Welcome to PROMIS!

PROMIS has evolved through a series of wonderful discussions that concentrated on the fact that knowledge emanating from agriculture research and development projects need to be shared. My idea behind visioning PROMIS is not only to make information from ARD projects available always and anytime, but make the driving force of the complete initiative the project collaborators themselves. I'd also like to see this system interface with existing and new information systems, open to share information, and spawn new networks that facilitate knowledge sharing to promote sustainable concepts in conservation agriculture disciplines.

Having this information from agriculture research and development projects taking place across the South Asian countries of Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan - the Rice-Wheat Consortium (RWC) countries - predicates the importance and value our region's scientists have with them for the ultimate goal of improving farmers lives. On the Internet, information from RWC projects serves as a base for both project and institutional memory and is a basis to strengthen institutional cooperation across the Consortium's regional platform.

Also, being on the internet has its own advantages:

• information becomes open;
• information becomes accessible;
• information can be shared; and,
• information becomes knowledge

The first version of PROMIS was designed hand-in-hand with user expectations and requirements. The initial models that were designed comprised of a key member listing, the project description module, documents and reporting section, and events calendar, and a simple photo gallery. Integration with RWC-PRISM was also a priority as it expanded the possibilities of having eyes on a large repository of project, organizational and expert information coming from the South Asian region.  

PROMIS went live in June, 2005 after being flagged off by Dr. Robert Ziegler, Director General, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). 

The first version was developed based on what we perceived at that time was the right thing we were doing: the use of the user names and passwords and authentication to gain access into a project’s knowledge base. This method had its own advantages of limiting access to certain areas that initially were thought need not be available for public view. At that time, though, events or activities information of a project were available for the public to see.

During what followed, extensive discussions with the IRRI web communications experts in the Philippines - thanks in large parts to Dr. JK Ladha’s (IRRI Representative in India) continued push and support and to Dr. Raj Gupta’s (Regional Facilitator, RWC) encouragement to this medium - resulted in a decision taken to open up the system. At this time, other projects too started using PROMIS as their information base.

A new prototype was built and presented at various opportunities. Careful thought had to go in because now PROMIS would cater to the newer projects as well. The PROMIS development group knew that standardization was the key, but also important was the cognizance that each RWC special project needed its own space. Through this prototype, the idea behind a new version (PROMIS V2) was discussed and then accepted at the annual review and planning meeting of the ADB project that was held in Lahore, Pakistan in February, 2006. Development and design for extending the prototype started shortly after; PROMIS 2 went online in May, 2006. The software now included a new module: blogs. Blogs would allow project scientists to submit or keep a record of their activities.  As a kind of diary, blogs also tend to preserve memory of what was done at a particular day but in the scientist’s perspective.

Already, a lot of ideas have accumulated as to what more needs to be done to make PROMIS an ideal knowledge system. When translated into physical outputs the promise of PROMIS would finally be realized.

Special mention has to be given to Dr. B Sivaprasad of IRRI-India, for his wonderful inputs during all phases of PROMIS development all the time. PROMIS also seeks dearly to make Dr. Olaf Erenstein's (CIMMYT-India) interesting "wishlist" available.

Bharath Krishnan
May 2006

For more information on RWC, visit www.rwc.cgiar.org. RWC-PRISM is available at www.wis.cgiar.org/rwc.