Crawford Fund annouces their 2017 conference to be held on 7 and 8 August in Canberra, with the conference networking dinner and Sir John Crawford Memorial Address at The Realm Ballroom and one-day conference in Parliament House.

The current title for the event is 'Transforming Lives with the Power of Information' and it will focus on the current and future likely impact of the data revolution for smallholder farmers.

Dr Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, an authoritative leader in agriculture, climate change and nutrition, will be presenting the Sir John Crawford Memorial Address on Monday, 7 August. Dr Sibanda is Chief Executive Officer and Head of Mission of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), Africa, and Member of ACIAR’s Policy Advisory Council. With over 25 years of trans-disciplinary experience in rural development, public sector reforms and private sector management, and having worked for a range of international and African institutions, we look forward to her insights as part of our opening night.
 
Dr Andy Jarvis, who is leading the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture, will be one of this year’s keynote speakers. Dr Jarvis is Research Area Director, Decision and Policy Analysis at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). He is heading the current effort that has a partnership with the 15 CGIAR Research Centers and 12 Research Programs in the Platform, alongside 47 external partners, which range from international institutions and universities to private companies. They cover public to private, developing to developed country, and analytics to deployment.
 
As noted on the CGIAR platform, the smart and effective use of data will be one of the most important tools for achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Big data represents an unprecedented opportunity to find new ways of reducing hunger and poverty, by applying data-driven solutions to ongoing research for development impact.
 
For more information, visit the dedicated page on the Crawford Fund website.