Downloadable Files, Services, Electronic Mailboxes, and Other Resources) on the World Wide Web

CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING 1.1 INTRODUCTION The focus of this research is the need for the provision of access to digital agricultural information resources and services via portals to researchers in agricultural research organisations in sub-Saharan Africa, with emphasis on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. 1.1.1 Portals There is no generally accepted definition of a portal. This is illustrated by the different definitions given by several authors, amongst others, Grolier Incorporated (1980), Morrison (2000), Rowley (2000:62), Berkman (2000), and Hurwitz (2001). Most current definitions of portals depend largely on the nature of the environment in which they are being applied. In addition, there are different types of portals, with different features. Therefore, part of the research was an attempt to come up with an acceptable, general definition of an information portal. This is discussed and presented in Chapter 3 of this thesis. Portals have many aspects for research. These include research on their applications, design features, technology used, and many more. In the past few years, a number of commercial firms, especially large software corporations such as Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, and Computer Associates International, among many others, have started developing portal systems (portal software). Research on the deployment and use of portals in corporate organisations is another area that has attracted a lot of attention. One of the many organisations that have conducted studies in this area is the Delphi Group. 1 In 1999, the Delphi Group surveyed 300 Fortune 500 companies to establish to what extent corporate portals have been deployed in these corporations. The findings showed that 55% had already started implementing corporate portals, while the remaining 45% were yet to implement portals (The Delphi Group 2000a). A market survey of the expected deployment trend of corporate portals, and deployment strategies, conducted by the Delphi Group in 2000 (The Delphi Group 2000b), revealed that: · Larger companies had recognised the potential for portal technology and were implementing portals at a faster rate than smaller companies. · General business, where customer satisfaction is mission critical, was ahead of education and government in the implementation of portals. None of the 46 education organisations that responded to the survey had completed deployment, and only one government organisation out of 63 had deployed portal technology. · The most common strategy for deploying corporate portals overall was a phased deployment by business unit, followed by an enterprise-wide roll- out or a phased roll-out by department. Today, many organisations, especially corporate organisations, are implementing portals through which their staff and clients can access various types of content developed within the organisation. Through the same portals, staff and clients can also be directed to other relevant digital information resources and services on the Web. Although it appears that the development of portals is largely driven by e- commerce, portals appear to have great potential and useful applications in organisations where consumption and generation of information and knowledge are among the major activities. Among these organisations are agricultural research organisations. 2 1.1.2 Agricultural research According to Beye (2002:1), agriculture forms the mainstay of the economy in most developing countries. In 1997 it contributed on average 40% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and more than 60% to foreign exchange earnings in 1977. In spite of this being the case, Africa and other continents have not been experiencing growth in agricultural yields. This is due to a number of factors, among them the decline in external agricultural assistance from multilateral organisations. Furthermore, there has also been a reduction in funding for agricultural research. Yet, agricultural research holds the vital key to improving food security, reducing poverty and sustaining broad-based economic development (Beye 2002:2). Agricultural research is an ongoing exercise and it requires various inputs, among them information and knowledge. These come from both within and outside agricultural research organisations. There are several sources of information and knowledge in agricultural organisations, including researchers, journal articles, research reports, farmers, and conference proceedings, agricultural theses and dissertations, CD-ROMs and online databases, as well as the Internet and the World Wide Web, among others. The Internet and the Web have become a source of agriculture information for many people, including agricultural researchers. According to Besemer, Addison and Ferguson (2003:2), the Internet has changed the information landscape in the field of agriculture and natural resources. The relatively small investment required to set up a website enable a great many institutions to become instant information providers. This has resulted in some problems, and as noted by Besemer, Addison and Ferguson (2003:2) who state that: The trend of proliferation of websites has continued for a number of years. As a result, the current system of agricultural information services is at times rather incoherent, and those in search of high quality 3 information often have difficulty separating the wheat from the chaff. There are a great number of services, but potential users often have problems finding and accessing relevant information in usable formats. There are just too many websites that point to sources of information rather than the information itself, making it difficult for information end-users, agricultural researchers in this case; to get the information they are really looking for in good time. This is a problem that could be addressed by the use of portals in agricultural research, probably based on the concept of portals used in corporate organisations. The question of access to information on the Web also raises the issue of access to relevant content. Overall, coverage of local content, which could be useful and relevant to local agricultural research situations, is generally low. Much of the local content is locked up in drawers or stored on hard disks of computers belonging to researchers. As a result, in most cases, much of the content accessed via the Web has more significance to users in developed countries than in developing countries. The use of portals by agricultural research organisations in sub-Saharan Africa could allow for the integration of local and external content into the overall agricultural information system serving the needs of agricultural researchers in developing countries. In cases where organisations do not have access to the Internet, access to local content could be provided via a portal accessed on the intranet. 1.1.3 Motivation for the research The main motivation for the interest in information portals in agricultural research organisations is the following: · Agricultural research organisations have a very important role to play in improving the economies of developing countries. According to Kaniki (1992:83), “agricultural research and the information generated from such 4 research are important stimulants for accelerating agricultural production development in a country. To carry out their work, these organisations require various resources, among them information and knowledge. Therefore, efficient provision of access to relevant information and knowledge to agricultural researchers could contribute to quality research, through which “a country is able to select appropriate technology and information, which, if applied, can help productivity” (Kaniki 1992:83), and thus contribute to the overall growth of the country’s economy. · Since 1998, this researcher has been involved in training workshops, as a consultant for the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA) of the Netherlands. These workshops dealt with website design and development and were held for staff working in libraries and documentation centres of agricultural research organisations in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. One major observation made during the workshops is that there is great potential for improvement in the provision of access to digital agricultural information services via websites to researchers in the SADC region. However, there is need to investigate the use of advanced internet and web-based tools other than ordinary websites. The portal, with its ability to allow information end-users to personalise and customise the content and interface to suit their needs (Morrison 2000), stands out as the most promising tool that could be used in the provision of access to digital information resources. Noticeably, there is also a general absence of guidelines for the deployment of advanced websites or information portals in agricultural research organisations. · It is the researcher’s assumption that except for the major reasons or objectives for implementing portals, experiences gained in corporate organisations could also be applied to a large number of other organisations. Therefore, organisations such as agricultural research organisations should be able to use portals in the provision of access to digital information 5 services to researchers. However, there is a need to investigate the actual potential applications of portals in agricultural research organisations and define the exact nature and features of a portal that could serve

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