national plant genetic knowledge networks for regional collaboration & knowledge sharing food...

National Plant Genetic Knowledge Networks for Regional Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

A Conceptual Design and an Overview on Genetic Knowledge Network

of Near East and North Africa (NENAPGRN)

Magdi LatifRegional Knowledge and Information Management Officer

FAO Partnership, Advocacy and Capacity Development DivisionFAO/RNE

http://www.fao.org/



Outline

1. FAO experience in developing Information and Knowledge Systems/Networks

2. A Conceptual Design of National and Regional PGRN Platforms

3. An Overview of National and Regional PGRN Platforms



FAO Experience in Developing Information and Knowledge Systems

UAEAGRICENT – UAE Agricultural and Environmental Centre - Egypt

NARIMS – National Agricultural Research Information Management System - Egypt

VERCON – Virtual Extension and Research Communication Network - Egypt

RADCON – Rural and Agricultural Development Communication Network - Egypt

NAIS – National Agricultural information System - Jordan

MAFNET – Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Network - Oman

NAKEMS – Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Network – Oman

NAIS – National Agricultural information System - Sudan

NAIS – National Agricultural information System - Yemen



FAO Experience in Developing Regional Thematic Knowledge Networks

NERAKIN – Near East Rural and Agricultural Knowledge and Information Network

VERCON Near East – Regional Virtual Extension Research Communication Network

RABNENA – Regional Agricultural Biotechnology Network of NENA

CRC-EMPRES– Regional Desert Locust – CRC-EMPRES

PLANT PROTECTION – Regional Plant Protection Network of NENA

PLANT PROTECTION – Regional Plant Genetic Resources of NENA

WATER SCARCITY– Regional Water Scarcity Network of NENA

PGRN-NENA – Plant Genetic Resources Knowledge Network of Near East North Africa



National Agricultural Information and Knowledge Exchange Systems/Networks - NAIS



Regional Thematic Knowledge Networks



Agricultural Information and Knowledge Exchange Systems/Networks



National Agricultural Information and Knowledge Exchange Systems/Networks



Agricultural Information and Knowledge Exchange Systems/Networks



What is PGRN?

Plant Genetic Knowledge Network of Near East and North Africa (NENAPGRN) is a regional platform for strengthening knowledge sharing and cooperation for Agricultural Research and Development for plant genetic target groups and stakeholders at national and regional levels.



What is PGRN?This network is a single access point where the different countries of the region can share a united vision of the Plant Genetic production and protection management policies, regulations, research and innovations. It will operate over THREE main thrusts to achieve the following:• Strengthening the linkages among all the stakeholders at regional

level and interfacing with international institutions as well as donor countries and financial institutions;

• Promote the capacities of national stakeholders for applications of new technologies to be adopted for use at national level and induce their capacities for innovations.

• Mechanisms to enhance collaboration among stakeholders at National, Sub-Regional and Regional levels;



PGRN Objectives• To create a regional gateway as a single access point for plant genetic where the

different countries of the region can share a united vision of the agricultural biotechnology policies, regulations, research and innovations that will support agricultural development and food security at a country level.

• To facilitate plant genetic knowledge sharing and information exchange for stakeholders at national and regional levels through the development of a thematic plant genetic knowledge management system for the collection, management and dissemination of information/knowledge on advances in plant genetic research and innovation results that will support strengthening performance of farmers and agrarian businesses.

• To establish functional mechanism for cooperation and enhancement of communication and exchange of experiences and good practices on plant genetic among different countries in the region in support of agricultural development and food security.



PGRN expected Outcomes

Prevent redundancy and duplication,

Create access to research information, knowledge and innovations,

Ensure maximum knowledge sharing among various agricultural research institutes, programs and personnel on regional, national and institutional levels,

Provide enable environment for good coordination and Cooperation.



Policy Development

Education and training

Access to Technologies

Genetic Resources Exchange

Knowledge and Information

Sharing



PGRN Stakeholders

• Policy-makers in agriculture and rural development, especially in the MOA and NARIs.

• Plant Genetic Department heads and professional technical officers within the MOA and NARIs.

• Universities and colleges with Plant Genetic-related departments. • Farmers’ and producers’ organizations. • Credit and marketing associations and Chambers of Commerce. • Private sector involved in Plant Genetic . • Non-Governmental Organizations involved in Plant Genetic for

agricultural development and food security. • Regional and International Organizations involved in agricultural

development and food security and General Public.

Consultation Meeting on the Establishment of National Agricultural Information System of Sudan, 12 June 2014


Benefits of Plant Genetic Resources Knowledge System/Network

Connect people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to interact, either as frequently or at all.

Provide a shared context for people to communicate and share information, stories, and personal experiences in a way that builds understanding and insight.

