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IFAP-2003/COUNCIL.II/INF.4 Paris, February 2003 Original: English

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme (Second Session) UNESCO House, Paris, Room XI (Fontenoy Building), 22-24 April 2003

Item 11 of the provisional agenda

FEASIBILITY STUDY ON ESTABLISHING A DATABASE ON BEST PRACTICES IN DESIGNING, IMPLEMENTING AND EVALUATING DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN THE AREAS OF THE INFORMATION FOR ALL PROGRAMME

Summary The Bureau of the Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme requested the Secretariat to study the feasibility of establishing a database on best practices in designing, implementing and evaluating development projects in the areas of the Information for All Programme, and to report on the results of this study to the Council at its second session. With the present document, the Secretariat submits the Feasibility Study to the Council. No Decision required.

IFAP-2003/COUNCIL.II/INF.4 - Page3 A.

Introduction

1. The Bureau of the Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme has requested the Secretariat to conduct a feasibility study into the concept of an electronic database on best practices in designing, implementing and evaluating development projects for the Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme. It is envisaged that the initiative is intended to set up a database as a single point of entry for the Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme and its Bureau as well as Member States, creating a gateway to all information of relevance to successful IT projects in their overall life raging from designing to evaluating in areas of IFAP priorities. A range of institutional, technical and financial issues has been considered while undertaking the feasibility study, which provides recommendations on a pragmatic way to pursue the ideas together with proposed institutional and financial strategies. The results of the feasibility study are summarized in document. B.

Perspectives of a Database on Best Practices of Development Projects

2. There has been a high level of enthusiasm for making successful projects-related information available electronically. Some UN agencies provide electronic information about their on-going projects and often publish the results of projects electronically. Equally international donor organizations are very keen to put up electronic information about their projects, seeing it as a new medium for advertising in a bid to encourage better partnership. These information providers also see a way of reaching wide communities with their information or of targeting more specialized audiences with relevant portions of their information on projects. 3. Below is a table showing trends in maintaining databases on projects or best practices at UNESCO and in a worldwide Internet search engine.

N° Database holder

Type of database

Records

Comments

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Library database Intranet database Sector portal Sector portal Sector portal Sector portal Search engine

502 3,512 400 1,600 1,400 44 660,000

Databases Projects Projects Projects Partner institutions Archive links Projects

UNESCO/ADM/DIT UNESCO/ED UNESCO/SC UNESCO/SHS UNESCO/CLT UNESCO/CI Yahoo

4. Among the UNESCO Sectors, only SHS (MOST) has set up a database providing its projects selected on a best practices basis while other sectors appear that they contain projects within their portals. 5. However, there is little coordinated effort between the large numbers of institutions putting up information on IT projects in particular on projects which are of great success. This leads to a situation where there are many partial and overlapping collections of information, which must be searched, through different search mechanisms, to ascertain whether a required piece of information is available. The notion of the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme on the idea of having a comprehensive database,

IFAP-2003/COUNCIL.II/INF.4 – Page 4 which provides a single point of entry and a single search mechanism to all the information regarding development projects in the IFAP areas, has deserved high interest. 6. It is expected that many IT institutions will seek the chance of external financial support, or cooperation dominance, from running such a system, and will wish to position themselves as the gateway for external funding. The key objective of a database on Best Practices of Development Projects (BPDP) is to create and exploit information and knowledge to improve the effectiveness of the project-developing institutions in Member States within the framework of IFAP. 7. A database on BPDP may be able to contribute to the following achievements: • • • •

C.

To improve the quality and efficiency of the identification of suitable IT project areas by sharing information on standards and best practices. To enhance the quality of project life ranging from designing to evaluating by sharing design and implementation expertise and experiences. To improve the efficiency of the resource-mobilization by improving knowledge on best practices in developing IT projects and on the requirements of potential funding donors. To provide news and information that will enable the public IT sector to compete more effectively. Objectives of the Feasibility Study

8. The feasibility study addresses the following objectives: • • • •

To provide guidance on the ways of establishing the recommended database on BPDP. To establish the technical options available to achieve the database as a gateway to users. To gain an understanding of the potential barriers to establishing the IFAP database and how these may be overcome. These include institutional and financial aspects. Develop schemes for the production and use of a database on BPDP in a pragmatic way.

