Presentation by Mohamed Helmy Ahmed Nawar (Cairo University) at the IAALD 2010 World Congress - 26-29 April 2010, Montpellier, France

1. Building Information Systems and Rural Development in Egypt: The Learned Lessons by Mohamed H.A. NawarFaculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Egypt 13th IAALD World Congress, Montpellier, France 26-29/4/2010

3. Rural Development in the Central Planning Era

4. Emergence of the specialized information system for Rural Development

5. Other specialized information systems

6. Performance of specialized information system

9. The first recorded census was administered by a central agency in 1882 .

10. For the modern central national socio-economic development plans established in the socialist era during the late fifties and early sixties of the last century data needed were collected by the Central Agency of Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

13. The census aims at collecting data on the agricultural structure , which is not changed rapidly from year to another, to allow access to the special features of key variables for this structure.

14. Data of the AC are also used for the purposes of planning for economic and social development depending on its precise results and data.

16. Data processing and handling are used solely for planning purposes.

17. Efforts to modernize the information system of the agriculture sector is matched now with the establishment of digital data bases and smart cards to include any holding; i.e. land, animal or any agricultural enterprise.

19. The Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) was established two decades ago at the national level for supporting the Cabinet in making accurate decisions. Now it becomes a think tank.

20. IDSC has its vision and mission and its own plan based on the cabinet needs. Data collected by or under supervision of IDSC became available for other users through a wide range of publications and dynamic databases using active ICT.

22. This trend was coincided with the interest of the government to expand decentralization as well as its interest to develop and meanwhile modernize the information infrastructure in Egypt.

23. Two pillars were considered in establishment of this new system;

24. 1) creating a new information environment and culture in favor of precision and accuracy at all levels of local communities; i.e. form the village to the governorates, and

27. Human development reports prepared since 2003 and later are based mainly on the data collected by these local and village centers.

29. It initiated the Expert Systems for Improved Crop Management Project (ESICM) in 1989 in conjunction with both the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

30. The Central Laboratory for Agricultural expert Systems (CLAES) was established for this purpose. CLAES joined the Agricultural Research Center (ARC) in 1991.

32. It has the capability to connect geographically dispersed parties and meanwhile promote exchange of communication and large volume of data.

33. It has the capacity to activate interactive media for communication.

36. Institutional setup of the structure and management of information centers (ICs)seem crucial to the efficiency and sustainability of ICs.

37. Various indicators of accessibility, quality, affordability, institutional efficiency and sustainability as well as ICT applications reveal that a digital divide still exists within the country.

38. There is still much room for improvement to narrow the digital gap of the information system in agriculture and rural affairs.