Dear Colleagues,
Collaborate, Create, Communicate...
The
month of July has been very productive with the Content
for Development Projects starting to develop a coordinated
Implementation Plan and simultaneously many more activities
taking place in the other projects of the Investment
Plan.
In collaboration with Bellanet, we are also starting to
work on the Collaborative Software review. An exciting
project!
ICT-KM 2004
INVESTMENT PLAN DEVELOPMENTAL UPDATES
Current Projects Status
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PROJECT UPDATES
Content for Development Thrust
Last May, during
the Content for Development Projects Coordination Workshop
it was decided that the Content for Development
Thrust would be viewed effectively as one project with
multiple activities implemented according to an integrated
plan. The Project Coordinators under the coordination
of David Balson have been working collaboratively on
this integrated plan since that meeting. A new
and more integrated C4D project document is now being
developed which presents the C4D as a single project
with multiple activities. This applies most specifically
to the four activities known as Virtual Resources Center,
E-Publishing, Data Standards and Virtual Library, and
possibly extends to the Technology-based Information
Products Evaluation.
Teleconferences
were hosted by the VRC Project bringing together Project
Coordinators and major team members of the C4D Projects
to form consensus on the timetable for preparation of
the C4D project specifications and the consultancies
that need to take place. The
specification for the combined functions of the 4 ICT-KM
Projects ( Virtual Resources Center, E-Publishing
System, Data Standards and Virtual Library) integrated
under the C4D is expected to be completed
in August.
Knowledge Management and Sharing
CGIAR Centers
and Programs are finding it essential to learn faster,
share knowledge better, and update their strategies,
structures and operations more frequently. The CGIAR
Knowledge Sharing (KS) Project and the Institutional
Learning and Change (ILAC) Initiative are both concerned
with these issues and attended a joint workshop from
22-25 June at CIAT in Cali, Colombia, facilitated by
the Training Resources Group, Inc (USA) and Bellanet
(Canada).
Twenty-two
participants from 7 CGIAR Centers (CIAT, CIFOR, CIMMYT,
IFPRI, ILRI, IPGRI/INIBAP and IWMI), Gender and Diversity
Program, Challenge Program for Water and Food, Strategic
Advisory Service for Human Resources and the ICT-KM
Program, shared their experiences with KS and ILAC,
identified opportunities for improvement in these areas,
built relationships, and identified steps to continue
the momentum begun during the workshop.
During the
workshop, participants prepared project ideas to improve
KS and ILAC in such areas as the following: development
of KM strategies, leadership development training, organization
and management of networks, adding KS and ILAC dimensions
to Center annual reviews, training in cross-cultural
skills, and strengthening teamwork in the “Content for
Development” thrust of the ICT-KM program.
Pilot activities
in some of these areas will begin soon.
E-Publishing
The E-Publishing
Meeting was held at CIAT, Cali, Colombia from 27-30
June 2004. The four-day meeting brought together 25
participants from 13 centers including communications
and publishing professionals, Information Managers and
ICT representatives. Additional resources were Johannes
Keiser from FAO and Paul Riddle, a publishing consultant
with 20 years experience in commercial publishing.
Two video conference
‘seminar’ sessions were featured: a presentation by
a senior manager of the Canadian Library Association
about Open Archives, document referencing and metadata
harvesting for Canada’s research; and two members of
Charlesworth Publishing, publisher of British Medical
Journal and an XML-based learning objects platform developed
by a British University.
The meeting
built on the 3 months on-line consultation on publishing
workflow and document standards. It was facilitated
by Mark Faul from Bellanet.
The primary
meeting outputs and achievements were: 1) The beginning
of a CG community of three professions with a stake
in new publishing: publishers/communications professionals,
IM and ICT professionals; 2) Agreement by all participants
on common elements of a publishing workflow with XML
as the core concept (and recognition that this is key
to ‘new publishing’ approaches); and 3) Creation of
3 project sub-teams (cross-center/multi-disciplinary)
to work on workflow tools and needs, defining descriptive
metadata for publishing and structural metadata and
analysis of centers’ published documents.
The sub-team
planned to work on the functional specifications for
E-Publishing workflow and recommendations for technology
directions to integrate into the Content for Development
project.
The sub-team
will also develop a proposed specification (for CG adoption)
of descriptive metadata that is specific to publishing
needs. This will solicit input from different content
providers (i.e. training community) in the CG. This
sub-project of E-Publishing should be the home for this
activity in C4D. Addtionally, a proposed specification
(for CG adoption) of a set of common CGIAR document
structures which is key to having our published science
referenced as one set of information will also be developed.
Global Public Goods 2
As we informed
you earlier, the proposal for the Global Public Goods
Information Systems Rehabilitation - Phase 2 (GPG2)
Project was submitted to the Center Directors' Committee
for consideration. The CDC decided that the actions
that were formulated as the GPG2 - Information
Management could easily be seen as the next phase
of the ICT-KM Investment Strategy. Therefore it
was agreed that GPG2 - Information Management
should become ICT-KM 2. This is envisaged to be
a follow up to the current ICT-KM investment strategy,
building on phase 1 activities, following the same procedures,
learning from the first phase, etc. We have
excellent premises to start a broader consultation process
to develop these activities with very clear linkages
to ICT-KM 1. The consultation process will start
in September.
