Effective information integration, retrieval, and exchange require agreed standards. Since the late nineties, GILW has been setting standards in information management in agricultural development and food security. It has been working with various departments within FAO, its member countries and other partners to develop and disseminate global standards and procedures for agricultural information management and exchange. Through its presence at various workshops and training courses, it has been promoting the adoption of standards for agricultural data exchange and retrieval through the adoption of XML and other new techniques. This is highlighted through the two internationally-recognized, namely the agricultural metadata standards initiative (AgMES) and the Agricultural Ontology Service (AOS).



GILW recently made available its publications under the series entitled "Agricultural Information and Knowledge Management Papers". The papers include implementation guides, usage documents, and concept papers bring greater coherence to the work on providing standards, norms and procedures for improving access to agricultural information. A number of the papers made available were also presented at various international conferences or published in renowned journals; highlighting the role FAO plays in the wider information management community.



Access all the papers in this series from: documents

World Agricultural Information Centre Portal: WAICENT Portal

Visit the AgMES and AOS initiatives

Visit the Corporate Document Repository