1. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations An Overview on Regional Agricultural Biotechnology Network of Near East and North Africa (RABNENA) Magdi Latif FAO Knowledge and Capacity for Development Division Knowledge Exchange, Research and Extension Office FAO/RNE, Cairo, Egypt July 2012

2. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations What is RABNENA? Regional Agricultural Biotechnology Network oF Near East and North Africa (RABNENA) is a regional platform for strengthening knowledge sharing and cooperation for Agricultural Research and Development (ARD) for biotechnology target groups and stakeholders at national and regional levels.

3. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations RABNENA Objectives To create a regional gateway as a single access point for agricultural biotechnology where the different countries of the region can share a united vision of the agricultural biotechnology policies, regulations, research and innovations that will support agricultural development and food security at a country level. To facilitate biotechnology knowledge sharing and information exchange for stakeholders at national and regional levels through the development of a thematic biotechnology knowledge management system for the collection, management and dissemination of information/knowledge on advances in agricultural biotechnology research and innovation results that will support strengthening performance of farmers and agrarian businesses. To establish functional mechanism for cooperation and enhancement of communication and exchange of experiences and good practices on agricultural biotechnologies among different countries in the region in support of agricultural development and food security.

4. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations RABNENA expected Outcomes  Prevent redundancy and duplication,  Create access to research information, knowledge and innovations,  Ensure maximum knowledge sharing among various agricultural research institutes, programs and personnel on regional, national and institutional levels,  Provide enable environment for good coordination and Cooperation.

5. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations RABNENA Stakeholders Policy-makers in agriculture and rural development, especially in the MOA and NARIs. Biotechnology Department heads and professional technical officers within the MOA and NARIs. Other Ministries related to rural development. Universities and colleges with agricultural biotechnology-related faculties and departments. Farmers’ and producers’ organizations. Credit and marketing associations and Chambers of Commerce. Private sector involved in agricultural biotechnology. Non-Governmental Organizations involved in agricultural Biotechnology for agricultural development and food security. Regional and International Organizations involved in agricultural development and food security and General Public.

6. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Benefits of partnerships & networking A collaborative system and effective communication, Exchange of information and knowledge, Enhanced technical cooperation, Reduced costs of operation, Synergies in information management, Use of agreed standards, methodologies and tools.

7. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Agricultural Biotechnology Network Strengthening the capacity of the biotechnology institutes in the Ministry of Agriculture and Other Stakeholders Development and management of relevant and effective regional agricultural biotechnology knowledge management system in support of agricultural development and food security policies Achievements: Networked all agricultural biotechnology institutions through a regional gateway Multilingual (Arabic and English) knowledge management system implemented in RABNENA

8. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations RABNENA Interfaces 1- Front end Interface: The front end components provide the information browsing and retrieval functionalities, and are available to any site user. 2- Back end Interface: The backend components provide the data management functionalities that enable system administrators to input/update/delete data items into the RABNENA database. These components are accessible by system administrators only.

9. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations News Events Extension Bulletins Media Centre Online News Online Events RSS Collaborative Country Reports Links Focal Points Publications Projects Experts Institutions RABNENA Modules Success Stories Good Practices About Marquee

10. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations RABNENA FRONT END

11. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations RABNENA BACKEND

12. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

13. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 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.

14. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 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.

15. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 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.

16. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Success Factors for Regional Network 1.Commitment for contribution/collaboration at national level; 2.Focus on capacity building at national level; 3.Existence of a regional information strategy; 4.Development of a Secretariat role for regional 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.

17. Agricultural Biotechnology Network for Regional Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Thank You for your Attention