Information and Communication Management for Rural and Agricultural Development in Near East and North Africa Region

Knowledge Management and Networking For Development – NENAPGRN CB Meeting 18– 0 Sept 2012

Information and Communication Managementfor Rural and Agricultural Developmentin Near East and North Africa Region

(AARINENA.RAIS/ICM4ARD):Outputs and Lessons Learned

Magdi LatifKnowledge and Information Management Officerg g

Knowledge and Capacity For Development DivisionKnowledge Exchange, Research and Extension Office

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations


AARINENA RAIS

To strengthen the capacity of the Ministries of Agriculture

NERAKIN Initiative: Immediate Objective (2007)AARINENA RAIS

To strengthen the capacity of the Ministries of Agriculture

and agricultural and rural research institutions for effective

i f ti t d k l d h iinformation management and knowledge exchange in

support of rural and agricultural development in the region

“The regional initiative will add value in a coherent way to nationalThe regional initiative will add value in a coherent way to national system/networks, not substitute them.”“Build infrastructure to network all ARC agricultural institutions through a regional portal as well as through national portals ”


portal as well as through national portals.


NERAKIN Initiative: Development Objective

To enhance rural and agricultural development in Near East and North Africa through strengthening information and knowledge access and exchange, providing mechanisms to:

• strengthen, coordinate, and add value to national and regional agricultural initiatives

• improve performance of farmers and agrarian p p gbusinesses.



NERAKIN Ph I O t t 2007

1 A il t NERAKIN R i l S t f t t

NERAKIN Phase I Outputs: 2007

1- A pilot NERAKIN Regional System for content management and information exchange.

2 Id tifi ti f t h i l i tit ti itt d t2- Identification of technical institutions committed to capacity building in IKM.

3 S l t d ti l t h i l t ff iti d h t3- Selected national technical staff sensitized on how to use NERAKIN Regional System.

4 Pil t ti l k l d d i f ti t4- Pilot national knowledge and information management systems/networks (i.e. Egypt, Jordan, Oman, etc.).



Offi i l l h f NERAKIN i l t l

NERAKIN Phase II Outputs: 2008/2012

• Official launch of NERAKIN regional portal

• Training of selected national technical staff to contribute to NERAKIN systemto NERAKIN system

• Development of the regional thematic knowledge networks (Starting with Biotechnology Network).( g gy )

• Development of the regional collaborative network based on partnerships for enhanced knowledge-sharing and learning at national level

• Securing active commitment from stakeholders to develop national IKM systems/networks


develop national IKM systems/networks


NERAKIN 2012 Interface



OutputsOutputs

Regional Thematic Networks (from 2008 – present)

R i l A i lt l Bi t h l N t k N E t d Regional Agricultural Biotechnology Network Near East and North Africa - RABNENA

Near East Plant Protection Network – NEPP-NET

Regional Virtual Extension Research Communication Network of Near East and North Africa – VERCON Near East

Near East and North Africa Regional Network for Agricultural Policies – NENARNAP

Preventive Desert Locust Management Network (EMPRES) g ( )and Commission for Controlling the Desert Locust in the Central Region (CRC) Regional Network];

Aquaculture Information system - RAIS


Aquaculture Information system - RAIS


Near East Regional Agricultural Biotechnology Network



RABNENARABNENA BACKEND



Near East Plant Protection Network



Near East North Africa Regional Network for Agricultural Policy



CRC-EMPRES





Regional Activities for NIFPs May 2007 in Egypt: Regional training workshop on “Information Systems for

Agricultural Research for Development” in collaboration with AARINENA, GFAR, FAO, ICARDA, NARIC. Participation: Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar Morocco Sudan and YemenQatar, Morocco, Sudan and Yemen.

