The Pan African Development Information
System (PADIS) is a co-operative
regional development information
system created in January 1980
under the aegis of the United
Nations Economic Commission for
Africa (ECA) in Addis, Ababa,
Ethiopia.
What are its Objectives?
The overall objective of PADIS
is the promotion of development
information management in the
Africa region. Central to this
objective is the operation of
a regional information system
in Africa which will serve as
a conduit for information and
data for development, centered
around national, subregional and
regional networks to which all
members will voluntarily contribute
information and share their information
management techniques.
The immediate objectives of
PADIS are the following: *To assist
African states, subregional and
regional organizations in building
capacities for collection, storage
and utilization of data on development
through advisory services, training
and user services;
* To promote the improvement
of information infrastructure
in African member States, especially
through the adoption of information
technology in Africa as a tool
for improvement information management
and exchange on behalf of development;
* To promote the creation of
databases in fields of importance
to development in the region;
* To promote the utilization of
common norms and standards of
information handling in the Region
in order to ensure compatibility
and to facilitate information
exchange;
* To establish a system which
will improve access to both published
and unpublished documents produced
in Africa on questions relating
to scientific and technological
aspects, economic, and social
aspects of development;
* To train information specialists
at national, subregional and regional
levels in order to upgrade skills
and introduce improved methods
of information handling. What
are its activities? PADIS undertakes
the following activities:
* Delivery of advisory services
to African States and institutions
on aspects of development of information
and documentation systems, e.g.
needs assessment, formulation
of information plans and policies,
design of national/sectoral information
systems, choice of information
technologies and strengthening
of information centres;
* Training staff of national,
subregional and institutional
participating centres as well
as information policy makers and
other system users through workshops,
seminars and short courses in
information system methodologies,
computerized documentation techniques,
information systems policy and
management and statistical data
base management and utilization;
* Creation and maintenance of
bibliographic, referral and numerical
data bases;
* Provision of user services,
including printed outputs from
data bases, newsletters, selective
dissemination of information,
current awareness profiles and
retrospective searches, question/answer
service, hardcopy and microfiche
document delivery, data bases
on magnetic media and consolidating
and repackaging of information.
How is PADIS Structured?
PADIS is part of the United
Nations System. It presently receives
financial and/or technical support
from the United Nations regular
budget for the ECA, from African
member States of the ECA, the
International Development Research
Centre (IDRC) and the Governments
of Germany and the Netherlands.
The head of PADIS reports to the
Executive Secretary of the ECA.
The Regional Technical Committee
for PADIS, which was established
by resolution 498 of the ECA Conference
of Ministers (1984), is responsible
for establishing overall policy
for PADIS as well as overseeing
all aspects of its implementation.
It reports biennially to the ECA
Conference of Ministers Responsible
for Planning and Development.
Members of the Committee are the
Executive Secretary of the ECA
(who serves as chairman ex-officio),
five high-level experts in telecommunications,
documentation, library, information
or computer science from the five
ECA subregions who represent their
respective subregions; representatives
of OAU, UNESCO and UNDP and up
to three other specialists from
disciplines relative to the programme.
Subregional Technical Committees
monitor the implementation of
the project within their respective
subregions.
PADIS' Areas of Emphasis
Since 1990 PADIS has been placing
increasing emphasis on the following
two areas:
* Electronic networking as a
tool to link information services
in Africa From 1990-1993 PADIS
implemented a pilot project in
electronic networking in Africa,
linking some 18 African institutions
in a FIDOnet-based network. It
also set up a bulletin board on
networking and African development
and an electronic conference on
information technology in Africa.
As a result of its success with
this pilot project, it is now
beginning the implementation of
a much larger three-year project
funded by International Development
Research Centre entitled, "Building
Capacities for Electronic Communication
in Africa." Through this project,
it hopes to install electronic
networks in 24 African countries.
* Informatics Policies Among
its activities in these areas
have been the promotion of the
adoption of informatics policies
by African States. It introduced
this issue to the ECA Conference
of Ministers responsible for Planning
and Economic Development in 1992
and secured a resolution (732,
XXVII) on this topic calling for
African States to adopt policies
related to the acquisition and
utilization of appropriate information
technology. In 1988 it held a
Regional Seminar on informatics
policies, and in 1993 it is conducting
in-depth studies of the informatics
policy instruments in place in
10 African countries. It has worked
closely with the ECA Strategic
Programme for African Management
on its Agenda for Improving Public
Administration in Africa, to secure
the exclusion of a chapter on
information technology there.
PADIS' Information System
and Network
PADIS comprises both an information
system and a network.The Information
System. PADIS' information system
is comprised of five in-house
databases that derive from information
produced in or originating from
Africa. These include: The PADIS
networkThe PADIS network consists
of 39 national participating centres,
which receive advisory services,
training and PADIS data bases
and input data into the system
for exchange with other countries
in the region, subregional and
regional institutional participating
centres.Four subregional centres
have been or are in the process
of being established. Institutional
participating centres include
43 institutions specialized in
particular development fields.
