FAO-CGIAR Joint Appointments
During an
interview conducted at FAO headquarters last year, the CGIAR and FAO expressed their intentions of pursuing new collaborative efforts. A follow-up interview with FAO's Steve Katz (Chief, WAICENT Knowledge Exchange Facilitation Branch) and CGIAR CIO Enrica Porcari revealed that the two organizations recently made two joint appointments that will provide support for the upcoming Web2ForDev Conference*.
Excerpts:How does Web 2.0 differ from Web 1.0?Enrica Porcari: While Web 1.0, or the Internet as most people know it, is a collection of different information sites, Web 2.0 is a software web where people can interact, collaborate with each other and make use of a range of tools and applications like wikis, blogs, RSS feeds, digital stories, etc.
Can you explain the buzz created by the Web2ForDev Conference?Steve Katz: There have been other conferences about Web 2.0, but Web2ForDev is different because it will explore ways of using Web 2.0 tools to support development. Although the event is seen as a catalyst for new partnerships and collaborations between development players, it also provides an invaluable opportunity for both our organizations to work together again. We are both proponents of collaboration, networking and the exchange of knowledge, with the emphasis on ICT for agricultural development; objectives that are at the heart of the conference.
Enrica Porcari: Like Steve, I'm excited about Web2ForDev because it's not just a technology meeting, and it's not just a development meeting – it's a mix of the two. We can all benefit from sharing resources; we can ensure coordination, better use of committed resources, strengthened relationships and knowledge sharing to help development. For example, Web2ForDev participants who are involved with document libraries and websites will have an opportunity to interact and share knowledge with other information providers, who will, hopefully, come away from the conference feeling energized by new ideas and approaches. Both FAO and the CGIAR look forward to facilitating many such exchanges.
What role will the joint appointees play at the conference?Steve Katz: Basically, they will work on our inputs for the conference, help develop the agenda and facilitate some of the conference activities. But there's more.
Enrica Porcari: Yes, much more. There is a also a shared desire that goes beyond the collaborative work carried out at the conference.
What are their roles beyond the conference?Steve Katz: Antonella Pastore has worked for me for about five years and brings knowledge about the FAO to the CGIAR. As a knowledge management expert, she will manage and promote the ICT-KM Program's CGXchange Project, and generally work for the CGIAR in areas that are also of interest to FAO. The other appointee, Lucie Lamoureux, will advise on options for a more strategic approach on knowledge management for FAO and help facilitate virtual networks – activities that will also involve the CGIAR. She will represent the bridge between FAO and the CGIAR .
Enrica Porcari: The two women will be involved in activities of mutual interest. Learning from one organization will be of benefit to the other. Together, they will help strengthen an already solid collaboration between the CGIAR and FAO.
How do you account for the successful collaboration between your organizations?Enrica Porcari: Although I've said this before, it can't be said enough: this way of working is based on personal relationships that have been built up over years. You can really only share knowledge successfully if there is some kind of trust behind it.
Steve Katz: I agree. Information dissemination and knowledge sharing is, by its very nature, about opening up to people, which is highly amenable to a working partnership like ours. My Director General also helped when he proposed a reform that was approved by FAO in November 2005 – our partnership is a direct outcome of that reform. He created the enabling environment for collaboration and has been pushing and emphasizing more cooperation between FAO and the CGIAR.
Enrica Porcari: Yes, and the same push is also coming from the CGIAR.
*The Web2ForDev Conference is just one of a series of meetings that will take place during e-agriculture week at FAO's headquarters in September 2007.
www.web2fordev.org www.e-agriculture.net
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