Scientific and Technological Information System for the Agricultural Sector in the Americas Implementation of Stage I Project Profile Summary Technical Secretariat of FORAGRO Area of Science, Technology and Natural Resources IICA www.iicanet.org/foragro foragro@iicanet.org San Jose, January 26, 2001
TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT...1 INFOTEC: a FORAGRO initiative in the strategic field of information (Summary)...4 Mission-Vision...4 Objectives...4 Functions and Components of INFOTEC...5 Figure 1: Components of INFOTEC...6 IMPLEMENTATION...7 OBJECTIVES OF STAGE I...8 METHODOLOGY AND STRATEGY...8 TOTAL BUDGET OF THE PROJECT - STAGE I OF INFOTEC:...8 SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS OF STAGE I...9
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT This project is an initiative of the Forum for the Americas on Agricultural Research and Technology Development (FORAGRO) in the area of technological information. Its purpose is to develop a regionwide technological information system, entitled INFOTEC, which will be hemispheric in scope and include the countries of North America (Canada, Mexico and the United States), the Caribbean Basin, Central America and Panama, the Andean Group and the Southern Cone. As part of the process of designing INFOTEC, a consultation workshop was held in San Jose in May 2000, attended by representatives of national research institutes, PROCIs, IICA, FORAGRO and RedCapa. At that event, the groundwork was laid for the initial proposal on INFOTEC, which has been presented and discussed in a number of meetings since then. FORAGRO has approved the implementation of this strategy in the area of information technology, which begins to take shape in the present project. INFOTEC will play a key and multidimensional role in the area of scientific and technological information for agriculture. It will be: a) a system in which countries and their research institutes play a proactive role in the areas of articulation, brokerage and integration; b) a component of IICA s regional and subregional specialized and reference networks and systems, providing them with further specialized information on science and technology. c) a vehicle for implementation of FORAGRO s regional strategies and policies related to information, contributing to institutional strengthening and the creation of specialized virtual communities. d) the representative of the Americas in the GFAR global information system, playing a proactive role in consolidating the Association of Regional Agricultural Information Systems ARAIS. This multiple perspective will be taken into account during implementation, maintaining all the concepts, strategies and priorities set out in the initial proposal, and underscoring the benefits to be derived from generating applicable results quickly. The cooperative use of existing information systems and applications, and a steady increase in the attainment of results, are two of the p. rincipal parameters used to determine the content of Stage I, which is expected to last one year, once funding for the project is secured. In each of the four components of INFOTEC, the following results are expected to be obtained, during Stage I: a) Brokerage of knowledge: Development of a database on available technologies (Supply of Technology), and gradual development of a regional agricultural and agroindustrial technologies market. Agreements with national and regional research centers, a methodology for defining priorities (shared critical technologies) and domains (dynamic mega-domains). b) Virtual Community: Organization of the portal of the community, data base on users, collective data base on experts, virtual forums, shared news system, participatory digital library, mailing and distribution lists. c) Institutional Strengthening in ICT: Collective data base on R&D centers, Physical/Virtual presence course on ICT, Analysis of needs of NARSs, Technical assistance in ICT for national systems.. Document Prepared by the FORAGRO Technical Secretariat, with the participation of Vladimir Quintero, Jorge Ardila and Viviana Palmieri and later modified and corrected with the contribution of a discussion forum organized to this end. We thank the following people for their comments: Carlos Roig (INTA, Argentina), Federico Sancho (IICA Costa Rica), Lornel Rivas (INIA Venezuela) and Wessel Eykman (RedCapa). 1
d) Articulation: Articulation with stakeholders in the region, Inter-forum international workshop, with the participation of other regional forums (RAISs) and the Global Forum (GFAR), Interaction with CRIIA, Articulation with other RAISs. These are the main lines along which INFOTEC will gradually develop, at each step working to articulate with and complement existing information structures at research centers and institutes, the specialized networks, the PROCIs, the specialized information systems of IICA s Technical Consortium, the CRIIA, IICA, FORAGRO, and other regional agricultural information systems (RAISs) associated with the GFAR Global Forum. One of the basic elements of the INFOTEC strategy is the design and development of a shared technological and management platform. This is a platform for storing and processing information, a selfmanaged system for inputting and modifying data, and a portal for accessing information at its original location. This platform will allow for unlimited access from remote systems and is based on the shared development of applications for joint use. The data bases to be developed under this platform during Stage I are: Supply