United Nations Development Programme Capacity 2015 Africa Local Level Integrated Information Systems. Brief

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1 United Nations Development Programme Capacity 2015 Africa Local Level Integrated Information Systems Brief 1. Background The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched the Capacity 2015 (C2015) initiative as a platform for capacity development to implement the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). C2015 builds on the success of Capacity 21 and other innovative capacity development programmes. It provides a global platform for partnering and sharing experience in tackling the many cross-cutting issues of capacity development and sustainability that are critical for the realisation of the MDGs. One key objectives of Capacity 2015 is the provision of support infrastructure that will enable effective exchange of information, experience and expertise to facilitate efficient and effective programme implementation and ongoing collective learning. The development of an Information and Learning Network (ILN) dedicated to local development processes is a key component in this respect. ILN provides a framework for information exchange, and space within which lessons learned on development processes in one place can rapidly be shared and used, and a platform upon which communities will be able to develop intervention strategies benefiting from a world of experience. In Africa, the ILN is intended to enable local communities across sub-sahara Africa to engage with a broad range of development actors and partners to share knowledge and experience and to work jointly towards economic development. ILN-Africa aims to create an information, learning and knowledge management support platform that ensures that communities will be able to develop locally-inspired strategies and plans drawing on a world of experience, and mobilise resources for their implementation. Therefore, at the core of the C2015 Africa ILN strategy is a Local-level Integrated Information System (LIIS) which aims at addressing the development information and knowledge access needs at the community level. 2. ILN-Africa ILN implementation in Africa premises on the need to support local communities to explore and recognise the opportunities that are available to them, and chart appropriate courses of action. The thrust of ILN-Africa is therefore the creation of spaces within which people can interact, construct new realities out of the environment and circumstances in which they live, building on a diversity of information and knowledge sources, insights and experience, and create value and opportunities for themselves out of the learning encounters. To this end ILN-Africa will be established as an information and knowledge management support platform that enables local communities to engage with, and participate meaningfully in a global network from which they can learn and derive value from the experiences of others, and in which their achievements can be highlighted. Page 1

2 The goal of ILN-Africa is to strengthen capacity at the local level towards the attainment of the MDGs through the effective harnessing and leveraging of information and knowledge. To this end three focus areas are addressed: i) Development of a knowledge management support infrastructure to facilitate access to information, knowledge, and experience relevant to the attainment of the MDGs; ii) iii) Development of a decision-support tools and capacity development empowering communities to make effective use of information and knowledge to improve the local economy and facilitate the provision of basic services; Creation and management of shared spaces for interaction, sharing information, ideas, expertise, and fostering partnerships and synergy, and within which local development interventions involving communities themselves are engendered. The overarching aim of ILN-Africa is to develop capacity at the local level, and assist communities to access and utilise valuable information and knowledge relevant to the attainments of the MDGs, and support them to apply new knowledge and skills to develop solutions to their problems. Specific objectives are: Facilitate the systematic capture and codification of valuable information, best practices and lessons from the local development effort; Facilitate information exchange, access to local and international knowledge assets, and the sharing of experience; Facilitate the building of capacity for leveraging and deriving value from knowledge assets, and for translating knowledge into action at the local level; Strengthen coordination, communication, and networking among sustainable development initiatives, activities, and practitioners working at the local level; Build linkages and partnerships at the national and regional levels to support key functions of the Network. These objectives will be pursued within the broad framework of the Capacity 2015 Africa strategy. 3. Overall Strategy The LIIS strategy is based on what has been termed as the sense-making methodology 1 according to which a person seeking advancement passes through space and time, taking appropriate steps through experiences. As long as he or she can make sense of these experiences, movement ahead is possible. From time to time, however, movement is blocked by a cognitive gap a situation that the person is unable to make sense of. To bridge this gap, the person seeks information to make new sense so that he or she can continue the journey. Figure 1 illustrates the sense-making metaphor. 1 Dervin, B. (2003). From the mind s eye of the user: The Sense-Making qualitative-quantitative methodology. In B. Dervin & L. Foreman- Wernet (with E. Lauterbach) (Eds.). Sense-Making Methodology reader: Selected writings of Brenda Dervin (pp ). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press. UNDP Capacity 2015 Africa Local-level Integrated Information System Brief Page 2

