Second Consultation on Agricultural Information Management, COAIM

The Second Consultation on Agricultural Information Management (COAIM)(Rome, 23 to 25 September 2002) took place in an international policy context in which multilateral agreements on information and communication technologies complemented FAO´s efforts to address the needs of member countries and strategies on agricultural information.

High-ranking representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture of member countries, representatives from other UN organizations, specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) participated in the meeting.

The opening ceremony took place in the Green Room at FAO headquarters on 23 September 2002. The Consultation was opened by Ms Carleen Gardner, Assistant Director-General of the General Affairs and Information Department on behalf of the Director-General of FAO.

The Consultation benefited from the views of keynote speakers, who explained the different activities developed by their institutions and in particular stressed the importance of strengthening inter-agency co-operation in order to promote effective collaboration in capacity-building efforts with member countries. The keynote speakers were Mr Carlos Braga, Director of the Development Gateway Foundation; Ms Julianne Lee, Senior Programme Officer of the World Economic Forum; Mr Peter Armstrong, Director of One World International; Mr John Rose, Senior Programme Specialist of the Information Society Division of UNESCO and Mr Felipe Manteiga, Director for Strategic Partnerships of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

Among other issues, COAIM discussed:

ways and means to improve access to agricultural information;
the promotion of effective collaboration in capacity-building efforts with member countries and in particular a better use of information and communication technologies;
the revision of guidelines and standards that enhance access to relevant data and information world-wide.

The participants recommended that FAO:

implement a balanced language policy for the FAO Web site;
develop an evaluation system for indicators of impact of information in promoting food security and sustainable development in local communities, including an analysis of the different users and their information needs;
develop an agricultural information management system with a balanced language policy based on national and regional agricultural information systems in co-ordination with national focal points and other international organizations, as appropriate;
engage member countries in planning and preparing the agenda of the next Consultation;
include in the agenda of the Third Consultation the presentation of national activities on agricultural information management developed by member countries;
prioritize the strengthening of countries´ capacities to produce quality data and information in the programme of work of FAO in support of WAICENT;
prioritize national FAOSTAT (the FAO statistical database) systems in the modernization of FAOSTAT, and convene an expert meeting to define the requirements and review mechanisms to strengthen FAOSTAT national systems;
support the Livestock, Environment and Development (LEAD) Initiative as a methodological framework for information management in research and development, and its implementation;
develop tools and information systems that use new Web-services technology such as semantic and ontology development to enhance the search facility and make it more intelligent;

Plenary session of the Second Consultation of Agricultural Information Management. From left to right: Mr Anton Mangstl, Director of the Library and Documentation Systems Division; Ms Carleen Gardner, Assistant Director-General of the General Affairs and Information Department; Mr Francisco Pérez Trejo, WAICENT Manager; Mr Peter Armstrong, Director of One World International; and Mr Carlos Braga, Director of the Development Gateway Foundation.
(Photo FAO).

support the creation of an informal Inter-agency Advisory Group (IAG), of international organizations to improve complementarity and collaboration in capacity-building efforts in information management;
present a report of the activities developed by the IAG during the next Consultation;
work with member countries to establish national and regional WAICENT focal points, as appropriate, for improved information exchange at national, regional and international levels;
articulate and promote the development of national and regional priorities on agricultural information management;
formalize institutional arrangements of the WAICENT focal points, according to national priorities and needs on agricultural information;
works with member countries to mobilize financial resources in order to:

integrate cross-cutting issues such as gender, information and communication, as well as ICTs, into policies, and undertake concrete measures to set up appropriate infrastructure, applications and capacity building for sustainable models in order to produce, access and share appropriate and relevant information with rural communities (men and women);
develop the following activities: production, adoption and dissemination of gender-disaggregated data (GDD), training materials and guidelines; creation of demand for GDD; development of a dissemination strategy; retabulation of existing data; and integration of a gender perspective in new data.

develop a coherent strategy for WAICENT in order to co-ordinate information activities across all technical divisions of the Organization and avoid duplication of efforts, and a clear mechanism for the monitoring and evaluation of this strategy;
support the development of the Inventory of Available Agricultural Technologies (TECA) methodological framework including its validation in the field and the development of content in the languages of the Organization;
develop an agricultural information management platform for evaluating and promoting comparative analysis of agricultural policies; and
ensure that the outcomes and recommendations of the COAIM feed into the governance system and policy of the Organization.