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Steve Katz Chief, WAICENT/FAOINFO F.A.O. of the U.N.

Steve Katz Chief, WAICENT/FAOINFO F.A.O. of the U.N. World Agricultural Information Centre. GFIS Task Force, 6 February 2001. Topics of Discussion. Information Within a Context (WFS) Knowledge Management at FAO What is WAICENT? WAICENT’s Inter-Governmental Process Who Are the Users?

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Steve Katz Chief, WAICENT/FAOINFO F.A.O. of the U.N.

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  1. Steve Katz Chief, WAICENT/FAOINFOF.A.O. of the U.N. World Agricultural Information Centre GFIS Task Force, 6 February 2001

  2. Topics of Discussion • Information Within a Context (WFS) • Knowledge Management at FAO • What is WAICENT? • WAICENT’s Inter-Governmental Process • Who Are the Users? • Electronic Publishing • International Activities • Conclusions (Lessons Learned) World Agricultural Information Centre

  3. World Food Summit • World Food Summit - November 1996 • Leaders of 186 Countries Pledged to Reduce by Half the Number of Undernourished People in the World by 2015 (About 800 Million in 1996) • FAO has a Major Role in Assisting Countries in Implementing the Provisions of the WFS • For Example, Improving Access to Information... “It is necessary to target those people and areas suffering most from hunger and malnutrition and identify causes and take remedial action to improve the situation. A more complete, user-friendly source of information at all levels will enable this”. World Agricultural Information Centre

  4. Information and Knowledge Management at FAO (WAICENT) The First Article of the FAO Constitution: • “The Organization shall collect, analyse, interpret and disseminate information relating to nutrition, food and agriculture.” My responsibility: to provide Tools and Standards for • Knowledge management • Dissemination • Information exchange World Agricultural Information Centre

  5. WAICENT • FAO’s Strategic Program on Information Management and Dissemination (Key to implement component “E” of the Strategic Framework) • Based on a Philosophy of Decentralization • Sound Principles of Information Management • Strategic use of Metadata and Content Repositories • Separation of Content, Presentation, & Processing • Controlled Vocabularies (e.g. AGROVOC) • Categorization Schemes (e.g AGRIS) • International & Non-Proprietary Standards (e.g XML) • Cooperation with Internal/External Stakeholders World Agricultural Information Centre

  6. WAICENT (cont) • Primary Manifestation is WWW.FAO.ORG (12.5 million hits/month, 500,000 sessions/month) • WFS Follow-up (e.g. SPFS, FIVIMS, Telefood) • Technical and Scientific Information Resources • Integrated Statistical Databases (e.g. FAOSTAT) • Photos, Maps, and other Multimedia Apps. • Early Warning and other Information Systems • Agricultural “Yellow Pages” (people, inst., projects) • Info. From Normative Programmes (e.g. CODEX) • Meeting Documents, including Council/Conference • Outreach and Capacity Building Component • Intergovernmental Process (COAIM) World Agricultural Information Centre

  7. Community Directory Systems (CDS) Portal Search/Dissemination Interface WAICENT Resource Finder AGROVOC Country Profiles Subject Categories CoreMetadata Core Metadata Core Metadata DTD Web+Information Finder Applications Doc. Retrieval Applications Map Retrieval Systems FAOSTAT Web Pages FAO-On-line AGROVOC Maps GEOWEB Database Search Engines KIMS Specialised Applications INPHO Web Pages COAIM Workshops Photos Subject Categories Metadata Metadata Metadata DTD Directories Information Systems Bibliography Databases Document Repository GIS+Graphics Data Collection Sheets Input Sheets Documents Templates Databases Databases Project Expert Databases Organizations DTD Work-Flow Systems AGROVOC Subject Categories DTD Portal Architecture Diagram Standardisation in Information Collection and Dissemination World Agricultural Information Centre

  8. Inter-Governmental Process • 1st Consultation on Agricultural Information Management (June 2000) • “Recognizing the key role that information and knowledge play in ensuring food security and sustainable development, the Consultation aims of to bring agricultural information management policy issues to the attention of the inter-governmental process, and to establish a global framework for the normative work of WAICENT” World Agricultural Information Centre

  9. COAIM Agenda • Improving Access to Agricultural Information • Strengthening Information and Knowledge Management Capacities through International Cooperation • Standards and Guidelines for Agricultural Information Management World Agricultural Information Centre

  10. COAIM Recommendations • Work with Regional/National Programmes and Partners • Document evidence of successful implementation of information and knowledge systems based on modern technologies • Promote coordination between Development Assistance Agencies working in the area of information management in agriculture World Agricultural Information Centre

  11. More COAIM Recommendations • In close collaboration with other stakeholders, assist Member Nations in adopting international standards for content management • Assume a leading role as a clearing-house for international agreed information management standards in the agricultural sector • Maintain and further develop the multilingual thesaurus AGROVOC World Agricultural Information Centre

