Slide title

A Path to the Web

Insights about an IRRI Web SystemPresented to the Information and Communication Advisory PanelInternational Rice Research Institute

A Path to the Web

5 Strategic goals7 Research programs3 Frontier projects8 Research Divisions & Centers

~27 Data/Support units/Laboratories

~41 Research sub-units~ 9 Consortia/Networks

1 Public Web Site (IRRI.ORG)

complexities of a matrix organization

5 Strategic goals7 Research programs3 Frontier projects8 Research Divisions & Centers

~27 Data/Support units/Laboratories

~41 Research sub-units~ 9 Consortia/Networks

1 Public Web Site (IRRI.ORG)

complexities of a matrix organization

5 Directors’ Offices8 Research Divisions & Centers

~27 Data/Support units/Laboratories ~41 Research sub-units14 Country Offices27 Operations & Admin Units

+27 support-critical data sets

~ 96 Intranet Sites

Information runs through 96 organization units

5 Directors’ Offices8 Research Divisions & Centers

~27 Data/Support units/Laboratories ~41 Research sub-units14 Country Offices27 Operations & Admin Units

+27 support-critical data sets

~ 96 OU/sub-units on the Intranet

Information runs through 96 organization units

~1000 IRRI staff members

40 NGO/Private/International Centers50+ Donors 155 +Prospective donors 72 ARIS (14 countries)159 NARES institutions (21 countries)

750m Beneficiaries

Networks of people

~1000 IRRI staff members

40 NGO/Private/International Centers50+ Donors 155 +Prospective donors 72 ARIS (14 countries)159 NARES institutions (21 countries)

750m Beneficiaries

Networks of people

COST COMPONENT 1: Hosting

IRRI.ORG on CGNet~US$7,338/annum

2 Third party host service providers

US$240/annum (3 sites so far)US$ ? for one site (Greenrice)

IRRI Intranet sites on local servers

US$ ? indirect and shared costs

Networks of people

COST COMPONENT 2: People/Process

184 staff members in IRRIWWW 61 as content

providers/coordinators86 as content approvers/lead

37 as site-data admin/manager or developer*

59 staff members in IRRI.ORG20 as content

providers/coordinators28 as content approvers/lead11 as site-data admin/manager or developer **

Networks of people

Slide title2007 trendsA Path to the Web

25k

Feb 2007 Jan 2008

298k totalNumber of unique visitors

40k 482k totalNumber of visits

Slide titleCountries (top ten)A Path to the Web

25k

Feb 2007 Jan 2008

298k totalNumber of unique visitors

China 16.7k U.S. 1.1 k

Philippines 1.1k Others 1.8k Unknown 0.9k India 0.6k Australia 0.3k Japan 0.2k

Great Britain 0.15k Germany 0.12k

a picture of our web

Picture of our Web

IRRI Public Website [irri.org]• Information disjointed

• Information interspersed and “broadcasted” to a wide range or to an overly narrow range of undefined users

• Information appropriated as support service: less research delivery-oriented, not as much vigorously used at all levels in the Institute, more so by external users

IRRI Intranet [irriwww] • Organization of information follows physical

organization

• Functional information or data sets that are inter- related not apparent across organizational units

• Static information and sharing, filing, and certain levels of content organization are only work activities that SharePoint supports

people networks

IRRI Web today and where it is going

Adapted from the World Wide Web Consortium

how do we harness the Web to execute strategies?

user-centered experience (UX):

"too much instruction -- not enough human

construction." -

offer content and its function; build on user-defined functions; cultivate user-generated content

“… explanation takes place in the ear (actually the mind) of the receiver of the explanation, not in the mouth of the provider of the explanation.”

“Participatory Explanation,” Institute for Human and Machine Cognition

the sum of all work we do:

useful, findable, and engaging

information

what we want to offer:

content organized the way our communities can relate to and create from

a first stab to take on:

obtain web applications that are every

day tools for our users to carry through their activities and as aids for decision & action

emergence and speed:

….it is the interactions and relationships that create the interesting behavior > action > desired resultGetting Real: Lower your cost of change

starting questionswho are our users? what do they need? how will we use the web to fulfill our users’ needs? what content do we have? where do we start, with whom, and how do we organize useful content?how can we meet goals, outputs, and targets through the web as medium? what are our motivations? what resources do we need? how can we have a right mix of resources?

next steps and deliverables continuing user studies

content inventory and audit: organize, piece together, focus on content generation and its inter-relatedness

finding different facets of content

seeking applications: functionality and usability

prototype and co-create version 1 with users

way to go:

partner for content creation; partner for information and communication technologies innovation up-take; partner for speed of results