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Activity-ID: #980327-267
PROPOSAL FOR infoDev ACTIVITY
INTERCEPT
Interactive Contextual Environmental Planning Tool for Developing Countries
Submitted to the World Bank (Industry & Energy Department)
25 March 1998 Union of International Associations, Brussels Development Alternatives, Delhi TABLE OF CONTENTS
ANNEXES: Separately bound in the hardcopy version; not included in web version
INTERactive Contextual Environmental Planning Tool (INTERCEPT)
26/03/1997
3. Short Description of Activity This activity builds upon the existing environmental information system being created through a four-partner INFO2000 project (40% EU funded). infoDev’s INTERCEPT project creates a networked, interactive and multimedia planning tool for use by government, non-government and commercial agencies, notably in developing countries, who are advancing sustainable development and the creation of economically-viable environmental services.
Name: Union of International Associations Fax: +32 2 6460525 Address: 40 rue Washington, B-1050, Brussels, Belgium Tel: +32 2 6460525 Email: intercept@uia.be Internet: http://www.uia.org/
5. Participating Organisations Funded by infoDev:
Not funded by infoDev:
Governmental funding partner:
See Annex 1 for further detail on organisations and "Staffing" (page *) for their roles.
Three infoDev programme objectives are directly served by the INTERCEPT project . They are (in order of project relevance):
This project crosses and integrates several infoDev activity areas. The following apply, in whole or part (in no particular order):
- Subcategory B: Specialised sectoral networks
- Subcategory C: Feasibility studies for information infrastructure projects
- prototype interdisciplinary knowledge systems INTERCEPT will inherit a considerable legacy in terms of financial investment and accumulated expertise and data. The tables on the following page make a distinction between (i) the total cost of the "already funded" INFO2000 activity, (ii) the total cost of the proposed new INTERCEPT activity for infoDev, for which matching funds are sought, and (iii) the total cost of the two activities combined. There are cost efficiencies in interfacing the two projects; the total cost of the combined activities is less than the sum of their individual costs if they were to be undertaken separately. In effect, INFO2000 is undertaking a good deal of the R & D development of the INTERCEPT information system. In this way, and also by sharing of costs for coordination and certain other tasks during 1998, INFO2000 makes significant contribution to INTERCEPT, equivalent to an estimated $180,000 worth of matching funds. INTERCEPT will also benefit from a sizeable Ford Foundation grant that DA has acquired to establish DAINET -- specifically to build its capacity to provide independent sector information services to the Indian subcontinent over a five year period (1997-2001) (see Annex 2). DA has estimated that by providing equipment and personnel resources, redirecting certain work priorities and creating synergy between the two activities, it will be able to contribute the equivalent of $110,0000 directly to meet INTERCEPT’s objectives.
Fconverted into $US from ECU using Interbank rate of 08/03/98 = 1.08, rounded off to nearest tens of dollars
9. Funding Requested from infoDev excluding World Bank staffing support
NOTES ON INTERCEPT MATCHING FUNDS
The infoDev INTERCEPT project is the development of an Internet-based environmental planning tool for use in developing countries. The project extends the INFO2000 global biodiversity information system (under development) and in its first full year is significantly supported by INFO2000. INTERCEPT also builds on the international network relations and further electronic communications systems of key project partners (UIA / WCMC / DA), involving several thousand organisations and environmental agencies internationally. This activity’s overarching objective is to ensure the development-relevance of interactive database systems on the natural environment, environmental management, planning procedures, international standards and environmental best practice. INTERCEPT will support (i) policy-making at the government level in developing countries (through the use of internationally-relevant information sources); (ii) programme planning at the INGO and NGO level (through contextually-oriented environmental planning support); and (iii) provide strategic information to the development of environmental service sectors (commercial) in developing countries. The project will produce a CD / Web-based package for international distribution, networking environmental professionals and agencies in developing countries with their counterparts in other developing countries and in industrialised countries. INTERCEPT will explore several levels of financial sustainability by (i) distinguishing between government, non-government and private sector end-users and (ii) combining sponsorship agreements (notably for national and sectoral support programmes), organisational franchise schemes (for commercial development in the private sector), and on-line transaction schemes (non-monetary and exchange) for use in the non-government sectors. The underlying design emphasis of INTERCEPT is towards the development of internationally interactive knowledge-based information systems for environmental planning at the developing country level. 