The 1st meeting of the EGFAR Taskforce was held in the forenoon on September 26th in Rome.

The setting up of the Taskforce was planned under the ICM4ARD GPP Project Plan and its main terms of reference consist in guiding the development of EGFAR, the ARD Web Ring and ICT enabled agricultural information systems at global, regional and national levels through liaising with similar global taskforces and initiatives and coordinating with the IISAST initiative.

The presentations on EGFAR and on all the Regional Forums websites showed great progress in managing ARD information through web channels. Progress was also noted in the management of information on organizations, experts and projects at the regional, and in some cases also national, level.
The next challenge for the EGFAR Task Force is seen in defining and further developing the ARD Web Ring. The development of the Web Ring has been planned as one of the main activities of the ICM4ARD GPP and as a major role for GFAR. In this meeting, the Web Ring was defined as a network of ARD “gateways” and nodes through which information flows smoothly for global access.
In this view, the EGFAR Taskforce also has to contribute, through GFAR and in coordination with the IISAST initiative, to the development of the RAIS and NAIS especially in capacity development, integration through introduction and use of standards, guidelines, norms etc and appropriate governance structure that ensure equitable and fair access to ARD information globally. The role of the EGFAR Taskforce is not seen as a normalising role in a top-down approach, but rather as a facilitating role in harmonising policies and strategies through the exchange and promotion of best practices in information management and sharing among GFAR stakeholders and the ARD community at large.
The members felt that EGFAR should also be a “marketplace” for experience sharing, ICM related documentation, tools (and toolboxes) and applications for managing ARD information. Coordination with the IISAST initiative in this was recommended, as demand for a similar service also arose from the 2nd Expert Consultation held just before this Taskforce meeting.