ICM Status Report in WANA Region ,2011

AARINENA 12TH GENERAL CONFERENCE
MEETING, 16-17 NOVEMBER 2011, KUWAIT
ICM STATUS REPORT IN
WANA REGION
Taraneh Ebrahimi/ Mohammad Majdalawi
November 2011

AARINENA 12TH GENERAL CONFERENCE MEETING, 16-17 NOVEMBER 2011, KUWAIT
ICM STATUS REPORT IN WANA REGION
Outlines
 Introduction: Why ICT/ICM?
 History of RAIS in WANA Region
 Brief review of previous WANA ICT reports
 Scope and Methodology of the report
 Status of ICT/ICM in AR4D in the WANA
Region
 Conclusion
 Recommendations

Introduction
 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has
become an essential component for development, not
only of the agricultural sector, but also of industrial,
environmental, and service sectors as well.
 ICT is a crucial element in establishing the sustainable
development in any country.
 New Information and Communication Management
(ICM) techniques offer yet more effective management
of Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D).

Introduction (cont.)
 Improving agricultural performance in the
countries of the region depends largely on
the transformation of its agricultural research
and development systems .
 Effective exchange of knowledge and
information ,contribute to poverty
eradication, food security, sustainable
development and increased productivity
and competitiveness.

Introduction (cont.)
 Science-based agricultural systems deliver
real benefits to farmers, processors and
consumers through the development and
implementation of new knowledge
exchange systems.
 Modern Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) and Management (ICM)
have introduced a new dimension and, if
properly applied, can help in promoting
knowledge and information exchange.

History of RAIS in WANA Region
The Regional Agricultural Information
System(RAIS) serves as an information
repository and exchange mechanism
at the regional level, aiming to
strengthen, coordinate, and add
value to initiatives by national
programs and those coordinated by
regional and international
organizations.

History of RAIS in WANA Region(cont.)
In1998, AARINENA Executive
Committee decided to establish of a
suitable set of internet-based services
(website, E-mail service, databases,…)
to facilitate the information exchange
within the Association.

 The first “Regional Information Strategy”
report was prepared in February 2000 by
Dr. Ahmed Rafea.
 In this report ,the importance of Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) for
the agricultural domain in the region was
discussed and the status of ICT in the region
was analyzed.

 A series of technical consultations and
workshops also organized by AARINENA, in
collaboration with the Global Forum on
Agricultural Research (GFAR) and the Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) .
 During AARINENA 7th General Conference
in Beirut in March 2000 , the Regional
Information Strategy for Agricultural
Research Development was approved.

 An expert consultation meeting in Cairo in 7
October 2000 to develop a plan for
implementation of this strategy for the WANA
region.
 The AARINENA Executive Committee agreed in
December 2001 to establish a Regional Agricultural
Information System (RAIS).
 In 2002, the AARINENA-RAIS Secretariat has been
established in Iran , based on the proposal of
Agricultural Research Education and Extension
Organization (AREEO).

 The first AARINENA website developed in 2002 with
collaboration and support of GFAR. It was released
during the 8th AARINENA General
Conference, which was held in Amman, Jordan in
June 2002 (http://www.aarinena.org).
 In 2005 , Arabic version of the website was
enhanced by the valuable efforts of the FAO/RNE.
 Since 2008 , AARINENA website has been
upgraded using the new ICT technologies and web
tools such as Web2.0, AARINENA blogs, discussion
forum, wikispace,…etc.

 AARINENA ICT Steering Committee was
established upon the recommendation of the
participants of AARINENA ICT Expert
Consultation held in February 2003 in Cairo,
Egypt with the aim of strengthen Regional
Agricultural Information System in the region.

 The National Agricultural Information
Systems (NAIS) were recognized as the
building blocks of the RAIS providing
information on institutions, experts, research
projects and, research outputs, as well as
contributing to international systems.

The main constraints affecting the
building of an efficient RAIS were
identified as being:
 Weak national capacities in information
and communication management and
technology (ICM/T) in many of the
AARINENA member countries
 Lack of cooperation and coordination
between the member countries.


 The Central Lab for Agricultural Expert
Systems (CLAES), Egypt, developed a
project on a “National Agricultural
Research Information Management
System” (NARIMS), with the support of FAO
and GFAR between July 2004 and July 2006
and the second phase, with the focus on of
the tools in 2007.