11.1 INFO2000 project background and current status This proposed infoDev project is an independent extension of a project begun under the aegis of the INFO2000 programme of the European Commission (Directorate General XIII) (http://www2.echo.lu/info2000/infohome.html). The INFO2000 project – called Information Context for Biodiversity Conservation - has been subject to feasibility testing in 1997 ("Definition Phase") and is now supported in its "Implementation Phase" by the European Union and four European NGO partners ("the Consortium") (refer to Annex 3 "INFMM5052-CONSERVATION 22895/0 CONTRACT"). The "Implementation Phase" of the INFO2000 project started 1 January 1998 will complete at 31 December 1999. It entails development of the integrated information package for biodiversity conservation using a variety of software for Internet and CD-ROM delivery; search, translation, visualisation and mapping techniques; user workshops and feedback programmes; product testing and marketing; and long-term project financing and commercialisation. The total INFO2000 activity cost is comprised of contributions from the:
PowerPoint presentation: A PowerPoint presentation of the prototype product of the INFO2000 project "Conservation" can be downloaded from http://www.uia.org/projects/completx.ppt (a printed summary is enclosed as Annex 4). This presentation is recommended for viewing as a concise yet comprehensive overview of the project as it stood at the end of the Definition Phase (July 1997). Definition Phase products: Several products benefiting from work during the Definition Phase work for "Conservation" were delivered experimentally on the Web during 1997. These are detailed in Annex 5. Public Report: For further detail on the INFO2000 project achievements to date, see Final Report of Definition Phase, Information Context for Biodiversity Conservation, INFO2000 Project No. 5052. The report is available online at http://www.uia.org/projects/i2000rep.htm
11.2 Extension of currently funded project The INFO2000 project coordinator, the Union of International Associations (UIA), seeks infoDev funds to match the contribution of staff, facilities and financial support to be provided by itself, Development Alternatives (DA), the other INFO2000 partners and other cooperation partners (to be identified) to the INTERCEPT project. The UIA, in partnership with DA, will use the additional funds to considerably broaden the scope of its work under INFO2000 to achieve the following outcomes:
3. exposure of sustainable development professionals in developing countries to emerging international information protocols (legal and commercial), operating procedures, management systems, hyperlinked tools, and new practices in the emerging global environmental services sector; 4. engagement of the widest range of users (government, non-government organisations, private and commercial sector, community and educational) and information providers (infoDev project partners (to be identified), international environmental agencies and bodies, NGOs and INGOs, and other development partners) in the process of product development; 5. over the project three year term (see Activities Table, page *), the development of a three-tier financial (sustainability) operation for INTERCEPT, targeting the three distinct sectors identified for the activity:
11.3 Product description (project outputs and benefits) INTERCEPT activity will develop an interactive information service (and products) for use by environmental professionals, policymakers and the business sector in developing countries, and everyone in the international community concerned with biological conservation (INFO2000) and sustainable development (infoDev). Information content: The INFO2000 "product" is an integrated multimedia resource package drawing on a wide range of different organisations and sources, to provide interlinked and globally comprehensive information concerning:
and the links between these scientific data and:
This information will be integrally linked to:
The information will be presented in a variety of multimedia formats: text, statistical tables, maps, graphics, and other formats as appropriate. Information sources and expertise: Details on the sources of information for INFO2000, collection and processing procedures, and the unique features of the datasets are given in Annex 7. The infoDev project INTERCEPT will add value to the INFO2000 data stock by creating further database facilities for development-related applications of environmental and conservation information specifically relevant to end-user needs in developing countries.
