taking haitian agriculture to the clouds

Taking Haitian Agriculture to the Clouds!

Background

BackgroundJanuary 12, 2010 : The earthquake affected the Ministère de l’Agriculture des Ressources Naturelles et du Développement Rural (MARNDR) infrastructure and personnel

● The earthquake weakened the sector’s capacity to lead the reconstruction effort and food security program.

● Paper-based registries disappeared and most of the existing information systems were destroyed

Before January, 12 2010

● Embargo of the 1990s produced large losses of agriculture sector knowledge (the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture in Port au Prince were destroyed along with archives and computers)

● 2004 departure of President Aristide ● Paper-based registries disappeared and

most of the existing information systems were destroyed

● lack in infrastructure (no reliable telephone networks, isolation of some administrations,…)

However, the earthquake has not been the first event that had set the agriculture sector knowledge and investment capacity backwards

Reconstruction

● Need of reliable communications,

● Need of reliable information

● Ability to manage such information in real-time

● Guaranteeing results● Transparency and

accountability of the reconstruction effort

Paramount importance for the Government of Haiti (GoH) and its international partners :

Reconstruction of the main building of the MARNDR two months after the earthquake (Feb 1, 2010).

Strengthen of the agriculture knowledge management system

A system resilient to : ● local Haitian conditions ● natural disasters● Crisis

MARNDR and the World Bank partner to strengthen the communication and agriculture knowledge management system of the country.

MARNDR’s ITC System Core of the reform

Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing was identified as the optimal platform for the Haitian agriculture sector’s ITC system

Why Cloud Computing ?

● The low level of use by MARNDR’s staff and extension agents of official email address.

● No telephone system or teleconferencing among the staff

MARNDR Cloud Computing system addresses and solves issues such as:

Why Cloud Computing ?New MARNDR’s secure communication system

chatvideo conf

emails

phone calls

The lack of video-conferencing, forced staff to have to meet in person, often travelling for several hours/days

Lack of secure electronic archive document services.

● The cloud computing archive system is offering a single, secure, shared and accessible memory to all citizen regardless of their place of residence on national territory

Fragmented, missing or forgotten archives, the MARNDR has a critical need for reconstruction of the Country's agricultural Memory

Real time information

MARNDR system offers a real time and efficient agriculture information and statistics system.

1. Fruit prices are collected in Les Cayes.

2. They are in real-time available in Port-au-Prince.

3. Graphics are updated automatically in the MARNDR website

Availability

The easy availability of forms for farmer and agribusiness requests.

The Cloud computing system lets you collect and consult information from any-sized group into a single online spreadsheet.

From complex to simple processes

The complex processes of government transactions.

MARNDR’s Cloud computing system lets a group of people work on one same document (no versions, no attached, no copies, just one and unique document)

With a standard system, members of the group send by mail many versions of a same document. Very complex to synch and trace

Full access to information

The MARNDR system gives workers full access to their information across devices, so they can be productive in more places

Access to MARNDR’s Cloud Computing system from any computer (old or new), portable, mobile or tablet.Workers can keep on working in case of hardware problem or destruction

Data vulnerability

Less data is stored on vulnerable devices (Thumb Drives, laptops,...)

MARNDR system helps to keep sensitive data more secure. When a user is finished using a web-based application, minimal data is left on the machine that could be compromised.

Working offline

The ITC system, even if relying on cloud technology, has to allow for knowledge to be stored locally and eventually synchronized with data stored in the “clouds” once power and/or internet come back on-line.

Installation and maintenance

No need for large servers and administrators. The system of the Ministry of Agriculture has 99.9% uptime guarantee with a extremely reduced IT department team.

With cloud Computing, no dedicated server needed in MARNDR buildings

Mobile technology

The explosion of mobile devices presents exciting opportunities to finally bridge the digital gap in rural areas of Haiti and presenting enormous potential as government services delivery channels.

Project Objective & Description

Project objective & description

Through the World Bank-financed Strengthening of Agriculture Public Services Project (P113623), the Bank and the Ministry redesigned the Information Technology and Communications (ITC) system of the MARNDR

The ITC system, based on Cloud Technology, has the objective of developing and improving the agriculture sector’s innovation, research and extension system, in particular in times of crisis and natural disasters.


