Dear Colleagues,
Collaborate, Create, Communicate...
The month of June has been very
productive and has seen many projects start their activities
with 4 projects holding workshops and meetings and many
more activities taking place.
Details on the activities of
the Program follow. Happy reading!
ICT-KM 2004
INVESTMENT PLAN DEVELOPMENTAL UPDATES
The Content for Development
Projects Coordination Workshop report has been
posted on the ICT-KM Collaboration Site. To log on
http://collaborate.ictkm.cgiar.org/Project please
use the user id: browser1 and password: browser.
The action plan agreed in the workshop
is currently being initiated. The respective champions
will work on the actions and deliverables with their
teams. The Project Coordinators are also working collaboratively
on the numerous linkages and synergies identified so
as to maximize the joint efforts.
Current Projects Status
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PROJECT UPDATES
Content for Development Thrust
During the Content for Development
Projects Coordination Workshop in Rome in May, it was
recognized that the Thrust 2 Content for Development
Projects (with emphasis on the Virtual Resources Center,
E-Publishing System, Data Standards and Exchange and
Virtual Library activities) must be aligned with and
developed as part of the common Thrust vision and that
the individual work plans need to be developed in a
coordinated fashion. Small group discussions were held
to address strategic issues, to define boundaries and
common areas between and across activities respectively
and to develop the start of a coordinated implementation
plan.
The discussions resulted in the desired
overall outcome with respect to resolving overlaps and
major opportunities of synergies especially for the
VRC, VL, E-Publishing and Data Standards activities.
Major consensus was reached through rethinking these
activities, deeper dialogue and a consultation process
among the Project Coordinators. The group resolved critical
issues and agreed on improved activities design that
will lead to a more integrated approach. The C4D will
be viewed effectively as one project with multiple activities
implemented according to an integrated plan (especially
for the VRC, VL, E-Pub and Data Standards activities).
The summary of the small group discussions
is incorporated into the Content for Development Projects
Coordination Workshop report.
Online Learning Resources
Training Representatives of 11 CGIAR
Centres (CIAT, CIP, CIMMYT, IWMI, IITA, ICARDA, WARDA,
ICRAF, IPGRI, ICRISAT, IRRI, IFPRI) and 5 National Training
and Education Institutions (REDCAPA-Brazil, University
of Dakar-Senegal, Egerton University-Kenya, MANAGE,
India and PhilRice-Philippines) met at ICRISAT, Hyderabad,
India, between 14 and 18 June 2004 to discuss the implementation
of the ICT/KM Programme Thrust 2 Project on On-line
Learning Resources (OLR).
The workshop was opened and closed
by ICRISAT's Deputy Director General Research, Dr Dyno
Keatinge, who stressed the importance of Centres working
together in areas such as capacity building and strengthening,
especially in a new field such as E-Learning that is
often not very well understood within the CGIAR community.
Centre Representatives and National Partners presented
their capacity strengthening activities, focusing on
recent developments in Electronic Learning Resources.
Centres are at very different stages when it comes to
this with IRRI, ICRISAT and CIP taking the lead.
The discussion then focused on implementing
the OLR Project and the implications for the Centres'
Training Departments. The group decided that a repository
of CGIAR learning resources should be based on recent
advances and thinking in this area and using methods
and standards that are adopted by most learning institutions
in the world. IRRI's approach to this through a Rice
Knowledge Bank is another good example of how Learning
Resources can be made available and adapted by National
Partners and several Centres expressed an interest in
adopting this approach for their institution. Other
project implementation issues included adding value
to the OLR Centre, quality control, monitoring and evaluation,
communication and use.
It was clear that the OLR Project
stands to benefit from close collaboration with other
ICT-KM Programme Projects such as the Virtual Library,
E-Publishing and the Virtual Resources Centre and also
from other CGIAR learning projects such as VASAT and
GO-AFU (The CGIAR Global Open Agriculture and Food University).
The workshop ended with the development of a concrete
action plan that will guide the Project in its implementation
in 2004-2005.
Virtual Resources Center (VRC)
The consultancy on Inventory of
CGIAR Intranet Needs and Resources has been assigned
to ICARDA. The VRC project team is in the stage of finalizing
the letter of agreement with ICARDA and the consultancy
will start on 1 July 2004.
Second-Level Connectivity
A 6-person Advisory Group of Technical
members and Senior Managers has been setup and Nyawira
Kailemia has been seconded from ILRI as the Project
Officer. Centers Management were asked to submit their
list of priority locations to improve connectivity.
The selection of sites is expected to be completed by
2 July. Site surveys will commence once the sites have
been selected. The Project Team is currently gathering
background information on firewall security options
for small offices. A collaboration site for project
staff has been setup.
Global Public Goods 2
As we informed last month the proposal
for the Global Public Goods Information Systems Rehabilitation
- Phase 2 (GPG2) Project was submitted to the Center
Directors' Committee. We are awaiting the decision on
how to move forward.
ICT-KM Program Monitoring and
Evaluation Plan
The full report for the ICT-KM Program
Monitoring and Evaluation Design Workshop held in Rome
in May is now available on the ICT-KM collaboration
site. To log on
http://collaborate.ictkm.cgiar.org/Project
please use the user id: browser1 and password: browser.