11.4 Comparison and relationship to other information products Inclusive data management framework: The difference of this product/service from other existing information services, and hence the viability of the product/service, is highly dependent on integration of several processes, in particular:
Competitive advantage: To some extent, there will inevitably be competition with alternative information sources, including regional databases and subsidised (inter)governmental services. INTERCEPT will, nonetheless, be designed to interface effectively with other services available through the Internet. It is intended to complement and interrelate, rather than duplicate, other available information sources (for examples of complementary websites see Annex 8). A competitive advantage of this INFO2000/INTERCEPT service is that it is less subject to the political and commercial whims which govern the production cycles, content, coverage and updating of other sources. The principal project partners have demonstrated their commitment to long-term management and improved delivery of this type of information content. It is their core business. Moreover, they do this as a public service but from a small-enterprise philosophy that is a hybrid of the "non-profit"/"for-profit" approach, and which itself models successful activity on the boundary between the traditional NGO and commercial worlds. Attractiveness to users: With respect to information content, the principal advantage of the INTERCEPT package is a long-term comprehensiveness of coverage that it is difficult for competing products to match when faced with short-term policy and commercial constraints. The interactive feedback interface with end-users in the target sectors in developing countries is distinct from the style currently adopted by existing governmental and commercial information sources. INTERCEPT will provide access to "alive" (current, relevant, responsive) information and interaction among environmental professionals and agencies in developing and developed countries, acknowledging the global market place for environmental services and promoting a global approach to project and programme planning. Besides its activities in the three target sectors (government, non-government and commercial), infoDev’s INTERCEPT will provide a broad range of free-access information (publicly available) to educational, research and non-profit organisations.
11.5 Project objectives and discussion An open and responsive information structure: A prime objective of this project is to offer users new ways of understanding, and interacting with, complex webs of relationships relevant to environment policy and sustainable development. In this respect, INTERCEPT is a "demonstration project" (an infoDev Category IV activity) because it tests the applicability of information technology and telecommunications to the solution of vexing problems of sustainable development in developing countries. By experimenting with delivery systems sensitive to access and financial constraints, it seeks to provide the same information service across sectors. A significant outcome should be the empowerment of citizens groups, thus also "increasing the efficiency, accountability and transparency of governments" (infoDev Objective V). Information overload and information underuse: Rapid development of Web and CD information sources has resulted in a pattern of information overload and information underuse - users are overwhelmed with information, and increasingly unable to derive useful insights from it. At the same time they have been sensitised to new ways of presenting and interacting with information, yet these approaches have not been appropriately adapted to reference information of relevance to a policy and development environment. Holding patterns of significance: Electronic information technology is rarely supporting more than a "scattergun approach" to data acquisition; there are almost no examples of the medium being used to enhance the acquisition of insights through its structure and process. Data still tends to be presented in disconnected formats, requiring the user to generate and hold any patterns of significance; alternatively, where the knowledge is organised, the arrangement is invariably too rigid to allow for application of the data outside its original domain. Interaction and comprehension: This project is designed to close the gap between the volume of information available and the multitude of information technologies that offer new ways of interacting with information. The project partners are not interested in the technology for technology's sake, but are concerned to respond to user requirements for ways of interacting with information that can offer broader and more insightful comprehension. Information integration: This project, therefore, puts emphasis on cross-sectoral data integration, flexible data structures and user interfaces, data visualisation and mapping on-the-fly, visualization of complex patterns of relationships and data linkage across boundaries which normally act to disassociate relevant information, be they those of disciplines, language or data formats. Global information infrastructure: Through its strategy of information integration at an international level, INTERCEPT will accelerate the "interconnection of national to international information networks" concerned with sustainable development policy and practice (including the legal, financial, technical, scientific and social aspects) to help create a global information infrastructure. Meeting the need for access to reliable data: This project addresses an identified and increasing need for access to reliable data on global sustainable development. In this respect, it is an "information infrastructure strategy . . . promoting protection of the environment and natural resources" (an infoDev Category II activity serving Programme Objective IV). Practical application: The aim is to deliver information services that are of actual and practical use for environmental professionals, for those working with development policy, programmes and projects, and for everyone wanting information on networks of environmental issues. For example, the data would be valuable for environmental assessment and audits; to support integration of environmental considerations by industry; to help local authorities to incorporate environmental