Nouvelles

The Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS) Workstation Network Expands

The GIEWS Workstation is one step closer to becoming a worldwide network for exchanging food security information with its recent installation in Central America. These new nodes complement those already installed in Africa , Central Asia and at FAO headquarters.

“The GIEWS workstation is really about much more than software and databases, freely exchanging information is the basis for working together to find solutions for common problems. Countries no longer have to work in isolation.” Fabio Grita, GIEWS WS coordinator

Indeed, one of the peculiarities of food security information is that it often crosses national boundaries. For example, imminent crises related to droughts, weather and even trade are often best understood from a regional perspective. Using a standardized system for exchanging information swiftly and easily across borders through the internet, will not only improve countries' access to important knowledge, it could also form the basis for joint collaboration for dealing with common problems.

The Workstation uses free and open source software. This means that countries

““We want to strengthen national capacity to manage and analyze food security information by making available flexible free software, based on international standards, to everyone. ”

can easily adapt it to their own needs and languages. Indeed, innovation is encouraged and will contribute to the ongoing development of the Workstation. The software can also be freely distributed among national institutions, NGO's and agencies. Thus, different institutions can retain ownership of their data, while sharing it with others.

What the GIEWS Workstation Provides

The Workstation includes:

	a comprehensive database structure, based on common standards, for managing and storing food security information;
	GIS mapping and data analysis tools;
	a data exchange module; and
	training and support.

Furthermore, the workstation can store information such as:

	GIS map layers;
	satellite images (e.g. rainfall, vegetation distribution);
	environmental, economic and demographic data;
	crop calendars and other tools;
	breaking news from a wide variety of sources, thanks to a news scanner tool; and
	audio-visual material.

The exchange of data between the various workstations is facilitated by:

	a peer-to-peer communication tool that allows one or more PCs to share resources directly without going through a separate server; and
	promoting standards that make information compatible between workstations and with other applications.