Regional Workshop on the Development of Thematic Knowledge Networks, 12-15 April 2011 Budapest - Hungary
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Regional Workshop on the “Development of Thematic Knowledge Networks", in the framework of "Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development" (CIARD) between 12-15 April 2011, Budapest - Hungary.
Objectives
The workshop will carry on the capacity and network building traditions of similar events of previous years by demonstrating new demands and challenges in knowledge sharing and seeking most suitable and up-to-date managerial and technological solutions. The workshop brings together thematic network coordinators, content owners and ICT experts in order to discuss state of the art and practice solutions, standards and communication channels of knowledge management. FAO initiatives and ongoing programs with regard to agricultural information management will also be covered. The workshop will introduce the use of open source content management tools and open ended standards.
Background
Prior to the forthcoming European Regional Conference in Armenia in May 2010, already established agricultural advisory research information network members and new network candidates were invited to the biannual Thematic Knowledge Network Workshop to Budapest, Hungary between 9-12 March 2010. The main goal of this workshop was to
1. present the actual status of network development,
2. introduce the common CMS environment set up at FAO in Rome,
3. practice CMS skills,
4. create and customize content
during the course of the three days event, in support of educational, research, food and nutrition and other expert fields.
The organization of a capacity building workshop was essential to ensure that all networks are enabled to migrate their content and services to the new environment. Around 25 participants were invited to the event from CIS, Russian Federation and CEE countries, some of whom were also acting as resource persons. By the end of the training, new national entry points were created, using the common structure and features developed under Typo3 content management system. Small expert teams were developed to provide further assistance to all thematic knowledge network members on their specific needs.
In 2009 with the financial support of FAO REU and technical support of FAO HQ, a new server was set up in Rome to serve as common technical background for the AgroWeb CEE Network, ESCORENA and the Thematic Knowledge Networks operational in the framework of ESCORENA in the region. The new web server is based on the Typo3 Content Management System, aiming to contribute to the
streamlining of the agricultural information and knowledge sharing services.
The European Regional Workshop of ESCORENA took place in Poznań/Poland in April 2008. Achievable goals for the establishment of Internet‐based knowledge sharing approaches for the ESCORENA network were defined to contribute towards better sustainability of the network. The workshop was attended by 23 participants from twelve different countries, representing the network coordinators of ten networks under ESCORENA, the network secretariat and focal point, the FAO Headquarter and Regional office
for Europe the Agriculture museum network and the focal points of AgroWeb Ukraine and Poland.
In February 2008 the Godollo Agribusiness Division of St Stephen University, Godollo, Hungary accommodated a regional training workshop for portal managers and coordinators of thematic communities in the AW Network. The organizer and the participants defined together the structure and functionalities of the Content Management System (CMS) empowered version of AgroWeb pages; installed the selected CMS on the AgroWeb CEE test server in Hungary and customize AgroWeb National, Regional and Thematic pages to the CMS format. Participants prepared and/or modified from existing sources a set of resource materials for the training workshop by conversion of existing design and structure into CMS enabled pages.