considerations into regional planning; and for national agencies and governments in the development of environmental policy and action programmes. Because the principal partners in this project are acknowledged experts in this type of data gathering and handling, the cost-effectiveness of providing these benefits is very high. In particular, this project will help organisations and individuals to build on information services that are already being requested, and which support existing international activities. For example, INTERCEPT addresses the requirement for inter-sectoral information transfer called for by Agenda 21, complementary regional agendas and national agendas, such as the development of National Environmental Sustainability Plans. It supports the implementation of commitments under international agreements concerning environmental conservation, such as the Bern, Bonn and Ramsar Conventions, the Global Biodiversity Strategy, Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Desertification Convention. Varied delivery platforms: The information will be available on both CD-ROM and the Web using existing in-house capabilities. Widely available technologies and low-cost (or no-cost) software are deliberately employed to enable the widest possible access. At its lowest level of operation the INTERCEPT project will employ a printed newsletter bulletin on a quarterly basis targeting new users and key target groups: those agencies, organisations and individuals starting or about to start using the Internet. Developing country situations: Most client groups and most civil society institutions in a developing country do not have direct access to Internet. The partnership between UIA and DA will test the possibilities of delivery of certain portions of the information to users with only email access. In addition, through DA’s DAINET programme, the partnership will explore cross-media opportunities for transmission of needed information in developing country settings, i.e. via interfaces between Internet, email and listservs, fax / telephone and snail mail (newsletters and personal letters). The objective is to providing a seamless link between the non-automated, conventional communications and automated users. Approaches to be explored include providing local access to highest-quality global information by both (i) stepping-down from Internet to email and snail mail and (ii) stepping up clients from snail mail and e-mail to full Internet connectivity. A contextual planning tool: The INTERCEPT project will provide end users with a knowledge management tool to handle the vast amounts of information pertaining to sustainable development issues, including the multi-sectoral and technical information necessary for realistic programme and project planning in developing countries. Specifically emphasised are interlinkages, hierarchies of issues, horizontal associations, chains of causation and response, open boundaries, keyword and subject area searches, "intelligent" query searches, visualisation tools for complex patterns and processes, graphical indexes, and 3D zoom/magnify and perspective-shifting tools. Knowledge organisation and management, both for sustainable development and in navigating the Internet, demand this contextual cross-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach. INTERCEPT is a management tool for this environment. Responding to user needs and forging user partnerships: By linking scientific data on threatened species and habitats within its wider cultural, geographic, heritage, policy, economic and social context, INFO2000 will provide an accessible source of information to public policy makers and administrations, as well as citizens, educational institutions, public libraries, journalists, NGOs and students. INTERCEPT will track these information associations even more comprehensively into the wider fields of sustainable development. A breakdown of expected users are given in Annex 9. User-partners: These processes will stress an interactive role for users as "user-partners" rather than a passive user role. In this sense INTERCEPT is designed to develop future user needs, rather than solely to respond to first-order user needs of the present. It also seeks to convert the user of information into being also a provider of information. Networks of partners: The datasets and competence in data handling and delivery of the project partners are fundamental to this project and entirely complementary. Information content accumulated over many years will be made available to INTERCEPT. However, it must be acknowledged here that the work of these organisations relies on extensive links with other organisations working in their respective fields. Through the collaborative networks of UIA, WCMC and DA, thousands of organisations and individuals are effective partners and beneficiaries of the project; it is anticipated that a number of these will be drawn into the follow-up phase of the project, both as contributors and to test and evaluate the product. Building global dialogue: Through this strategy of interactive information, INTERCEPT will both build and "support specialised sectoral networks" (an infoDev Category I activity) and "create market-friendly environments to accelerate global access to information and communication" (infoDev Objective I) with accessible, low cost communications and information services and products. The features used in the development and delivery of the information product and its services are not new or created for this project. What is new is the application of these techniques to the integrated management of information of this kind. The contextual planning methodology behind this project -- using lateral linkages, cross sectoral analysis, inter disciplinary approaches and highlighting complex patterns of relationship between issues -- is an important development in the practical application of sustainable development principles. This project uses complex systems to explore complex issues, demonstrating the potential of the new global information systems applied to local regional development problems. It aims to expand planning and development approaches within the target sectors (government, non-government and private sector) in developing countries, utilising mixed-media and multimedia, to make available the large volumes of information required. In particular we would draw attention to the following features of this project:
11.7 Marketing Plan/Communication Strategy The INTERCEPT project has been developed as direct off-shoot from the INFO2000 programme, identifying a series of new project development options which were not originally envisioned or accounted for by INFO2000. In this respect, while the central aims of INTERCEPT have emerged from the research and development of INFO2000, building upon that body of work, INTERCEPT represents a series of clearly identified project target areas for what can be considered new commercial and project related development. INTERCEPT phases and activities: The marketing and development plans for the INTERCEPT project are central to the long-term sustainability aims of the project. They span a long enough period to open markets in government, non-government and commercial sectors in developing countries and internationally, sufficient to provide for the project’s ongoing maintenance and development costs in the longer term. Year 0 (Oct – Dec 1998) – Pre-Establishment Phase: During these first three months of the project, the focus of work will be on creating all the structures for internal and external coordination. This will include: partnership agreements, administrative systems, management tools, schedules for the technical phase, communication and reporting protocols, refinement of marketing strategy and project planning and cross-project planning with INFO2000 and DAINET. Year 1 (1999) - Technical Development Phase: In Phase One (Year 1) of the INTERCEPT project, basic information (content and interlinkages) will be elaborated largely as a result of the complementary INFO2000 activities. A range of communication strategies will be used to build relations with identified sectors for development (government, non-government and commercial). Emphasis will be placed on end-user engagement from within each sector and the identification of strategic players in each sector (individuals and organisations). These key identifications will enable further refinement of the project delivery targets during the next two years during which the project is implemented. For example, considerable effort will be devoted in Year 1 to identifying existing and new international development projects in the environmental sectors of developing countries. These are projects and groups with which INTERCEPT can be allied and associated, developing the practical functionality of the project with a view to INTERCEPT playing a more proactive role in project development in subsequent years. It is intended that this will involve projects in each of the three target sectors and from contrasting global regions. Because the products and services build on ongoing activities, there is a strong case for progressive implementation, initially through selective communication of modules of the service. Progressive activation will also involve building increasing proportions of multimedia content into Web information services. Communication strategies in this technical development phase will target Internet and email users of environmental services in developing countries (see Internet Marketing Strategy – Annex 10). Years 2 and 3 (2000/2001) – Implementation Phase: Increasing amounts of basic information (content and interlinkages) will be made available during this phase, created largely as a result of infoDev-funded research and editing activities in the partner organisations. Increasing product exposure: Careful market development in project Year 1, establishing project platforms in each of the identified sectors, will lead to the first in a series of major launch events for INTERCEPT at the start of Year 2, to be followed by further launch events internationally and on Internet over the two-year implementation phase. There are a number of opportunities for "launching" the product/ service, notably at relevant high-level international conferences. An international meeting suitable for the final launch of the INFO2000 components is the World Conservation Congress, scheduled for 2000. EXPO2000 (Hannover) will be a likely launch place for INTERFACE (Ashok Khosla, President of DA, is on the Advisory Boardof EXPO2000). Other opportunities will emerge. Workshops, seminars and demonstrations: During the Implementation Phase, efforts will be made to enable potential users to discover the Web version of the product/service and to develop user-partnerships with the project, further developing the system and aiding in the improvement of the service. This will particularly be achieved through the involvement of information providers and potential users in review of the service components. Where necessary, seminars and workshops will be held to review and discuss the services being developed. Information dissemination: The new information products and services will be publicised by the partners and their regular collaborators through usual channels, including publication catalogues, on-line announcements, meetings, magazines, regular mailings etc). Potential users currently relying on non-automated communications, or with email access only, will be provided with strategies for improving their access to the information. A regular series of media briefings, together with the launch of INTERCEPT’s own quarterly newsletter, along with commissioned articles in the relevant technical journals of each target sector, and feature pieces in general media, will develop over the full term of the project as a central function of the marketing and outreach plan. The Internet provides multiple avenues for dissemination. These include passive posting of "what’s new" information on websites, active postings to news groups and listservers, submission of information to key search tools, requests that links are placed on other relevant WWW services. An Internet marketing strategy is detailed in Annex 10. Traditional information dissemination will take place through the project partners’ journals, press releases, press conferences combined with demonstrations, and submitting the products/service to review processes of the print and on-line media concerned with conservation and/or technology issues. As appropriate, a demonstration CD-ROM (or a CD-ROM with limited facilities for access to all the data) will be distributed to targeted individuals. Finally, it is likely that an affordable (sponsored) CD-ROM product will be made available.