ICT-KM Program Monitoring and
Evaluation Plan
In collaboration
with IDRC's Evaluation Unit, the CIO Office is currently
in the process of further development of the ICT-KM
Program level Monitoring and Evaluation framework and
plan. This plan will be disseminated to Project
Coordinators and other Boundary Partners once this is
completed in early August for their inputs and feedback.
The Program evaluation will be coordinated with the
evaluations of individual Projects and will also assist
them in developing their own internal evaluation plans.
The plan will be formally implemented in October.
Collaboration Software Review:
Bellanet has been identified as consultant to facilitate
the review. Work starting next week
Starting next week and over the next
few months the CIO Office, in collaboration with the
ICT-KM 2004 Investment Plan - Content for Development
(C4D) Project, with facilitation from Bellanet, will
be carrying out a Collaborative Work Platforms Study
to review the results of earlier studies on related
practices and recommended software in the CGIAR. The
study will analyze current experience within the system
and make recommendations on the most appropriate platforms
for supporting collaborative online dialogues across
the CGIAR. These platforms will be available to
CGIAR staff through the VRC of the C4D project.
The
study facilitated by Bellanet will ensure full consultation
with CGIAR colleagues who are the major users of collaboration
tools. The consultation will be conducted through facilitation
of an online dialogue involving many CGIAR staff around
various application options for supporting collaborative
online dialogues.
We will keep you updated on the progress
of this important initiative.
ICT-KM Website
We are pleased to announce that we
are currently in the process of redesigning the ICT-KM
Website to have a fresh new look and include much more
information relevant to the program and project activities.
The new website will have enhanced features including
announcements, 2004 Investment Plan developmental update,
an entry page with links to individual Projects’ websites,
news on the Program’s other activities and a Newsletter
along with an archive of previously published material.
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UPCOMING MEETINGS
Consortium for Spatial Information (CSI)
The CSI Steering Committee
meeting will be held on 11 August in conjunction with
the ESRI 2004 International User Conference,
9-13 August 2004 at the San Diego Convention Center,
California.
IT Managers Annual Meeting
The IT Managers Annual Meeting has
tentatively been scheduled from 2-5 November 2004 at
WorldFish Center, Penang. More announcements on
this important meeting will be coming up soon.
Information Managers Annual Meeting
The 4th Information Managers
Annual Meeting will be hosted by WorldFish Center on
6-9 September. More announcements on this important
meeting will be coming up soon.
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TECHNICAL CORNER...
WAN Security Study
A critical component of the CGIAR infrastructure is the
creation of a CGIAR Network Security Policy. To address
this issue, a WAN Security Study will be carried out
to review CGIAR Network Security Policy. This
study will be led by Paul O’Nolan from IRRI supported
by a working group and will be facilitated by an external
consultant.
The
study is expected to be completed by the external consultant
in October and the report will be discussed in the IT
Managers Annual Meeting in November. We will keep
you updated on the progress of this important initiative.
CG-CGNET Global Communication Forum
We
informed you last month that a CG-CGNET Global Communication
Forum had been set up. Interesting articles on Spam
as well as Active Directory and its benefits and
the value of Active Directory will soon be available
on this forum.
Active Directory Project
IFPRI
is proceeding with their migration plans, and will join
the AD forest this week. WARDA is joining AD in August
and IRRI has tentatively scheduled to join in the second
half of August.
Reminder:
weekly updates on the Active Directory project are posted
on the IT collaboration site at
http://forum2.ipgri.cgiar.org/cg-it/.
IT Managers can log on to the website for details.
Exchange 2003
The forest root at CGNET is now prepared for the CGIAR upgrade
to Exchange 2003. Upgrades to Exchange 2003 will commence
after the three remaining Centers and two remote sites,
with over 100 users, have joined the Active Directory
forest.
New Web Services
CGNET
has been experimenting with various configurations of
Windows Sharepoint Services (WSS), one of the new web
services included in the new CGNET contract. A
discussion with representatives from Centers will be
initiated to discuss what is desirable and possible
in terms of setting up these services for CG Centers.
Good Practice Notes
In
collaboration with the CGIAR System Office Internal
Audit Unit, the Program is currently developing good
practice notes on system security, system development
and IT infrastructure and support in common premises.
The
Internal Audit Unit is also currently working on dejargonizing
three good practice notes developed last year.
System-Wide Software Acquisition
Last
month, the Program arranged for the purchase of some
software licenses though a CG-wide arrangement to bring
about additional savings to the CG System. Among
these are Adobe Software and a WinZip site
license. System-wide software acquisition will be
one of the agenda items for discussion in the upcoming
IT Managers Annual Meeting.
TECHNOLOGY WATCH
This
column is especially dedicated to keep a regular watch
for emerging ICTs of potential interest to the CGIAR.
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COMING UP
I will be
traveling to the ESRI 2004 International User Conference
in San Diego, California, scheduled for 9-13 August
2004. The ESRI conference is for the gathering
of world professionals who use or support GIS tools. I will be attending the Senior Executive Seminar on
the day prior to the main conference starting. I will
be participating to the Annual CSI Meeting; and
I will be a member of the Poverty Mapping Panel discussion
session.
Collaborate,
Create, Communicate...
this is the motto of the ICT-KM
Program. We believe that by expanding the CGIAR's opportunities
to work together and communicate we will produce better
science to help poor in developing countries, and we
will get that knowledge to them.
Your comments are especially welcome.
Please visit the Website, http://ictkm.cgiar.org/ or write to ictkm@cgiar.org with comments and/or
ideas for the next monthly update.
Working together for a better future,
Enrica |
