As I write this, the ICT-KM Program is making last-minute preparations for the CGIAR’s 2006 Annual General Meeting (AGM06) in Washington D.C., where the CGVlibrary is hosting a booth. If you happen to be there, please drop by to say hello and find out more about this System-wide resource. A meeting of the CGIAR training community, which is supported by the Program, is also on the schedule. You are invited to attend this event, which will take place on Monday 4th December in the Georgetown West Room of the Hilton Hotel.
While on the subject of training, you can read all about one of the key players behind the Online Learning Resources Project. And in another profile, you can learn about the Program’s newest team member.
Other news items look at an important CSI membership, the incidence of spam in the CGIAR, a VASAT success story, and an interactive knowledge sharing session. There’s also a fun quiz that will test your computer security skills.
AGM06 will be another opportunity to renew old ties and forge new friendships. I hope to see you there!
Enrica Porcari
Chief Information Officer
CGIAR
Main News
ICT-KM at AGM06
The CGIAR's Annual General Meeting (AGM06), which will take place from 5th to 7th December 2006 in Washington D.C., will give the ICT-KM Program the opportunity to showcase the CGVlibrary, the CGIAR's first System-wide online library. In another event supported by the Program, the CGIAR training community will organize activities aimed at reinforcing the CGIAR's ability to both enhance the application of distance learning in its capacity-building efforts and strengthen the National Agriculture Research System (NARS).
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Knowledge Blenders
Toward more Dynamic Meetings on International Agricultural Research
When people interested in agricultural research get together – including farmers, NGO representatives and donors as well as scientists and research managers from around the world – they have a lot to talk about. And it isn’t easy for them to cover all the ground they need to in just a few days.
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Behind the Scenes with Jenin Assaf
"Excitement is contagious," says Jenin Assaf, the ICT-KM Program’s newest team member. "There's an energy you get from people who are excited about what they are doing that can be quite exhilarating. Although I'm still finding my way around the ICT-KM projects, I've already spoken to a number of people who are fired up about their work with the Program and the impact it could have on all levels of research. It's great to be involved in something like this."
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Behind the Scenes with Jan Beniest
There is something about the vast African continent that lures you in: the people, the glorious landscapes, the wildlife, the sun that shines almost every day ... Stay a little while, and you want to stay longer. Stay a little longer, and before you know it, you have no plans to leave. That's when you know you’re hooked. Just ask Jan Beniest, a man who has spent more than half his life in Africa.
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CSI Joins UN Group
The CGIAR-CSI (Consortium for Spatial Information) recently scored a first when it received an invitation to become a full member of the United Nations Geographic Information Working Group (UNGIWG). The invitation, the first to be extended to a non-UN organization, was officially accepted when Glenn Hyman (CIAT) made a formal application for membership on behalf of the CSI at the Seventh UNGIWG Plenary Meeting in Santiago, Chile, in November 2006.
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Spam Under Siege
The cost of spam and viruses in terms of lost productivity would be staggering if a large organization like the CGIAR was inadequately protected. Unbeknown to many staff members, CGNET successfully recognizes and removes 95-98% of the spam intended for CGIAR users. So the next time an annoying spam message makes its way into your mailbox (new variants are being created even as you read this), you might want to think about the ones that didn’t get away.
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Technology Impacts Indian Farmlands
For a woman with a basic education, 29-year-old Chandrakala has done herself and her community proud. Not only is she a network coordinator at the Addakal Village Resource Center, located near Hyderabad, India, but she is also a recently nominated Fellow of the Jamsetji Tata National Virtual Academy for Rural Prosperity.
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We welcome feedback on the ICT-KM News, so please feel free to contact us at ictkm@cgiar.org