Monday 15 December 2008

A triple-A approach to make research available and useful

30 November 2008. Maputo, Mozambique. Organized by CGIAR, FARA and DFID aimed to convince research oriented organizations cannot be satisfied just knowing they have produced high quality science. It is essential that the outputs of research are communicated and put to use, in the village, on the ground, in the lab or across the negotiating table.

Research-oriented organizations cannot be satisfied just knowing they have produced high quality science. It is essential that the outputs of research are communicated and put to use, in the village, on the ground, in the lab, or across the negotiating table. The session started from the premise that research outputs can – and must - be much more open and accessible. For this
  • We need to give priority to the ‘accessibility’ as well as to the ‘quality’ of research outputs.
  • We need a better overview of the various research products and the ways and means we can make them accessible.
  • We can use a ‘triple A’ policy and action checklist to maximize both the accessibility of these outputs and the chances that they will be applied and put to use.
  • We need to build communication partnerships with ‘adaptive and delivery’ agents that will take and apply knowledge from research, reinforcing their capacities as required.
The session drew on expertise from three partners – the CGIAR ICT-KM Program, FARA, and the DFID/R4D project led by CABI.

Related:
How accessible is your agricultural information? 02 January 2009

Background:
AAA framework concept to measure the Accessibility. Availability, and Applicability of CGIAR Research. (PDF document)
The ICT‐KM Triple‐A approach provides an opportunity to ensure that research outputs can be measured uniformly according to their availability, accessibility and applicability. The ICTKM Program play a catalytic role in adding value to CGIAR research outputs, putting the Triple‐A approach into force widely, rapidly and effectively through:
  • promoting discussion and agreement on Triple‐A vision for the CGIAR
  • advocating Triple‐A thinking to measure research performance,
  • guiding and helping scientists in adopting Triple‐A thinking,
  • establishing complete scientific information repositories,
  • leveraging CGIAR publishing muscle,
  • making CGIAR knowledge visible through partners.