 In 2006 , West Asia Agricultural Researchers
Information system has been developed by
AARINENA-RAIS secretariat.
 As it was a very useful tool to exchange
information between researchers in the Sub-
region, we decided to develop it for the
whole Region. By this database, agricultural
researchers could lead and manage
common projects with each other.

In May 2007, the AARINENA Executive
Committee and the ICT-RAIS Steering
Committee both endorsed the
establishment of a Near East Rural and
Agricultural knowledge and Information
Network (NERAKIN), as proposed by FAO.
NERAKIN-RAIS , the knowledge sharing
and collaboration for development
platform was initiated and developed by
FAO, endorsed by AARINENA and other
regional and international organizations.
( http://www.nerakin.net)

NERAKIN-RAIS , facilitated by FAO and
AARINENA for improving regional and
national information infrastructure and
building common standards and
platform for knowledge exchange
and information management in the
Near East and North Africa region.

The NERAKIN-RAIS has developed some
Regional Thematic Network since 2008 :
Regional Agricultural Biotechnology
Network Near East and North Africa
http://rabnena.net
Near East Plant Protection Network
http://pp-neareast.net/
Regional Aquaculture Information system
www.raisaquaculture.net

Preventive Desert Locust Management
Network (EMPRES) and Commission for
Controlling the Desert Locust in the
Central Region (CRC) Regional
Networkhttp://crc-empres.org/
Near East and North Africa Regional
Network for Agricultural Policies.
www.nenarnap.org

Near East Virtual Extension and Research
Communication Network(VERCON)
http://vercon-neareast.net
Regional AgricultureNews
www.agriculturenews.net

 Establishment of National Information Focal
Units (NIFUs) in each country was identified
as a high priority during The 3rd ICT-RAIS
Steering Committee meeting in Amman in
2006.
 The fourth meeting of the ICT-RAIS Steering
Committee in May 30, 2007 agreed on the
need for development of the capacity of
NIFUs, started with a workshop in Oman in
2008

Brief review of previous WANA ICT reports
The main results of the previous studies are as follows:
 Lack of qualified technical staff
 100% of the countries recognized the urgent
need for technical training support to build the
capacity of their institutions
 computers were mainly used for office
automation or using ready-made information
packages such as CDS-ISIS
 Few countries had Data Base Management
System (DBMS).
 No country had a complete NAIS

 Lack of national policy on information management;
 Language barriers (need multilingual system);
 Poor communication at sub-regional level;
 Poor communications infrastructure in some counties
(bandwidth)

 50% of the countries were not satisfied
with the system they had right that year
,and the other 50% although satisfied,
they did not have a complete system or
indicate that they want to modify it.
 Few countries had expressed giving
priority to the Institutions Information
System.
 Countries indicated that they did not
have the human capacity to develop
the NAIS.

Scope and Methodology of the
report
 To assess the status of ICT/ICM use in agricultural
information systems at the national level in the Near
East and North Africa Region.
 Availability of information on the status of ICT/ICM in
agricultural research systems may improve:
 Understanding
 Help policy making
 Adopt better management and technical models
to manage agricultural information flows at the
national level by NARS and other groups of ARD
stakeholders.

report(cont.)
The assessment of ICT/ICM in NAIS
would be an assessment of the
following:
 ICT/ICM infrastructure
 Information services rendered by NAIS
 ICT/ICM applications in NAIS
 Policies and strategies that support
ICT/ICM use

Scope and Methodology of
the report(cont.)
The indicators
 ICT infrastructure– hardware, software,
connectivity, skills etc.
 Information systems – website, e-mail domains,
use of web 2.0 tools etc.
 Policy and strategies – organizational policies,
adoption of standards, IPR issues etc.
 Contents - Scientific and technical information,
research data, research management etc.

report(cont.)
 ICT applications – Library applications, applications
for research data analysis, applications for research
management, applications for extension, marketing,
education and organizational management etc.
 Information and communication services – scientific
and technical information, research information,
research management information, extension and
advisory, market, education information etc.
 Information and communication channels – various
channels used by NARS to communicate and
disseminate information and knowledge.

the report(cont.)