of Technology, Participatory Digital Library, Directory of Research Institutions in the Region, and Data Base on Experts. Two of the activities included in Stage I require a more detailed explanation, given their scope and novelty: 1. Development of a data base on available technologies (supply of technology) and the gradual development of a regional technologies market. The Supply of Technology data base will enable researchers, institutions and enterprises to inform the community of technologies, services or products they have available, either free of charge or for a fee. It will contain only the information users need to conduct efficient searches, and a link, defined by the owner of the information, for accessing the technology itself, or a person to contact in order to obtain it. Cooperation in information will take place under the rules and in the fields identified by the countries, for which INFOTEC will develop a work method that will enable it to identify with the countries those critical technologies that will be priorities for exchanges, and also to establish parameters for classifying this information in terms of uniform criteria or domains of recommendation. This means that agreement will be reached on common problems of interest to participating countries and organizations, for the purpose of identifying technologies that are critical or relevant to solving these problems. It also means that every piece of information that enters the system will be accompanied by an approximate identification of the domain of recommendation to which it can be applied. If countries are able to access technologies developed by neighboring countries for solving common production and/or agroindustrial problems, under similar agroecological conditions and/or domains of recommendation, this will be a major step in the region toward making maximum use of the resources invested in agricultural research, and accelerating the technological modernization of production. Information processed in this way will also facilitate articulation with technological systems on other continents, and may lead to cooperative projects and technology transfers with counterparts in Europe, Asia and Africa, where there are technological developments of interest to LAC. This data base will be the cornerstone in the development of a regional market for information and agricultural technologies, aimed at increasing the region's access to technological knowledge useful in agriculture, at encouraging countries to exchange more information, and at fostering greater participation by the private sector in the area of technology. This will involve promoting the open exchange (free of charge or for a fee) of technologies developed by both the public and private sectors, which will open up possibilities for interaction between the region and other continents. 2
2. Organization of the Portal for the Virtual Community The portal for the Virtual Community (VC) proposed under INFOTEC could become a technological tool to support communication, interaction and the dissemination of information and knowledge of use to the region, and a vital element in creating and strengthening Virtual Communities addressing specialized topics of interest to INFOTEC partners and users. This component takes on greater importance given the steady decline in investments in agricultural research throughout the region and the subsequent cutbacks in research teams in the countries. Existing services and applications for processing, locating, transmitting and publishing available information will allow for the growth of the portal, maximizing the efficiency of electronic links with the information stored in the servers of research centers and institutes, without diminishing their control over such information. Creation of a virtual community with INFOTEC at the core will begin with the development of two data bases containing information on institutions and researchers in the region. Stage I of INFOTEC maintains all the principles of participation defined in the initial proposal, and each stage of its implementation will be preceded by a process of consultation and discussion with institutional stakeholders in the region, so as to ensure that as many countries as possible will adopt the system. The project includes a meeting to discuss the supply of technology, another meeting with representatives of the public and private sectors to analyze expectations for, and the potential benefits of, the regional market for information and agricultural technologies, and a technical workshop with representatives from other regional agricultural information systems (RAISs) (Europe, Near East, Africa and Asia) to discuss the advisability and regional benefits of using collective data bases (shared responsibility) for certain types of information commonly used by INFOTEC partners. Plans also call for a first "hybrid" course (physical/virtual presence) on methodologies, opportunities and requirements for marketing information and technology via Internet. From its very outset and throughout implementation, Stage I of the project will generate partial results useful to INFOTEC partners and users. Its strategy seeks two effects: to strengthen the credibility of the system and to offer partners and users a mechanism for the ongoing analysis and improvement of each service and type of application offered. 3