11.8 Business Plan A business plan has been prepared for the INFO2000 project (Annex 11). It will be extended and developed to interface with and integrate the INTERCEPT project. The following issues are covered (use hyperlinks):
Evaluation will be a continuing working practice at each step of the project’s development. Key managerial staff in each of the partner organisations will work as a joint review team, monitoring work schedules and progress reports to ensure the project remains focussed on its targets and maximum project coordination is achieved. Technical evaluations will be carried out by in-house expert staff and further tested among associated peer groups within partners’ technical networks. Technical experts (specifically in the informatics area) will be engaged when necessary for this function.
12.1 Ongoing progress reporting Procedures already established for deliverables for the INFO2000 project will be continued through the INTERCEPT project. Annex 12 provides a schedule of INFO2000 deliverables, extended in an indicative way beyond the end of 1999 to incorporate INTERCEPT activities. The INTERCEPT web sites will include password-protected, in-house office sites where project reports and technical data, planning schedules, financial records and partner agreements will be lodged. Each project partner, and collaborating partners as added, will be expected to maintain their organisation’s part in these inter-office sites, updating the information as required by schedule and completing regular returns to maintain the overall project integrity, coordination and continuity. Records on this project site will be reviewed and consolidated at least every six months, more frequently where a particular activity is current. Key staff members from the partner group are assigned to liase with World Bank monitoring staff, who will also have access to the project’s office records.
12.2 Occasional reports During the term of the project, specific reports will be produced on the results of feasibility studies, technical studies and conference/workshop outcomes. During this period, a number of face-to-face consultations, workshops and seminars will be held with potential users and user/partners. There will be periodic reports of these discussions, which will include critical external evaluations.
12.3 Schedules of delivery During the project pre-establishment phase (3 months) and continuing to the mid term of the technical development phase (Year 1), a series of project delivery schedules will be compiled establishing clear delivery dates for the range of tangible hardware, software and system configuration tasks covering the full project term. All project deliverables will be listed on these schedules with contracted and negotiated delivery dates.
12.4 Web statistics A simple and direct evaluation technique is analysis of visitor statistics of project Internet homepages. In standard form these comprise frequency of visits, patterns of use and geographic information. Over the project term new systems of end-user monitoring will be introduced, including follow-up user identification, technical user-needs assessments.
12.5 Marketing feedback The web-marketing strategy will involve information providers and potential users in review of the service components, (some of which may be conducted through online fora) to review and discuss the services being developed. At this stage, the partners will rely upon in-house and associate relations; however commercial marketing services may be engaged on a commission basis during implementation years if potential thresholds for profitability start to be reached.
13. Geographic Scope Global/International The INTERCEPT system is conceived and designed to operate within the international environment of the Internet. However, in order to market and develop the project over its 3 year term, the project will work towards the establishment of developing country partners (starting with DA in India and using this experience to extend to all developing country regions). During the project’s technical development phase (INTERCEPT Year 1) investigations will be made to identify suitable partner relations, internationally, in each of the target sectors for staged implementation over the following two-year project implementation phase.