3 Questions Questions Answered Answered Ideas Ideas Formed Formed Resources Resources Obtained Obtained Gap Gap Bridged Bridged Situation Situation Gap Gap Faced Faced Figure 1: The sense-making metaphor Strategies Strategies Used Used Information Information Values Values Sought Sought Adapted Adapted from from Dervin, Dervin, B. B. (2003) (2003) The social setting in which information and knowledge are encountered determine their value. The implementation of LIIS will therefore be anchored on an understanding of the traditional systems of knowledge and information acquisition and use within respective communities in relation to their adaptation to the vagaries of life, and by extension their quest for sustainable livelihoods. LIIS will be need-driven, building on and integrating indigenous knowledge and the outcomes of socio-cultural interactions through which communities gather, share, and create meaning of information. The thrust of the strategy is to create and facilitate an integrated decision support environment that helps local communities to seek and receive information and knowledge relevant to their needs, and that helps them to take collective action for progress. An opportunities approach will be pursued that is, to identify potential benefits from available assets, focusing on enhancing or adding value, and using these assets efficiently and sustainably to derive maximum benefit. LIIS must not be seen as an ICT project, but as an information and knowledge management capacity development framework. It takes a people-centred approach to information gathering, making the process of generating, collating relevant information and documenting knowledge part of the local development process, as the outcome of people constructing meaning out of their circumstances and social interactions, enabling them to derive benefits from what they learn, and empowering them to act. 4. Local-level information ILN will be linked to the local level through the LIIS. This is to ensure that local communities can participate directly in information exchanges, and that there is a two-way flow of information relating to local issues and needs. LIIS seeks to address the development information and knowledge access needs at the community level by strengthening the capacity of local communities to manage information and knowledge needs most relevant to their own development priorities. The initiative provides a framework for the systematic collection, facilitating access to, and sharing of information and knowledge in support of processes towards the attainment of the MDGs at the local-level. LIIS will provide data and information management support for local-level development processes, and assist communities to document their own knowledge and experiences. It will also provide a mechanism for systematically capturing and documenting activities and outcomes on the ground. UNDP Capacity 2015 Africa Local-level Integrated Information System Brief Page 3

4 LIIS aims to support local-level integrated development. It will strengthen the capacity of local communities to identify information and knowledge needs that are most relevant to their priorities. The core objectives of LIIS are: a) Facilitate access to information and knowledge to support local development processes; b) Develop capacity for collecting and managing information about community priorities and activities through self-monitoring and evaluation; c) Provide information management support for participatory local-level integrated development processes; LIIS will facilitate communication, information sharing, and knowledge transfer and learning at the community level. 5. Decision Support In the new economy of today value is not only derived from physical and natural assets alone, but also from the strategic use of information about such assets. The system will therefore support the generation of information that enhances the value of the physical assets of communities, such as land, water resources, and forests, highlighting opportunities for deriving benefits from these. The integration and analysis of information will be actionoriented and will seek to emphasise the potential for development in the community (Figure 2). Options Priority Setting Planning Agreed Usage Rules What is the Development Need/Potential? Capacity to exploit assets Negotiation skills Analysis Negotiation Discussion Knowledge Assets Reports Best Practices Beliefs and values Training Programmes Management Practices Systems & Procedures Information Needs What does your problem look like? What do you want to know? Why do you need to know it? What do you know already? What do you anticipate finding? How will this help you? Information on Assets Assets What? Where? Quantity? Quality? Usage? Constraints? Changes? Why? Externalities? Figure 2: Information management framework LIIS will put in place a coherent framework, methodologies and procedures to assist communities in channelling valuable information and knowledge assets into decision- UNDP Capacity 2015 Africa Local-level Integrated Information System Brief Page 4

5 making processes that would enable them to make sense of opportunities that may emerge for them to use the assets efficiently and sustainably to improve their circumstances. 6. Information and knowledge needs LIIS builds on the premise that the information needed to get action to meet the MDGs nationally has to be generated locally. Each of the 18 MDG targets will therefore have to be mapped to specific issues of concern at the local level. Key questions will include: What do these targets and indicators translate to, directly or indirectly, at the local level? What local realities and processes do they relate to, for which information and knowledge support is required? What kinds of information can be collected by the local communities themselves? How will the additional information be collected? Where will the additional (expert) knowledge be found? How will the local-level information be fed into national monitoring processes and the global indicators? Participatory, people-centred processes will be adopted for identifying specific local issues and processes with the view to understanding the priorities, social context, systems and values by which people in the respective communities create meaning of information, as well as the specific development environments within which information and external knowledge will be used. Ultimately LIIS should become tool for planning and resource mobilization. 7. System and technology LIIS will adopt hybrid solutions involving a mix of technologies and platforms, depending on conditions in particular communities. Simple, user-friendly and transparent technologies will be deployed to assist people to locate knowledge assets, expertise, communicate among themselves, learn, and put knowledge to work in local communities. The objective will be to marshal and focus the full power of ICT as a platform for organising, maximising access to, sharing, transferring, using existing and new information resources and knowledge assets, and communicating needs and ideas towards the attainment of development goals. Best available technology and solutions will be tightly integrated into a unified platform for collecting and sharing information and knowledge. In all cases, technology will be deployed in such a manner as to make it transparent and user-friendly to non-technical users. Ensuring low-cost access to information and knowledge will also be a critical consideration. A typical LIIS set-up will comprise five core components or functions (Figure 3): UNDP Capacity 2015 Africa Local-level Integrated Information System Brief Page 5

