Archives

Vol. 2 No. 7
April 1-15, 2001
BAR takes info tech for interactive R&D community
by Laarni C. Anenias

"Information technology (IT) is the key to finding the country's niche in the new economy of the 21st century," President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stated in a recent gathering. In agriculture, modernization takes on a fast pace through IT. The Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act, created in 1997, paved the way for a focused and rational delivery of agricultural information by providing resources in setting up a national R&D information network.

At the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR), a similar endeavor on IT advancement is in the middle of implementation: the Agriculture and Fisheries Research and Development Information System (AFRDIS).

By the end of March 2001, through the leadership of BAR's Information and Communication Technology Division (ICTD), AFRDIS has completed a series of site visits of the various partner-institutions. The ICTD technical group, composed of Messrs. Winston Tabada, Raymundo Gonzaga, Billy Belonio, and Jun Oliva, reviewed the technical specifications of the IT facilities of the Northern and Central Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao clusters.

Background
AFRDIS aims to provide an interactive and proactive information exchange among the participating institutions. One of the major tasks of AFRDIS is to establish a local area network (LAN) in each partner-institution. These institutions will then be interconnected through a wide area network. This is to facilitate the efficient R&D information exchange among them. Initially, the information network is composed of the following clusters:

• Northern Luzon: Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) and Ilocos Integrated Agricultural Research Center
  
• Central Luzon: Philippine Rice Research Institute, Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension, and Central Luzon State University (CLSU)
  
• Visayas: Eastern Visayas Integrated Agricultural Research Center, Visayas State College of Agriculture, and Central Visayas Integrated Agricultural Research Center
  
• Mindanao: University of Southern Mindanao and Central Mindanao Integrated Agricultural Research Center After AFRDIS' formal launching in September last year, a series of workshops and trainings were held to prepare the partner-institutions in the establishment and maintenance of an information system in their respective institutions.
  After several meetings, it was observed that the partner-institutions composed a heterogeneous group in terms of IT capability and resources. While some institutions have state-of-the-art IT facilities and expertise, others still lack training and resources on IT. Some institutions have a LAN in place, while others have stand-alone computers.

Changes in the specifications of IT equipment
For those institutions that still have to establish their respective LANs, the ICTD group changed the specifications of their IT equipment, mainly for economical reasons. These institutions are the regional integrated research centers, MMSU, and PCC.
One of the major specifications changed was the server. Since the ICT counterpart teams predicted low information traffic in the next two years, it is not cost-efficient to operate with a high-end server. Thus, the technical group downgraded the server specifications.
The group likewise specified a less expensive switch, hub, and router - all vital components of a LAN - for the above-mentioned institutions.

Cluster connectivity
As agreed with the ICT counterparts, CLSU will remain as the nodal center for Central Luzon. The University was chosen for its strategic location, available personnel, and ability to generate income. However, due to geographical distances and barriers, more feasible ways on connecting the Northern Luzon and Visayas clusters remain to be explored.

Challenges ahead
Barely a year after its implementation, AFRDIS still has a lot to accomplish in its five-year implementation period. Hopefully, purchase and installation of appropriate IT equipment will ensue after this reassessment.

April 1-15 2001 Articles:

:: BAR takes info tech for interactive R&D community
:: Biocon-based IPM: better control against ACB
:: R&D ManCom tackles major concerns; DA structure reviewed
:: R&D Program readies Muslim MIndanao for global market

::: More April 2001 articles :::