<html><head><style type='text/css'>p { margin: 0; }</style></head><body><div style='font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000'>Hi there,<br><br>Exciting news <br><header class="entry-header">
<h1 class="entry-title">Astronomical agreement signed for big data!</h1>
</header>
<p dir="ltr">2 August 2013, Cape Town – The National Research
Foundation’s (NRF) three astronomical facilities have formed the South
African Astroinformatics Alliance (SA<sup>3</sup> pronounced “SA
cubed”), which serves as a virtual observatory for the country. The
directors of the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO),
Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) and the Square
Kilometer Array South Africa (SKASA) project signed a declaration
forming SA<sup>3</sup>. The three primary purposes of SA<sup>3</sup> are:</p>
<ul><li>
<p dir="ltr">to facilitate access by the South African astronomical
community to multi-wavelength astronomical data as well as to tools for
dealing with them;</p>
</li><li>
<p dir="ltr">to ensure that data produced by facilities in South Africa
are accessible to the international community (in a manner that does not
violate any ownership rights);</p>
</li><li>
<p dir="ltr">to develop human capital through schools and workshops that introduce people to data and tools of the virtual observatory</p>
</li></ul>More details here : http://www.sa3.ac.za/announcement_sa3/<br><br><div><span name="x"></span>-- <br>Regards<br><br>Thembela Mantungwa<br>S.A. Astronomical Observatory<br>Tel: 021 460 9319<br>Fax: 021 447 3639<br>Email: tm@saao.ac.za<br>Website: www.saao.ac.za / www.salt.ac.za<br><span name="x"></span><br></div><br></div></body></html>