  12. Who are the Users? • Academic and Research Organizations • Government Institutions • International Organizations • NGOs • FAO Staff • General Public World Agricultural Information Centre

  13. WAICENT Statistics (November 2000) World Agricultural Information Centre

  14. WAICENT Statistics (December 2000) • 12.5 Million Hits • 500,000 User-Sessions • Average Session Lasts 18 Minutes • Top Entry-Pages: • FAO Home Page • Vacancy Announcements • Codex Alimentarius • WAICENT Home Page World Agricultural Information Centre

  15. Content Preparation Content Management Information Dissemination Document Repository XML Editor WEB Document HTML Filter XML Text Word Templates Archives XML Filter DTD CD-ROM Filter Graphics CD-ROM -Meetings -Articles -Books Etc... Wireless Devices WAP Filter BOOKS Indexing Working Version DTP Process ...the next thing Metadata Repository Core DTD Metadata Metadata Editor Information Exchange Filter DTD Catalogue -Metadata Metadata Information Exchange Publications Work-Flow World Agricultural Information Centre

  16. Additional Catalogue Information Catalogue Final DTD Word Template Search Interface Author Metadata Author Metadata Model XML Filter Internet Search Engine Document Document Model -Full Text -Thesaurus Support -Classifications -Etc.. Graphics Graphics Final RDF Metadata XML Text RDF Metadata XML Text Authoring Dissemination Content Management Integration of Document and Metadata World Agricultural Information Centre

  17. The Information Access Problem • Quantity of Internet information is spiraling out of control • Standard search engines provide too many and non-relevant answers • Only a small percentage of sites are Indexed • Decentralization : Information is vastly dispersed around the World The inevitable and obvious consequence: • It is very difficult to find information on the Internet World Agricultural Information Centre

  18. What to do? • Of particular interest is the establishment and adoption of standards for the publishing of scientific and technical information in the field of agriculture on the internet • If such electronic documents are furnished with an agreed set of core metadata, search engines could be customized to efficiently access and render them over the web • Form a Working Group (Agstandards) • Implement a Pilot Project with existing portal initiatives (e.g. WAICENT, NOVAGate, AGNIC, GFIS?) World Agricultural Information Centre

  19. Plans : Questions to Resolve • What are the core fields necessary to effectively find agricultural scientific documentation on the internet? • What is the specific role of classification schemes and thesauri both at the production stage and at retrieval time? • How do we guarantee resource location and better integration of meta-data with the information object itself? • Central DB or dynamic core generation? • Language considerations World Agricultural Information Centre

  20. Search Form Integrated Results HTML HTML Query Parameters Host Information Request Process Query Host Information Reply XML Query XML Query XML Query XML Results XML Results XML Results Host Database-N Host Database-2 Host Reference Information Host Database-1 XML Interpreter XML Interpreter XML Interpreter Host Database Results-N Host Database Query-2 Host Database Query-N Host Database Results-2 Host Database Query-1 Host Database Results-1 AGRIS Multiple Database Search Engine World Agricultural Information Centre

  21. Example of Information Sharing World Agricultural Information Centre

  22. World Agricultural Information Centre

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  24. Benefits Dynamic processing! • No aggregate database overheads • Up-to-date, real-time information • Distribution of labour World Agricultural Information Centre

  25. Problems Dynamic Processing! • Host is down, sorry no data available! • Retrieval speed • Quality Issues - How to aggregate different classification schemes? • Quality Issues - How to deal with duplicate records? World Agricultural Information Centre

  26. Line Up the Ducks! Information Sharing Requires: • Active engagement of all participants • Establishment and adoption of a minimum level standards • Different information technologies and local applications are ok... BUT • There must be a minimum set of common data elements • When all the ducks are lined up, the Internet and XML can help! World Agricultural Information Centre

  27. Lessons Learned • Engagement of partners before presenting any information technology solutions • Need for a Institutional Framework • Agreed standards for content management and information exchange is what really matters • XML is a useful tool, particularly to assist in information sharing World Agricultural Information Centre

  28. A Few References • FAO Document Repository, http://www.fao.org/documents • FAO On-Line Catalogues, http://www4.fao.org • Home-Page of FAO, http://www.fao.org • Home-Page of AGRIS, http://www.fao.org/agris • WAICENT Access Statistics, http://www.fao.org/wwwstats • Rome Declaration on World Food Security and World Food Summit Plan of Action, http://www.fao.org/wfs/final/rd-e.htm • Home-Page of WAICENT, http://www.fao.org/waicent • Yours Truly, Stephen.Katz@fao.org World Agricultural Information Centre

  29. “Invest in new technologies, but secure your knowledge-base first” • THANK YOU !!!!! • J World Agricultural Information Centre

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