COMMUNICATIONS Is RCA Communicating effectively?

COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION EXCHANGE

Is this being done effectively in the context of the needs & requirements of the RCA MSs?

Dr John F EaseyMotivations for ChangeBetter use of Time and Effort for all those involved in the RCAMore effective CommunicationsReducing Communications and other costsA higher level of Information on the RCA and its Programme provided for all Member States Support continued improved of Decision-making and Management in the RCA and its Programme

Communication & Information ExchangeHow well is the message delivered?

How clear is the message and does it provide useful and relevant information?

Basic Definition

Communication is:The process of transferring / conveying information from one entity to anotherTYPES OF COMMUNICATIONOne Way / Linear ModelTV, Radio, Newspapers, Reports

Two Way / Interactive

Message

Feedback

12 &90 %@!SourceReceiversTransactional Communications Model

Is ShoesShoes isCodifyingDecodifying

Sending Message

Feedback

AnalysingEvaluatingMy shoes hurt me!They are my shoes!Examples of these Types of Communication in the RCA Context.

One-way The finalised RCA Annual Report.Two-way / Interactive Inputs for editing the draft RCA Reports.TransactionalAgreeing the wording of the Conclusions and Actions at the end of a session at a NR Meeting.Comments on CommunicationsA few beneficial technologies using electronic media and the internet are being employed in the RCA for One-way and Two-way communications.However the RCA does not appear to be adopting beneficial Transactional communications technologies such as Video conferencing and Skype communications, even though these have wide use for both commercially and personally and have potential for improved utilisation of individuals time and efforts as well as other cost savings such as travel. Key Players involved in RCA Communications

The follow key players are involved in a complex web of communications on RCA matters:RCA Focal PersonIAEA Project Management OfficersIAEA Technical OfficersRCA ChairRCA National RepresentativesRCA Regional OfficeLead Country CoordinatorsNational Project CounterpartsProject TeamsMajor Items Communicated for the RCA ProgrammeReports Annual Reports, NRM Reports, GCM Reports, RCARO ReportsBriefing Materials for RCA MeetingsProspectuses - Training Courses and Meetings Success Stories Printed Training Courses / Meeting Presentations PowerPoint presentations, Oral presentations, Written notes

Comments on RCA DocumentsThese documents are the major items communicating much of the essential information on the RCA and its programme to the Member States.Although these documents are produced on computers and mostly distributed electronically, there has been little or no introduction or incorporation of enhanced functions such as bookmarks and hyperlinks.For the most part they remain essentially paper-based in structure and retain the traditional templates for their layout. Decision-Making in the RCA

The two Meetings of RCA National Representatives that take place each year are the decision-making fora for the RCA.Is the information provided in the background documentation for these crucial meetings in sufficient detail, in a suitable format, complete, up-to-date and readily extracted?Would changes in the presentation of information and the level of detail provided on the RCA and its programme, assist Member States in discussion, debate and decision-making?

Identification of Potential Areas for Improvements in Communications and Information ExchangeCase Study 1RCA Annual Report for 2012RCA Annual Report

What is the major function of this document?It is an obligation under the Agreement Article VII (4) for the Agency to prepare a report of the implementation of the projects based on the input from Member StatesWho is the main audience?The main audience is composed of the RCA Member States and the IAEA.

Comments on the Current Annual Report TemplateThe 2012 Annual Report has 51 pages and 18,323 words. The current template does not incorporate any e-document functions: for example, there are no links between headings in the Table of Contents and the report sections. Thus referencing particular sections /sub-sections involves scrolling through the report page by page, which is an unnecessary time-consuming process. Improving Decision-making and Programme Performance through enhanced Information Presentation The RCA Annual Report contains important information on the RCA Programme and its implementation. However the full value of this information is only achieved through detailed analysis, which not a component of the current reporting regime.Individual MS may undertake such analyses but these are not commonly shared amongst MSs.Therefore MSs do not have common base lines for discussions and debates concerning matters affecting the RCA and its Programme. Suggestions for Improvement

A central data base could be established for the Member States on key implementational and financial aspects of the RCA over the past 10 to 15 years, for example:No. of expert missions, meetings, regional training courses planned and no. implemented each year.Participation data for expert missions, meetings, regional training courses.Overall and individual project implementation rates.Project budgets approved by the IAEA Board.Annual extrabudgetary donations and annual expenditure.

Benefits to Member States

All Member States would be able to work to common reference materials.New RCA Member States would not be disadvantaged because of a lack of previous knowledge and interaction.Member States would not be disadvantaged by changes in their National Representative or the national RCA support staff.

Example for Possible Incorporation in an RCA DatabaseExample for Possible Incorporation in an RCA DatabaseExample for Possible Incorporation in an RCA Database

Identification of Potential Areas for Improvements in Communications and Information ExchangeCase Study 2

Report of the RCA National Representative MeetingNay Phi Taw, March 2013RCA Reports of NRM & GCM

What is the major function of these documents?Record the conclusions and decisions of the RCA Member States.Who is the main audience?The main audience is composed of the RCA MSs and the IAEA.

