User talk:SimonHConnell

Your edits AfLS
I have reverted all your recent edits as they were not referenced. Please refrain from adding or editing any WP without references. In case you have any issues you need to state that at the talk. If you are Professor Simon H Connell from AfLS foundation, then you need to declare that before editing or you risk being blocked from editing. Please familiarise yourself with Wikipedia policies before editing again FuzzyMagma (talk) 23:59, 3 December 2022 (UTC)


 * FuzzyMagma. This is Prof Simon Connell from the AfLS foundation. The AfLS Exec considered your initial article and we felt it was not accurate. We were not consulted prior to its flighting whereas it is about the project and movement we have committed our energies to for three decades, for Africa. All are welcome to get involved, and new players get involved to the benefit of Africa all the time. However, to date it is a fact that the larger community with the most effort and momentum is the AfLS and partners. Your article does not reflect the history and status as chronicled in the many articles we have authored, which have also appeared in very reputable journals. As such, your article is poorly researched. It is in part sensationalist, even afro-pessimistic. One can represent something, with fewer references, and a selection of references, but this may not be an balanced or accurate reflection.  We have no prior knowledge of you or your pedigree of involvement in this area. In discussion, we decided to remedy the article. We understood there should be a community process, and we contributed to that, while you unilaterally removed our contribution, which is entirely authentic. In fact you are not correct, the edits added were in indeed referenced, the record shows the added references. It is somewhat concerning to us that such a situation can arise. We hope you read the additional references added, and familiarise yourself more completely with this entire project, and invite you to join us in building towards a Light Source for Africa. SimonHConnell (talk) 08:53, 4 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Thanks for your reply and please feel free to edit the page but you need to reference what you edit. The reasons to why I have removed your previous edits:
 * 1. No reliable reference supplied. The edit you made didn’t have any references at all and Wikipedia is not the place for original research. Please consider WP as the place where all reliable references are summarised. See WP:RS and WP:OR
 * 2. in your introduction you used a no-neutral point of views, this might but due to your involvement with the project which makes you treat this Wikipedia page as an extension to your efforts, it is not. See WP:NOPV and WP:COI
 * 3. You shifted the narrative from what is included in the literature to enforce your bias. Again you clearly have a conflict of interest and should not edit unless you feel you won’t be influenced by that.
 * as of your comment, no one need to consult you prior to writing a Wikipedia page, it’s not an advertisement to you effort but a neutral summary to what is available online. If you think we missed any references please feel free to send them here and I will make sure to include them. Please note that your organisation website is not a reliable reference.
 * 4. I have looked to your previous contribuations and you didn’t add any references actually you removed 3 references that were critical to that project. You added a new logo which I will make sure to include.
 * again this is not an extension to your organisation. WP is a summary of credible sources. FuzzyMagma (talk) 09:30, 4 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Your point 1.
 * The references I supplied are firstly The African Review of Physics (2018) 13: 0019 "The African Light Source Project" which establishes as I claim the AfLS conversation started with the the first uses of Light Sources on the continent referenced therein in the early nineties. There are many participants, and it was initially informal. However it was soon codified in writing as I also mentioned and as per reference 8 of this reference which I also provided,
 * S.K. Mtingwa, H. Winick, “Synchrotron light sources in developing countries” Modern Physics Letters A 33/9 (2018) 1830003.
 * So this establishes I added 2 references. I am not happy you say I didn't add any new (non-website) references. Its not correct. These references motivated my change in the first paragraph, where you also do not have any citation justifying your assertion there. So this leads us essentially to the formal start of the AfLS project at the 2015 Conference. On the other hand, the AAS-ASI first began in 2019 for one year, then it ceased and restarted agin after the COVID. By this time the AfLS is working with many Pan African and African National professional organisations by discipline, and other stakeholders, reflected in many written declarations of support.
 * You have relied very heavily on one reference which focuses on a matter which is likely to be temporary and is a short span of time considering the timescale of this project. I would ask you to ask yourself, is this balanced. Does it reflect the truth. How does it weigh, as a single news article, against the background of other articles. Is it not to be expected that such a big project as the AfLS should not go through phases where there several proponents. In fact, there are many proponents of the AfLS. In each of several disciplines, there are proponents. In each region. So also in the different major academies. In the majority, the efforts are coherent. So, it would not be correct to imagine there are only two proponents here, or portray that there is a dominant impression that they are working against each other. We do not want to invoke the colonial caricature of Africa. I have given you additional sources, and some you already had, and certainly, the message of conflict is not what many of us see as the dominant message. We see many proponents, and essentially most working together for the same goal.
 * Your point 2
