FAO/COAIM-2/4



Second Consultation on Agricultural Management

Working Document

Rome, Italy 23-25 September, 2002

Programme of Work 2002-2004

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

1. Article I of the FAO Constitution states that the mandate of the Organization is to collect, analyse, interpret and disseminate information related to nutrition, food and agriculture. FAO is an incomparable source of information, as well as centre of excellence on agriculture, fisheries and forestry, having documented and conserved the institutional scientific and technical knowledge in all sectors of its work since the inception of the Organization. FAO is using the latest information communication technologies and a multidisciplinary approach to organize and facilitate access to information through a corporate information management framework.

2. The Consultation on Agricultural Information Management, COAIM, is an intergovernmental process for FAO´s Member Countries to discuss and set policies related to management of and access to agricultural information. This process was established recognising the key role that information and knowledge play in ensuring food security and sustainable development. Through COAIM, FAO Member Countries also establish a global framework for prioritising the activities of the World Agricultural Information Centre, WAICENT.

3. In the light of the COAIM recommendations, WAICENT submits herewith, for the consideration of the delegates, a proposed programme of work for the biennium 2002 - 2004 as already reflected in the Medium Term Plan 2002 - 2007 of the Organization.

II. Programme of Work.

4. The programme focuses on the effective management of FAO´s store of information and its widest dissemination to Member Countries. It also promotes the establishment of methods and standards for the management of information documentation. Through WAICENT, the programme seeks to enhance multilingual corporate information systems. It will provide new ones in response to changing information perspectives. Due emphasis is given to facilitating access to worldwide authoritative sources of information, both electronically and through traditional means.

A. ASSISTANCE TO COUNTRIES IN CAPACITY BUILDING FOR AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INFORMATION.

5. The proposed programme of work under this heading will improve the efficiency, quality and relevance of information and knowledge being exchanged among the various stakeholders groups involved in agricultural development and food security, with a focus on the most vulnerable and deprived groups by :

B. WAICENT CORPORATE INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND DISSEMINATION SYSTEMS.

6. The international community will benefit from this continuing programme as it provides timely access to an institutional scientific and technical multilingual repository of information on food and agriculture. It facilitates access, search and retrieval of information through an organised corporate approach, ensuring valid and up-to-date information resources available in a variety of media. The programme will:

  1. enable an efficient corporate management of FAO information resources disseminated through electronic media, in particular the Internet and Intranet;
  2. continue developing a corporate system infrastructure to ensure timely dissemination, the search for and updating of FAO Web content, in all the official languages of the Organization;
  3. develop tools, guidelines and procedures to publish dynamic content using current and new Internet technologies;
  4. develop electronic publishing system platforms, in collaboration with FAO Technical Departments, and FAO and other UN or international organizations, working groups and/or networks of experts, to enable communication and dissemination of their information through thematic portals;
  5. continue developing and maintaining Intranet services of the Organization;
  6. promote the use of selected information management and dissemination tools, methods and standards developed by WAICENT.

Virtual Library Information Services.

7. The Organization will continue ensuring access to the store of its multimedia resources collections and technical information on agricultural and rural development and in broad terms it will:

  1. facilitate access to the wealth of FAO´s information on agriculture and agriculture-related fields, through the development of a substantive multi-media collection;
  2. improve integrated access across databases, library catalogues, information resources and service;
  3. produce full sets and customized subsets of the FAO digital documents and publications collections on CD-ROM, supplemented with an information retrieval tool to facilitate access by FAO staff and Member Countries having limited technology tools;
  4. implement appropriate preservation procedures, including technology solutions for the dissemination of FAO documents and publications in all appropriate formats;
  5. promote the development of multilateral and bilateral networks and library exchange agreements for the coordination of shared access to agricultural documentation and specialised information.

FAO Country Profiles and Mapping Information System

8. It is proposed to continue developing and implementing a corporate information system which will facilitate access to FAO´s country statistics and scientific and technical information, through the integration of all relevant FAO information resources and information systems. The system will provide an integrated and streamlined environment for the gathering and storage of country-based information in general, and country profiles and mapping data, by:

  1. integrating the different FAO thematic and statistical databases on country-based information for assessment of the state of food, nutrition and agriculture;
  2. developing a corporate digital map repository for the collection, indexing and cross-referencing of up-to-date digital maps with the capability to include new interactive maps;
  3. developing a sophisticated Intranet/Internet retrieval and analytical system, with database mapping and visualization functionality;
  4. preparing a user-friendly interface for the management, analysis and reporting of country-based documentation, maps, reports, statistics, graphics and hypermedia information;
  5. developing information management analysis and reporting modules.

C. Standards, Norms and Procedures for Improved Access to Agricultural Information.

9. It is proposed to mutually establish and implement standards, norms and procedures to facilitate information and knowledge organization, retrieval and exchange. The adoption of international standards and methodologies avoid loss of time and resources in the independent creation of such standards and methodologies by different systems. It enables better management of national information systems by:

  1. developing standards and procedures for effective and quality data exchange between FAO and Member Countries;
  2. developing a set of procedures and standards with associated tools, covering structure (contents) and the description (meta data) of information objects, controlled vocabularies, thesauri, glossaries, definitions and ontologies in the area of FAO´s subject expertise as well as digital presentation and archiving;
  3. enhancing search and retrieval capabilities of the FAO Document Repository;
  4. continuing maintenance of FAO catalogues for information retrieval;
  5. strengthening of AGRIS/CARIS network of documentation centres;
  6. preparing standards and guidelines for agricultural information management packaged in a distance learning format.

World Agriculture Information Resource System, WAIR.

10. The programme will facilitate access to resource systems and multimedia resource collections of world-wide research and development in agriculture. Through the adoption of uniform electronic publishing classifications, standards and tools, national agricultural and research information systems will be better able to search and retrieve relevant information related to the improvement or rural development and food security, by:

  1. adopting and implementing of agreed standards with international authoritative information providers to enable the means to exchange information;
  2. establishing agreed information exchange protocols and Web portals facilitating access to specific information;
  3. strengthening FAO collaboration with the UN System Electronic Information Acquisitions Consortium (UNSEIAC) and with the library networks such as AGLINET, for cost-efficient exchange agreements to enhance the library´s electronic resource collections for the benefit of FAO technical officers to aid their work in assisting Member Countries;
  4. fostering partnerships amongst the international community to promote the collection and exchange of information focussing on food security;
  5. distributing, adaptation and continuing support to AGRIS/CARIS networks using Web-based multilingual applications.

D. Inter-agency Co-ordination.

11. WAICENT will continue building up relationships with agencies, organizations and programmes of the UN system and relevant partner institutions, in order to achieve Member Countries needs on agricultural information and avoid duplication of work. It will promote the development of memoranda of co-operation with partners and the establishment of a collaborative network of expert institutions. In a broad sense, it will:

  1. advise on overall policy issues, major gaps and constraints related to agricultural information management;
  2. identify priorities and common areas of interest in order to facilitate access to relevant data and sources of information world-wide;
  3. promote the exchange of information among member agencies and organisations on related issues;
  4. develop joint activities related to information management, including the establishment of co-operative arrangements for special meetings, workshops and events at national, subregional and regional level.

Public awareness.

12. As regards public awareness and in support of the implementation of the recommendations set out in the first COAIM, WAICENT will continue to facilitate communication with, and among Member Countries in information available through FAO/WAICENT. It will continue to strengthen its information programme, to initiate new awarenness-raising activities, and to provide assistance to Member Countries upon request in the dissemination of information at the national, subregional and regional levels.