AGROVOC country report - Georgia

TECHINFORMI retrieves, processes and disseminates scientific and technological information both inside and outside the country. It creates open databases describing scientific products such as the results of research projects and publications. These databases are placed on the TECHINFORMI webpage and are visible and accessible for all interested individuals (TECHINFORMI, 2021a). 

Through the state government funding TECHINFORMI provides free access to international databases and systems such as Scopus, EBSCO, and the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) database. TECHINFORMI also provides access to the International System for Agricultural Science and Technology (AGRIS), one of the most comprehensive search engines in food and agricultural scientific literature providing access to millions of bibliographic records in 90 different languages (FAO, 2021c). 

The Department of Information Resources and Analysis and the Department of Development of Information Technologies are the two main structural elements of TECHINFORMI.

The key functions and objectives of TECHINFORMI are:

• maintaining consultations with a wide variety of national and international institutions;
• reflecting the scientific potential of Georgia and dissemination of scientific products; 
• building up scientific information resources;
• online registration of current and completed research studies;
• customer services in all branches of market research;
• information and analytical services; 
• providing bibliometric analysis for Georgian scientists;
• information support to science and education;
• organization of scientific and business events, workshops, exhibitions, etc.; and
• translating/publishing different scientific, technical and official documents (TECHINFORMI, 2021b).

The databases developed at TECHINFORMI cover several areas, such as the publications of Georgian scientists in top-rated foreign journals and the research projects of Georgian scientists.

On behalf of the Georgian Government, TECHINFORMI has always played an important role in developing concepts and recommendations about the scientific and technical development of Georgia, the structure and functioning of the patent system in the country, information support of the government, and registration of scientific research works and dissertations. TECHINFORMI developed the structure and function of the patent system in Georgia and, on the basis of this concept, the National Intellectual Property Center of Georgia (Sakpatenti) was established.

In addition, TECHINFORMI has been part of the foundation and the development of modern information and communication technologies in Georgia. Since 2000, TECHINFORMI has been the publisher of a multidisciplinary and bilingual periodical Georgian Abstracts Journal describing scientific publications in Georgia (GAJ, 2018).  Since 2019, it is also the publisher of the Caucasus Abstracts Journal of NanoScience and Nanotechnology (CAJNN), covering scientific periodicals, collected works and articles from educational and research institutions – and more.

International cooperation

TECHINFORMI actively collaborates with different international and national organizations. Since 1993, it has represented Georgia in different international networks and communities such as AGRIS, the International Federation for Information and Documentation (FID) and the Global Forum on Agricultural Research and Innovation (GFAR). Until 2016, TECHINFORMI was the Focal Point in Georgia at the Central Asia and the Caucasus Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (CACAARI) in the sphere of information and communication management. TECHINFORMI is also the official representative of Georgia in the International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI). It is a member of various networks, such as the Caucasus Environmental Non-Governmental Organization Network (CENN), Deutscher Wasserstoff- und Brennstoffzellen-Verband (DWV) and the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) initiative.

TECHINFORMI represents the Georgian government when dealing with FAO in the area of agriculture information management. In 2000, under the decision of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, a FAO Depository Library was set up at TECHINFORMI, with more than 2 000 resources. This depository library’s electronic catalogue on the TECHINFORMI website now includes over 200 unique records and all the publications are indexed using AGROVOC (TECHINFORMI, 2021c).  In 2021 it also became the  AGRIS Hub in Georgia, and exports bibliographic references and annotations of agricultural research published in the country regularly to AGRIS. In 2016, TECHINFORMI joined the AGROVOC editorial community. Recently it has also been included in the ASFA database information system.

Link to part two