February 2014
Dear Colleague,
This is an open letter to management and staff of all institutions involved in agricultural development and innovation to encourage them to participate in CIARD. CIARD is a global movement of institutions and individuals dedicated to open agricultural knowledge. The partners have a “Vision” together with an associated “Objective”. The advancement and development of CIARD takes place on three fronts - Advocacy, Capacity Development, and Knowledge Management.
CIARD is guided by an informal group of international and regional partners from around the world. CIARD is not a legal entity, and there is no legal agreement or formal contract between the partners. Any institution or individual can participate in CIARD, if they agree with the “Vision” and “Objective” for open agricultural knowledge. There are no financial, legal, or contractual obligations for participation in CIARD.
Institutions and individuals can benefit from the CIARD movement through the following: (a) increased national and international visibility and use of their own knowledge services; (b) increased exchange of knowledge between their system(s) and others; (c) increased awareness of other knowledge content and services; (d) increased access to other partners’ specialised expertise and proven solutions in open knowledge.
Institutions and individuals can participate in the CIARD movement by the following actions: (a) implement the appropriate policies and actions to achieve the items in the CIARD Checklist; (b) promote and advocate for the CIARD vision and values; (c) place the CIARD logo on the appropriate places on their website; (d) register their open knowledge products and services on the CIARD-RING; (e) register the status of their institution’s achievement of the Checklist through the CIARD website; (f) join the AIMS global community of practice.
We encourage you to ensure that you and your institution participates in CIARD, through the actions outlined above. If you have any questions about CIARD or wish to seek advice or assistance from the partners, please send an email to information@ciard.net.