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Global Public Goods Strategy

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Background

Access to accurate and timely information is essential in the global effort to fight hunger and poverty in the developing world. To support these efforts, the CGIAR Centers have gathered a large amount of data, information and knowledge. Although much of this information exists as public goods, it is not well known –  largely because it is not organized in a common way. The number and type of databases generated by the various scientific communities has expanded rapidly, but CGIAR partners and global research communities face difficulties accessing these resources. Such information and knowledge is referred to as Global Public Goods (GPGs). They extend from databases and raw scientific information coming out of research carried out by the CGIAR in collaboration with its partners, to spatial and graphic information, published research, gray literature and technical reports, and other information, tools and knowledge products.

Strategy

In 2004, the ICT-KM Program began an inventory of the information Global Public Goods (GPGs) existing within the CGIAR. Then in early 2005, it held an extensive two-week online consultation that included over 200 participants from both within the CGIAR and national partner organizations. This consultation provided the inputs to a new proposal/strategy entitled: ICT-KM 2 – Global Public Goods: From Data and Information to Food.

However, it was decided not to submit this strategy for approval according to the original timetable, because further consolidation work needed to done to some of the projects from the 2004 Investment Plan. The online consultation also showed that the scale of what needed to be done in the area of information GPGs was much larger and broader than originally anticipated.

Accordingly, the Program developed its 2006 Investment Plan: Consolidating Gains, Planning for the Future, with components that included activities designed to:

  • identify what information GPGs actually existed
  • identify priority current and potential users and their critical information GPG needs
  • inform the development of a future investment plan

In line with this, a four-week consultation in 2007 included a half-day workshop on “Opening Access to CGIAR Research and Knowledge”.

The various consultations helped the Program develop the Triple-A Framework , which seeks to help CGIAR Centers/Programs and their scientists decide on the level of Availability, Accessibility and Applicability (AAA) they want for their research outputs, and also the pathways with which to turn these outputs into GPGs.