a dynamic regional pgr knowledge platform for the near east region

Regional Workshop Session on “Development of Regional Collaborative Activities on PGRFA”

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

A Dynamic Regional PGR Knowledge Sharing Platform for the Near East and North Africa Region

Magdi LatifRegional Knowledge and Information Management Officer

FAO Partnership, Advocacy and Capacity Development DivisionFAO/RNE

http://www.fao.org/

Consultation Meeting on the Establishment of SAVE FOOD Network in NENA – Tunis, 7 November 2013


Outline

• Background.

• Objectives.

• Structure and Main Functions.

• Current Achievements/Outputs in 2014

• Major Targets/Challenges in 2014/2015

National Plant Genetic Knowledge Networks for Regional Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing


National Agricultural Information and Knowledge Exchange Systems/Networks - NAIS



Regional Thematic Knowledge Networks



Agricultural Information and Knowledge Exchange Systems/Networks



National Agricultural Information and Knowledge Exchange Systems/Networks



Agricultural Information and Knowledge Exchange Systems/Networks



What is PGRN?

Plant Genetic Knowledge Network of Near East and North Africa (NENAPGRN) is a regional platform for strengthening knowledge sharing and cooperation for Agricultural Research and Development for plant genetic target groups and stakeholders at national and regional levels.



What is PGRN?This network is a single access point where the different countries of the region can share a united vision of the Plant Genetic production and protection management policies, regulations, research and innovations. It will operate over THREE main thrusts to achieve the following:• Strengthening the linkages among all the stakeholders at regional

level and interfacing with international institutions as well as donor countries and financial institutions;

• Promote the capacities of national stakeholders for applications of new technologies to be adopted for use at national level and induce their capacities for innovations.

• Mechanisms to enhance collaboration among stakeholders at National, Sub-Regional and Regional levels;



Plant Genetic Knowledge Network

• Strengthening the capacity of the Plant Genetic institutes in the Ministry of Agriculture and Other Stakeholders

• Development and management of relevant and effective Plant Genetic knowledge management system in support of agricultural development and food security policies

Achievements:

Networked all Plant Genetic institutions through a regional gateway Using Web-Based Platform.

Multilingual (Arabic and English) knowledge management system implemented in PGRN

ICARDA and FAO Consultation Meeting on CRP-DS and WSI Potential Joined Activities – 7 July 2014


PGR Knowledge Network

Virtual communities of professional staff and collaborating centers with common interests and objectives related to sustainable agriculture and food security built around common goal and priority areas.

These network aim to:

Strengthen links between communities of practitioners;

Allow individuals to gather and gain access to policy and technical information;

Facilitate sharing and exchange of complementary knowledge and resources;

Organize and create knowledge in ways that are flexible.

Consultation Meeting on the Establishment of National Agricultural Information System of Sudan, 12 June 2014


Benefits of Plant Genetic Resources Knowledge System/Network

Connect people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to interact, either as frequently or at all.

Provide a shared context for people to communicate and share information, stories, and personal experiences in a way that builds understanding and insight.

Stimulate learning by serving as a vehicle for communication, mentoring, coaching, and self-reflection.

Capture and diffuse existing knowledge to help people improve their practice by providing a forum to identify solutions to common problems and a process to collect and evaluate best practices.

Introduce collaborative processes to groups and organizations as well as between organizations to encourage the free flow of ideas and exchange of information.

Help people organize around purposeful actions that deliver tangible results.

Generate new knowledge to help people transform their practice to accommodate changes in needs and technologies.

ICARDA and FAO Consultation Meeting on CRP-DS and WSI Potential Joined Activities – 7 July 2014


Benefits of PGR Knowledge Network

• Address stakeholders’ needs more effectively,

• Coherence and Synergies in information management,

• Use of agreed standards, methodologies and tools.

