The South African SDG Hub introduced a new search feature that simplifies the process of finding the information needed to inform sustainable development policy decisions. Intelligent Search enables users to receive literature recommendations based on a PDF file scan performed by a machine-learning algorithm.

Hosted by the University of Pretoria, the South African SDG Hub is a digital platform that hosts more than 150,000 research articles. It uses machine learning to classify these articles in terms of one or several SDGs.

“Users get to the most relevant research on our site by entering a search term,” Professor Willem Fourie explained. “But it’s not always easy to know which search terms are relevant.” Instead of having to decide on the most relevant keywords, users can upload the PDF file they are working on to be directed to the most relevant articles. PDF files that users provide are not saved and do not remain on the platform’s servers.

The South African SDG Hub hosts only peer-reviewed articles previously stored in the repositories of South Africa’s public universities as well as several international universities, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Sydney, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the University of Cambridge.

“We want as many people as possible to use the site – NGOs, individuals, anybody,” Fourie said. “It gives them access to research at no cost, and it is to the benefit of both researchers and users of their research.”

The South African SDG Hub was originally launched in 2017 and is supported by the South African government and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). The new tool went live on 13 February 2023. [University of Pretoria News Release] [South African SDG Hub] [How to Use Intelligent Search]