US embassy cable - 02ROME5916

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ROME 005916 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME 
 
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN, MCHAMBLISS AND LREICH 
USAID FOR A/NATSIOS, AA/EGAT ESIMMONS, AA/DCHA WINTER, 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 02        ROME  05916  01 OF 03  101628Z 
DAA/PPC JSIMON 
STATE FOR A/S IO HOLMES, A/S PRM DEWEY, U/S GLOBAL 
DOBRIANSKY, IO/EDA WINNICK 
NSC FOR JDWORKEN 
USEU BRUSSELS FOR USAID/PLERNER 
TOKYO FOR USAID REP 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, EAGR, AORC, PREF, EAGR, AORC, PREF, EAGR, AORC, PREF, EU, WFP, FAO, UN, EUEAID, WFP, FAO, UN, EUEAID, WFP, FAO, UN 
SUBJECT: FAO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY UPDATE - "AHEAD OF THE 
CURVE" 
 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
1. CHRISTOPHER RITTER OF USAID'S BUREAU FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH, 
AGRICULTURE & TRADE (EGAT) RECENTLY REVIEWED FAO'S WORLD 
AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION CENTRE (WAICENT) AND RELATED 
PROJECTS IN SETTING STANDARDS IN AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION 
MANAGEMENT AND CAPACITY BUILDING IN INFORMATION MANAGEMENT 
FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. KEY FOCAL ISSUES WERE: MAKING SURE 
THE INFORMATION FAO DELIVERS IS ACTUALLY USEFUL AND ITS 
SUCCESS IN CONVINCING POLICY-MAKERS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF 
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT. HE CONCLUDED THAT FAO IS "AHEAD OF 
THE CURVE" IN COPING WITH THE PROBLEM OF AGRICULTURAL 
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN DEVELOPMENT. MOREOVER, HE IDENTIFIED 
AREAS FOR POSSIBLE FAO/USAID COLLABORATION. END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
BACKGROUND - IMPROVING RURAL COMMUNICATION - INSTITUTIONS 
AND PROCESSES; AND CAPACITY BUILDING 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 03        ROME  05916  01 OF 03  101628Z 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
2. CHRISTOPHER RITTER, A AAAS DIPLOMACY FELLOW WITH 
USAID/EGAT, RECENTLY REVIEWED FAO'S WORLD AGRICULTURAL 
INFORMATION CENTRE (WAICENT) AND ITS EFFORTS RELATED TO 
SETTING STANDARDS IN AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND 
CAPACITY BUILDING IN INFORMATION MANAGEMENT FOR DEVELOPING 
COUNTRIES. 
 
3. FAO HAS RECENTLY DEVELOPED TWO MODELS WHICH ADDRESS 
DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF IMPROVING AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION 
EXCHANGE AND COMMUNICATION. THE VIRTUAL EXTENSION, RESEARCH 
AND COMMUNICATION NETWORK (VERCON) MODEL AIMS AT ENHANCING 
LINKAGES BETWEEN THE RESEARCH AND EXTENSION FUNCTIONS, BASED 
MAINLY ON IMPROVED EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION USING MODERN 
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICTS). 
THE IDEA IS TO SUPPORT DIRECT, TWO-WAY COMMUNICATION BETWEEN 
FIELD EXTENSION STAFF AND RESEARCHERS WHO, IN THE EXISTING 
REGIME, ONLY HAVE CONTACT THAT IS MEDIATED BY HIGHER 
ADMINISTRATIVE LEVELS--IF THEY HAVE ANY AT ALL. 
 
4. THE VERCON CONCEPT IS CURRENTLY BEING PILOTED IN EGYPT, 
WHERE CONVENTIONAL PHONE-BASED E-MAIL CONNECTIONS ARE HAVING 
A LARGE EFFECT IN CUTTING THROUGH LAYERS OF BUREAUCRACY TO 
CONNECT EXTENSIONISTS DIRECTLY, AND ESSENTIALLY FOR THE 
FIRST TIME, WITH RESEARCHERS AND NEW SOURCES OF AGRICULTURAL 
INFORMATION. 
 
