agent of social change by the Shuttleworth Foundation for her work on copyright. In 2018, Teresa received the IFLA Medal in recognition of her distinguished contribution to IFLA and international librarianship, particularly in the field of copyright, and for her commitment to enabling equal access to information. In 2020, EIFL was selected as a finalist for the ABC International Excellence Award for Accessible Publishing in recognition of the work of the EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme.

Teresa has an honours degree in German, History and Politics from University College Dublin, Ireland, a postgraduate Diploma in Library and Information Studies from the University of North London, UK, and a postgraduate Diploma in Legal Studies from Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland.

Languages: English, German, Irish

More about the EIFL Copyright and Libraries Programme