National participating centres
are government-designated institutions
which perform the function of
assisting national development
planning by providing ready access
to information required by policy
makers, planners and others engaged
in national socio-economic development
efforts. Once operational, the
subregional centres will provide
on-site training for member countries,
enable the sharing of expensive
resources (equipment and personnel),
deliver advisory services to member
states and institutional participating
centres, serve as subregional
information clearinghouses and
as links for the transfer of information
between national participating
centres and PADIS.
Institutional participating
centres are the subject-oriented
African subregional nodes in the
PADIS network. Presently 44 in
number, they comprise subregional
and regional institutions responsible
for coordination of information
collection, classification and
dissemination and development
of tools and methodology in their
special subjects of focus. These
include ECA-sponsored subregional
and regional institutions as well
as other institutions in the region
which have concluded agreements
with PADIS to promote the harmonization
and standardization of documentation
and information systems in the
Region. They include the Association
of African Universities, the African
Regional Organization for Standardization,
the Africa Regional Centre for
Technology and the Council for
the Development of Economic and
Social Research in Africa. Activities
of the institutional participating
centres are co-ordinated through
the Standing Committee on the
Harmonization of Documentation
and Information Systems in Africa
which meets annually in Addis
Ababa. How to access PADIS' services
There are many ways in which a
user can avail themselves of PADIS
services. To start with, individuals
or institutions can subscribe,
free of charge, to the PADIS Newsletter,
issued quarterly in English, French
and Arabic, to keep abreast of
the activities and services of
PADIS.
PADISNET
Under a grant from IDRC, PADIS
has initiated a pilot project
in information technology that
will improve utilization of its
data bases and facilitate communications
on development information in
the Africa region. Entitled PADISNET,
the project will electronically
link selected nodes of the PADIS
network. Nodes will use modem
communication to send messages,
request data base searches, exchange
information over bulletin boards
and participate in electronic
conferences on issues related
to development information. PADIS
will act as a gateway for the
network to access external data
bases and international networks.
The project will also experiment
with online access to PADIS data
bases and will test the applicability
of recent information technology,
including the use of optical storage
media (CD-ROM and optical erasable
disks), scanners and facsimile
transmission.
PADIS' Publications DEVINDEX-Africa
is produced three times yearly
from the PAD-DEV data base. Past
volumes (15 in all) have included
special national editions of materials
from Botswana, Togo, Guinea and
Niger. Microfiche or photocopies
of all regional documents listed
in DEVINDEX are available upon
request at a nominal charge. Subscriptions
to DEVINDEX are available upon
request. The printed output of
the PADIS-TCDC data base is the
Directory of African Experts.
Queries of the data base are invited
for replies to specific information
problems, e.g. if an institution
or organization requires the name
of possible consultants living
in a specific country and specializing
in a particular field. The ECA
Statistical Yearbook, issued in
four annual volumes corresponding
to the ECA Subregions of Central,
East and Southern, North and West
Africa, is the printed output
of the PADIS-STAT data base. Copies
or subscriptions are available
by writing to the ECA Statistics
Division, P O Box 3001, Addis
Ababa.
Selective Dissemination of
Information [SDI]
PADIS operates a Selective Dissemination
of Information Service (SDI) by
which individuals or institutions
can request to be kept regularly
informed of references to written
materials in their fields of interest.
Regular searches are made of PAD-DEV
as well as the data bases from
other international and bilateral
organizations available at PADIS
and sent to subscribers. Enrolment
in SDI is available by filling
out a form available upon request
from PADIS.
Question/Answer Service
PADIS will send a custom printed
reply to requests for information
on topics relating to African
development on the basis of searches
of any of the data bases, - bibliographic,
statistical or referral - at its
disposal. Requests may be sent
to PADIS by any means available,
including letter, telephone, telex,
cable, facsimile or e-mail. Addresses
are listed below. Information
Exchange
PADIS participating centres
may request the downloading of
data bases, and installation where
necessary, on magnetic media including
tape and diskette. Files may also
be sent electronically to centres
with the necessary equipment.
Advisory services, training
and fellowships Members of the
PADIS network may request these
services from PADIS in fields
relating to PADIS' immediate objectives
listed above. PADIS services in
these areas are also available
to non-governmental organizations
as well as institutions outside
the Africa region on a fee for
service basis. Further details
are available by writing to PADIS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Further information on any aspect
of the PADIS programme is available
by communicating with PADIS through
any of the following means: By
post International postal address:
Pan African Development Information
Service P O Box 3001 Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia
<> Telephone:+251-1-511167 Telex:
21029 eca et Facsimile:(from North
America) +1 (212) 963-4957 or
+ 251-1-51 44 16 Internet: padis@padis.gn.apc.org
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