the report(cont.)
 Developed =
 Emerging =
 Poor =
 Not exists =
↑
○
x

the report(cont.)
 A total of 14 ICM mangers representing the
national systems in the Near East and North
Africa region provided their responses to the
questionnaire survey:
Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco,
Oman, Palestinian Authority, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey
and Yemen.
Information related to Pakistan , was copied from APAARI ICM Status
Report 2011.

the report(cont.)
 Arabian Peninsula Sub-Region : Oman
 Maghreb Sub-Region:
Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia
 Mashreq Sub-Region :
Cyprus, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestinian
Authority and Syria
 Nile Valley & Red Sea Sub-Region:
Egypt, Sudan, Yemen
 West Asia Sub-Region:

report(cont.)
This report is generated through :
 Responses to the survey of questionnaires.
 Country status papers presented by ICM managers (NINPs
and NARS representatives) in the "Training of Trainers
Workshop on Coherence in Information for Agricultural
Research for Development (CIARD)'', held in October,
2011 at Amman.
 documents available on Internet and websites of
agricultural research and innovation systems, including
those of AARINENA members in the region and references
from recent reports and literature on the subject
conducted by AARINENA.

Status of ICT/ICM in AR4D in
the WANA Region
 About 16 tables have been prepared
 Each table for an Indicator or a related
sub-indicator.

TABLE 1: ICT INFRASTRUCTURE: AVAILABILITY OF
HARDWARE AND OTHER ICT COMPONENTS IN NARS

the WANA Region
Table 1: ICT Infrastructure: Availability of Hardware
and other ICT Components in NARS
 Basic support systems like
electricity, telephone and fax are
available at national systems.
 Full availability of hardware and other ICT
components in the NARS with regard to
computer systems, peripherals, internet
connectivity, and network equipment.

the WANA Region
 web servers and mail servers are fully
available.
 Full availability of hardware and other
ICT components in the NARS with regard
to computer
systems, peripherals, internet
connectivity, and network equipment.

the WANA Region
 video conferencing facility is available in 8
countries in the region .
 The community radio is emerging or already
developed in most of national systems
 The cellular phones are almost fully available
in all the NARS.

TABLE 2. ICT INFRASTRUCTURE: AVAILABILITY OF NETWORKING COMPONENTS AND SOFTWARE
IN NARS

the WANA Region
 The Internet connectivity in almost all the
NARS is mostly well established or
emerging in some of them.
 In the broadband capacities, most of the
NARS have well developed internet
connectivity.

the WANA Region
 The intranet is also mostly established in
most NARS in the region.
 Networking facilities such as Wide Area
Network (WAN), Virtual Private Networks
(VPN) and WiFi connectivity exists in
some of the NARS and some of them still
in emerging phase.

the WANA Region
 Satellite communication and mobile
satellite vehicles for agricultural research
and extension purpose is limited.
 Most of the NARS have operating system,
office automation suits and database
application software tools.

the WANA Region
 Open Source Software is not encouraging
in some countries .

TABLE 3: ICM SKILLS AND CAPACITIES IN NARS

the WANA Region
Table 3: ICM skills and capacities in NARS
 Most of NARS in the regions have
required skills in basic computing, internet
and e-mail, programming, database
management, network administration
etc.

the WANA Region
Table 3: ICM skills and capacities in NARS
 HRD Policy in ICT/ICM in most countries in
the region are emerging , poor or not
exists.

TABLE 4: ICM SUPPORT TO INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN NARS

Status of ICT/ICM in AR4D in the
WANA Region
Table 4: ICM support to information systems in NARS
 Sharing information through networks in
most of the NARS are emerging.
 All the NARS maintain website domains and
disseminate information.
 Use of social networking tools, web 2.0 and
web 3.0, Wiki, RSS and blogs which improve
participatory content creation and
dialogue is not so encouraging.

WANA Region
Table 4: ICM support to information systems in NARS
 Use of social networking tools, web 2.0 and
web 3.0, Wiki, RSS and blogs which improve
participatory content creation and
dialogue is not so encouraging.

TABLE 5. POLICY AND STRATEGY SUPPORT TO ICM IN NARS

WANA Region
Table 5: Policy and strategy support to ICM in NARS
 Most of the national systems are still
evolving policies or struggling with poor
policy support.
 Agricultural policies of most of the countries
in the region do not have adequate clarity
and strategies on how ICT/ICM can and are
to be use in agricultural development.

