Summer 2007
Web2ForDev 2007
The response to the upcoming Web2ForDev conference has been overwhelming. More than 250 people have signed on to attend this first-of-a-kind event, which will give international development stakeholders an opportunity to explore the ways in which they can take advantage of the technical and organizational opportunities provided by Web 2.0 methods, approaches and applications.
Web 2.0 comprises free or low-cost interactive web-based services and user-centered applications that promote communication, user empowerment, collaboration and social networking. The conference will promote the adoption and dissemination of these applications by actors in agriculture, rural development, and natural resource management. It also aims to inspire participants to use and develop their own information management and communication systems based on these applications.
The event has attracted a truly global audience, with strong representation from Asia and Africa. Attendees include decision-makers, practitioners in communications, information science, scientific research, international development, information/knowledge/Web management, and academia. The CGIAR will be represented by 43 participants, most of whom are members of the IT and Information Managers communities
CGIAR Presenters
IFPRI:Luz Marina Alvare and Nancy Walczak will present a paper that highlights the impact Web 2.0 tools have had on the way information enters into IFPRI's knowledge base, and how information is broadcast and transmitted to outside users and information management systems. Web 2.0 technologies are presently being used by their Center to provide staff with new and enhanced services.
Another two IFPRI staffers, Peter Shelton and Stephan Dohrn, will present a case study that shows how CAPRi's* redesigned website has minimized the duplication of data entry and maximized the impact of new publications by using Web 2.0 tools. In the past year, average monthly page views have increased by 50 percent while PDF ‘hits' have increased by more than 46 percent.
ICRISAT: V Balajai, who is based in India, will present the results from a preliminary investigation into the use of a semantic tool for Mediawiki, a free software originally developed for and used by Wikipedia. He will describe how a Semantic MediaWiki (SMW) allows users to add structured data to a wiki's content, making it easier for the content to be searched, organized, browsed, evaluated, and shared.
IRRI: The fourth CGIAR paper to be presented at the conference looks as open collaboration in an institutional context. Thomas Metz, Michael Jonathan Mendoza and Rowena Valerio will show that the institutional framework of collaborators confronted with Web 2.0 software is generally not geared towards supporting collaborative work. Institutional intellectual property policy, code of conduct, quality assurance system, publishing procedures, and reward and recognition systems generally pre-date Web 2.0 systems, and their hierarchical nature cannot easily be matched to the participatory paradigm of Web 2.0.
Organized by a Steering Committee that includes ICT-KM Program Leader and CIO Enrica Porcari, Web2ForDev 2007 is an integral part of e-Agriculture week, a suite of consultations and events that will take place from 21 - 28 September in Rome, Italy.
More information on Web2ForDev 2007 can be found at http://www.web2fordev.net/ .
* The CGIAR System-wide Program on Collective Action and Property Rights
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The response to the upcoming Web2ForDev conference has been overwhelming. More than 250 people have signed on to attend this first-of-a-kind event, which will give international development stakeholders an opportunity to explore the ways in which they can take advantage of the technical and organizational opportunities provided by Web 2.0 methods, approaches and applications.
Web 2.0 comprises free or low-cost interactive web-based services and user-centered applications that promote communication, user empowerment, collaboration and social networking. The conference will promote the adoption and dissemination of these applications by actors in agriculture, rural development, and natural resource management. It also aims to inspire participants to use and develop their own information management and communication systems based on these applications.
The event has attracted a truly global audience, with strong representation from Asia and Africa. Attendees include decision-makers, practitioners in communications, information science, scientific research, international development, information/knowledge/Web management, and academia. The CGIAR will be represented by 43 participants, most of whom are members of the IT and Information Managers communities
CGIAR Presenters
IFPRI:Luz Marina Alvare and Nancy Walczak will present a paper that highlights the impact Web 2.0 tools have had on the way information enters into IFPRI's knowledge base, and how information is broadcast and transmitted to outside users and information management systems. Web 2.0 technologies are presently being used by their Center to provide staff with new and enhanced services.
Another two IFPRI staffers, Peter Shelton and Stephan Dohrn, will present a case study that shows how CAPRi's* redesigned website has minimized the duplication of data entry and maximized the impact of new publications by using Web 2.0 tools. In the past year, average monthly page views have increased by 50 percent while PDF ‘hits' have increased by more than 46 percent.
ICRISAT: V Balajai, who is based in India, will present the results from a preliminary investigation into the use of a semantic tool for Mediawiki, a free software originally developed for and used by Wikipedia. He will describe how a Semantic MediaWiki (SMW) allows users to add structured data to a wiki's content, making it easier for the content to be searched, organized, browsed, evaluated, and shared.
IRRI: The fourth CGIAR paper to be presented at the conference looks as open collaboration in an institutional context. Thomas Metz, Michael Jonathan Mendoza and Rowena Valerio will show that the institutional framework of collaborators confronted with Web 2.0 software is generally not geared towards supporting collaborative work. Institutional intellectual property policy, code of conduct, quality assurance system, publishing procedures, and reward and recognition systems generally pre-date Web 2.0 systems, and their hierarchical nature cannot easily be matched to the participatory paradigm of Web 2.0.
Organized by a Steering Committee that includes ICT-KM Program Leader and CIO Enrica Porcari, Web2ForDev 2007 is an integral part of e-Agriculture week, a suite of consultations and events that will take place from 21 - 28 September in Rome, Italy.
More information on Web2ForDev 2007 can be found at http://www.web2fordev.net/ .
* The CGIAR System-wide Program on Collective Action and Property Rights
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