Status of ICT structure, infrastructure and applications existed to manage and disseminate information and knowledge of Agricultural Biotechnology Innovations in Jordan

1. STATUS OF ICT STRUCTURE,
INFRASTRUCTURE AND
APPLICATIONS EXISTED TO
MANAGE AND DISSEMINATE
INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE
OF AGRICULTURAL
BIOTECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS
IN JORDAN
NIDA’ SALEM, JU
HESHAM ATHAMNEH, NCARE
2-4 July 2012, Cairo-Egypt

2. Agricultural biotechnology
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 Afield of applied biology that involves the use
of living organisms and bioprocesses in
agriculture and food production.
 More than 281 manuscripts in the field of
biotechnology were published.
 More than 82 projects.
 Different aspects: Plant production and
horticulture, Plant protection, food and
nutrition and animal production.

3. Current situation of agricultural
biotechnology information management
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 The agricultural biotechnology scientific and
technical information, research information,
extension and advisory are not completely
available and accessible for use.
 Research outputs are not available digitally.
 There is no clear policy to encourage researchers
to publish in open access or high visibility places.
 Our organizations have not skilled staff to
transform scientific information into different forms
which can be used by other stakeholders or
general public.

4. continue
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 No active relationship between researchers,
extension programs and farmers, so the
resource users can not benefit from the
research outputs.

5. What do we need?
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 We need to disseminate knowledge and
information of agricultural biotechnology in
appropriate and successful way.
 Data management sharing and transferring of
information and technology usually are very
important.
 Establishing and development agricultural
biotechnology network at national and regional
levels.

6. Why agricultural biotechnology network ?
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 Inefficient methodology for monitoring the current
research activities
 Ineffective formulation of research plans
 Limitation in conducting research that address real
agricultural problems
 Inefficient use of resources
 Lack of cooperation and coordination
 Conflict of interest
 Unnecessary competition
 Work redundancy with consequent lose of resources

7. What are the expected outcomes of
Agricultural biotechnology network?
 The development of a relevant and effective
Agricultural biotechnology network is expected
to lead NARIs, MOA and other ministries/
stakeholders to the following outcome:
 Improve the capacity to access and exchange
agricultural biotechnology information, and to
convert it into useful knowledge, as it is very
essential for the development objectives of
poverty eradication, food security, sustainable
development and increased productivity and
competitiveness; and
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8. continue
 Preserve needed resources, make maximize
use of the results of other projects and database
applications, prevent redundancy and duplication
of data and efforts, and ensure maximum co-ordination
among various agricultural institutes,
programs and personnel for the benefit of
agricultural development.
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9. National Agricultural Information
System
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 We don’t have Agricultural Biotechnology
Network but we have
National Agricultural Information
System
NAIS

10. What is NAIS?
 National Agricultural Information System
(NAIS) is a national platform for Information
and knowledge sharing and exchange for
Agricultural Research and Development (ARD)
for target groups and stakeholders in the
country.
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11. What is NAIS?
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 It is a Web based information system aimed at
capturing and disseminating information about:
 Research institutions
 Researchers of those institutions
 Publications issued by those researchers
 Projects done or currently active
 Other Agricultural information modules
 It consists of:
 Back end that enables data management
 Front end that enables data browsing and searching