9. These objectives have been addressed after surveying the three following points: (1) User needs: including key potential users, classifications of user groups, examining what users want and need, and determining the appropriateness of essential information for end users. (2) Information sources: covering modalities of cooperation with the public and private organizations in Member States in launching development projects, basic requirements for participation in a database on BPDP, and means of providing information for the database. (3) Services options: determining where should such a database reside, its target areas, types of services offered, maintenance of the database as a gateway, and funds required for sustainable development of a database on BPDP. 1)

User Needs

10. Though the way forward may seem obvious, very little research has been focused directly at the ability to provide a specific database on BPDP in IT. The majority of partner institutions in Member States have looked at the provision of expertise in developing solid projects, searching on the Internet (AltaVista and Yahoo) relevant information, or environments for better managing the development projects and consistent information resources to be published on the Internet. Recently, research tools have become available which allow a single resource set or domain area to be indexed. However, this provides only a very low level of functionality in their systems, roughly equivalent to that found in current paper-based ‘yellow pages’ directories.

IFAP-2003/COUNCIL.II/INF.4 - Page5 11. In the field of IT, a few commercial ventures such as the Smart Communities in Canada have set themselves up, providing its own web page on best practices in bringing together partners working to promote the use of ICT. However this provides only a framework for the provision of domain specific services, and to date they have encompassed a very restricted set of the totality of information required for promoting BPDP. 12. A multi-national body called “European Interest Group on ICT Management Best Practices” used to organize workshops on ‘Awareness of European Solutions and Best Practices for Telematic Applications’ on a yearly basis, which were intended to improve the effectiveness of the development and management of European telematic projects in their focus areas such as Educational institutions / School networks, Public Libraries & Information Services, Cities & Administrations, and Enterprise & Industry Groups. It provided managers with a tool to evaluate and benchmark the performance of their telematic projects and to identify and apply Best Practices in their projects. However it appears that the workshops are suspended in 2000. 2)

Information Sources

13. The success of a database on BPDP can be ensured if and when the database could secure wide participation by information suppliers (IT institutions and experts) in Member States, who are main sources to enrich the contents of the database with information on best practices. 14. In this regard, the UNESCO Secretariat should play a leading role in encouraging UNESCO partner institutions and project developers. 3)

Services Options

15. A database on BPDP should be populated in a safe place at UNESCO to ensure reliable access to its contents by users. It is also recommended that the contents of such a database be indexed in view of easy search for relevant pieces of information as quickly as possible. To this end, the database may be structured according to IFAP priority areas and sub-areas. 16. Once a database is set up, each professional of the Secretariat may be invited to participate in enriching the contents of the database and submit a list of potential partners who will be able to join in maintaining the database as information suppliers. The database may have an internal website devoted to reserving selected project proposals, which can be included in a list of projects eligible for submission to IFAP or other donors for funding as an incentive measure. D.

Requirements of a Database on Best Practices of Development Projects

17. During the feasibility study the information requirements of the major categories of experts and professionals in selected IT partner institutions in Member States were surveyed. Along with this survey, the users’ satisfaction with current information provided through the Internet search engines and UNESCO Sector portals was requested. The collated comments lead to the following issues: •

• •

Importance Satisfaction with current information related to BPDP: Very important, relevant to all users. The content is not as clear and accurate as it should be. There are a number of websites in the Internet, however the electronic format is generally months or years out of date and no timely updating is ensured. Best Practice Guides: Very important, mostly to project developers and evaluators. Problem is with the very varied quality of the documents and no comprehensive guidance. Project Literature: Level of importance varies among user types from moderate to very important. Some improvements were made by website runners, providing more design

IFAP-2003/COUNCIL.II/INF.4 – Page 6 and technical information. However it is very stingy. 18. For the database on BPDP to work under IFAP it must have the backing of the information suppliers (BPDP developers) and in particular should be able to attract high attention of potential donors. 1)