Communications and related Information Exchange

Meeting Documentation:Background papers are distributed by email and are soft documents but are in hard copy format.Most information supplied is related to the past year. In many cases additional information is required on past years to provide a perspective on trends, etc. Full analysis of the information provided in the documentation requires knowledge of and access to past relevant documents as well as significant time for analysis. Document NumberTitleNo. PagesNo. WordsRCANRM(35) - 1Provisional Agenda4779RCANRM(35) - 2Follow-up Actions4626RCANRM(35) - 3RCA Annual Report 20126718,323RCANRM(35) - 4Implementation of the RCA Programme in 2012101,871RCANRM(35) - 5RCA Events 201361,141RCANRM(35) - 6Review of the Progress of the RCA Programme in 20124514,142RCANRM(35) - 6Review of the Progress of the RCA Programme in 2012 (updated)5920,497RCANRM(35) - 7Update on preparations of the proposed RCA programme147RCANRM(35) - 7Update on preparations of the proposed RCA programme (updated)71,182RCANRM(35) - 8Review Report of Monitoring Committee124,973RCANRM(35) - 8Review Report of Monitoring Committee (updated)199RCANRM(35) - 9Report of Monitoring Committee5123,568RCANRM(35) - 9 AnnexAnnex - Report of Monitoring Committee329,129RCANRM(35) - 10RCARO Director Report145RCANRM(35) - 11Presentation on FNCA145RCANRM(35) - 12Report on Collaboration between RCA-FNCA2343RCANRM(35) - 13Extension of RCA Agreement2343RCANRM(35) - 14Best Practices Initiative2213Total30797,366Estimated Reading & Analysis Time =27h 2m 46s35 RCA NRM - Draft Report - circulated227,48235 RCA NRM - Final Report227,609Estimated Reading & Analysis Time = 4h 11m 31s

Grand Total =31h 13m 17sReview of the Process

Preparation of the Meeting Report:Rapporteurs were from the participating Delegations (AUL & MAL).Carrying out this function limited the rapporteurs ability to contribute to their Delegations.The rapporteurs prepared a draft report which was to be delivered to the RCA Focal Person within 2 weeks. Draft Report was circulated to the National Representatives by the RCA Focal Person on 19 April. Tracked changes were requested to be received by the RCA Focal Person by 3 May.The final version of the report is distributed by the RCA Focal Person on 10 May 49 days after the NRM closed. Main Observations

Rapporteurs involvement:The present duties of the rapporteurs impinge on their ability to contribute to their Delegations.The essential RCA information contained in the main section of Meeting Report is the text on Conclusions, Recommendations and Decisions, which is recorded at the end of each session and then agreed by the delegates before the conclusion of the Meeting. Member States involvement:Member States were given 2 weeks to review the draft report.Following the Meeting 7 weeks elapsed before the final version of the Meeting Report was issued. Conclusions:The present arrangements for both the preparation and the finalisation of the Meeting report do not appear to be an efficient use of the resources of Member States or the Secretariat. Suggestions for Improvement

The format of the National RCA Representatives Meetings Reports could be changed so that:the main text only contains a record of the conclusions, recommendations and decisions of the Meetings as formulated at the end of each session and agreed at the end of the Meeting. the annexes should still be attached to the report.

Benefits to Member States

The report would be finished at the conclusion of the Meeting and no draft copies would need to circulated and agreed.The work of the rapporteurs would be markedly reduced and they would be able to spend more of their time deal with their delegations needs.The Meeting Reports would be much shorter documents (e.g. the main body of the 2013 NRM report is 22 pages and 7,609 words. Only reporting the conclusions, recommendations and decisions reduces the main body of the report to 7 pages and 1,943 words).

Is continuity of participation by delegates from Member States in RCA Decision-making Meetings a Potential Issue?Case Study 335th RCA NRM 2013Profile of Participants attending the 35th RCA NRM in 20132013 RCA NRM - 40 participants from 16 MSs26 of these 40 participants had not attended the 2012 RCA NRM. 9 MSs without continuity.31 of these 40 participants had not attended the 2011 RCA NRM. 9 MSs without continuity.31 of these 40 participants had not attended the 2010 RCA NRM. 10 MSs without continuity.32 of these 40 participants had not attended the 2009 RCA NRM. 11 MSs without continuity. ConclusionOnly 7 RCA Member States were able to draw on experience from an individuals previous participation (35%) in the 2012 NRM.9 RCA Member States did not have delegates with experience of the 2012 NRM and were dependent on feedback from previous national participants and the information provided in the distributed background documentation.Participation of individual from Member States in NRMs before 2012 steadily decreases with time. Only 8 individuals from 5 Member States had continuity of participation over the 5 years extending back to the 2009 NRM. Overall ConclusionsThe information exchange environment in RCA has become less efficient because of the slow adoption by the RCA of current communications technologies, practices and techniques.Most information exchange is through information imbedded in RCA reports and documents, which require detailed analysis to extract it and place it in context. There is little information open to all RCA Member States on historic RCA data and data trends. Member States are currently responsible for creating their own data bases.

Overall Conclusions (cont.)Upgrading communications and information exchange could provide significant benefits to all RCA Member States and greatly assist Member States in decision-making and the management and progression of the RCA programme. As illustrated by the data on participation in the 2013 RCA NRM, there is significant turnover in national participation and representation, which places enormous importance on information exchange at the national level to achieve continuity. This could be alleviated through the establishment of databases accessible to all RCA Member States.

Thank You!Any Questions?