WANA Region
Table 5: Policy and strategy support to ICM in NARS
 Very few NARS follow global standards for
managing ARD information, metadata
standards and adopt proper intellectual
property rights for sharing research
information.

TABLE 6. CONTENT INDICATORS: AVAILABILITY OF SCIENTIFIC
AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN NARS

WANA Region
Table 6: Content indicators: Availability of scientific and
technical information systems in NARS
 Science and Technical Information
 Research Data
 Research Management Information
 Information for learning in agricultural
communities such as for extension and
education
 Market related information which informs
producers how to participate effectively in
markets .

WANA Region
Table 6: Content indicators: Availability of scientific
and technical information systems in NARS
 Most of the countries have been
developed or in the process of developing
cataloguing and indexing services of
agricultural literature through their library
and documentation centres on regular
basis.

WANA Region
 In case of abstracts and bibliographies also
most of countries have been developed or
in the process of developing.
 Most national agricultural research systems
offer or emerge electronic services(CD-
ROM based databases, online-database,
electronic journal )

WANA Region
 The situation in institutional repositories and
open archive initiative is almost promising.
Although in few countries it is poor .
 Most of the countries are evolving their
institutional repositories
 Open Archive initiatives are weak in the
region.

WANA Region
 Slow in shifting print-based content in the
form of catalogues, indexes, abstracts etc.,
to electronic platform for greater sharing at
different levels.

TABLE 7. RESEARCH DATA AND INFORMATION IN NARS

WANA Region
Table 7. Research Data and Information in NARS
 Availability of Research data and information
in NARS are emerging.
 Except few countries , Knowledge based
systems are poor or not exists.

TABLE 8. RESEARCH MANAGEMENT INFORMATION IN NARS

WANA Region
Table 8. Research Management Information in NARS
 Most of the countries have developed or
are evolving their research management
information system ; few countries are poor
in this .

TABLE 9. . ICM APPLICATIONS IN LIBRARY AUTOMATION AND
NETWORKING

WANA Region
 Table 9 indicates that library automation
and library information Networks are well
established in 50% of the countries in the
region and 40% of the countries are poor or
not exist in library automation applications
and library information Networks.

WANA Region
 It was observed that some of the
developing countries in the region did full
automation and networking of libraries with
several information services such as
circulation of documents, access to virtual
libraries, access to on-line journals, access
to open source journals and cooperate with
other libraries as consortium members to
get access to priced sources of information.

WANA Region
 It seems almost all countries in NENA region
have access to the electronic and open
journals , but still there are differences which
the reasons could, be inadequate
leadership, poor investments and
capacities as also lack of awareness.

TABLE 10. ICM APPLICATIONS THAT ENABLE MANAGEMENT
IN NARS

WANA Region
Table 10. ICM Applications that enable management
in NARS
 Cyprus and Jordan emerge and maintain
all types of information resources in readily
accessible form with the application of
latest ICT technologies in crop modeling,
precision agriculture, knowledge-based
systems and information systems that
support research management at
institutional level.

TABLE 11. ICM APPLICATIONS THAT ENABLE FARM
ADVISORY, EXTENSION AND MARKETING

WANA Region
Table 11. ICM applications that enable farm advisory,
extension and marketing
 Table 11 illustrates that ICT applications
which satisfy the information needs of
farmers, extension agents and agri-
entrepreneurs to provide relevant market
related information to enable producers
participate effectively in markets, are not
fully developed in many agricultural
research and innovation systems in the
region.

WANA Region
Table 11. ICM applications that enable farm
advisory, extension and marketing
 The application of ICTs in agricultural
marketing functions across the value chain
of a commodity is missing in almost all the
countries with an exception to
Jordan, , Oman and Turkey.
 A majority of the countries have poor ICT
use ICTs or are at emerging levels even to
provide market price information in.

TABLE12. ICT APPLICATIONS THAT ENABLE
AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION

WANA Region
Table12. ICM applications that enable agricultural
education
 Table 12 indicates that ICT applications in
the campus education, distance education
and open education are either mostly
emerging, not exist or poor in existence in
the most countries while in few countries
they are developed.

