Under the leadership of Martin Wittenberg, DataFirst was awarded the ‘Data for Research Award’ at the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) Awards. Known as the “Oscars” of the scientific community in South Africa, the NSTF awards are made annually for outstanding contributions to science, engineering and technology. In its 19th year, the NSTF awards were handed out at a glittering ceremony in Johannesburg on 29 June 2017.
DataFirst is the leading social science data archive in Africa that provides researchers with online access to survey and administrative micro-data from a number of countries across Africa. Wittenberg, a professor in UCT’s School of Economics is director of Datafirst and a SALDRU research associate. He is described by SALDRU’s Director, Murray Leibbrandt, as a SALDRU stalwart.
DataFirst was originally incubated by SALDRU.