ICT-enabled Agricultural Science for Development

Scenarios, Opportunities, Issuesby

Enrica Maria PorcariChief Information Officer, CGIAR

e.porcari@cgiar.org

ICTs transforming agricultural science, research & technology generation

Science Forum Workshop Theme 3

Scenario’s• Ubiquitous Telecommunications

Infrastructure – Sophisticated wireless networks, easy to use– real-time data collection and information

dissemination

• ‘Cloud’ Computing– Shared general purpose data centers– low-cost, maintenance-free supercomputing

Opportunities• Ubiquitous telecommunications infrastructure

– agricultural researchers and farmers collect and disseminate data/information

– impact in rural areas– Real-time interpretation of data

• Cloud computing– Researchers use several clouds, pay per use– Data sharing more extensive as clouds become public

information goods

Issues• Researchers need to establish processes

to validate and disseminate data (as with other public information goods)– Data harmonization– Accessibility – Ownership

More Information• Leading cloud computing providers:

– Amazon Web Services– GeneBank (collection of publicly available

DNA sequences)– RFID tags on livestock