January 2008 in Oman: Regional Workshop for Strengthening National ICM Focal Units in Near East Region for strengthening and developing the agricultural information systems and Identifying stakeholders and beneficiaries of IS, and their needs. Participation: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco , Lebanon ,Libya ,Oman, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen

October 2008 in Syria: Official launch of Near East and North Africa Rural and Agric lt ral Kno ledge and Information (Nerakin RAIS)Agricultural Knowledge and Information (Nerakin-RAIS)

May 2009 in Egypt: Regional Training Workshop "Building National Capacities in Information and Knowledge In Support of Agricultural Research for Development in Near East Region“ - AARINENA, FAO, GFAR, and ICARDA. Participation:in Near East Region AARINENA, FAO, GFAR, and ICARDA. Participation: Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen

October 2011 in Jordan: the regional Training of Trainers Workshop on


Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development (CIARD) that was organized by AARINENA in collaboration with FAO and GFAR.


Regional Activities for Networks

December 2008: Participated and provided contribution to Regional Agricultural Biotechnology Network Expert Consultation Meeting. Egypt, Cyprus, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia , Yemen.

December 2010: Organized regional Workshop on Knowledge Exchange Management System for Strengthening Rural Development (Near East Regional VERCON Network). Egypt, Jordon, Lebanon, Lib M O S d S i T i YLibya, Morocco, Oman, Sudan, Syria, Tunis, Yemen.

December 2010: Organized regional Meeting on Establishment of Near East Plant Protection Network. Algeria, Egypt, Jordon, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunis, UAE, Yemen.




January 2012: A regional expert consultation meeting was held in Cairo, Egypt for the establishment of COFO-WANA and attended by 19 representatives of farmers unions and associations from the countries ofrepresentatives of farmers unions and associations from the countries of the region: FAO, AARINENA and GFAR are co-founder and cosponsored of Consortium of Farmers Organizations for Agriculture Research for Development in West Asia-North Africa Region.

July 2012: Regional training workshop was organized for 12 member countries Institutions on Regional Agricultural Biotechnology Network (RABNENA) f t th i R i l C ti d K l d(RABNENA) for strengthening Regional Cooperation and Knowledge Sharing. Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen.

September 2012: Development of PGR Information and Knowledge Network – Regional consultation meeting of the Coordinating Board of the Near East and North Africa Plant Genetic Resources Network


(NENAPGRN)



November 2012: Regional training workshop will be organized for 16 member countries Institutions on Building national institutional gcapacities in Near East Plant Protection Network (NEPP-NET) for strengthening regional cooperation and knowledge sharing for development.development.

November 2012: National training workshops will be organized for 10 ti l i tit t (A i R h I tit t d U i iti ) i10 national institutes (Agric Research Institutes and Universities) in Egypt on institutional Digital Repository – Web Document Information Management System.



Regional involvement in national activitiesgCountries in the Region can now take advantage of a full range of conceptual models and networks that give stakeholders access to all major research on agricultural science and technology. These fall intomajor research on agricultural science and technology. These fall into three broad categories.

projects designed to build capacity for developing effectiveprojects designed to build capacity for developing effective information management systems based on stakeholders’ needs to manage, disseminate and share relevant information and knowledge relating to agricultural development and food security policies

initiatives developed to help organizations active in agricultural science to publish and disseminate the results of their work

facilitating access to scientific literature in agriculture appearing in peer-reviewed learned journals, published commercially and sold at


p j , p yprices which are unaffordable in many countries


Global initiatives to improvepaccess to and exchange of informationon agricultural science and technology

Recent Developments AGRIS – IISAST (International Information Systems

for Agricultural Science and Technology)

AGORA - Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture

CIARD - Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development


IMARK - Information Management Resource Kit


Mobilizing and Providing Access toMobilizing and Providing Access to Agricultural Information

AGRIS P idi i l l h d d l AGRIS – Providing agricultural research and development institutions with an avenue to publish and disseminate the outputs of their work

AGORA - Providing access to the world’s scientific literature in agriculture in peer-reviewed learned journals

CIARD – Providing commitment to promote the sharing of data, information, and knowledge in a global network of truly public collections of information, based on a Manifesto and a common set of Principles.

