Bob Hart
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INFORUM; August, 1993
CREATION
INFORUM was created at a workshop sponsored by the Indian Council of
Agricultural Research, the United Stated Department of Agriculture,
and the Rodale Research Center in New Delhi, India in February, 1990.
At the workshop a working group of scientists from 9 countries was
formed to develop an initiative that could facilitate continued
information exchange. The working group received support from the Ford
Foundation and they met in Padova, Italy in October, 1990 and took the
necessary steps to set up INFORUM.
MISSION
INFORUM's mission is the development of sustainable land use systems.
Its clients are individuals and local organizations that have accepted
the challenge of developing more sustainable land use systems and are
interested in both sharing what they are learning and learning from
others. INFORUM is interested in working with other organizations and
networks that provide services to these clients that compliment
INFORUM's emphasis on electronic communications technologies.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
INFORUM has six board members:
Dr. I.P. Abrol Dr. Demitri N. Durmanov
ICAR, Krishi Bhawan Dokuchaev Soil Institute
New Delhi 110001, INDIA Pygevsky - 7
Telex: 31-62249 ICAR IN Moscow, Russia
Fax: 91-11-387293 Telephone: 230 80 72
Dr. Evaristo de Miranda Dr. Peter Anyang' Nyong'o
Director Member of Parliament
ECOFORCA Nairobi
Sao Paulo, BRAZIL Kenya
Fax: 55-192-541100 Tel: 741080
Tel: 55 192-531363 Fax: 741080
Dr. Gelia Castillo Mr. William Dietel (Chair)
Agricultural Education and Box 309; Flint Hill, VA 22627
Rural Studies; University of Retired; past president of
the Philippines at Los Banos Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Los Banos, Laguna; Philippines Tel: (703) 675 3104
Fax: c/o IRRI (63-2) 818 2087 Fax: (703) 675 3069
INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE
INFORUM's board of directors has decided that INFORUM's administrative
office should be at an International Institution. This has been
discussed with several organizations, including: The World Bank, IUCN,
IFAD, ISNAR, and others. INFORUM's programs will be directed by
partner institutions in different countries and continents.
PROGRAMS
INFORUM's uses electronic communications technology to:
- help local organizations in different countries with similar or
complementary objectives to find each other and form global
partnerships
- help existing global partnerships to efficiently exchange
information and use this information to catalyze their local
development efforts
- help existing global partnerships share the technology, methods, and
general principles they have developed with local organizations
everywhere
To accomplish these goals INFORUM is developing a set of distributed
electronic services organized using the metaphor of an electronic
campus. Different types of electronic highways can be used to access
different types of electronic information management services: (1)
commercial telecommunications networks such as SPRINTNET and TYMNET,
(2) publicly-supported networks that make up the INTERNET, and (3)
FIDONET technology based networks used by the Association for
Progressive Communications and other non governmental organizations.
Individuals and institutions can use these networks to access various
types of electronic services, including:
a) electronic mail
b) electronic bulletin boards
c) electronic listservers
d) electronic newsgroups
e) electronic conferencing
INFORUM's distributed electronic campus is still under construction. A
pilot initiative has been set up on a computer in Pennsylvania in the
United States that can be accessed using SPRINTNET, the INTERNET, or
FIDONET. Initial emphasis has been on electronic conferencing using a
software program called Participate that functions as a shared
database for online services, and a recent emphasis on using an
Almanac software program for e-mail mediated services that make it
possible to set up conference topics as listservers. Since Participate
topics can receive electronic mail they can also join listservers on
other computers and relay and archive information in a database.
The campus is organized into "buildings", such as a Conference
Building and a Networks Building, which are subdivided into "rooms".
Each room has a "bulletin board" for short messages, a "conference
table" where conferees can discuss issues, and a "file cabinet" for
longer documents that can be searched by key word.
The campus can be accessed through a direct online connections from
SPRINTNET, or from the INTERNET by telneting to PARTI.INFORUM.ORG. At
the login prompt, type: inforum (in lower case), then at the username
prompt type: visitor; then follow instructions to give yourself a
username and password. The campus services can also be accessed
indirectly by electronic mail by sending mail either to individuals or
to topics or using the Almanac mediator to subscribe and request
documents (this function is still being tested).
INFORUM is very interested in working with others to set up a
distributed "campus" with "buildings" on different computers in
different countries. A first step could be a network of listservers
that are members of each others lists.
PROJECT EXPERIENCE TO DATE
Under the program area of brokering partnerships:
1. INFORUM's recently worked with IDRC and Winrock International to
convene a 5 month electronic conference on livestock and development.
Approximately 35 people from more than 25 countries exchanged more
than 1000 pages of information.
2. INFORUM is working with the Rodale Institute to set up an
electronic service for individuals and organizations involved in Green
Manure research and training activities.
3. INFORUM is negotiating a contract for a project with the
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to evaluate the
costs and benefits of cooperation among livestock projects in China,
Guatemala, Kenya, and Turkey.
Under the program area of supporting existing partnerships:
1. INFORUM has been contracted by RIMISP (Red Internacional de
Metodologia de Investigacion de Sistemas de Produccion) based in
Santiago, Chile to provide support for their network.
2. INFORUM has been contracted by RISA (Regional Infrastructure for
Sustainable Agriculture) to provide support for a project jointly
implemented by Penn State University and the Rodale Institute.
Under the program area of information dissemination:
1. INFORUM is currently implementing a project funded by USAID in
which institutions in Chile (RIMISP), China (Nanjing Institute), Kenya
(KENGO), Senegal (RARC), Philippines (IESAM/UPLB), US (UC Davis), UK
(U E. Anglia), and Zimbabwe (ZERO) have been working together to
develop an electronic information exchange mechanism. A set of
interacting listservers for topics that are components of sustainable
systems (e.g. policy, agroforestry, watersheds, etc.) is being
developed.
2. INFORUM is working with the Rodale Institute to electronically
publish their AgSieve Newsletter.
LOOKING FOR CLIENTS AND PARTNERS
INFORUM is actively looking for institutions or networks that are
interested in brokering new partnerships, supporting existing
partnerships or in information dissemination. INFORUM is interested
in forming alliances with other institutions that are currently
providing financial support, technical assistance, or training to
local institutions developing more sustainable land use systems.
Interested potential clients or partners should contact:
Robert D. Hart
INFORUM Executive Director
E-Mail: Bob_Hart.inbox@parti.inforum.org