INFOTEC: a FORAGRO initiative in the strategic field of information (Summary) The trend toward market globalization in all production sectors, spurred by the growing availability and capacity of information and communications technologies (ICT), continues to increase the importance of having timely access to reliable sources of information and knowledge. The institutions engaged in research, technology development and innovation in the agricultural sector of Latin America have been generating new and valuable information, knowledge and technologies for many years. This enormous potential is not fully tapped, however, due to a lack of mechanisms for facilitating articulation and the efficient flow of such information and knowledge in order to improve the institutions position in a competitive world. The purpose of INFOTEC is to promote articulation among the information and knowledge networks of national and regional agricultural innovation systems, and to support modernization thereof, with a view to reducing the technological gap between countries and fostering the consolidation of a regional market for information and agricultural technologies. As a regional information system, INFOTEC will operate as FORAGRO's arm for dissemination and virtual interaction. It will be articulated with other regional information systems being promoted by the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR). Also, it will be responsible for developing the scientific and technological information component, which will be articulated with the strategy of the Inter- American Reference Center for Agricultural Information (CRIIA) and the specialized information centers of IICA's Technical Consortium, and for articulating its contents and services with the subregional initiatives established and executed by the PROCIs. The involvement of the region's research institutions, through a linking of their information systems, will contribute to establishing national agricultural information systems as an intermediate step in the processing and interpreting of data flowing from the local level to the global level. Mission-Vision INFOTEC s mission is to foster articulation of information and knowledge among national and regional agricultural innovation systems, and to support their modernization, with a view to reducing the technological gap between countries and fostering the consolidation of a regional market for agricultural technologies. This implies strengthening the national system, if one exists, or promoting its creation, if it does not. This mission is framed by the long-term vision of becoming the leading network in LAC involved in strengthening and articulating information systems and systems for the public and private dissemination of technologies for the agrifood complex, and in supporting the processes of institutional modernization and application of information and communications technologies (ICT) in the agricultural sector. Objectives Given that knowledge is a factor in development in an increasingly globalized society, INFOTEC's mission will be accomplished by pursuing the following general objectives: Facilitate access to information on agricultural science, technology and innovation Develop mechanisms to promote and strengthen a regional market for agricultural technologies Establish mechanisms for articulation and cooperation among institutions, networks and information systems on agricultural science, technology and innovation, in and outside the region. 4
Provide training and continuing education opportunities, in order to make the use of ICT more efficient and improve the management of information in the agricultural sector. Foster the exchange of information and knowledge among system users through the creation and strengthening of virtual communities Functions and Components of INFOTEC As an articulator and broker between institutions and users, from the local to the global levels, INFOTEC has five basic functions, which give rise to the following components: 1. Brokerage of information and agricultural knowledge Brokerage is necessary if the users of a system are to have rapid and efficient access to the information they really need. This INFOTEC function includes activities to identify, articulate, integrate and add value to and disseminate data, information and technologies generated at the local and national levels by scientific and technological institutions in the agricultural sector, promoting the adoption of common standards and management systems distributed among the partners. It incorporates the component that will promote and strengthen the use of e-commerce as a modern and efficient tool for the marketing of information, knowledge and agricultural technologies. In the long term, this function may have the greatest social impact because it aims directly at creating new habits, in organizations and in individuals, regarding the use and application of ICT in their daily professional lives. This component also includes the monitoring and management of access to ICT, in an attempt to reduce the technology gap between the countries of LAC and the rest of the world. In the monitoring function, INFOTEC would coordinate with those relevant actions being carried out by the specialized information system of IICA s Technical Consortium. INFOTEC would make available to its users information on technological advances in communications and technology, specialized websites and topics of interest. The component, which bears the same name, includes the data base on the supply of technology as the first element for developing a technology market, the observatory of ICT and a number of regional indicators in ICT. 2. Articulation Articulation will be aimed at combining and integrating human