IMARK - providing online and face to face training for capacity B ildi


Building


Information Standards and Tools

AGMES – Agricultural Metadata Element Set

for Content Management

AGRIS Application Profile AGROVOC Arabic/English Real Simple Syndicate RSS Real Simple Syndicate - RSS Open Archives Initiative Compliance Online Web services Software – MySQL Open Source CIARD Manifesto and a common set of

PrinciplesAIMS

PrinciplesTo develop and promote interoperability standards to facilitate the efficient dissemination of content.

interoperability is connecting people, data and diverse systems.


www.fao.org/aims


Regional involvement in national activitiesRegional involvement in national activities National and Institutional Information and Knowledge Networks

N ti l t k National networks Egypt – NARIMS Jordan – NAIS

O MAFNET/NAKEMS Oman – MAFNET/NAKEMS

Tools for institution and country levels - Agricultural Information System (AIS), Digital Institutional Repository (Web-DIMS) & WebAgris

Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA)

Rural Information and Knowledge NetworksRural Information and Knowledge Networks Egypt – Virtual Extension Research Communication Network Egypt – Rural and Agricultural Development Communication Network



Oman Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Information Network (MAFNET)



Oman National Agricultural Knowledge Exchange Management System (NAKEMS



Jordan National Agricultural Information System (NAIS)



Iraq Rural and Agricultural Knowledge Exchange Network



Institutional Digital Repository Web Document Information Management System (Web DIMS)Web Document Information Management System (Web DIMS)



VERCON Network RADCON Network







Knowledge Management Platforms Developed for RNE for g g pstrengthening communication and improving visibility

R i l W b it f R i l Offi f th N E t d• Regional Website of Regional Office for the Near East and North Africa–Phase II.

• NERC and NERC Updates Website. p• Regional Agricultural Portal for Near East and North Africa –

Phase II.• E-Newsletter of Regional Office for the Near East.• Sub Regional Website for North Africa (Pilot).

Near East Regional Skill Mix Roster Experts Information• Near East Regional Skill Mix Roster – Experts Information Management System – Phase II.

• Near East Lands & Water Days and WFD Drawing Contest.


y g

FAO/RNE English Website FAO/RNE Arabic Website


FAO/RNE English Agriculture Portal FAO/RNE Arabic Agriculture Portal



FAO/RNE English E-Newsletter FAO/RNE Arabic E-Newsletter



FAO NEAREAST TWITTER



FAO/RNE ROSTER



FAO/RNE Pilot Sub Regional and Country Offices Websites



FAO Near East Land & Water Days





Benefits of partnerships & networking

• A collaborative system and effective communication• A collaborative system and effective communication,

• Exchange of information and knowledge,

• Enhanced technical cooperation,

• Reduced costs of operationReduced costs of operation,

• Synergies in information management,

• Use of agreed standards, methodologies and tools.



L L dLessons Learned

ENABLING ENVIRONMENT: The need to create an enabling environment that recognizes the value of connectivity;

PEOPLE, NOT ONLY TECHNOLOGY: Networks depend on and work with l d t t h l lpeople and not on technology alone;

Institutionalization of networks;

Acquiring knowledge-sharing culture that is based on collaborative methods and exchange mechanisms;

Network Facilitation: The significance need to network facilitation with face-to-face meetings; and


Sustainability: The need to ensure sustainability and self-financing.


Success Factors for Regional NetworkSuccess Factors for Regional Network

1. Commitment for contribution/collaboration at national level;

2 Focus on capacity building at national level;2. Focus on capacity building at national level;

3. Existence of a regional information strategy;

4. Development of a Secretariat role for regional activities;

5. Focus on community of practice amongst the PGR info specialists;

6. Raising awareness of ICM issues at PGR Managerial and political levels;

7. Formation of strategic partnerships amongst the major PGR


g p p g j

stakeholder organizations.


Challenges• Decentralization: establishment of national networks –institutions and policies;

• Capacity building: supporting decentralization;

• Content management: common approaches (standardsContent management: common approaches (standards and tools);

• Partnerships: at regional/international level;p g

• Championship and Commitments: at national level.



Thank You For Your AttentionThank You For Your Attention



Work Group Session IWork Group – Session IQuestion1: what are the existing sources ofQuestion1: what are the existing sources of

information content (both internal and external)?