Stimulate learning by serving as a vehicle for authentic communication, mentoring, coaching, and self-reflection.

Capture and diffuse existing knowledge to help people improve their practice by providing a forum to identify solutions to common problems and a process to collect and evaluate best practices.

Introduce collaborative processes to groups and organizations as well as between organizations to encourage the free flow of ideas and exchange of information.

Help people organize around purposeful actions that deliver tangible results.

Generate new knowledge to help people transform their practice to accommodate changes in needs and technologies.



Plant Genetic Knowledge Network

• Strengthening the capacity of the Plant Genetic institutes in the Ministry of Agriculture and Other Stakeholders

• Development and management of relevant and effective Plant Genetic knowledge management system in support of agricultural development and food security policies

Achievements:

Networked all Plant Genetic institutions through a regional gateway Using Web-Based Platform.

Multilingual (Arabic and English) knowledge management system implemented in PGRN



EgyptPGRN

Iran PGRN

OmanPGRN

LebanonPGRN

JordanPGRN

NENAPGRN

The Structure



• Share (one-many)

• Store / Retrieve

• Collaborate / Interact

• Decide

• Learn

• Notify

• Support

• Monitor

Plant Genetic Resources Knowledge System

• Definitions– Problem/Purpose/Benefits

• Guidelines– Categories– Functions– Resources: PGRN Support

Group• Workplan

– Tools and methodologies– Pilot network selection– Training– Implementation and analysis– Upscaling

FunctionsDevelopment Process



EgyptPGRN

Iran PGRN

OmanPGRN

LebanonPGRN

JordanPGRN

NENAPGRN

The Structure



Main Functions

News and EventsInstitutions DirectoryExperts DirectoryProjects InformationPublicationsInnovationsGood Practices and Success StoriesPartnersQuestions and Answering Forum of DiscussionLinks



Plant Genetic Resources Knowledge System Modules

About Institutions Experts Projects Publications

Country Reports Events Online Events News Online News

Media Centre RSS Partners

Focal Points Site Options Expert Profile Emails and Messages

Good Practices

Links

Success Stories

http://save-food.net/cms/List/List.aspx?mySelect=36&lang=EN



PGRN Interfaces Structure

1- Front end Interface:The front end components provide the information browsing and retrieval functionalities, and are available to any site user.

2- Back end Interface:The backend components provide the data management functionalities that enable system administrators to input/update/delete data items into the PGRN database. These components are accessible by system administrators only.



PGRN BACKEND



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

Principles

Information Standards and Toolsfor Content Management

www.fao.org/aims

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

interoperability is connecting people, data and diverse systems.

ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/GI/Agris/aims/references/flyers/



Mobilizing and Providing Access to Agricultural Information

• 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.



Coherence in Information for AgriculturalResearch for Development (CIARD)

Availability: Information is stored in digital formats, with clearly defined copyright, managed in one or more institutionally-owned, thematic or other repositories, built and structured according to accepted international standards.

Accessibility: Information is openly accessible for all users, and easily located via the Internet from outside the institution using tools and services adopted by the international community.

Applicability: Research planning, implementation and communication are an inclusive process bringing together all perspectives and knowledge. Research outputs and messages are adapted for easy access, use and re-use by different stakeholders, increasing the public benefits derived from the research.

Partners in the CIARD initiative have made a collective commitmentto promote the sharing of data, information, and knowledge in aglobal network of truly public collections of information, based on aManifesto and a common set of Principles.



Success Factors for Regional Network

1. Commitment for contribution/collaboration at national level;

2. Focus on capacity building at national level;

3. Existence of a regional PGR information strategy;

4. Development of a Secretariat role for regional activities;

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

6. Raising awareness of ICM issues at Manager./political levels;

7. Formation of strategic partnerships amongst the major

stakeholder organizations.



Official launch of the Regional and National PGRN

system/network.

Training of selected national technical staff to contribute to

PGRN at institutional and national Systems.

Securing active commitment from stakeholders to develop

national PGRN system/network.

Development of the national collaborative network based on

partnerships for enhanced knowledge-sharing and learning at

institutional level.

Major Targets/Challenges in 2014/2015



Thank You for your Attention



Save Food Network

Users and their capabilities with front end components

Access

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Users and their capabilities with Back-End components

PermissionsAddEditDeletePublish

Permissions

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• Institution Admin

• Data Entry



Country 2

Institution 3Institution 2Institution 1

Experts Projects publications

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Workflow - Two Level



Key Components of Systems

national plant genetic knowledge networks for regional collaboration & knowledge sharing food...

Documents

agricultural knowledge

knowledge systemsnetworks

agriculture organization

developing information

overview of national

information networkvercon

conceptual design of

united nations fao experience