 * I guess this depends on your standpoint. As I said, if one effectively highlights a problem, based on one reference, emphasise two organisations (when actually there are many and mostly working well together). Also, why further highlight what Africa can't afford. We don't want Africa forever in the 3rd world. We have a vision of Africa ascendant. Who has provided very significant contributions to SALT, to SKA, to Antarctic Research and others ? Is it a foregone conclusion Africa will never have an AfLS. What will be the purpose of this text then, when indeed, we one day establish the AfLS. I personally have an Afro-optimism approach, and its based on the growing excellence of African Science.
 * Your Point 3
 * Again, I could say you have bias.
 * Many of us would not have deduced conflicts, governance problems, affordability problems from the spread of evidence.
 * Really I don't want this to be personal.
 * I would prefer you to note the references I have drawn your attention, and the more positive viewpoint.
 * For example, you have referenced a whole Youtube talk of mine., which is very positive.
 * But I feel you are not using this.
 * I mention the rationale. Our interaction with Governments has lead to us not emphasising that Africa should have a Advanced Light Source simply because its the only continent without one. Our governments reject this rationale. Its not about keeping up with the Jones's. Our African Governments want to see this as the primary rationale, as you see in the slides of that YouTube talk. Identify challenges --> Identify the sciences that can address the challenges --> Identify the Infrastructures that best supports these sciences. I appreciate very much their wisdom in this. And this has a reference ... my talk. Hence the main text that I added.
 * Or, again for the rationale, we have the Nature Article, which you also quote, where I see this
 * "Africa has a population of over 1 billion that is projected to outpace the rest of the world in the next 100 years. Likewise, there is a growing need for innovation to address the challenges that impact the lives of many Africans today. Meeting these challenges calls for investment in science, technology and innovation, including large-scale research infrastructure. To help answer this need, the African Light Source (AfLS) Foundation, along with its partner organizations, is working to establish the first advanced light source on the African continent."
 * I would rather see these elements in the rationale. Then, after establishing a more sober and well reasoned rationale (based on evidence), you can then still make your observation about the lack of such a facility in Africa. Also you can fix the spelling of rationale.
 * Further ... You say, quoting a conference website that is dated, that we have made only two conferences since our first one. But there are more.
 * You can for example look at this collection of 7.
 * https://www.africanlightsource.org/afls-roadmap-conferences-and-schools/
 * Your point 4.
 * My answers are similar.
 * Additional point.
 * You are attributing the commitment by the Ghanaian President to support the AfLS to the ASI. This is not correct.
 * At this stage, the ASI was not yet formed, and in this news article, it's clear it's the AfLS Conference which triggered this commitment.
 * https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2019/01/30/ghana-to-champion-african-light-source-akufo-addo/
 * Also, the AAS participated as session organisers in the AfLS Conference in 2019 in Ghana, so there was some joint work in that conference.
 * I would therefore suggest the mention of the commitment by the Ghanaian President be moved to the AfLS section, where you now have a reference to make this adjustment.
 * When the ASI has achieved an event, or a decision, or drafted a document, then indeed, the section describing their work would be longer.
 * In the meantime, the AfLS will continue its momentum, for Africa, and welcome all to press on towards an AfLS, including the AAS, as many of us are members of that eminent and important organisation for Africa. SimonHConnell (talk) 21:50, 4 December 2022 (UTC)
 * 1. You have removed Synchrotron Techniques for African Research and Technology: A Step-Change in Structural Biology and Energy Materials, Plan for Africa's first synchrotron light source starts to crystallize, and ONLINE: The Third African Synchrotron Light Source Conference (AfLS3) | EAIFR and added Synchrotron light sources in developing countries. The fact of you doing this is documented here .. so no you did not add 2 references.
 * I will go through the new source, i.e., Synchrotron light sources in developing countries, during this weekend and make sure to include it, as it is a credible source.
 * You have mentioned that the
 * A. These references motivated my change in the first paragraph, where you also do not have any citation justifying your assertion there., However, the lead sentence is a summary of what is written in the page, similarly to scientific articles, it does not need to be cited. The citation is provided in the Scrutiny section which you tried to erase, completely!
 * B. You have relied very heavily on one reference which focuses on a matter which is likely to be temporary and is a short span of time considering the timescale of this project. This true but it is a credible reference and you need to address the problem that is raise, i.e., leadership and money, whether by publishing a direct rebuttal sent to Nature which published the article or other journal. Wikipedia is not the place for that.
 * The page clearly indicated that AfLS and ASI use similar pool of resources but inside that article Shaaban Khalil explicitly mentioned that ASI are the one who should lead, not AfLS. You need to address that but in not on WP.
 * 2. Mostly addressed in 1.B, you seriously need to issue a rebuttal to that article, published in Nature or any credible sources, and I will make sure to include your opinion. The other points, we have discussed this before, Wikipedia is neutral, not pessimistic, not optimistic, and definitely not personal, see Neutral point of view
 * 3. Raise similar baise points addressed in 1.B, and I did not referenced a whole Youtube talk, I added as an external link as it is checks out as a credible source (see Reliable sources) but it helps people who are interested on the topic to know you and AfLS.
 * The rational was summarised from an article, but I will try to improve it from the other sources including the ones you have shared but I will not include your talk and I have now included a summary of the sentence you have mentioned and fixed rationale.