14. Creation and acquisition of physical or intellectual assets Yes, the activity does involve the creation and acquisition of physical and intellectual assets. If yes, explain how ownership and property protection issues will be addressed. The participants in this project believe in the principle of open access to data, and support the increased mobilisation of policy-relevant environmental information to support the conservation and sustainable use of the world's living resources. The participants contributing information content to the project (UIA, WCMC and DA) are not-for-profit organisations. They are committed to enabling free exchange of information, only charging for the staff time and other expenses necessary for editing and managing the data, performing services specifically requested, developing the services and products, and maintaining the currency of the information. Their concerns over intellectual property matters do not arise from an inherent commercial, or for-profit, bias. They may, however, need to reflect such concerns of others that provide them with information or commercialise their information. Information held in the partners’ databases is not "original" (in the sense that they can unconditionally claim ownership). It may be available in a wide variety of forms, some of it in the public domain, much of it as "grey literature". The participants in this project add value to the data by standardisation of presentation, quality control, regular updates, and especially by integration of the data into a broader navigable framework. In this sense they do not so much own the data elements as the hypertext structures linking those elements. Where material is incorporated into this project from external sources other than those for which the partners have existing free-use arrangements, data ownership or custodianship has been, or will be, identified. Discussions have been held, and will continue to be held, at stages of the project where any issues of concern or potential conflict arise for any of the partners. In particular, clarification has been sought (and duly recorded) at an early stage concerning any residual copyright or intellectual property rights matters which could be relevant to the eventual production and dissemination of the product/service (see Annex 13 Draft INFO2000 Consortium Agreement).
Nadia McLaren, INFO2000 Project Coordinator, Union of International Associations, 40 rue Washington, B-1050, Brussels, Belgium. http://www.uia.org, tel: +32 2 6401808, fax: +32 2 6460525, target="_blank" title="Send an e-mail to the Union of International Associations (UIA)" >e-mail Anthony Judge, Assistant Secretary-General, Union of International Associations, 40 rue Washington, B-1050, Brussels, Belgium. http://www.uia.org, tel: +32 2 6401808, fax: +32 2 6460525, judge@uia.be Ashok Khosla, Director, Development Alternatives, B-32, TARA Crescent, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi, India-110016. http://www.ecouncil.ac.cr/devalt/, tel: +91 11 6851158 / 6967938 / 665370, fax: +91 11 6866031, tara@sdalt.ernet.in Jeremy Harrison, Coordinator of Regional Affairs and Capacity Building, World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0DL, UK. http://www.wcmc.org.uk/, tel: +44 1223 277314, fax: +44 1223 277136, email jerry.harrison@wcmc.org.uk Graham Bennett, Director European Affairs, AIDEnvironment and Director, Institute for European Environmental Policy, Donker Curtiusstraat 7-523, 1051 JL Amsterdam, Netherlands. http://194.177.160.201/ieep/index.htm, tel: +31 20 6868111, fax: +31 20 6866251, email bennett@aidenvironment.antenna.nl Ken Friedman, Director of Nordic Centre for Innovation, Norwegian School of Management, Postbox 4676 Sofienberg, N-0506 Oslo, Norway. http://www.bi.no, tel: +47 22 985107, fax: +47 22 985111, email ken.friedman@bi.no Michel Brochard, INFO2000 programme, DGXIII-E/3, EUFO 1280-A, European Commission, Rue Alcide de Gaspaeri, L-2920 Luxembourg. http://www2.echo.lu/info2000/infohome.html, tel: +352 4301 33912, fax: +352 4301 34959, email michel.brochard@lux.dg13.cec.be Dorris Capustrino, Ford Foundation http://www.fordfound.org/, 55 Lodi Estate, New Delhi 110 003, tel. tel: +91-11-461-9441, fax 91-11-462-7147, email ford-delhi@fordfound.org
The broad roles of the partner organisations in the joint INFO2000/infoDev activities are that UIA, DA, WCMC provide the information content, communications technology and management expertise; AIDE /IEEP and NMS are advisors in their specialist areas of expertise. The project partners are all established institutions and have been in existence for a minimum of 14 years. Their regular sources of funding vary, but are reliable and reasonably predictable in the medium-term. Detailed descriptions appear in Annex 1 (use hyperlinks for individual partners). The infoDev components of the activity will be carried out by staff of the UIA and DA, with necessary support (funded by other means) from the other working partners in the INFO2000 consortium (WCMC, NSM and AIDE). The activities are a natural extension of both organisations’ current programme areas and staff competencies; project activities will interface smoothly with their normal operations. Experienced and appropriately qualified personnel are available. The activities are coordinated by UIA, overall responsibility resting with its Assistant Secretary-General, Anthony Judge. Senior staff responsible for management of work are Nadia McLaren (Environmental Consultant and Editor of Encyclopedia of World Problems and Human Potential) for UIA and George Varughese (Vice-President) for DA. CVs of key personnel are attached (Annex 14). Between two to four supplementary staff will be employed, either as supervised trainees or expert consultants, for certain portions of the work. The table on the following page summarises principal staff roles/expertise and personnel.
