Six Myths about Ontologies: The Basics of Formal Ontology
ICM and KSS in IWM as evidence-based DSS to inform Policy and Investment decisions - Prof. Bancy M. Mati
1. ICM and KSS in IWM as evidence-based
DSS to inform Policy and Investment decisions
By:
Prof. Bancy M. Mati
Presented at the:
CTA Annual Seminar:
On:
Closing the Knowledge Gap: Integrated Water
Management for Sustainable Agriculture
Johannesburg, South Africa
22nd
-26th
November 2010
2. Basic Terms /acronyms
• ICM – Information, Communication & Management
• KSS – Knowledge Support Systems
• DSS – Decision Support Systems
• ICT – Information and Communication Technologies
• IWM – Integrated Water Management
• IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
3. CONTENTS
1. Status of knowledge share & ICM for IWM in Africa
2. Typologies of Decision Support Systems
3. Knowledge needs for Policy & Investment support
4. Components of ICM
5. Simple KM technologies
6. DSS tools to inform policy on IWM & Agric
7. Schematic presentation of the IWM Process
8. Upgrading IWM through KSS & ICM
4. Status of knowledge share & DSS in Africa
• Africa is a continent fragmented by national boundaries,
languages and cultural barriers
• Technologies and practices for IWM exist but in localized
“islands”
• Researchers chase to publish papers in foreign
international journals
• Policy makers rarely consult local scientists and/or farmers
• Research agenda rarely emanates from local needs
• Even with the internet, knowledge flow intra-Africa is weak
• Capacity has been growing among Africans.....
5. Why sit on
knowledge?
5 01/29/15
As a result…..
Knowledge Gaps in Policy & Investment decisions
Knowledge and experiences from decades of
research and project implementation
are not filtering up-wards to influence
policy,
are poorly infiltrating downwards to
impact on poverty among smallholder
farmers, and
are not spreading outwards rapidly
enough to reach many people quickly.
6. Information and Knowledge
• Information is data that is organized so as to
have meaning
• Data is numerical or at least quantifiable
information
• Knowledge is “information that is relevant,
actionable, and based at least partially on
experience”.
• ICT consists of information processing and
communication technologies.
7. Typologies of Decision Support Systems (DSS)
Origins of computer aided DSS is fairly recent - 1967 (Morton’s
dissertation in Harvard).
Can Distinguish six types of DSS
1. Model-driven DSS - use limited data and parameters
provided by decision makers
2. Data-driven DSS – use large quantities of data
3. Communications-driven DSS – utilize ICTs
4. Document-driven DSS e.g. uses computer storage and
processing for info retrieval and analysis
5. Knowledge-driven DSS : are person-computer systems
with specialized problem-solving expertise
6. Web-based DSS – e.g. Imagine life without Google?
8. Typical target Stakeholders for ICM. For example
1. International Institutions – e.g. UN, WB, IFAD,
2. Regional Institutions - COMESA, SADC, AMCOW
3. National Institutions – Ministries of Water, Agriculture
4. National Knowledge Institutions – e.g. universities,
5. Para-governmental Orgs e.g. RBAs, parastatals
6. Private Sector – banks, equipment manufacturers
7. Funded Programmes & Projects -
8. NGOs, WUAs, SHGs, CBOs
9. Farmers, fishers, pastoralists and other land users.
9. Knowledge needs for Policy &
Investment support
• Determine what information needs to be
communicated
• Be sensitive to the needs of Policy makers
• Determine the medium of communication.
• Determine who will be sending out this
communication & who is receipient.
• Identify the purpose of the communication
• Demand driven or push it?
• Determine the frequency of communication
10. B.Mati 10 01/29/15
IWM interventions having simple
improvements which yield visible impacts
13. B.Mati 13 01/29/15
Advice on “quick wins” that utilize local materials
Photo by B. Mati
Sand-filled bags for dam embankment in Nyando, Kenya Zai pits for maize crop in Mbeere, Kenya
14. Available DSS tools to inform policy & Investment
decisions
• National & regional IWM research information systems
• Indigenous knowledge systems before they disappear.
• Developing information systems of matured /tested
technologies that have proven successful (farmer K)
• Case studies and success stories (local, borrowed)
• Audio-visual knowledge capture e.g. photos, broadcasts,
videotapes
• GIS supported information bases
• Websites and blogs
• Equip institutions with ICT hardware& software.
