When CGXchange was officially launched at the CGIAR’s Annual General Meeting in Morocco at the end of 2005, Dario Valori was in the audience to witness the culmination of more than two years’ hard work involving several ICT-KM projects and numerous members of staff.

A day to remember? Most certainly. But also a day for this dynamic man to be able to take a well-earned rest.

Despite his heavy workload, Dario feels he has benefited tremendously from his involvement with the development of CGXchange, the CGIAR’s System-wide intranet/extranet system.

As he explains, “I have a strong interest in the sort of communications that improve the flow of knowledge between colleagues and partners. As such, it has been fun using technology to help bring people closer together. Through the Virtual Resources Center Infrastructure (VRCI) project, I have also learned a lot about the different CGIAR communities and their respective needs.”

Dario became involved in the project as the result of his earlier experience in document management, collaboration tools and videoconferencing at the Italian Center, where he has been IT Manager since 1998.

CGXchange is the visible output of several projects: VRCI, E-Publishing and Virtual Library, to name a few. Due to the integrative nature of these different activities, much of Dario’s time has been spent facilitating interaction between the other project coordinators and making sure everything takes place according to schedule.

“The challenge,” he says, “has been to encourage others to come out and take the lead whenever it’s been convenient for everyone involved.”

Easier said than done, especially when you consider that the members of the various teams are spread across different time zones.

“Sometimes it happens that I’m going to bed when someone else is just getting up, so it makes it difficult to schedule meetings, especially when something urgent comes up,” he explains.

Although expectations have always been high regarding this project, Dario feels that most people in the CGIAR have generally been too busy to give feedback regarding the development of CGXchange.

“Timely feedback would have made my work easier,” he says, “but I have learned a lot in the presence of problems and difficulties.”

Prior to joining IPGRI, Dario spent 15 years with the U.S. Government in the Computer Department of the US Embassy in Rome.  For several years, he also worked as a consultant developing database applications. He is especially proud of the work he did for the Vatican State: developing a database that was later published on the Internet.

Although the commitments of a fulltime job and the demands of his role as project coordinator have drawn heavily on his time, this dynamic man has also participated in a number of knowledge management events both inside and outside the CGIAR in the last few years.

“Due to these events, I have acquired a sound understanding of the difficulties of knowledge communication, something that has helped me greatly with my work,” he says.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. A familiar saying indeed, but few would be able to keep up with the busy schedule that Dario has maintained over the past few years.

When he has some downtime, he regularly pulls on his running shoes and goes for a jog on the beach. But his greater enjoyment comes from his mountain hikes – the ideal antidote for those days when he needs a break from all that communicating.

Away from the office, he appreciates the time he spends with his wife Ana Isabel and fifteen-year-old son Alessandro.  With such a frenetic-paced professional life, it helps to able to come home to a supportive family at the end of the day.

Although CGXchange continues to be developed, Dario is looking forward to the day when he can devote more time to his family and his duties as IT Manager.

Working nine-to-five must be an almost alien concept that he will have to get used to all over again.

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Silvia Ticconi
CGXchange Administrator