As you are aware, the ICT-KM Program
has included the overall Program Evaluation to document
the degree to which the Program contributes to CGIAR
change, and to inform the evolution and ultimately the
review of the whole ICT-KM Program Strategy three years
hence. The evaluation will be coordinated with and will
assist individual projects in developing their own internal
evaluation plans.
The workshop last month has introduced
the Outcome Mapping Concepts as a monitoring and evaluation
tool. We will be developing the Program Monitoring and
Evaluation Plan in collaboration with IDRC's Evaluation
Unit. They will continue to work with us on the ICT-KM
Program M&E activities for the rest of the year.
We will keep you updated on the progress of this initiative.
Collaboration Software Review
Final discussions are under way with
an external organization which will assist the CGIAR
in a study to review collaboration needs and available
tools and make recommendations for adoption. The study
will be led by IPGRI and the CIO office and will be
facilitated by a consultant who will ensure full consultation
with CGIAR colleagues. The study is expected to be completed
in October and a new report on collaboration tools suited
for the CGIAR will be published shortly after. We will
keep you update on the progress of this important initiative.
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RECENT MEETINGS AND INITIATIVES
Knowledge Management and Sharing
A Review Workshop for Knowledge Management
and ILAC was held in CIAT, Cali, Colombia from 22 to
25 June 2004. A brief update on this workshop will be
available shortly.
E-Publishing Systems
E-Publishing held its group meeting
also in CIAT, Cali, Colombia from 27 to 30 June 2004.
Updates from this workshop will be available shortly.
Virtual Academy for the Semi-Arid
Tropics (VASAT)
The VASAT project held the ICT4D
Meeting and VASAT Steering Committee Meeting in ICRISAT,
India from 28 to 29 June 2004. An update will be available
in the next issue of monthly update.
Consortium for Spatial Information (CSI)
The CSI Steering Committee will be
held on 11 August at San Diego Convention Center in
conjunction with the ESRI 2004 International User Conference,
9-13 August 2004, San Diego Convention Center, California.
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TECHNICAL CORNER...
CG-CGNET Global Communication Forum
We are pleased to announce that a
CG-CGNET global communication forum has been set up.
The purpose of the forum is to provide a channel for
the exchange of ideas, problems, concerns, opportunities,
project information, news, and updates between CG global
community and the staff at CGNET in the areas of web,
e-mail, and network services. We believe that this forum
will add to the success of our collaboration.
The initial membership of the Globecom-CG
list server will be the current members of the CG-IT
list server, the Webmasters list server, and the Information
Managers forum.
Active Directory Project
IITA is joining AD. IFPRI, WARDA
and IRRI have scheduled their site upgrades in the months
of July and 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 CGNET Exchange team is currently
researching failover and replication solutions for Exchange
2003 and a failover server has been installed in the
test environment at CGNET.
The forest root at CGNET is now prepared
for the CGIAR upgrade to Exchange 2003. This includes
the installation of Exchange 2003 at the root, and the
availability of the root to serve as the SMTP gateway.
Upgrades to Exchange 2003 will only commence after the
four remaining centers, and remote sites with over 100
users, have joined the Active Directory forest.
New Web Services
A list of new web services has been
included in the new CGNET contract including Sharepoint,
ASP.NET, Linux/Apache/PHP/MySQL and Simplified Website
Hosting option. CGNET is currently planning the capacity
and is working on the prioritization for the new services.
CGNET will also work with the centers'
webmasters on helping to eliminate sites' dependence
on the legacy software, which the centers have decided
to stop using. The deadline to stop using these legacy
services is 31 July.
Reminder to all centers:
those who have not decommissioned their sites by 31
July will be charged a monthly legacy site maintenance
fee.
System-Wide Software Acquisition
The Program has been exploring the
possibility of jointly acquiring licenses for certain
software to bring about additional savings to the CG
system. It is currently arranging for the purchase of
the WinZip site license through a CG-wide arrangement.
The Program is also exploring the possibility of a consortium
agreement for the purchase of Adobe Software,
Bibliographic Management Software and Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software.
Negotiations with relevant vendors are currently underway.
Implementation of Project Manager
Version 2.5 at IWMI
The Project Manager software was
developed by the Information Systems Unit at CIAT and
the latest version, PM version 2.5, was launched on
1 March. We are pleased to announce that IWMI has adopted
this system and is currently implementing it in its
HQ.
This successful collaboration will
definitely encourage more centers to adopt this software
developed by a CG center. We will be developing a paper
on the collaboration, the results and lesson learnt
from this implementation.
TECHNOLOGY WATCH
This column is especially dedicated
to keep a regular watch for emerging ICTs of potential
interest to the CGIAR.
^ back to top
COMING UP
I will be attending the Advanced
VIPP Facilitator Training held from 4-9 July in
Penang. This training course is organized by Dr. Hermann
J. Tillmann of IKAP-Network for Capacity Building in
MMSEA. The overall objective of this training course
is to improve the skills of experienced facilitators
and trainers in conducting effective group events.
I will be participating to the
Annual CSI Meeting at 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
and I have been invited to be a member for 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 |