Non-infoDev funded partners: AIDE / IEEP will provide advice on environmental policy, the requirements of the project from the viewpoint of professional users, and a "professional end-user" test site for interactive editing. NMS provides research and advice on electronic publishing, product design and marketing. WCMC provides its substantial experience in collating and managing major databases on the conservation of species, ecosystems and protected areas.
infoDev funded partners: The UIA is the initiator and coordinator of the INFO2000 project "Conservation" and will maintain this role with infoDev’s INTERCEPT project. It has for over two decades integrated and managed information, provided by international organisations of all concerns and colours, on global problems and the actions society is taking to alleviate these problems. Its wider competence is as a clearinghouse for information on international associations and their activities worldwide. UIA contributes these data, management expertise and further research. It also provides CD-ROM capability and its competence with virtual reality structures for complex networks. DA fosters the new relationship between people, technology and environment interactions needed to attain the goal of sustainable development in a developing country context. DA’s specific competencies to be contributed to this project are transdisciplinary research (notably through off-site interactive editing of UIA data), technology development and application and developing country experience. Through its DAINET programme, DA is currently developing full email service provision to the independent sector in India with the following characteristics:
On the following page is an estimated task schedule for joint INFO2000/infoDev project activities. This Excel chart was prepared for the INFO2000 project and has been adapted to the requirements of the infoDev extension. (The numbers in the left-hand columns refer to Workpackages provided in Annex 6). The activity funded by infoDev would ideally commence in the second half of 1998 and continue through to the end of 2001 (coincident with the completion of the DAINET development). We have scheduled it to commence in month 10 (October 1998). It would then interface with the INFO2000-funded activities, with an overlap zone of 15 months (see Excel Chart, page 22). In the period 2000/2001, following the INFO2000 product/service launch and termination of the INFO2000-funded activity, activities will be entirely funded by infoDev. The table below lists the major activities during the 3+ years of the INTERCEPT project. Their detailed scheduling would occur in the Pre-Establishment Phase (Oct – Dec 1998).
The following table provides the unit costs (in $US equivalents) on which the budget is based.
*NOTE: Rates for UIA are 175% of salary costs (including all social costs). The extra 75% covers all operational overheads for the organisation that are not project-related (with independent budgets), including its office rent and services, equipment and depreciation, communications, insurance, taxes, administration overheads and other similar items related to maintaining an office in Brussels. In the case of DA, the personnel rates include salary and related costs, overheads for running its operations in India (head office in Delhi and branch offices elsewhere) and its training, employment and civil society activities not otherwise funded. The following table is the budget for the INTERCEPT project activities. It should be noted that these activities are new and required to meet the objectives of the INTERCEPT project; they are not covered by any other budgets of associated projects that have been mentioned in this proposal.
NOTES ON THE INTERCEPT BUDGET: 1. The estimated total of the budget required by UIA and its consultants/contractors is US $407,840 = 67%. 2. The estimated total of the budget required by DA is $202,000 = 33%.
The table below provides a break down of the sources of funds for the INTERCEPT project. The following table is a corresponding break-down for the combined INFO2000/INTERCEPT activities.
Fconverted into $US from ECU using Interbank rate of 08/03/98 = 1.08, rounded off to nearest dollar
20. World Bank Staffing Support Staff Category Staff Weeks |
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