15. Examples of DSS tools for IWM &
Agric to inform policy
• Early warning systems e.g. Geo-spatial data
shared by FEWSnet, WMO-EA
• IFPRI’s Strategic Analysis Knowledge Support
System" for agricultural and market analysis
• WFP/FAO’s Standardized Monitoring and
Assessment of Relief and Transitions (SMART)
for needs assessment
• IPPC’s Global Circulation models for climate
change adaptation
16. IMAWESA 16 01/29/15
Institutionalizing sustainability in KSS for IWM
• Devising mechanisms for self-financing
• Working with service providers
• Enhancing ICT communication
• Getting political goodwill and support
• Devising a reward system for ICM work
• Having long-term goals and objectives which are
SMART
• Creativity and innovation to capture new knowledge
and make use of it.
17. Example: Climate Change Decision support tools
Source: The Economics of Climate Change. Stern Review, 2007.
18. Source: The World Bank Group Genderstats Database of Gender Statistics (2004),
and ILO Global employment Trends Brief (2006)
19. • A pen and notebook -
• Writing (newspapers, magazines, report),
• Audio-visual systems (radio, TV , doc films)
• Public speaking forums,
• Electronic media e.g. telephone, fax, e-mail,
• Internet search engines e.g. Google or Yahoo
• e-learning tools, Wordpress
• Social computing tools e.g. SMS, blogs , wikis
Simple KM technologies
20. Example: SMS as a DSST at farmer level
• In Kenya, farmers have an easy, low risk DSST
through SMS technology & M-PESA. e.g....
• Sale & purchase of farm products
• Receipt sent via SMS to farmer’s cell phone
• Tailored farm advice messages sent directly to
farmer’s cell phone
Therefore....
• SMS is the new community gathering.
• SMS is the new source of information
• SMS is a means for farmers to connect with a
larger network of people.
21. IMAWESA 21 01/29/152101/29/15
Photos by B. Mati
Challenges: how to change age-old practices
e.g. introducing SRI (System of rice intensification)
22. IWM for cross-sectoral uses
Photo by B. Mati
Water for Community services Water storages for livestock
Photo by Naphtali Mbanda, Rwanda
23. Components of ICM
• What: Determine what knowledge is needed, its management information
structures, and objectives.
• Who: identify who to share knowledge with, e.g. networks, authorities,
individuals, practitioners, collaborators or the entire World Wide Web.
• How: Organize how the knowledge will be shared, e.g. by networking, consulting,
collaborating, sharing, researching, reflecting, developing, testing, training,
innovating, managing, or simply posting on the Internet.
• Why: e.g. activity planning, strategic planning, learning, awareness raising,
feedback, or simply for information.
• Where: Identify the sources and destinations of the knowledge e.g. strategic
positioning, planning, and coverage.
• When: Determine the timelines associated with knowledge capture, processing
and sharing, e.g. timing, pacing, planning, scheduling, context, live or recorded.
• If: Identify the utility of knowledge as a decision support tool.
24. Incentives for supporting ICM
• Making available increased knowledge content
• Facilitating and supporting innovation and organisational
learning.
• Acknowledging and managing intellectual capital and
intellectual assets
• Improving communications and IT connectivity
• Leveraging the expertise through training,
• Facilitating interaction between members,.
• Solving intractable issues as soon as they arise.
25. Promoting policy and investment support for IWM
• Develop workable Strategies considering river basin mgt.
• Review national laws for IWM policy development.
• Facilitate participation of all stakeholders at all levels of
IWM, with special attention to gender and youth.
• Improve structures and processes for consultation at all
levels
• Better co-ordination and institutional strengthening to
overcome fragmented responsibilities in the field of IWM.
• Resource mobilization, especially self-financing
mechanisms
• Increase information, awareness and communication.
• Formation of multi-stakeholder forums e.g. WUAs, AgWA
• Advocacy and generating goodwill
26. B.Mati 26 01/29/15
ICM to bridge the knowledge needs of a
cross-section of “Decision Makers”
27. Key Water &
Water-related
Policies/Inst.
Resources
Assessment &
Analysis
Use Assessment
& Analysis
Resource
Development &
Management
Plan
Implementation
& Monitoring
Resource
Allocation
Strategy
Review &
Evaluation
Country
Development
Objectives
Schematic of the IWM Process • Stakeholder Input
• Investor Input
• Public Sector Input
28. Upgrading IWM through KSS & ICM
• Using KSS to achieve “decisively” designed projects
and/or incorporating IWM into existing ones.
• Embedding the five capitals (N, P, H, F, S) into IWM.
• Ensuring that policy and legal instruments for IWM are in
place (at local, national & regional levels)
• Linking IWM with indigenous knowledge.
• Identifying likely barriers and opportunities (research).
• Infuse science & technology in IWM implementation
• Build capacity for IWM (school kids, farmers, scientists...)
• Making IWM understood by leaders (whose decisions
affect resource allocation for the poor).