5. THE FARMER INFORMATION NETWORK (FARMNET) MODEL AIMS AT 
BUILDING COMMUNICATION NETWORKS BETWEEN AGRICULTURAL 
PRODUCERS THEMSELVES, OR THEIR REPRESENTATIVES IN RURAL 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 04        ROME  05916  01 OF 03  101628Z 
COMMUNITIES, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE AGRICULTURAL SERVICE 
PROVIDERS OF MANY FORMS, AND INTERFACES WITH THE "MARKET" 
FOR RURAL PRODUCE.  FARMNET IS MEANT TO EXPLOIT FULLY THE 
EXISTING COMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE, INCLUDING TELEPHONY, 
PRINT AND RADIO, WHILE ALSO AUGMENTING INFORMATION 
TECHNOLOGY (IT) SELECTIVELY USING APPROPRIATE NEWER ICTS. 
FARMNET PILOT STUDIES ARE UNDERWAY IN PARTNERSHIP WITH 
GOVERNMENTS IN NAMIBIA AND UGANDA. SPECIFICALLY, THE FARMNET 
PROJECT IN UGANDA RETAINS A FOCUS ON RADIO, BUT WILL INCLUDE 
E-MAIL, ALONG WITH OTHER OLDER AND NEWER ICTS TO IMPROVE 
WEATHER AND MARKET INFORMATION DELIVERY. LINKING VERCONS 
WITH FARMNETS IS AN OBVIOUS THING TO WORK ON. 
 
6. ON CAPACITY BUILDING, FAO IS WORKING ON AN INFORMATION 
MANAGEMENT RESOURCE KIT AIMED AT ADDRESSING THE DEMANDS OF 
ITS MEMBERS IN AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT USING 
MODERN ICTS.  THE RESOURCE KIT CONSISTS OF A SET OF 
EDUCATIONAL MODULES, DELIVERED THROUGH COMPUTER-BASED 
DISTANCE LEARNING AND FOUR MODULES ARE IN VARIOUS STAGES OF 
DEVELOPMENT. THE CONTENT OF THE MODULES IS BEING DEVELOPED 
BY CONTRACTORS, INCLUDING CORNELL UNIVERSITY, THE UNIVERSITY 
OF SASKATCHEWAN, THE TECHNICAL CENTRE FOR AGRICULTURAL AND 
RURAL COOPERATION IN WAGENINGEN (CTA), 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
                           UNCLASSIFIED     PTQ2965 
 
PAGE 01        ROME  05916  02 OF 03  101629Z 
ACTION IO-00 
 
INFO  LOG-00   NP-00    AID-00   AMAD-00  CIAE-00  COME-00  CTME-00 
      WHA-00   SRPP-00  EAP-00   EB-00    EUR-00   E-00     UTED-00 
      VC-00    TEDE-00  INR-00   VCE-00   NSAE-00  NSCE-00  OES-00 
      OIC-02   OMB-01   IRM-00   STR-00   TEST-00  TRSE-00  USIE-00 
      R-00     PRM-00   SAS-00     /003W 
                  ------------------158BA7  101739Z /38 
P 101453Z DEC 02 
FM AMEMBASSY ROME 
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7264 
INFO EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE 
AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 
AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 
AMEMBASSY TOKYO 
AMEMBASSY BERN 
USDA FAS WASHDC 2459 
USEU BRUSSELS 2995 
USMISSION GENEVA 
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 
 
UNCLAS SECTION 02 OF 03 ROME 005916 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME 
 
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN, MCHAMBLISS AND LREICH 
USAID FOR A/NATSIOS, AA/EGAT ESIMMONS, AA/DCHA WINTER, 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 02        ROME  05916  02 OF 03  101629Z 
DAA/PPC JSIMON 
STATE FOR A/S IO HOLMES, A/S PRM DEWEY, U/S GLOBAL 
DOBRIANSKY, IO/EDA WINNICK 
NSC FOR JDWORKEN 
USEU BRUSSELS FOR USAID/PLERNER 
TOKYO FOR USAID REP 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, EAGR, AORC, WFP, FAO, UN, PREF, EU 
SUBJECT: FAO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY UPDATE - "AHEAD OF THE 
CURVE" 
 