 * 4. You are attributing the commitment by the Ghanaian President to support the AfLS to the ASI. This is not correct., I did not, I attribute the birth of ASI to these events not as result but as precursor, i.e., 32nd african union meeting and Ghanaian President call. If you understood this way then I need to rephrase it also - as you referenced - to emphasis AfLS role in ASI creation.
 * A. I would therefore suggest the mention of the commitment by the Ghanaian President be moved to the AfLS section, where you now have a reference to make this adjustment. sure, I will add it
 * B. When the ASI has achieved an event, or a decision, or drafted a document, then indeed, the section describing their work would be longer. I understand your point, I will try to expand on AfLS section as (from literature) they have done way more and deserve better coverage, for that I apologise.
 * Good luck .. FuzzyMagma (talk) 15:34, 5 December 2022 (UTC)
 * OK ... you have missed this reference I added .. S.K. Mtingwa, H. Winick, “Synchrotron light sources in developing countries” Modern Physics Letters A 33/9 (2018) 1830003 ... so it does make 2. That is important also for the history. The other two of yours ... I am quite happy you bring them back ,... the Third one of conference is really not a good one. The AfLS3 in Rwanda 2021 could not happen, did not happen, as COVID went on and on. So its a stale web site. Really you should look here for the list of conferences. http://www.africanlightsource.org/afls-roadmap-conferences-and-schools/
 * Then if you dont want to quote anything from the YouTube video, that same sentiment for the Rationale - Identify challenges --> Identify the sciences that can address the challenges --> Identify the Infrastructures that best supports these sciences - is also here in an article for Research Professional news https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-views-of-europe-2022-5-african-light-source-aims-for-science-with-ubuntu/ where you see this line .... "An advanced light source in Africa would vastly strengthen the continent’s capacity to do the science needed to address its challenges. These include research related to the burden of disease, mineral exploration and extraction, and meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals."
 * But the best articulation is the one I have given you, and its the primary one we are using all the time now.
 * Now I fond a new reference for the rationale on this page, I hope you will use it, its what I feel is the best articulation of the rationale. I quoted it before .... https://indico.cern.ch/event/1061921/contributions/4733286/
 * This is from a process where the continent is submitting Letters of Intent for a community driven process, very democratic, content wide, to assist policymakers, and produce ultimately an advisory document. We call it the Africans Strategy for Fundamental and Applied Physics.
 * Now you also say you took the rationale from the START article. This article does say, in the quote from Trevor Sewell, that it sees a START as having a role toward the AfLS. This is exactly what I mean when I say there are many stakeholders, and they can all participate towards the AfLS, under their own brand. However, START is ultimately British, and not African, and while we 100% value and appreciate START, we want the rationale of the AfLS to come from African Voices. So I am not happy the START article delivers the rationale and the negative aspects of the Nature article gets such prominence. The rationale must come mostly from articles prepared by Africans. The work of the AAS-ASI will play its role together with many stakeholders. We can really highlight the many. For example, you see them cataloged in the co-organisers of the AfLS Conferences, such as here https://events.saip.org.za/event/227/ or on the AfLS site as here https://www.africanlightsource.org/support-donate-and-hall-of-honour/.
 * I really feel the stronger more accurate message is the AfLS has a lot of diverse support and momentum, and its quite fine for that support to be with a multitude of brands.
 * For the other points you raised, thanks ... I await a new version. SimonHConnell (talk) 16:46, 5 December 2022 (UTC)
 * Hi FuzzyMagma .... Just checking if you are going to look at the points I made above in reply to your previous message. SimonHConnell (talk) 13:46, 12 December 2022 (UTC)
 * You can submit what you think need to be edited to an Editor on the Talk:African Light Source. Try to seperate them into small point that are well referenced FuzzyMagma (talk) 00:51, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Hi FuzzyMagma,
 * I want to draw your attention to your ref 12 and the text where you say the AAS-ASI started in 2019.
 * This reference is stale. The original ref is now stored on the WWW here ... https://old.aasciences.africa/news/african-synchrotron-initiative-asi-think-tank.
 * It is ambiguous about the start date. I would say the most ethical and true comment is it started in 2022 Jan, when it officially launched, as a formal body, with an external presence, as that reference claims. This interpretation of that reference is validated by this new reference .. See the AAS-ASI first minutes ... now published here ... https://indico.cern.ch/event/1115085/attachments/2474264/4245514/Minutes%201st%20ASI%20Meeting%20of%2020th%20January%202022%20v2.pdf
 * The Chair of the AAS-ASI gave a slide presentation which indicated the "Covid period" (2020-2021) had no activity and the AAS had to "remember" its intention of an AAS-ASI afterwards. Unfortunately this link is not public. In any case, I am not aware, and cannot find, any other outputs or records of activities the AAS-ASI produced 2019-2021.
 * So if you agree, please correct the date for this point.
 * This is important, as the AfLS has an enormous footprint in documented evidence showing its momentum, industry, outputs in this space, which are not really reflecting in this Wiki article .... by comparison to other perceptions that are otherwise supported. SimonHConnell (talk) 11:25, 15 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks @SimonHConnell for the comment. I have now added this information. For future recommendation, you can go to the page talk, here Talk:African Light Source and recommend what need to be amended. As I might not be around and other editors will be happy to help given your conflict of interest. FuzzyMagma (talk) 18:30, 15 August 2023 (UTC)