Question2: what are the required sources which are not accessible (both internal and external)?( )

Question3: what are the existing and required Quest o 3 at a e t e e st g a d equ edmechanisms to access and share information?






AGRISAGRIS

Network of over 200 organizations worldwide collaborating on the shared objective of improving g j p gaccess and exchange of information on agricultural science and technology

Launched in 1975; new vision developed in 2002 Launched in 1975; new vision developed in 2002 http://www.fao.org/agris/



New AGRIS Vision (2002)

decentralized approach decentralized approach greater diversity of participating organizations strengthened role in capacity buildingg p y g focus on full text documents greater availability of associated information about

ti iti / i ti / lactivities/organizations/people set of web-enabled standards and tools



• Global partnership to provide free or low cost online access to full-text scholarly journals in agriculture to developing countries

• Many of the world’s leading agricultural publishers>1200 k j l i i lt d l t d di i li• >1200 key journals in agriculture and related disciplines

• Launched in October 2003• Eligibility based on GNP per capitaEligibility based on GNP per capita• http://www.aginternetwork.org/en/



Information accessible to allInformation accessible to allCoherence in Information for Agricultural Research g

for Development

Founding Partners

and growingFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

and growing…..


C it B ildiCapacity Building

Partnership based e learning initiative

www.imarkgroup.org

Partnership-based e-learning initiative

Oversight from the IMARK Steering Group



Management of ElectronicManagement of Electronic Documents

Di iti ti d Di it lDigitization and Digital Libraries

Investing in Information forInvesting in Information for Development: Issues and Options

Building ElectronicBuilding Electronic Communities and Networks

Web2.0 and Social Media for


Web2.0 and Social Media for Development





M j f t ff ti i lt lMajor factors affecting agricultural information networks/systems



Thematic Knowledge NetworksThematic Knowledge Networks

Virtual communities of professional staff and collaborating centers with common interestscollaborating centers with common interests and objectives related to sustainable agriculture and food security built around priority areas.

These networks aim to:

Strengthen links between communities of practitioners;

Allow individuals to gather and gain access to policy and technical

i f tiinformation;

Facilitate sharing and exchange of complementary knowledge and

resources;


resources;

Organize and create knowledge in ways that are flexible.


What is NENAPGRN Designed to?What is NENAPGRN Designed to?

Prevent redundancy and duplication,

Create access to PGR information, knowledge,innovations,

E i k l d h i i PGR Ensure maximum knowledge sharing among various PGR institutes, programs and personnel on institutional national and regional levels andand regional levels, and

Provide enable environment for good coordination.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsSIPP- KIMS: Saudi Integrated Production and protection Information Knowledge Management System


Thematic Knowledge Networks

Share (one-many) DefinitionsFunctionsDevelopment Process

Store / Retrieve Collaborate / Interact

Problem/Purpose/Benefits Guidelines

Categories Decide Learn Notify

g Functions Resources: TKN Support

Group Notify Support Monitor

Group Workplan

Tools and methodologiesPil t t k l ti Monitor

Pilot network selection Training Implementation and analysis


p y Upscaling


NENAPGRN Development ScenariosDevelopment of a Dynamic Web-based Information and KnowledgeManagement System for PGR project Duration: 24 months is required to develop an operational Dynamic Web Duration: 24 months is required to develop an operational Dynamic Web

Information and Knowledge Management System and to build good information infrastructure.

Technical Support Service: TSS will be provided free of charge Technical Support Service: TSS will be provided free of charge Training: 2 workshops are required to provide the required training. Knowledge Sharing/Exchange and collaboration: would be available at

good level. All information and knowledge will be managed and disseminated at central and distributed levels.

Social network, team work and ownership for contribution forSocial network, team work and ownership for contribution for sustainability will be feasible between project stakeholders and PPD.

Building capacity for disseminating information and knowledge will be strongly feasible Institutional Development would be introduced


strongly feasible. Institutional Development would be introduced. Estimated Budget: 150 US$.

Education

Information and Communication Management for Rural and Agricultural Development in Near East and North Africa Region