The Bank facilitated an historical agreement between the Government of Haiti and Google, allowing the Ministry of Agriculture to use Google Applications technology for governments free of charge


Thes Cloud Technology platform launched in May 2011

This Cloud Technology platform is making possible transparent and effective communications, information-sharing and collaboration tools among all the MARNDR’s staff and departments all over the Country, other Government agencies and other participating partners, thereby establishing the conditions to strengthen the agriculture sector’s knowledge and agriculture services.


The MARNDR’s ICT initiative is structured in seven components:

1. Installation of network hardware and software at MARNDR (fiber optics + wifi)

2. ITC Hardware and basic software for MARNDR personnel

3. Training of MARNDR staff and users on new ITC tools.

4. Training of ITC administrators in Cloud Computing Technology

5. Sustainable Energy Sources for the ITC system (solar energy + inverters + batteries)

6. Internet access (wimax + satellite)7. Agreement between World Bank-MARNDR-Google

for use of Google Apps free of charge


Installation of network hardware at MARNDR (fiber optics + wifi)1


ITC Hardware and basic software for MARNDR personnel2


One of the key point : Training of all MARNDR staff and users on new ITC tools. 3


Training of ITC administrators in Cloud Computing Technology 4

Training of MARNDR’s ITC administrators in Paris (January 2011)


Sustainable Energy Sources for the ITC system (solar energy + inverters + batteries)5

The ten regional MARNDR offices are powered with solar stations


Internet access (wimax + satellite)6● MARNDR offices all

over the Country are provided with high quality internet access.

● Central offices in Port-

au-Prince have redundant internet access


Agreement between World Bank-MARNDR-Google for use of Google Apps free of charge7

Lessons learnt

Lessons learnt

To design an ITC system in the agriculture sector, plan for the worse.

● Energy outages, internet disruptions are common in countries like Haiti.

● The ITC system, even if relying on cloud technology, has to

allow for knowledge to be stored locally and eventually synchronized with data stored in the “clouds” once power and/or internet come back on-line.

● It’s important to look at the past emergencies and

experiences (bottlenecks, blackouts, etc.) to learn from them and incorporate them in the new ITC system design.

Lessons learnt

Given the unpredictability of weather, travel and sector emergencies, work from home and in remote rural areas needs to be built into the ITC security system.

The security concerns that drive public sector staff to be allowed to only work from Government offices had to be reviewed and address in order for Cloud Computing to be effective as an ITC platform for the agriculture sector. Being able to work from home on in a remote rural area through an internet connection or mobile phone device was a key aspect to be address in order to migrate to a dynamic ITC system for the agriculture sector. Designing an ITC system from the point of view of the user in an extreme condition (remote rural area), is key for it to be useful in the context of a country like Haiti.

Lessons learnt

To create a useful and sustainable agriculture information and knowledge platform, users (farmers, extension agents, agribusinesses, etc.) need to access information regularly and in real time.

The ITC platform needs to respond in quality and timely manner to the needs of the stakeholders of the agriculture sector in order for it to be relevant and promote a competitive sector. Finding an ITC solution that is cost-effective and that meets these criteria is key for the success and sustainability of the agriculture innovation system of the country.

Lessons learnt

Establish a critical mass of trained ITC specialist, both in the public and private sectors

In order to administer and service the new ITC platform, it is important to build in-country capacity. Cloud computing applications were not used much in Haiti after the earthquake, so significant training was built into the project, both for MARNDR staff as well as for IT firms that would eventually provide services to the GoH based on this new ITC platform.

MesiMerci

DIEGO ARIAS [email protected] is a Senior Agriculture Economist in the Latin America and Caribbean Region of the World Bank. He has extensive experience working on agriculture and rural development projects that foster innovation and strengthening of public sector institutions. He has been working with the agriculture sector of Haiti since 2003. NICOLAS WEBER [email protected] designed the project and negotiated the agreement between Google INC, the World Bank and the Government of Haiti. Since 2008 he has been working with the Government of Haiti, the World Bank, International Development Bank and USDA. He has over 25 years of senior engineering leadership experience in West Africa, Middle East, Europe, Latin America and Caribbean.

taking haitian agriculture to the clouds

Documents

marndrs cloud computing

telephone system

cloud computing archive

system resilient

statistics system

marndrs itc system core

ministry of agriculture

reliable information