GFAR is involved in many multi-stakeholder activities on ICM and ICT related issues (e.g. information management and sharing, metadata exchange etc.).
The main objective is of course that of improving access to reliable and updated information resources.

Coherence in Agricultural Information

GFAR participated in the Expert Consultation on "International Information Systems for Agricultural Science and Technology – Review of Progress and Prospects" held in Rome in October 2005. The goal of the consultation was "to develop coherence in international information systems for agricultural science and technology".

The specific objectives where:

Institutional networks To define for the wider agricultural information community the future roles of and relationships between the various stakeholder networks and initiatives in agricultural science and technology. 

Open access publishing for agriculture To raise awareness of the present “business models” for self-publishing by agricultural institutions and possible new approaches offered by the Open Access model. 

Capacity building To define for the wider agricultural information community the future roles of and relationships between the various capacity building initiatives in agricultural information management. 

Data exchange standards To initiate and/or consolidate a range of focused working groups for the development and validation of standards and guidelines for information exchange.

Three task forces were established: Advocacy, Capacity Building and Content. GFAR is actively involved in both the Advocacy Task Force and the AgrisContent Task Force.

In the context of the coherence process GFAR is strictly collaborating with FAO on the promotion of standards in general and on a new standard to describe organizations in particular (Working group on the development of an Organization Metadata Application Profile).

For more information, updates and ongoing discussions on the coherence process and on the specific pilot project proposed by GFAR and FAO on the management of information on Organizations, see the "Coherence in AIS" section of our Open Site.