Information Suppliers

19. The potential information suppliers in Member States find the information available in the Internet and UNESCO websites very limited. They consider the public platforms not adequate for the advertising their information due to a lack of opportunities of consolidating with relevant reviewers and the poor management of old and obsolete data. To this extent they are very interested in the possibility of establishing a database on BPDP through which they can seek more pragmatic ways to submit their projects to donors for funding. Most suppliers consider such a database on BPDP would be a complementary route to conventional platforms provided by worldwide professional institutions such as PMI (Project Management Institute) and would not be a substitute. The suppliers feel the following issues must be addressed by a database on BPDP: that quality standards are ensured; that information update and renewal are guaranteed; that relevant control over dataflow traffic is maintained; and that the database is managed by a confident team of the UNESCO Secretariat. 2)

User Requirements

20. When the possibilities of a database on BPDP were described to potential users and user groups a great deal of enthusiasm was perceived. The users see a database on BPDP as improving the quality and availability of information as well as reducing barriers to its access and being responsive to their requirements. 21. The requirements that they currently believe the BPDP to need are: • • • • •

The contents of the BPDP to be quality approved Direct access to the actual pragmatic information Substantially improved search mechanisms and indexing of information The fast provision of both textual and graphical information The ability to incorporate BPDP information directly into documents or design tools

22. Taking these sets of requirements into account, a series of scenarios were proposed for a database on BPDP at meetings of interested groups for refinement in the framework of UNESCO’s ACCESS-net (Association of Computer Centres for Exploiting Sustainable Synergy), which covers at present some 30 IT institutions and centres across the world. The refined proposals are described in the following section. E.

Recommendations

23. While appreciating that establishing a database on BPDP is entirely feasible and useful for IFAP governing bodies and Member States, main topics related to the launch of a database on BPDP have been proposed. They are described in order of increasing significance below: 1)

Participants

24. A wide participation in the improvement of the contents of a database on BPDP should be secured by a large number of information suppliers (leading institutions or experts who are substantially involved in BPDP preparation and implementation) from Member States particularly by institutions specialising in IT. It is envisaged that selected information suppliers would share lists of links where there is a mutual synergy in their information services related to best practices. Information suppliers would be encouraged to submit

IFAP-2003/COUNCIL.II/INF.4 - Page7 information on BPDP utilising specified formats to enable automatic data extraction by a task force of the Secretariat. 2)

BPDP Signpost

25. Provisional criteria for BPDP, which may act, as a ‘signpost’, to assist information suppliers in pre-selection of BPDP would comprise the following items: BPDP should • • • •

Demonstrate how the project will provide a step change in IT capacity building. Be collaborative, involving at least three partners - one from research, a service provider and an end-user. Be IT institution led and run for between two and three years. Demonstrate clear and realistic routes to market with potential for significant improvement in productivity and profitability of IT communities

26. BPDP applications may be appraised on: • • • • • • • •

3)

Level of innovation. Potential risk and rewards in using new information technology. Feasibility of proposed approach. Quality, expertise and resources of collaborative partners. Range of potential beneficiaries. Strength of capacity base in the new technologies covered by the project. Longer-term benefits to IT capability building. Wider public interest and relevance. Location and Structure of the Database on BPDP

27. It is proposed that the database on BPDP be populated in the CI/INF Web-world server as an integrated part of the CI web-world in a form of portal, having a clear title along with the main IFAP priority areas. The database host and gateway should be designed as the preferred option for the database on BPDP to be identified by a task force. It is also recommended that a signpost should be offered initially, and extended gradually towards the database host and gateway option as required. 28. The database on BPDP may be structured in line with the IFAP priority areas and subareas as outlined below: • • • •

4)

Policies: Observing developments; Providing visions; Creating frameworks; Policy development Training: Empowering users; Training professionals; Reinforcing training hubs/networks; Enhancing Training quality Access: Strengthening institutions as gateways; Building access communities; Providing access tools; Preserving information Applications: Facilitating educational processes; Enabling scientific cooperation; Supporting cultural diversity; Disseminating knowledge Management of the Database on BPDP