Managing a conflict of interest
Hello, SimonHConnell. We welcome your contributions, but if you have an external relationship with the people, places or things you have written about on the page African Light Source, you may have a conflict of interest (COI). Editors with a conflict of interest may be unduly influenced by their connection to the topic. See the conflict of interest guideline and FAQ for organizations for more information. We ask that you:


 * avoid editing or creating articles about yourself, your family, friends, colleagues, company, organization, clients, or competitors;
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In addition, you are required by the Wikimedia Foundation's terms of use to disclose your employer, client, and affiliation with respect to any contribution which forms all or part of work for which you receive, or expect to receive, compensation. See Paid-contribution disclosure.

Also, editing for the purpose of advertising, publicising, or promoting anyone or anything is not permitted. Thank you. Theroadislong (talk) 09:55, 4 December 2022 (UTC)

AfLS Conference update
Dear Editor,

Can you please update the text "Since the first conference, there have been two further conferences." to "Since the first conference, there have been four further conferences. ref 2nd. https://events.saip.org.za/event/145/ ref 3rd.  https://events.saip.org.za/event/211/ ref 4th.  https://events.saip.org.za/event/170/ ref 5th.  https://events.saip.org.za/event/227/ and the 6th Conference is to be held in Nov 2023 ref 6th.  https://events.saip.org.za/event/243/"

Then would you please put the reference link to the 1st Conference where you mention it "In November 2015, the First AfLS Conference" ref 1st. https://events.saip.org.za/event/61/

Thanks SimonHConnell (talk) 07:07, 16 August 2023 (UTC)


 * included and good luck with the Nov. meeting FuzzyMagma (talk) 15:01, 17 August 2023 (UTC)