6 Communication Tools & Dissemination Services Spatial Data Integrator Analysis Information Production Record Keeping Data Capture Data Conversion Data Management Databases Metadatabases Maps Data Imagery Statistics Problem-solving & Decision Support Tools Knowledge Assets Traditional practices Local value value systems Reports Other documents Best Best practices INFORMATION AND LEARNING NETWORK Figure 3: Main components and flows within the LIIS and linkage with the ILN-Africa basic data management data analysis and information production communication and networking knowledge management and learning support decision support functions System components will be designed and implemented as modules or stand-alone subsystems at the community level. This approach will make it possible to decentralise and distribute the functions, and build up the systems and capabilities depending on demand, with the flexibility to adopt the most efficient implementation approaches. The district-level system will be implemented as a full integrated system comprising all the modules, although some functions may still be out-sourced. Depending on the nature of network infrastructure available, direct links may be established among the individual community nodes, and with the district-level systems. 8. Beneficiaries The direct beneficiaries the Capacity 2015 Africa strategy is local communities. Central to the strategy is the need to support to maximize their economic potential and have access to improved services through the development of relevant skills. The ILN and LIIS will facilitate access to valuable information and knowledge resources. This will help to develop a better UNDP Capacity 2015 Africa Local-level Integrated Information System Brief Page 6

7 understanding of issues and support the formulation of common goals and approaches to deal with their realities, and empower communities and authorities to take appropriate action. Appropriate tools will be developed to help them to apply information and knowledge effectively. At the level of the community LIIS will primarily provide information services on a variety of issues, facilitate debate and consensus-building, and serve as a tool for planning and resource mobilization, and for managing environmental assets at the village/township level. Easy access to information will facilitate effective participation of local communities in decision-making thereby ensure transparency, promote good governance, and empower them to exercise their rights and act responsibly at their respective levels. At the district level the main benefit of the system will be its use as a planning and monitoring tool. At the national-level it will provide a mechanism for capturing information on activities on the ground which are often not accounted for at the level of the national government. Capacities for integrated and participatory approaches essential for development and societal transformation will also be enhanced. In this regard LIIS activities will support networks and communities of knowledge who will provide technical support and assistance, relevant experiences and expertise to support implementation. These networks will comprise of tertiary institutions with expertise in areas relevant to the MDGs within Africa and beyond, information and professional networks whose resources are relevant to capacity building, nongovernmental and community-based based organisations involved in local level implementation. 9. Capacity building Capacity building will be a core activity of ILN-Africa. The aim will be to develop and put in place a coherent framework and tools to assist local communities leverage information and knowledge assets to their benefit directly in terms of economic development and provision of services. To this end the capacity for transforming information into useful knowledge, and leveraging it, will be addressed. Training will include integrated planning approaches, basic information and knowledge management, participatory monitoring and evaluation, and the use of communication technologies to facilitate this. Specific capacity building requirements will be established on the basis of need assessments, and also the monitoring and reporting requirements for the MDGs. A cadre of information and knowledge management specialists, as well as social scientists and specialists in participatory processes will be required to ensure the success of the LIIS. 10. Communication and Learning ILN-Africa will create structures and spaces within which people interact and learn at the local level. Local focus groups will be established to serve as the platform for discussing issues, building consensus, identifying needs, and exploring ways to apply new knowledge to UNDP Capacity 2015 Africa Local-level Integrated Information System Brief Page 7

8 local realities. The groups will include teachers and community leaders, especially women, who will be trained to catalyse local knowledge cells. Community focus groups will be linked to create a local-level knowledge network to foster peer learning, and for sharing experiences. The network will be anchored in local structures such as schools, women groups, and community-based organisations. Information and knowledge will be packaged and disseminated using culturally appropriate ways, including community radio, and data casting technologies. InfoKiosks will be set up in the communities to serve as outlets for information and knowledge products in various formats. Resource centres, including the use of Internet-based facilities, will be established to provide support and services. 11. LIIS Products and Services ILN-Africa will aim at providing MDG-related products and services that are packaged to ensure accessibility by local communities. Specific products and services will be identified based on priority needs through focus groups and participatory processes. LIIS will support a variety of knowledge assets in its repositories documents, databases, audio, and video. It will also produce local information (content) for external audiences. In terms of products and services there will be three broad levels of operationalisation: Level Local District National Focus information service, including: basic data and information on communities simple and specific local decision-support applications on-demand maps and other just-in-time products consolidated information catalogues and a metadata bulletin documentation and sharing of local knowledge access to external information resources and knowledge assets support for consensus-building and action planning resource management planning and monitoring standard framework for collecting and managing information: collated datasets and databases data compendia and consolidated information catalogues analytical capability district-level planning, resource allocation and decision-support applications: case studies indicator-based district assessments and development reports issue-specific, indicator-based thematic reports monitoring MDGs and other relevant policy frameworks: Vital (summary) graphics Policy Briefs collating information on activities on the ground in relation with MDGs UNDP Capacity 2015 Africa Local-level Integrated Information System Brief Page 8

9 12. Links to national monitoring The sharing of experiences among stakeholders at different levels and within different sectors of government machinery will be facilitated to ensure vertical integration with the districts and national-level data collection schemes for monitoring and reporting on the MDGs and other relevant policy frameworks, and informing policies at the national level through the ILN-Africa. UNDP Capacity 2015 Africa Local-level Integrated Information System Brief Page 9

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