ICARDA annual report 2004

Research Support
Communication,
Documentation and
Information Services
During 2004, the Communication,
Documentation and Information
Services (CODIS) Unit completed a
ground-breaking publication entitled
“Healing Wounds.” The book
is a synthesis of the work of the
CGIAR centers in rebuilding agriculture
over the past three decades
in the wake of conflicts and natural
disasters across CWANA, Asia,
Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America,
and the Pacific. An initiative of the
Marketing Group of the CGIAR,
“Healing Wounds” was produced
at ICARDA and published by the
CGIAR.
A journalist and author based in
London visited ICARDA and
developed a feature article based
on Healing Wounds, which
appeared in New Scientist. An
Australian journalist from the rural
press, who visited ICARDA early
in the year and interviewed several
scientists, published a number of
articles in the Australian media on
agriculture in the CWANA region.
Articles that featured ICARDA’s
work included “Benefits for
Australian Barley,” “Syrian
Research to Help Farmers” and
“Why Middle East Research Helps
Australian Farmers.” The strong
linkages between ICARDA and
Australia were highlighted in all
stories. In addition, the December
2004 edition of ISSUES Magazine
in Australia published a feature
article by an ICARDA scientist on
“Racing Against Time to Save our
Green Gold.” It focused on the
importance of conserving crop vari-
Services
eties and landraces before they are
eroded from various parts of the
world, pointing out what ICARDA
has been doing in this regard. A
Swiss journalist from WOZ Die
Wochenzeitung also visited ICARDA
and interviewed several scientists
and visited ICARDA’s integrated
research site in Khanasser Valley,
Syria. Leading national and regional
media organizations in CWANA
also frequently covered the activities
of the Center during the year.
CODIS continued to offer capacity
building support to NARS in
the CWANA region. A two-week
training course on “Management of
Electronic Documents and Web
Databases” was conducted, which
attracted 16 participants from
Armenia, Egypt, Iraq, Iran,
Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, and Turkey.
Also, CODIS worked with the
NARS of Egypt and Sudan to
develop a Twinning Agreement in
information management and
exchange.
Many books and information
materials were developed during
the year including an issue of
Caravan which introduced
ICARDA’s new strategic focus on
alleviating poverty and the Center’s
role in helping countries in the dry
areas to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals. ICARDA publications
were displayed at major
meetings and events including the
Annual General Meeting of the
CGIAR in Mexico. In addition, the
ICARDA website was regularly
updated and improved to provide
more information to users in
English and Arabic. A number of
sub-sites were developed, including
web pages on the CWANA
Research Support Services
Wheat Networks. Visits to the site
during the year were significantly
higher than in 2003.
Computer and Biometric
Services Unit
A key activity undertaken during
2004 was the start of a project on the
implementation of the web-based
version of the Oracle Applications
11i to meet new reporting requirements
and overcome current deficiencies
in the system. An external
consultant was engaged and
detailed business requirements were
captured from the functional units
of ICARDA as well as the scientists,
outreach offices and management.
The new system is to be implemented
in 2005.
Within the framework of the
CGIAR ICT-KM projects, the Unit
developed a Virtual Resources
Center questionnaire as a web
application, prepared mailing lists,
and analyzed collected data.
The Unit continued to work on
the Meteorological Database to
migrate legacy data to the new
Oracle database, introduced a
dynamic reporting system with
predefined templates and a charting
module. System requirements
were developed for a Soil Database
and a Laboratory Information
Management System. Software for
bar code reader for the genebank
accessions was also developed.
In addition, a website with a
database was developed for
UNCCD TPN4 and data from
Syria, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan
was uploaded. Training was conducted
for those who will administer
the website. Also, a website on
“Water Benchmark Database” was
developed for one of ICARDA’s
projects.
A joint project proposal on
“Utilization of Intelligent
Information Systems for Crop
ICARDA Annual Report 2004
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