The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have chosen the Jordanian government to develop the Arabic version of its portable Knowledge Asset Development System (pKADS). The product was released during the World Summit for the Information Society.
The system is a knowledge sharing tool used to collect, distill and synthesize lessons learned in a way that would improve results and inform policy and development strategies. The new software was developed by UNFPA and Business Information Systems, University College Cork, Ireland, with full funding from the Government of Ireland. The CD-ROM will be distributed free of charge.
The new software will improve the ability of organizations, countries and communities to capture, synthesize and apply their own knowledge resources, as well as outside knowledge vital for their own development. Such knowledge assets, which are living repositories of collective know-how, can improve results and inform policy and development strategies.
"We are excited at the opportunity of building bridges of cooperation between global and local learning institutions for the development of pKADS in the Arabic language," said Jordanian Minister of Information and Communications Technology and Minister of Administrative Development, Fawaz Zu'bi. "The application of such knowledge management software both within and outside of government presents a prospect for knowledge sharing between development projects in Jordan and across the region. We want to capitalize on that."
UNFPA will make French and Spanish versions of the CD-ROM available by the end of January 2004. UNFPA is the world's largest multilateral source of population assistance. Since it became operational in 1969, the fund has provided substantial assistance to developing countries, at their request, to meet reproductive health needs and support development efforts. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
