Lebanon Plant Genetic Resources Knowledge Network, 11-12 June 2015 , LARI and UL, Beirut, Lebanon. © FAO: http://www.fao.org

1. Magdi Latif
Regional Knowledge and Information Management Officer
FAO Partnership, Advocacy and Capacity Development Division
FAORNE
Lebanon Plant Genetic Resources Knowledge Network

2. Lebanon Plant Genetic Resources Knowledge Network
• Capacity Development for institutes in the Ministry of Agriculture
and Irrigation and Other Stakeholders.
• Development and management of relevant and effective national
plant genetic resources knowledge management system in
support of food and agriculture.
Achievements:
• Networked all plant genetic institutions through a National
gateway
Using Web-Based Platform and Mobile Technology.
Multilingual (Arabic and English) knowledge management
system for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

3. Lebanon PGR Knowledge Network Interfaces
1. Frontend Interface
The frontend components provide the information
retrieval/browsing functionalities, and are
available to any site user.
2. Backend Interface
The backend components provide the data
management functionalities that enable system
administrators to Add/update/delete data items into
the PGRK Network database.

4. Regional Plant Genetic Resources
Knowledge Platform
Near East and North Africa
http://plantgenetic.com/

5. http://Lebanon.plantgenetic.com/
Lebanon Plant Genetic Knowledge
Resources Network

6. Backend of Lebanon Plant Genetic Resources Knowledge Network

7. • Share (one-many)
• Store / Retrieve
• Collaborate / Interact
• Decide
• Learn
• Notify
• Support
• Monitor
Lebanon Plant Genetic Resources Knowledge Network
• Definitions
– Problem/Purpose/Benefits
• Guidelines
– Categories
– Functions
– Resources: NAIS Support
Group
• Workplan
– Tools and methodologies
– Pilot network selection
– Training
– Implementation and analysis
– Upscaling
FunctionsDevelopment Process

8. • AGMES – Agricultural Metadata Element Set
• AGRIS Application Profile
• AGROVOC Arabic/English
• Real Simple Syndicate - RSS
• Open Archives Initiative Compliance
• Online Web services
• Software – MySQL Open Source
• CIARD Manifesto and a common set of
Principles
Information Standards and Tools
for Content Management
www.fao.org/aims
To develop and promote interoperability standards
to facilitate the efficient dissemination of content.
interoperability is connecting
people, data and diverse
systems.

9. Mobilizing and Providing Access to
Agricultural Information
• AGRIS – Providing agricultural research and development
institutions with an avenue to publish and disseminate the
outputs of their work
• AGORA - Providing access to the world’s scientific literature
in agriculture in peer-reviewed learned journals.
• CIARD – Providing commitment to promote the sharing of
data, information, and knowledge in a global network of
truly public collections of information, based on a Manifesto
and a common set of Principles.

10. Coherence in Information for Agricultural
Research for Development (CIARD)
Availability: Information is stored in digital formats, with clearly defined copyright,
managed in one or more institutionally-owned, thematic or other repositories, built
and structured according to accepted international standards.
Accessibility: Information is openly accessible for all users, and easily located via the
Internet from outside the institution using tools and services adopted by the international
community.
Applicability: Research planning, implementation and communication are an inclusive
process bringing together all perspectives and knowledge. Research outputs and
messages are adapted for easy access, use and re-use by different stakeholders,
increasing the public benefits derived from the research.
Partners in the CIARD initiative have made a collective commitment
to promote the sharing of data, information, and knowledge in a
global network of truly public collections of information, based on a
Manifesto and a common set of Principles.

11. Benefits of Lebanon PGR Knowledge Network
 Connect people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to
interact, either as frequently or at all.
 Provide a shared context for people to communicate and share
information, stories, and personal experiences in a way that builds
understanding and insight.
 Stimulate learning by serving as a vehicle for authentic
communication, mentoring, coaching, and self-reflection.
 Capture and diffuse existing knowledge to help people improve their
practice by providing a forum to identify solutions to common problems
and a process to collect and evaluate best practices.
 Introduce collaborative processes to groups and organizations as
well as between organizations to encourage the free flow of ideas and
exchange of information.
 Help people organize around purposeful actions that deliver tangible
results.
 Generate new knowledge to help people transform their practice to
accommodate changes in needs and technologies.

12. Benefits of Lebanon PGR Knowledge Network
• Address stakeholders’ needs more effectively,
• Coherence and Synergies in information management,
• Use of agreed standards, methodologies and tools.
• Sharing and Exchange of information and knowledge,
• A collaborative system and effective communication,
• Enhanced technical cooperation and collaboration,
• Reduced cost of operation, Reduced time/cost/effort of
developing national information systems/networks,

13. National Agricultural Information and Knowledge Exchange Systems/Networks - NAIS

14. Regional Thematic Knowledge Networks

15. Agricultural Information and Knowledge Exchange Systems/Networks

16. National Agricultural Information and Knowledge Exchange
Systems/Networks

17. Agricultural Information and Knowledge Exchange Systems/Networks

19. http://plantgenetic.com/Statistics/
Statistics of Regional Plant Genetic
Resources Knowledge Network

20. http://lebanon.plantgenetic.com/Statistics/
Statistics of Lebanon Plant Genetic
Resources Knowledge Network

21. Success Factors for National PGR Knowledge Network
1. Commitment for contribution/collaboration at national level;
2. Focus on capacity building at national level;
3. Existence of a national information strategy;
4. Development of a Secretariat role for national activities;
5. Focus on community of practice amongst the info specialists;
6. Raising awareness of ICM issues at Manager./political levels;
7. Formation of strategic partnerships amongst the major
stakeholder organizations.

22. Thank You for your Attention