ICARDA KSinR Farmers’ Conference project chosen as one of poster winners for Science Forum 2009

Two ICT-KM supported activities were among those selected to be showcased at the Science Forum in the Poster Competition:

• ICARDA’s KSInR Pilot Project on International Farmers’ Conference
• CGMap

Well done!!!!

The full list of posters is in this EGFAR E-News

 

Giving Research New Bearings: Take a Peek in the Google Engine Behind CGMap

CGMap, a System-wide application that enables users to navigate easily through information on research and research-related activities that the CGIAR Centers and Challenge Programs publish in their Medium Term Plans (MTPs) every year, recently teamed up with the CGIAR’s Regional Plan for Collective Action.  Their goal?  To put active research projects in East and Southern Africa firmly on the map.

Read on for a rare glimpse into the workings of the CGMap application. Although this article is a little technical, we’ve tried to keep it as simple as possible, in the hope that it will guide you towards a better understanding of what goes on in CGMap’s navigation room.

 

Latest ICT-KM newsletter now available!

• The AAA Way … Or No way!
• CGX2.0: The Times They are A-changing
• Follow the Map to Agriculture Research in Eastern and Southern Africa
• If a Tree Falls and Nobody hears It …
• Enhanced Website to Better Target Agricultural Investments
• Going Beyond the Conventional Use of ICTs in Agriculture
• CIAT’s Super Campus Savers

Among the stories featured in this newsletter . 

Enjoy your reading!

 

Africa research is on the map

The first 2009 issue of Collective Action News is just out with a main piece on the first CGIAR Research Map:  powered by CGMap and built with data contributed by scientists working in Sub Saharan Africa, the map shows ongoing CGIAR research in the region. 

A month ago if anyone wanted to get an overview of the research that the 15 international agricultural research centres of the CGIAR were doing in eastern and southern Africa it would have been a difficult, time consuming undertaking of uncertain outcome. Today, say the developers of the first ‘CGIAR research map,’ it is a matter of three clicks on the internet.  Having such information readily and easily accessible, contend the developers, doesn’t just satisfy the curiosity of information hungry browsers, it is a keystone to fostering complementary research. 

Connecting the dots: Online maps for improved access to information on agricultural research projects tells the story of how  the ICT-KM’s  CGMap project and the Regional Plan for Collective Action in Eastern and Southern Africa joined forces while facing different challenges.

The result is “an interactive and easy to navigate map, which provides a geographical overview of where research projects are carried out. To facilitate collaboration, the information provided also includes the contact address of the scientist concerned; projects are also linked to the Medium Term Plans of the relevant CGIAR Centres. In addition the map allows participating scientists to update their project information directly online and in real time”.

The CG Research Map is designed to encourage complementary research, and help build collective responses to complex challenges, while directing investments to areas that seem to hold greater promise or that have been ignored. And it is fun to navigate too!

The map is also the first example of CGMap’s potential to improve the visibility and accessibility of the CGIAR’s work. Relying on the methodology, expertise and core information accumulated so far, the CGMap team is creating mash-up prototypes to demonstrate that structured information and new web technologies can actually add value to the already valuable CGIAR research information (more about CGMap here).

 

Follow the CGMAP!

The ICT-KM Program is pleased to announce that CGMap, a System-wide application developed in collaboration with  IRRI and CIAT, and in consultation with the Alliance of CG Centers, the CGIAR Secretariat and the Science Council is now up and running and can be accessed at http://cgmap.cgiar.org/                                                                                                                        CGMap provides a “map” that allows easy navigation through information on research and research-related activities that the CGIAR Centers and Challenge Programs publish in their Medium Term Plans (MTPs) every year. Spanning over a three-year period, MTPs describe the research agenda of each Center and Program in relation to CGIAR System priorities.

CGMap will help you find answers to questions like:  What Centers are conducting research on chickpea in Central Asia?  How many projects are contributing to genetic enhancement of selected species?

Visit the site to discover the useful functionalities that are available. You can identify projects and view fact sheets with scientific and financial information; search for outputs and output targets in project logframes; and map projects by countries where research is planned, and by potential beneficiary countries.

Finding your way around is as easy as … well, following a map.

If you have any questions regarding CGMAP please contact: cgmap-support@cgiar.org

 

Search, Browse and Download CGIAR research plans from CGMap

The CGIAR has just launched a new Web system: CGMap at cgmap.cgiar.org from where CGIAR research plans since 2003 can be easily accessed. 

Each year, all CGIAR Centers look to the future, review research agendas and make adjustment according to the realities of current and expected priorities. This information becomes the basis for the Annual Medium Term Plans (MTPs) for the 15 centers and the Challenge Programs of the CGIAR.

This wealth of information is now easily available on line.

Download MTPs
Full MTP documents are available for download.

Browse MTPs
Here you can browse and download individual projects, overviews and annexes, by Center.

Search CGIAR 
The search engine, powered by Google, allows you to search MTP projects and selected CGIAR Web sites.

Do a search and you will get the results grouped under four tabs. By clicking on the different tabs, you can see results selectively by:

• Current MTP (2008-2010),
• Submitted MTPs (2009-2011),
• All the MTPs since 2003 (this is the full available archive of MTP documents) and the
• CGIAR System will return results from a broad range of CGIAR Centers and System units Web sites.

New functionalities will soon be launched that will help answer specific questions about the CGIAR research agenda, such as how many projects are  contributing to a certain system priority, which countries are targeted as potential beneficiary, the related donors and financial information.

 

New ICT-KM newsletter highlights KS activities and events

Check out the most recent ICT-KM newsletter (2nd Quarter 2008) at http://ictkm.cgiar.org/Newsletter/newsletter.html which has just been released.

This bumper edition contains lots of updates and articles on ICT-KM program projects, activities, initiatives, events and much more.

The newsletter highlights the KS project particularly through:

• an article about the KS toolkit-see link
• a piece about the recently held ICARDA International Farmers’ Conference-see link
• an advertisement of the active KS blog in ‘Bragging about our blog(s)’

The newsletter contains lots of other interesting information and is well worth a look.

 

CGMap status and plans, May 2008

The CGIAR Medium Term Plan Analysis Program (CGMap, in short) will allow people interested in CGIAR research to search, browse, download and analyse the projects the CG Centers plan and describe in their Medium Term Plans (MTPs).

Traditionally in mid-June CGIAR Centers submit to the CGIAR Science Council their Medium Term Plans: documents that reflect the centers’ 3-year research plan and which are updated every year.  We tried to turn this compliance exercise into an opportunity for streamlining the process that leads to the compilation of these documents of over 100 pages!…. The first stage of the project saw the development of EasyMTP, the “local” module of the system that would make it easier for Centers’  staff to compile, update and share the MTP information.

Now we’re entering a crucial stage of development: in June, 13 Centers will submit their MTPs via EasyMTP directly to CGMap, the System-wide hub of planned research project information. We’re right in the middle of development of CGMap, and this moment is coming after months spent on design and analysis, collecting requirements, talking with the core user groups.  

What will CGMap do? What can you get out of it? By when? To capture what the system will be capable of doing, we have put together a briefing which summarises the main features and milestones, as well as the major issues we will be facing when the MTPs will be collected together in a structured format in a database.

You can view the briefing here and download the handout for printing (PDF, 2.5Mb)

 

CG-Map

A System-wide application for CGIAR Centers and Challenge Programs to develop and manage MTPs and make all project information available at one location.