12. What are the objectives of NAIS?
 To strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of
Agriculture and other stakeholders to establish
an effective and efficient information system
that will support agricultural development and
ensure food security at a country level, based
on the needs and demands of its stakeholders
and integrating the various resources in the
MOA and NARIs
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13. What are the objectives of NAIS?
 To serve as an information and knowledge
exchange mechanism at the national level and a
gateway to the national knowledge systems for
Agricultural Research and Development (ARD) at
a country level, aiming for strengthening,
coordinating, and adding value to initiatives by
national programs and regional organizations in
order to increase agricultural production and
improve food security for the benefit of improving
performance of farmers and agrarian businesses.
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14. Who are NAIS stakeholders?
 The following groups of stakeholders in the
NAIS were identified in a preliminary way, and
it was recognized that these groups and their
needs and demands needed to be further
defined:
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15. Who are NAIS stakeholders?
 Policy-makers in agriculture and rural
development, especially in the MOA and
NARIs.
 Department heads and professional technical
officers within the MOA and NARIs.
 Other Ministries related to rural development.
 Universities and colleges with agriculturally-related
faculties and departments.
 Farmers’ and producers’ organizations.
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16. Who are NAIS stakeholders?
 Credit and marketing associations and
Chambers of Commerce.
 Private sector involved in agricultural and rural
development.
 Non-Governmental Organizations involved in
agricultural development and food security.
 Regional and International Organizations
involved in agricultural development and food
security.
 General Public.
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17. The application interfaces
 Back end Interface
 The backend components provide the data
management functionalities that enable system
administrators to input/update/delete data items
into the NAIS database. These components are
accessible by system administrators only.
 Front end Interface
 The front end components provide the information
browsing and retrieval functionalities, and are
available to any site user.
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18. http://nais-jordan.gov.jo
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19. Users capabilities with front end components
Access
Search
Browse
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20. http://nais-jordan.gov.jo
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21. Identifying System Modules
News Events
Meetings
Other Modules
Country Laws and
Rural Woman
Reports
Regulations
Good
Practices
Facts and Job Opportunity
Figures
Researchers
Experts
Institutions
NAIS
System Modules
Documents
Publications
Projects
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22. modules
Publications (Documents) This module keeps track of publications
authored by researchers. Each publication
has specific data such as abstract, authors,
keywords, etc.
Projects This module keeps track of the projects in
which Institutes participate in.
Projects are identified by title, funding
agents, and objectives.
Experts/Researchers This Module keeps track of the researchers
of the MOA, NCARE and Other stakeholder
institutions. Each Institute has a number of
researchers with varying scientific degrees
(Researcher Assistant, Assistant
Researcher, Researcher …). Each researcher
has specific data such as department s/he
belongs to, email, publications …etc.
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23. modules
Institutions This module presents basic
information about institutions in
the country such as name, address,
goal, achievement…etc.
Rural Woman This module provide information
about rural woman concerning
Balanced Meal, Old Meal, Daily
Meal, Occasion Meal, Food
Production, Save Food, Child
Disease, Vaccination, News Letters
and Associations.
Law and Regulations
Module
It illustrates law and regulations
and agreements concerning
agriculture.
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24. modules
Collaborative
Partners Module
It is concerned about Collaborative
partners cooperating with ministry
of agriculture as an example
financing agricultural projects.
Job Opportunity
Module
Job Opportunity allows Ministry of
agriculture to announce available
jobs needed
Facts and Figures
Module
It provides facts and figures about
agricultural sectors, agricultural
marketing and agricultural
statistics.
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25. What can users make?
Access
Search
Browse
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26. They can access, how?
 Open the browser
 Write in Address :
http://nais-jordan.gov.jo
 The website will be displayed in the browser
 Select the Website Language from the
language drop down list
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27. They can Browse, what?
 They can browse various components of the
system
 Documents (Publications Module)
 Projects (Projects Module)
 Experts (Experts Module)
 Institutions (Institutions Module)
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28. Browsing projects
 Access Front End
 Click Project on the left menu of the home
page
Submenu will be displayed—All Projects and
Advanced Search
 Click All Projects
Projects are categorized by completed projects
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29. Browsing projects
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30. Browsing experts
 Access Front End
 Click Experts on the left menu of the home
page
Submenu will be displayed—All Experts,
Advanced Search and Statistics
 Click All Experts
A List of researchers is displayed
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31. Browsing experts’ data
 Click on one of the researcher’s name
All such Personal and Technical Information
about that researcher as contact information,
department, prizes…Etc, will be displayed .
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32. Browsing experts’ statistics
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33. Browsing institutions
 Access Front End
 Click Institutions on the left menu of the
home page
The institutions’ data will be displayed
 Click XML.
Institutions’ data will be displayed in XML format.
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34. Browsing institutions
 Click View
Institution full record will be displayed
 Click Internal Link
Internal link related to that institution will be
displayed
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35. They can search
 The web site user can search Publications,
Projects, Experts, News, Meetings and Events
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36. Recommendations:
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 A collaborative system and effective communication, exchange of
information and knowledge of agricultural biotechnology
 Connect institutional entities in the system and enhance the
infrastructure within the different connected institutions
 Develop software system
 Install software system in institution servers
 Building capacities of institution staff on the use of system
 Data collection/validation/publishing and feeding to system
 Conduct awareness workshops and promote the system
 Funding

37. THANK YOU FOR
YOUR ATTENTION