Finding effective ways of delivering and sharing information is crucial for CIFOR to meet its mission in the era of globalisation. This entails managing the centre’s expert knowledge, data sources and communications to better serve both internal and external users. When this knowledge-sharing process is strengthened, the result will translate into the adoption of sound research-based policies and practices that benefit the world’s forests and the people who use them.

Knowledge management is not just implementing new or different technology, although that is an essential tool. Instead, knowledge management requires the development of strategies for generating, acquiring, storing, sharing and disseminating the fundamental product that enables CIFOR to reach and influence target beneficiaries: knowledge and information.

CIFOR improved its knowledge manage-ment in 1999 through a variety of initiatives. The most directly useful and widely applicable was a revamping of the institute’s two main channels for knowledge sharing: the internal electronic information system and the Web site.

IntraCIFOR, the centre’s intranet, was launched to provide "one-stop shopping" for CIFOR-related information and resources. IntraCIFOR was spearheaded by Information Services Director Michael Hailu and a team from the Information Services Group and the Communications Unit. This new intranet browser-based tool offers much more efficient access to the wealth of electronic-based information that previously was housed at CIFOR in many different locations and formats. IntraCIFOR is based on a common platform that links multiple kinds of software seamlessly and speedily. As a result, CIFOR staff at headquarters and in regional offices can easily find information about programme developments, download full-text publications, refer to staff directories, track internal peer reviews and trip reports, consult policy manuals, and even obtain practical tips about working at CIFOR and living in Bogor. This convenience and increased efficiency was further enhanced by upgraded Internet capability that has made it easier for staff scientists to communicate with their out-posted colleagues as well as research partners around the world.

Also in 1999, the centre’s World Wide Web site underwent a major redesign and restructuring. Besides giving the site a new look and changes in navigation devices to improve access, the redesign expanded and reorganised the user-targeted content. These changes will significantly strengthen CIFOR’s outreach to external audiences, especially at a time when reliance on electronic sources of information has grown exponentially. To better serve collaborators and other users in countries all around the world, the redesign allows faster down-loading on slow electronic connections. The new Web pages will debut in the first half of 2000.

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Variety of Products for Multiple Audiences

Among the major sources of information produced by CIFOR in 1999 were two dozen major new publications by staff scientists and their partners in the form of monographs, books, and technical papers and reports. In addition, research abstracts of published journal articles, workshop papers and other reports describing the results of about 75 CIFOR-sponsored projects were made available both as a published index and on the centre’s Web site.

These major publications for 1999 were supplemented by a number of policy briefs, news releases and research updates on specific developments in CIFOR’s research programme. In addition, corporate publications including the newsletter CIFOR News and the annual report continued to be produced in English, Spanish and French.

In observance of the new millennium, CIFOR organised a special activity for the production of its annual calendar. Dozens of school children in several countries where CIFOR conducts research were invited to contribute their drawings and paintings depicting "My Vision of the Forest". The entries selected by CIFOR’s staff were featured in the institute’s Year 2000 desk and wall calendars, distributed worldwide, and were showcased on the centre’s Web site.

Members of CIFOR’s Communications staff were heavily involved in three major public affairs events in 1999 that highlighted research in Brazil, China and Indonesia. These efforts entailed the planning and production of special information materials – including booklets, posters and exhibition panels in several languages (English, Portuguese, Chinese and Bahasa Indonesia) – for use in conjunction with scientific symposia organised by CIFOR staff. The events also featured attractive multimedia presentations designed by Yahya Sampurna of the Information Services Group.

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Key Technical Support

The Information Services Group also supported CIFOR’s research programme in 1999 by providing a number of state-of-the-art technical services such as GIS and remote sensing assistance. In one project, for example, a spatial economic regression model was developed to reveal areas of deforestation in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and analyse the potential role of factors such as land tenure, accessibility and ecological conditions. Scientists were able to see how various land uses led to different – and in some cases opposite – effects on forest cover in the sub-regions studied. This differential effect on spatial variables has direct practical implications for environmental management.

In 1999 CIFOR also helped distribute the first CD-ROM module of a new reference tool, the Forestry Compendium, to agricultural research agencies in several developing countries. CIFOR assisted with the development of the Compendium, which is published by CAB International. It provides information about more than 600 species of trees and shrubs relevant to forestry, particularly in the tropical Asia-Pacific region. A global version scheduled for completion in 2000 will cover more than 1,200 species. The interactive content includes text, pictures, maps, databases, bibliographic data, taxonomic information and statistics.

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