• Sharing and Exchange of information and knowledge,

• A collaborative system and effective communication,

• Enhanced technical cooperation and collaboration,

• Reduced cost of operation, Reduced time/cost/effort of

developing national information systems/networks,



PGRN expected Outcomes

Prevent redundancy and duplication,

Create access to research information, knowledge and innovations,

Ensure maximum knowledge sharing among various agricultural research institutes, programs and personnel on regional, national and institutional levels,

Provide enable environment for good coordination and Cooperation.



PGRN Stakeholders• Policy-makers in agriculture and rural development, especially in

the MOA and NARIs. • Plant Genetic Department heads and professional technical

officers within the MOA and NARIs. • Universities and colleges with Plant Genetic-related departments. • Farmers’ and producers’ organizations. • Credit and marketing associations and Chambers of Commerce. • Private sector involved in Plant Genetic . • Non-Governmental Organizations involved in Plant Genetic for

agricultural development and food security. • Regional and International Organizations involved in agricultural

development and food security and General Public.



EgyptPGRN

Iran PGRN

OmanPGRN

LebanonPGRN

JordanPGRN

NENAPGRN

The Structure



Main Functions

News and EventsInstitutions DirectoryExperts DirectoryProjects InformationPublicationsInnovationsGood Practices and Success StoriesPartnersQuestions and Answering Forum of DiscussionSocial Networking MediaLinks



PGRN Interfaces Structure

1- Front end Interface:The front end components provide the information browsing and retrieval functionalities, and are available to any site user.

2- Back end Interface:The backend components provide the data management functionalities that enable system administrators to input/update/delete data items into the PGRN database. These components are accessible by system administrators only.



PGRN BACKEND


11th General Conference AARINENA, Damascus, 12-14 October 2008 [NERAKIN – RAIS]

Bottom-up approach (institutions/national/regional).

Centralized and Distributed System. Portability. User Friendly. Open System Architecture. Dynamic Workflow Back end Interfaces. Facilitating Interoperability & promoting coherence

in knowledge management and information exchange among NARS.

Full Multilingual Network.

PGR Thematic Knowledge Network Capabilities



• AGMES – Agricultural Metadata Element Set• AGRIS Application Profile • AGROVOC Arabic/English• Real Simple Syndicate - RSS• Open Archives Initiative Compliance• Online Web services• Software – MySQL Open Source• CIARD Manifesto and a common set of

Principles

Information Standards and Toolsfor Content Management

www.fao.org/aims

To develop and promote interoperability standards to facilitate the efficient dissemination of content.

interoperability is connecting people, data and diverse systems.

ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/GI/Agris/aims/references/flyers/


11th General Conference AARINENA, Damascus, 12-14 October 2008 [NERAKIN – RAIS]

1- A pilot PGRN Regional System for content management

and information exchange. (May – October)

2- Identification of PGR technical institutions committed to

capacity building in IKM.

3- Selected national PGR technical staff sensitized on how

to use PGRN National Systems.

4- Pilot national PGR knowledge and information Sharing

systems/networks (i.e. Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, etc.)

Major Achievements/Outputs: 2014



Official launch of the Regional and National PGRN

systems/networks.

Training of selected national technical staff to contribute to

PGRN at institutional and national Systems.

Securing active commitment from stakeholders to develop

national PGRN system/network.

Development of the national collaborative network based on

partnerships for enhanced knowledge-sharing and learning at

institutional level.

Major Targets/Challenges in 2014/2015



Success Factors for National PGR System/Network

1. Commitment for contribution/collaboration at national level;

2. Focus on capacity building at national level;

3. Existence of a national information strategy;

4. Development of a Secretariat role for national activities;

5. Focus on community of practice amongst the PGR information

specialists;

6. Raising awareness of ICM issues at Manager./political levels;

7. Formation of strategic partnerships amongst the major

stakeholder organizations at national level.



Thank You

a dynamic regional pgr knowledge platform for the near east region

Education

agriculture organization

united nations

diffuse existing knowledge

regional levelsfood

regional workshop session

plant genetic institutions

plant genetic institutes

theministry of agriculture