resources, information services, data bases, training programs, events, news, etc.; in other words, to ensure growing, organized and orderly access to different information services, systems and networks related to agricultural science and technology, both within and outside the region. Particular importance will be attached to articulation with the CRIIA, the specialized information systems of IICA s Technical Consortium, the different science and technology initiatives and policies of FORAGRO, and local R&D institutions, and the information systems of other regions and the GFAR. 3. Training and technical support in ICT Efforts to make technical and methodological improvements in the generation, exchange and dissemination of scientific and technological information will have little or no impact if users are not sufficiently skilled in the use of ICT to convert the information into knowledge that can be applied in decision making. There are three priority training needs: a) information technology; b) information management; and c) administration and marketing via Internet. This component of INFOTEC, called Institutional Strengthening in ICT, includes, in addition to training programs, the dissemination of models for the management of ICT, regional directories of research/development centers and institutions, support for the creation or strengthening of national agricultural information systems, and participation in negotiations on open access for the region to Internet. 5
4. Promotion of the Virtual Community Aimed at promoting the use of ICT to strengthen the new forms of organization of the scientific community and of INFOTEC users. The corresponding component was called Virtual Community and includes the creation of a portal, as a technological tool to support communication, interaction and the dissemination of information and knowledge in the region, and as a vital element in creating and strengthening virtual communities addressing specialized topics of interest to INFOTEC partners and users. The component takes on greater importance given the steady decline in investments in agricultural research throughout the region and subsequent cutbacks in research teams in the countries. Existing services and applications for processing, locating, transmitting and publishing available information will allow for the growth of the portal, maximizing the efficiency of electronic links with the information stored in the servers of research centers and institutes, without diminishing their control over such information. Creation of a virtual community with INFOTEC at the core will begin with the development of two data bases containing of information on users, and researchers and experts in the region. It will also include the creation and promotion of virtual forums and discussion groups; the identification, promotion and support of cooperative projects; support for the creation or strengthening of specialized thematic networks; a participatory digital library, a shared news system; and software for the virtual community. If INFOTEC is successful in performing all these functions, it will become the principal Portal for Information on Agricultural Science, Technology and Innovation in the region. Figure 1: Components of INFOTEC Institutional Strengthening in I.C.T. Training Programs Models for I.C.T. attainment Support to National Information Systems R&D Institutions database Virtual Community Portal of the Community DB on Experts and Users Virtual Fora Support to networks Software for virtual community Digital library and news system Brokerage of Information & Knowledge Meta-base of technological supply Information and Technology Market I.C.T. Observatory Regional I.C.T. Indicators Articulation Regional virtual reference center Articulation w/ stakeholders (R/D Inst., PROCIs,...) Regional/ Global Compatibility Inter-fora articulation 6
IMPLEMENTATION The implementation of INFOTEC has been planned in three complementary and incremental stages, which will guarantee the availability to users, from the outset and throughout the implementation of the project, of useful interim results. The following table shows the distribution of the components to be implemented in each of the stages, and the results expected from implementation of Stage I. Modules to be implemented in each stage of INFOTEC Component STAGE I STAGE II STAGE III Articulation Institutional Strengthening in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Articulation with stakeholders in region. Interaction with CRIIA. Inter-forum international workshop, with participation of RAISs and GFAR Collective data base on R&D centers Physical/virtual presence course on ICT Analysis of needs of NARSs Consolidation of virtual reference center in S&T for agriculture Models for management of ICT Training programs Articulation with stakeholders from other continents and developed countries Negotiations on access to Internet Support to NARSs and regional cooperative R&D programs Brokerage information knowledge of and Promotion of the Virtual Community Technical assistance in ICT for national systems Agreements with research centers Development of data bases on supply of technology and promotion of a regional market Methodology for defining priorities (shared critical technologies) and domains (dynamic megdomains) Development of virtual forums Regional directory of institutions Digital library Shared news system Start of directory of experts Start of support for regional specialized networks Development of regional indicators ICT. Monitoring and management of access to ICT. Ongoing promotion of regional agricultural technologies market Forums and cooperative projects Support for networks Identification, distribution and/or development of software for agriculture Development of software for specific virtual communities 7