29. It is suggested that a task force on the preparation of the database on BPDP be set up in the Secretariat to study institutional and technical aspects of the database. A key function would be one or more classification schemes that could be used across a range of information in the database, providing rapid and effective searches across several sub-databases. A final

IFAP-2003/COUNCIL.II/INF.4 – Page 8 version of a project proposal for establishing the database on BPDP would be submitted to the IFAP Bureau for approval before launching it. 5)

IFAP Funding Sources

30. In order to encourage wide participation in enriching the contents of the database on BPDP, make the database truly instrumental in designing, implementing and evaluating development projects and assist users in securing financial support, the IFAP funding ability should be reinforced. It is suggested that, at the initial stage, the database on BPDP be supported under IFAP funding while making every effort to set up solid funding resources within the IFAP in collaboration with outside donors. F.

Conclusions

31. It is believed that a database on BPDP can play a significant role in equipping the IT communities to compete in developing sound BPDP and in securing funds abroad. Business competitiveness depends increasingly on the exploitation of knowledge. The database will enable IFAP to realise the value of its intellectual assets. It will also stimulate the development of knowledge and learning, improve information dissemination, and support the sharing of design knowledge as object-oriented design models. It is recommended that a database on BPDP be established in a website-linked form. It is considered that a system providing less functionality will not be able to benefit Member States and will compare unfavourably with rival services. A well-supported information gateway will protect the database from misuse by unauthorised users. It will also ensure that the requirements of users are fully considered. 32. It is felt that the best way to achieve users support is to reinforce a project funding ability in IFAP, which is able to offer funds, as an incentive, to projects selected on the best practices basis. The best way to launch it will be the provision of a ‘signpost’ that can be improved as the database grows. The creation and maintenance of the database should be funded at the initial stage under IFAP funding while seeking donations from outside shareholders. The database must address existing BPDP and user information needs. The database will need a management task force that provides new ideas and ways of allocating resources and sets and amends its information distributing policy. Electronic publishing is a new and difficult skill. The BPDP management may be able to appoint an existing electronic publisher who will provide the technical resources and expertise needed to publish relevant information and make the database a success. 33. A well-planned resource-mobilizing plan will help to ensure the success of the database. Even more important will be a broad spectrum of support for the database on BPDP across the UNESCO donors. The eventual task of implementation is to garner this support.

IFAP-2003/COUNCIL.II/INF.4 - Page9

Annex I Proposed Budget of the Project Proposal for Establishing a Database on Best Practices for Submission to IFAP for Funding 34. It is proposed that an interim Task Force for establishing a database on BPDP be set up including Jean-Claude Dauphin, Davide Storti, Igor Nuk and Yong-Nam Kim, while nominating Davide Storti as a moderator to evaluate, select and validate all BPDP-related project proposals to be received and resigned in the database on BPDP. Below outlined is a provisional budget breakdown proposed by the interim Task Force. N°

Item

1

Preparation of general structure, guidelines and contents

2

Preparation of model BPDP proposals

3

Preparation of database on BPDP

4

Preparation of procedures

5

Documentation and reporting facilities

* m/w: man per week

Contracting activity

Estimate cost $ 3,836

- Project contents and guidelines and forms to be used for submission of BPDP to Database on BPDP (2 m/w)* - General framework and structure of database on BPDP (2 m/w) - Real BPDP proposals in line with 78,902 OTD (Observatory on Technology Development) areas (73 m/w) - Design of detailed database scenario (4 9,590 m/w) - Design, construction of detailed database structure and populating (4 m/w) - Database submission form(s) and population of at least 5 sample projects on the database (2 m/w) - Establishing procedures for updating, maintaining and searching (2 m/w) - Posting website of database (2 m/w) - Application of documentation to the website of database (2 m/w) - Software for adaptation of database to documentation (2 m/w)

3,836

TOTAL

100,000

3,836