New book: ICTs for agriculture and rural development

Our colleague Raj Saravanan has co-authored a new book 'Information and Communication Technology for Agriculture and Rural Development' with a wide range of chapters covering the e-agriculture world in India.

Get more information about this book - and his other related publications.

IAALD Webinar: Creating Websites on the Fly, June 24

IAALD is continuing with its successful webinars series. The upcoming webinar on June 24, "Decentralizing online publishing in your organization: Creating websites on the fly using Wordpress and Google", will be presented by Peter Shelton from IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute).

Please join us for a brief introduction on using Wordpress and Google Sites for project websites, online newsletters, group spaces, event blogs and other innovative applications. We also will discuss policies and practices for creating, launching and managing these sites and show how they can boost your organization's online presence.

These tutorials are designed to showcase web tools and applications and how they are used to support your work and it is our hope that participants will come ready to explore and discuss these topics with their colleagues in further detail.

Presenter: Peter Shelton, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Date: Friday, June 24, 2011

Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EDT check your time zone here

System Requirements
Pc-based attendees
Required: Windnows 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server

MacIntosh-based attendees
Required: Mac OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger) or newer

Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/870299622

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

Up to now all IAALD webinars have been free for everyone, but in the future non-IAALD members will most likely be asked to pay a small fee for attending.

Sharing data and information for agricultural research

This week, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences hosts an International Expert Consultation to build a framework for data and information sharing for agricultural research for development.

The papers for the event are all online - a good first step towards better accessibility. The papers include one prepared by the IAALD past president Barbara Hutchinson.

A large number of papers have been mobilised, including these:

A Framework for Data and Information sharing for ARD - Ajit Maru
Agricultural Information Sharing in the GAINS Experience - Joel Sam
Agricultural Knowledge Sharing in the Philippines - Mila Ramos
Building the CIARD Framework for Data and Information Sharing - Moroccan case - Ottam
Building the CIARD Framework for Data and Information Sharing - Kenya case - Richard Mugata
Building the CIARD Framework for Data and Information sharing - Papua New Guinea case - Seniorl Anzu
CIRAD contribution to scientific dissemination at institutional, national and international level - Marie-Claude Deboin
Co-learning and co-creation within knowledge exchange platform - Myra Wopereis-Pura
Crop Germplasm Resources CGR Information Sharing in China - Fangwei
Expanding Thai Agricultural Boundary of Knowledge - Lessons Learned from Thai AGRIS Centre - Aree Thunkijjanukij
Livestock Research for Rural Development - T. R. Prest
Observations on the aspects of how CABI manages and shares its information - Qiaoqiao Zhang
Persistent identifiers - Comparing schemes for their use in the CIARD Framework - Hugo Besemer
Perspective on Efforts to Share Data and Information in the Central Asia and Caucasus Region - Oleg Shatberashvili
The status of Data and Information Sharing in the Republic of Yemen - Mohamed Noman Sallam
Advanced Resaerch of sharing of basic feed composition data based on China Feed-DataBase Information Center - CFIC - Xiong Benhai
An attempt to integrate huge scientific data with interoperability in Japan - Seishi Ninomiya
Building the CIARD framework for Data and Information Sharing - Mauritius - Krishan Bheenick
CAAS information sharing and Perspectives for the framework development - Pan Shuchun
Communicating Agricultural Science and Technology - Indicators, Lessons Learned - Flaherty
Data Information Sharing in Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development â?? Vietnam - Nguyen Nghi
Knowledge as a Service for Agriculture Domain - Asanee Kawtrakul
Sharing experience in the Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific - Simon Wilkinson
Holistic AGRO-ICT solutions considering also the integration of horizontal and vertical stakeholders - Walter H. Mayer
IAALDs Commitment to and Promotion of Agricultural Information Sharing and the CIARD Movement - Barbara Hutchinson
The role of the CIARD RING in the Building of the CIARD Framework for Data and Information Sharing - Valeria Pesce
Vision paper - ITPGRFA
Summary paper of the e-consultation - Tom Baker

mFarmer Fund to bring information and advice to farmers in developing countries

The GSMA, the body that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, has launched the 'mFarmer Initiative Fund' with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Here is where the story goes.

The mFarmer Initiative Fund is designed to:

• Stimulate the development of mobile phone-enabled agriculture information and advisory services that are commercially sustainable;
• Build services that impact farmers’ income and productivity;
• Reduce the barriers for operators to launch and improve mFarmer Services;
• Test and prove models for delivering agricultural information services via mobile phones; and
• Promote a culture of knowledge sharing in the mFarmer ecosystem.

Read more ...

ICT and Agriculture Sourcebook

The forthcoming World Bank 'Information and Communication Technologies for Agriculture e-Sourcebook' is being designed as an e-publication to maximize its outreach, with the intent of maintaining it as a “living” updatable document following its release in November 2011.

The Sourcebook describes a wide variety of ICT innovations and discusses the potential they carry for stakeholders engaged in agricultural development.

More information and introduction to the sourcebook

IAALD particulary attractive for members from developing countries

IAALD's incoming president Edith Hesse emphasizes the opportunity for south-south collaboration particularly for members from developing countries.

Empowering the poor through sustainable technology solutions

In March 2011,Catholic relief Services organized its third ICT4D event (following conferences in Nairobi in March 2010 and Washington, DC, in September 2010).

The first part of the program was a series of presentations (all online!) that exemplfy the ways that ICTs are being used to reach poor people (including in agriculture).

Some of the presentations include:

• Mobile Money Transactions and Automating Vouchers for Food Delivery
  
• Regional Agricultural Input Market Information Service
• Market on Your Mobile
• Last Mile Mobile Solution
• Agricultural MIS Value Chain Tool for Smallholders

The second part examined ways that CRSA uses ICTs in its operations, with experiences shared ranging from GIS to flip cameras.

Visit the event web site

Coming soon: new IAALD web site

Video Interview: Valeria Pesce together with Maria Folch and Giampaolo Rugo from GFAR are the people behind the scenes in getting the new IAALD web site ready, using Drupal as its content management system.

Muy pronto: nueva página web IAALD

Video: Maria Folch del GFAR es la persona quien desarrolla la nueva página web de la IAALD usando la plataforma Drupal. Muy pronto estará disponible!

Agricultural Knowledge for All

In this video, Senior Knowledge Officer Ajit Maru from the Global Forum of Agricultural Research (GFAR) emphasizes the need for new capacities among information professionals to deal with shifts occurring in agricultural research.

AIW - an important platform for professional exchange

In this video, Johannes Keizer, Head of the Editorial Board of IAALD's journal Agricultural Information Worldwide (AIW) emphasizes the need for a strong platform for professional information exchange in the area of agricultural research and innovation.

Former IAALD vice-president on broad membership base

In this video, Stephen Rudgard, FAO Chief of Knowledge and Capacity for Development and former IAALD Vice-President (2005-2010) reflects on the value of the assosciation and its transformation towards a broad membership base of information and knowledge professionals.