TABLE 13. ICM APPLICATIONS THAT ENABLE
ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT

WANA Region
Table 13. ICM applications that enable organizational
management
 Table 13 indicates that many developing
countries still emerging or poor in existence
in the use of ICT for organizational
management.
 It is also an observation that the financial
management systems and personal
management are almost developed only in
a few countries and the picture is not
satisfactory in majority of countries.

Conclusion of the Report
ICT Infrastructure which includes
hardware, software, connectivity, skills
etc. Is almost fully developed in the
region, but still there are weak
components such as community radio,
videoconferencing, open source
softwares, Satellite communication and
mobiles atellite vehicle, in the region

Conclusion of the Report(cont.)
Related to the ICM skills and capacities
in NARS for web
management, programming, Network
management, etc. which includes
hardware, software, connectivity, skills
etc. Is almost fully developed in the
region and most of NARS in the regions
have required skills.

Related to the information systems in
NARS, although Sharing information
through networks in most of the NARS are
emerging and all the NARS maintain
website domains and disseminate
information, but use of social networking
tools, web 2.0 and web 3.0, Wiki, RSS and
blogs which improve participatory content
creation and dialogue is not so
encouraging and there are weaknesses in
this area.

Related to the policies and strategies
related to the information integration, ,
the NARS need to strengthen and
change the policies toward more
interaction and integration with regional
and international standards. We need
clarity and strategies on how ICT/ICM
can and are to be use in agricultural
development.

Related to the Content, which refers to
scientific and technical information,
research data, research management,
etc. , NARS are almost developed their
systems but still there are weak points in
accessing electronic journals and open
archive initiatives.

Related to the Content, research
databases, information on project,
knowledge based systems, etc., we
need to strengthen or develop them in
the region.

Related to the ICT/ICM applications, the
NARS, although some of the countries
have successful applications in library
automation,virtual libraries,etc.,but still
there are weaknesses in knowledge
based applications, GIS, Precision
agriculture, etc. which we need to
strengthen or develop them .

Related to the ICT/ICM applications
there are a big gap and weaknesses in
the NARS related to the Farm Advisory &
Agricultural Extension
Applications, Agricultural Marketing
Information System
Applications,Educational and
Organizational managementand
Administrative information systems

Related to the ICT/ICM services , the
same problem related to Farm Advisory
& Agricultural Extension services,and
speciaaly related to the Agricultural
Marketing Information System
services,Educational and Organizational
management and administrative
information systems services.

Related to the Information and
Communication Channels used for
services , such as internet, intranet,
email, website, discussion forums,…
fortunately we are in good situation in
the region , but we need to strengthen
services such as teleconferencing,
videoconferencing, sms-based services
and community of practices in NARS.

Recommendations
We already have a strong ICT
Infrastructure, good skilled human
resources and even good tools and
initiatives which Regional and
International Organizations offer us(
NERAKIN-RAIS, AARINENA Web Tools,
CIARD RING,etc.); so it is an urgent
priority to benefit from them.

Recommendations
Need to strengthening the awareness
and understanding of the benefits of
ICT/ICM
Developing and strengthening the
institutional information strategies and
policies
Strengthening of national networks and
networking

Recommendations(cont.)
Agricultural marketing and online
marketing are important challenges
which should focus on their
development.
the role of NINPs at national and
regional levels: They should be more
active to use the new ICM tools and
topics to exchange information and
knowledge within the region.

Farm Advisory & Agricultural Extension
Information Services , such as Farmers
Call Centre service, On-line documents
or guides to farmers and extension
workers, Village information centers,
etc., should be developed and
strengthened , so the farmers can be
benefited .

NARS should benefit from Social Media
tools as well as CIARD RING to share
effectively information related to
agricultural research and innovation for
development (ARD).
The content issue and its important role
in information and knowledge sharing
should be clarified and It is needed to
advocate the benefits of the digital
accessibility of content.

We need to advocate for the
development of ICT/ICM at national and
regional levels. All stakeholders
(researchers, librarians, IT staff,
administrators and students) need to know
of the advantages that this will bring.
 We need to work together to change the
attitudes of key decision makers by
developing clear messages supported by
evidence of benefits that will influence
policies and lead to the reform of
institutions.

Thanks for your
attention

ICM Status Report in WANA Region ,2011

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