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July 2011 | e-Agriculture Newsletter The e-Agriculture Newsletter is part of a global initiative to enhance sustainable agricultural development and food security by improving the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). e-Agriculture is a Community of more than 7,000 members from over 160 countries and territories. IN THIS ISSUE: Blog Series: 'Youth, Agriculture and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) ' Forthcoming e-Sourcebook: ICT for Agriculture New resources on mobiles in rural development Gender, ICTs and Rural Livelihoods forum report CIARD forum report and Research Survey BLOG SERIES: 'YOUTH, AGRICULTURE AND INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT ' YPARD (Young Professionals ' Platform on Agricultural Research for Development) and the e-Agriculture Community are collaborating to give a voice to youth in a special blog series - in English, Spanish and French - to highlight the experiences of Young Professionals in agriculture and the use of ICTs for rural development. Blogs are being published weekly until 12 August 2011, ending with the close of the United Nations International Year of Youth. Read a brief summary of the first two weeks of the blog series. We invite you to write a blog to share your experiences and your work. This is the occasion to get your voice heard! Write your blog or browse through some ideas to get inspired! Read recent blogs. FORTHCOMING E-SOURCEBOOK: ICT FOR AGRICULTURE The soft launch of the e-Sourcebook Information and Communication Technologies for Agriculture took place at the 4th Global Forum on Innovation 38; Technology Entrepreneurship, organized by infoDev, the World Bank and partners, in Helsinki, Finland. The e-Sourcebook will focus on Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks, and Institutions, in support to poor smallholder farmers and the intermediate institutions that serve them, including female farmers and women employed in rural nonfarm economies. It will be released in the autumn of 2011, and 'is being designed as an e-publication to maximize its outreach, with the intent of maintaining it as a 'living ' updatable document ' according to infoDev. NEW CONTENT ON MOBILES IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT Mobile technology continues to be an important topic for the Community, including at recent face to face events like the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum, which took place from 16 to 20 May in Geneva. The WSIS Forum celebrated leadership and innovation in the ICT sector. Members of the e-Agriculture Community looked at 'The Promise of Mobile Technology ' in two sessions, 'Mobile Money Solutions for Small Enterprises ' and 'What is the Socio-Economic Impact on Rural Communities? ' Recent blogs posts by Community members reflect key issues discussed during these interactive sessions, which also benefited from the remote participation of participants from various countries. Recent blogs and content on mobile technology for rural development include: By Mireia Fernandez-Ardevol: 'The promise of mobile communication: What is the socio-economic impact on rural communities? ' By Harsha Liyanage: 'Mobile phone: a 'silver bullet ' to disrupt the development objective? ' By Stephen Rudgard: 'Global Forum Panel Session on: Mobiles in Agriculture ' By Mireia Fern 225;ndez-Ardevol: 'Everybody has a mobile phone ' By Manish Pandey: 'Getting the business model right to make mobile telephony work better for farmers ' Visit the e-Agriculture key topic page on Mobile Telephony for additional information and resources on this topic! GENDER, ICTs 38; RURAL LIVELIHOODS FORUM REPORT CTA and e-Agriculture organized an online discussion in French, on the topic of 'Gender, ICTs and Rural Livelihoods ', from 9-31 May 2011. The online forum received over 1,300 visits from participants in more than 153 countries. The final report is now available in French. Multi-lingual policy briefs will be available soon. Visit the e-Agriculture Key Topic page on gender for additional information and resources on this topic! CIARD FORUM REPORT AND RESEARCH SURVEY In April, the CIARD community hosted an e-Consultation entitled Building the CIARD Framework for Data and Information Sharing to addressed the topic of sharing and interoperability of data and information for agricultural research on the e-Agriculture platform. More than 1600 people from 152 countries and territories visited the online discussions, and from their inputs a report was made and used in an international Expert Consultation in Beijing from 20 to 23 June. Now the CGIAR, FAO and GFAR are conducting a global survey asking: Is your research being communicated effectively? A major challenge faced by researchers today is how to communicate their research outputs more effectively. This global survey will gather evidence from researchers on potential gains and concerns of a wider communication of research results, and promote innovative pathways for better sharing of their outputs. The survey is intended for researchers working in agriculture, livestock, forestry, fisheries, food and nutrition, and related biological, environmental, economic and social fields. Your participation in this global survey is very valuable. Please also encourage your other colleagues and peers working on the disciplines mentioned to take the global survey. You can stay in touch with e-Agriculture members throughout the world by joining us on Facebook and Twitter. Also, don't forget to browse through some of our latest content on Delicious and watch some of our recent video interviews with featured e-Agriculture members on the e-Agriculture YouTube channel. If you need assistance or you have suggestions for us, please write us at info@e-agriculture.org