AND THE INTERNATIONAL SERVICE FOR NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL 
RESEARCH (ISNAR) IN THE HAGUE. FAO WORKS WITH A LOCAL 
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNER TO TRANSLATE CONTRACTORS' CONTENT 
MATERIAL INTO SELF-STRUCTURED, COMPUTER-BASED INSTRUCTIONAL 
UNITS APPROXIMATELY 30 MINUTES IN LENGTH. IN GENERAL, RITTER 
IS OF THE VIEW THAT FAO HAS A QUALITY PRODUCT AND A SOLID 
PROCESS WITH GOOD PROSPECTS FOR MAINTAINING A HIGH LEVEL OF 
QUALITY. 
 
7. FAO IS ALSO FACILITATING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GLOBAL 
PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE, CALLED AGORA (ACCESS TO GLOBAL 
ONLINE RESEARCH IN AGRICULTURE), WHICH AIMS TO PROVIDE FREE 
OR REDUCED-PRICE ACCESS TO LEARNED JOURNALS IN AGRICULTURE 
FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. THIS IS A PROJECT THAT IS ENGAGING 
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPR) MATTERS WITH THE GOAL OF 
INCREASING ACCESS TO AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH THAT IS CURRENTLY 
DISSEMINATED THROUGH PROPRIETARY CHANNELS -MAINLY 
COPYRIGHTED JOURNALS, SUBSCRIPTIONS - WHICH ARE TOO COSTLY 
FOR INDIVIDUALS OR INSTITUTIONS IN MANY DEVELOPING 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 03        ROME  05916  02 OF 03  101629Z 
COUNTRIES. THIS PROJECT BUILDS ON THE MODEL OF THE HEALTH 
INTERNETWORK ACCESS TO RESEARCH INITIATIVE (HINARI), AN 
INITIATIVE IN THE HEALTH SECTOR DEVELOPED BY THE WORLD 
HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO), WHICH HAS BROUGHT THE MAJOR 
COMMERCIAL PUBLISHERS INTO AN AGREEMENT TO PERMIT ACCESS TO 
SEVERAL HUNDRED JOURNALS. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
THE MASSIVE JOB OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT 
--------------------------------------- 
 
8. FAO'S WORLD AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION CENTER (WAICENT) 
AIMS AT IMPROVING MEMBERS' ACCESS TO THE COLLECTION OF 
CONTENT ON THE ORGANIZATION'S WEBSITE AND INTRANET 
(PRESENTLY OVER 500,000 WEB PAGES, 100,000 FULL-TEXT 
DOCUMENTS, ETC).  IMPROVING ACCESS TO SUCH ENORMOUS 
QUANTITIES OF DIGITALLY BASED INFORMATION IS A MAJOR 
"TASKER" FOR ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS FAO. 
 
9. FAO'S APPROACH TO INCREASING ACCESS TO AGRICULTURAL 
INFORMATION IS THROUGH INNOVATIVE WORK IN THE TECHNOLOGY OF 
MANAGING HUGE AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION. THE WEAKEST PART OF 
WAICENT IS ITS USER INTERFACE, WHICH NEEDS WORK. TO ITS 
CREDIT, FAO REALIZES REFINEMENT THOUGH TESTING AMONG END 
USERS OUTSIDE OF FAO IS REQUIRED. HOWEVER, THE UNDERLYING 
DESIGN OF WAICENT IS IMPRESSIVE AND OFFERS A SOLID 
FOUNDATION ON WHICH TO REFINE THE PUBLIC FACE OF WAICENT. 
FAO IS ALSO SLOWLY COMING TO GRIPS WITH THE ULTIMATE, BUT 
VERY DIFFICULT TO ANSWER QUESTION: HOW WAICENT'S INFORMATION 
RESOURCES ARE ACTUALLY BEING USED AND WHAT IMPACT THAT USE 
IS HAVING ON AGRICULTURE. 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 04        ROME  05916  02 OF 03  101629Z 
 