OBJECTIVES OF STAGE I To design, implement and initiate the activities of the System for the Dissemination, Analysis and Transfer of the Supply of Technology in the Region, articulated with other, similar or complementary information management initiatives within and outside the region. To design, implement and initiate the integration of the regional market for information and agricultural technologies, promoting the participation of the private sector and the establishment of strategic alliances with partners outside the region. To design and implement the INFOTEC Information Portal as a tool for dissemination and interaction, closely articulated with other information systems that already exist or are under development, both within and outside the region. The specific objectives of the project are perfectly in keeping with the general objectives established for INFOTEC in the first conceptual documents drawn up at the workshop in San Jose. METHODOLOGY AND STRATEGY As was stated in the conceptual documents on INFOTEC, the participatory methodology that will be used for the implementation of Stage I is designed to produce results in the short term, taking advantage of the technological advances and information available at that moment and offering to share the specific software that is produced. The principal ideas on which the implementation of this project are based are: INFOTEC is a non-bureaucratic project, conducted mostly via computer, which uses the information produced by the countries and operates with a minimum of personnel. The research centers and institutions that contribute information to INFOTEC will retain control over their information at all times and will decide which users will be able to access each type of information offered. Every attempt will be made to use the region s existing technical and human infrastructure for all the studies and their implementation. Emphasis will be placed on using existing information and applications. The research centers and institutions will be heavily involved in all stages of the process. INFOTEC s outputs and services must meet the actual needs of the countries. INFOTEC will be developed gradually and in progressive stages, and the interim outputs will be available for immediate use by the users. Priority will always be given to articulation with other systems, so as to increase efficiency in the use of resources, and the impact of the outputs. TOTAL BUDGET OF THE PROJECT - STAGE I OF INFOTEC: Items Amount US$ Consultancies 45 000 Specialized services 85 000 Travel and meetings 89 000 Support, materials, communications 135 000 Equipment 15 000 Subtotal 369 000 Overhead 8.40% 31 000 TOTAL 400 000 8
SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS OF STAGE I Component Results Articulation Articulation with stakeholders in region Inter-forum international workshop, with participation of RAISs and GFAR Interaction with CRIIA Articulation with other RAISs International workshop on jointly owned collective data bases, with other regional R&D forums (Asia, Europe, Africa), and presentation on the current status us of and outlook for other regional information systems (RAISs) Institutional Strengthening in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Brokerage of information and knowledge (Brokerage and promotion of technology market) Promotion of the Virtual Community Collective data base on research and technology development institutions in LAC. (public sector, private sector, universities, NGOs, and international centers based in the region) Physical/virtual presence course Analysis of needs of NARSs Technical assistance in ICT for national systems Development of conceptual and methodological documents for the classification and prioritization of Shared Critical Technologies (TCC) and Dynamic Mega Domains (MDD), for the subsequent development of the data bases on technology supply Virtual forums on TCC and MDD, for discussion of proposals Consultation meeting on information technology platforms of the NARSs in LAC and concrete possibilities of participation in the development of metabases on the supply of technology under INFOTEC. First stage of development of metabase on the public and private supply of technology in the Americas Institutional data base with information for MDD (geographic localization variables) Development and/or adaptation of software for managing information on the supply of technology, based on MDD Development of software for virtual and physical consultation of the countries Pilot tests and document setting out results Meeting with the private sector to discuss options for participating in the development a technology market (appropriable and nonappropriable technologies) First course on methodologies, opportunities and requirements for marketing information and technology via Internet Methodology and logistics of administering the information and technology market Free-access website to offer and request technology and information Development of an on-line publicity system Preparation of manuals for users of the system Portal of information Participatory digital library Data base on users of portal Collective data base on researchers or experts Virtual forums Open discussion groups Chat rooms Static and dynamic electronic distribution lists News and advances system 9