----------- 
CONCLUSIONS 
----------- 
 
10. MANAGING LARGE AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION OF RADICALLY 
DIFFERENT TYPES - INCLUDING CONVENTIONAL PRINT SOURCES, 
IMAGES, STATISTICAL DATABASES, INTERACTIVE APPLICATIONS, AND 
MULTIMEDIA RESOURCES - IS A RELATIVELY NEW PROBLEM FOR FAO, 
USAID, AND ALL OTHER MAJOR DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS. 
ATTENTION SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO SUPPORTING THE AGENCIES THAT 
ARE MAKING THE BEST EFFORTS AND TAKING LESSONS FROM THEM 
THAT CAN BE WIDELY APPLIED TO IMPROVE WHAT EACH PLAYER IN 
THIS DOMAIN IS DOING. 
 
11. IN GENERAL, FAO IS WELL PLACED TO WORK ON INTERNATIONAL 
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTUE, POLICIES AND 
STANDARDS. 
 
12. ON THE FAO RESOURCES KIT, SINCE FAO HAS A QUALITY 
PRODUCT AND THE PROCESS THEY HAVE IN PLACE FOR PRODUCING 
MORE HAS GOOD PROSPECTS OF MAINTAINING THE QUALITY LEVEL, 
USAID AND ITS CONTRACTORS SHOULD CONSIDER PARTNERING WITH 
FAO TO EXPANDED USAGE OF THE RESOURCE KIT WHEREVER 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
                           UNCLASSIFIED     PTQ3015 
 
PAGE 01        ROME  05916  03 OF 03  101629Z 
ACTION IO-00 
 
INFO  LOG-00   NP-00    AID-00   AMAD-00  CIAE-00  COME-00  CTME-00 
      WHA-00   SRPP-00  EAP-00   EB-00    EUR-00   E-00     UTED-00 
      VC-00    TEDE-00  INR-00   VCE-00   NSAE-00  NSCE-00  OES-00 
      OIC-02   OMB-01   IRM-00   STR-00   TEST-00  TRSE-00  USIE-00 
      PRM-00   SAS-00     /003W 
                  ------------------158D85  101750Z /38 
P 101453Z DEC 02 
FM AMEMBASSY ROME 
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7265 
INFO EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE 
AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 
AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 
AMEMBASSY TOKYO 
AMEMBASSY BERN 
USDA FAS WASHDC 2460 
USEU BRUSSELS 2996 
USMISSION GENEVA 
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 
 
UNCLAS SECTION 03 OF 03 ROME 005916 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FROM U.S. MISSION IN ROME 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 02        ROME  05916  03 OF 03  101629Z 
USDA/FAS FOR U/S PENN, MCHAMBLISS AND LREICH 
USAID FOR A/NATSIOS, AA/EGAT ESIMMONS, AA/DCHA WINTER, 
DAA/PPC JSIMON 
STATE FOR A/S IO HOLMES, A/S PRM DEWEY, U/S GLOBAL 
DOBRIANSKY, IO/EDA WINNICK 
NSC FOR JDWORKEN 
USEU BRUSSELS FOR USAID/PLERNER 
TOKYO FOR USAID REP 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID, EAGR, AORC, WFP, FAO, UN, PREF, EU 
SUBJECT: FAO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY UPDATE - "AHEAD OF THE 
CURVE" 
 
APPROPRIATE. 
13. FAO WOULD WELCOME USAID'S PARTICIPATION IN AGORA. USAID 
COULD PROVIDE, AMONG OTHER THINGS, VALUABLE ASSISTANCE IN 
DEVELOPING A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MODEL FOR AGORA. 
 
14. LASTLY, BOTH WAICENT AND AGORA ARE IMPORTANT WORKS IN 
PROGRESS THAT THIS MISSION DEEMS WORTHY OF USG SUPPORT. 
HALL 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
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 2002ROME05916 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED