R4D dashboard: Visualize web access to DFID funded research

Collecting traffic and usage statistics for a website or portal can be a very time consuming and tedious task. And in most cases you end up compiling monthly or quarterly report for managers and donors that will be shared as email attachments - and at best skimmed, since there is so much information. But there are smarter ways you can do this process and bring life into your data, as as I explained in my previous blog.

Our case study is the R4D portal, a free access on-line portal containing the latest information about research funded by DFID, including details of current and past research in over 40,000 project and document records. Until 2013 we were part of the team supporting and managing the site.

As part of our work packages, we developed an online, interactive visualization of web traffic and usage of the R4D portal and its social media channels. The R4D dashboard, built using Tableau Public, is still updated and in use. However, since the termination of our support contract, it hasn't been iterated and improved since 2014.

This posts presents the process we followed to develop the dashboard, the tools used and the lessons learned in what was very much a learning by doing journey.

R4D Usage Dashboard 

 Why develop the R4D dashboard? 

The collection of usage and traffic data for R4D used to be pretty much standard: a series of excel files updated monthly to generate charts and graphs. They were then put together in a PDF report and shared with project leads at DFID. The idea to develop instead an online, public dashboard of R4D web traffic and usage was inspired by the excellent work from Nick Scott and ODI, which he shared with us during a Peer Exchange session we organized back in 2012.

Donor organisations such as DFID collect a lot of statistics and indicators but these are often kept within projects and programmes and not made available for all staff, as was the case for R4D. So the reason behind the R4D dashboard was primarily to open up our stats and make them more accessible to anybody interested in it, not just the people that had sign off on the project.

Also, by encouraging a more open approach to web stats, the idea was also to have more terms of comparison: it is difficult to evaluate how well your website is doing if you can only compare against yourself. So being able to see how much traffic similar websites are generating will help you assess your own effort and performance.

So what did we do?

Process wise, we pretty much followed the steps indicated in my previous blog posts. With the primary audience well in mind, we started to select the metrics to include in the dashboard:

• Website stats: Visits and visitors; referring sites; visitors by country; PDF downloads and top pages. 
• RSS feeds subscribers Twitter clickthroughs and Facebook Insights data (later removed)
• Number of outputs added to the R4D database (by type, for example open access articles, peer review articles, etc…) 

We decided that it was feasible to collect this data monthly as xls or cvs files exported to from the site(s) and save them into a shared Dropbox folder. This was the most effective way as data collection was decentralized with different people working on different platforms. With our limited budget, it was not possible to automate the data collection process, so this was entirely manual.

Software platform selection took quite some time in the initial phase of the process. We selected Tableau Public as our dashboard platform, and then had to invest more time in learning its features and functionality. But it was totally worth it!

Why Tableau? 

Tableau Public is free software that can allow anyone to connect to a spreadsheet or file and create interactive data visualizations for the web. There are many tutorials out there if you just Google for it, so I’m not going to tell you here how it works in details. But here are my top reason for using Tableau Public:

• It's free! Well, that's a good reason already if you don't have resources to invest in business intelligence or visualization software - and normally the cost for these are steep and way outside the budget of the organizations we work with; 
• It's intuitive. You don't need to be an expert to use the tool. The interface is very simple (drag and drop) and you can easily find your way around. 
• It's rich and deep. There are so many charts you can choose from and you can play around with different visualization until you are happy with the result. It also goes much deeper than Excel with analysis and interactions.

What did we learn? 

Besides learning how to use Tableau Public itself, here are the main things I learned along and around the process of developing the R4D dashboard:

• Google Analytics is the industry market standard - but it tends to under-count your traffic.
  We ran two different website analytics packages on the main R4D portal - Google Analytics (GA) and SmarterStats - and noticed a huge difference in the results, with GA massively under-counting visits and visitors. So it's always worth installing another tracker to be on the safe side. 
• Updating Tableau is quick - but getting the data manually isn't
  Once your dashboard is set up, the process of updating it with new data is rather quick, just a few clicks and you are done. However data collection from the various sources in our case was mostly manual and it can be time consuming (and not much fun either!). If I were still working on the project, I’d look into ways to automate as much as possible data collection - while also looking at what additional (useful) data I could collect in an automated way. 
• Build it once - and then you *must* iterate
  When you're done building your dashboard, you're actually not done. We had a couple of iterations before arriving at the product that is now online. And I'm sure this would be different now had the project continued. This is because you have to evaluate whether the visualizations in the dashboard are actually useful and provide you actionable insights that can inform your strategy. Or simply because the software keeps evolving and can give you new possibilities that were not there before.

In the next post on this series I'll present a different approach to develop an M&E dashboard, this time using a combination of Google Forms, Sheets and Charts, together with Google Apps Scripts and Google Docs Add Ons.

In the meantime, if you have experience with Tableau or use other tools to create interactive dashboards, why not share it in the comments here?

Research to Impact Hackathon ....and the winner was...

Well, we were all winners, if truth be told, in the sense that we all learned a lot from the experience of the Hackathon at iHub Research in Nairobi last week. To begin with, the iHub itself is still under three years old yet has blossomed into an extraordinary innovation centre at the centre of a buzzing ecosystem of developers, projects, events, people, good coffee and, well, more people. There are over 10,000 registered members of the iHub community and it was through those networks that we were able to attract so many creative and plugged-in developers.

One of the newer projects is iHub Research, one of the co-organisers of the event. Leo Mukutu is Research Manager there and she was one of the judges of the competition. In this clip Leo describes the role of iHub Research and the criteria she used to judge the entries.



There were six entries in all, and in this video clip people from each team describe their proposals - and you can see who won!

(Update: a summary blog from iHub research) 

'Let me Hackathon that thing'

'Every good piece of software starts by scratching a developer's personal itch', says Eric Raymond, author of the fabulous book on Open Source software, The Cathedral and the Bazaar. Hackathons evolved to harness that personal passion of software developers to create interesting code that solves problems - or sometimes, just create elegant, interesting code simply to see what happens. Organisers provide a context - for example software platforms such as Ushahidi that constantly need to to be improved or movements and campaigns such as development data or aid transparency which need lots of programmes to import and aggregate data or present the data in a form usable by others and the public - and a space, with coffee, cakes and chocolate. Developers who enjoy working individually or in teams and are moved by the spirit of the organisers come together and have fun.

The Research to Impact Hackathon is different in significant ways to a standard hackathon. Firstly, there is often criticism that these events produce a lot of interesting but unfinished code, which is either taken over by the sponsor and developed internally or simply abandoned, with the developers un-engaged in the follow up. The sponsors of this event, IDS/ELDIS and CABI/R4D see this event as Phase One in a longer term process. They are providing small prizes for the best products but committing larger sums to supporting the development of particularly promising ideas and prototypes that have the potential to increase the use of research data.

Secondly, we wanted to provide focus to the developers based on an informed understanding of specific challenges faced on the ground, in East Africa, by those working in agriculture and nutrition, challenges which constrain the use of development data and opportunities it offers to enrich the development process. However, we had to steer carefully between being too directive of the developers - which could reduce creative and risk appearing to be asking for some free labour to help large organisations solve their problems - and not providing a clear enough set of scenarios.

So we were a bit anxious about how Day Two of the Hackathon would develop, especially since we were joined by some new developers who hadn't had the introduction to the personas, challenges and triggers which emerged from Day One of the Hackathon nor been part of the Ideation session. We should have known better: we are in the iHub, in Nairobi, Kenya, at the centre of a vibrant developer community, supported by the ideas and contacts of iHub Research. Many of the participants had been trained in mobile application development at the mLab - yet another source of energy within the iHub ecosystem (and the iHub is not even three years old!). And all the developers were in some way or another connected or developing software solutions to the needs of those in the agriculture value chain.

We introduced the data available from ELDIS, R4D and other relevant open data sources, including the World Bank's data site and the rapidly growing Kenyan Government OpenData portal; the ways to access the data through the ELDIS open API and the tools which Tim Davies is developing to access the data, including in Linked Data formats. Finally we introduced the personas from Day One, together with the ideas which had been rated as having the highest potential impact and most viable as the basis for developing a Proof of Concept in only two days (and nights!).

Chaos of the most productive kind ensued. People discussed ideas; formed, and reformed, teams; ate sausages; asked for more information about the personas; drank coffee; got support in exploring the data and learning to use the access tools available; fed-back ideas for discussion; storyboarded and planned; ate cake; began to hack. By the end of the day four groupings of ideas and people had emerged, all interesting and within the frameworks we had established, and some with the beginnings of demonstration code - either created or imported. Then we went for beer.

Day Three is a hack-day: teams will continue working on their ideas, preparing for a presentation on the morning of the fourth day, in some kind of Dragon's Den format. While the progress has been remarkable for two days, the acid test is, of course, what the teams can present on Day Four. Given their commitment to the longer term, the organisers are looking as much for coherent plans and realistic assumptions as finished code - but watch this space.

Research to Impact Hackathon with iHub Research, Nairobi

Open data on the web makes it possible to take information on research from many sources, and to generate ‘mash-ups’ that make it available in different places, on different platforms, and in ways that support action and impact. Open data can be remixed to answer key questions in ways that were not possible before.

One of the most interesting developments in the R4D project, which we have been supporting with CommsConsult and CABI, has been converting the metadata in the R4D database of DfID funded research to Open and Linked Data formats. The Institute for Development Studies (IDS) ELDIS team have been travelling in the same direction - working to open up access to their research information including by creating open APIs allowing anyone to tap into their 15+ years of curated development research. The rationale for this is that every year institutions, researchers and practitioners generate thousands of datasets, reports and articles about development issues. To give some idea of scale, DfID funds £200 million worth of research every year. Yet, much of this knowledge remains underused, locked away in online repositories such as R4D and ELDIS.

Presenting personas at the Research to Impact Hackathon

We tested this, perhaps a little unfairly, by asking the participants during the first day of the Hackathon we're working on this week in Nairobi, most of whom were subject experts we'd invited to provide context and scenarios for the developers to get their teeth into, how much they used either R4D or ELDIS data. About half had accessed the sites, very few accessed them more than once or twice a year. Yet these were researchers, information scientists and knowledge workers with intermediary NGOs like ALIN, all prime targets from the materials.

"Hackathons" (also known as a hackfest or hack day) are events in which computer programmers join forces with a number of other experts, such as designers, investors, project managers, and spend a short intense period together to develop technical ideas and solutions. The Research to Impact hackathon is focusing on the research data from R4D, ELDIS and other relevant sources - including those from Kenya such as KAINET - relating to agriculture and nutrition. We brought together subject matter experts with technical developers to explore and create innovative prototypes to increase the use and impact of research in development. The hackathon is being at the Nairobi iHub by iHub Research, a new programme within this open innovation space.

The first day focused on generating scenarios - use cases - for the developers to work on. We started by asking participants to identify some of the reasons that research data isn't accessed or used. The group then selected seven typical 'user types' who represent key potential audiences for the data. These personas included extension workers, researchers and knowledge workers - key intermediary roles for re-purposing data and linking with primary players in the agricultural value chain such as farmers, input suppliers and market intermediaries. The group also prioritised fleshing out the role of policy actors, key to addressing the whole range of issues which impact those working directly in agriculture. Working in groups these types were profiled and linked to the challenges previously identified. After rapid peer review specific 'triggers' were identified for each of the personas, things which might motivate them to change their behaviour in relation to the data. The personas will be shared in the EuforicWeb wiki as the Hackathon develops.

Evaluating ideas at the Research to Impact Hackathon

A group of developers joined in the afternoon. They were presented with the personas and had time to interrogate the subject specialists. We finished with an ideation session, when all participants were given 10 minutes to come up with at least 10 suggestions for technical developments - mobile or pad apps, web widgets or small pieces of linking or bridging code. Those ideas were located on a matrix representing high/low impact, high/low viability - in terms of being able to develop a proof of concept in the succeeding two days. There were an extraordinary number and range of ideas, both creative and very applied. The ideas which were voted as high/high will be taken into the hackdays to help kick-start the process.

R4D Peer Exchange on Theories of Change - Videos and resources

On July 31 2012 we organised a Peer Exchange session on Theories of Change (ToC). The event took place at DFID in London, was organised in the context of the R4D project with our colleagues from CABI and CommsConsult. The aim was to better understand how ToC can be used in research uptake and communication programmes.

Around 15 people took part in this two-hour session. For the occasion, as well as DFID staff, we were joined by Duncan Green from Oxfam GB and Simon Batchelor from IDS, who have both done a lot of thinking and and writing on the subject of ToC and research.

Two excellent summaries and reflections on the meeting can be found on Duncan Green's blog and on Research to Action website:

• Can theories of change help researchers (or their funders) have more impact?
• 10 ways DFID can improve Theories of Change for Research Uptake

After the session, we recorded a short conversation with Simon Batchelor and Duncan Green. In the video below, Simon and Duncan explain how they got interested in Theories of Change. They discuss how ToC can be used in research programmes and how DFID and other donors could created incentives for researchers to use ToC in their work. 

The video is about 12 minutes long but worth watching there is rich content and insights that reflect the discussion and debate of the day.

In case you don't have time to watch the full recording, we have also produced these five short clips:

• Using Theories of Change in development programmes
• How to create incentives for researchers wanting to do Theories of Change?
• Theories of Change in research uptake
• Theories of Change and communications in research projects

More resources and discussions on Theories of Change in research can be found on the Research to Action website.

Blog posts from previous R4D Peer Exchange sessions are available at this link.

About Pier Andrea Pirani - Join Me on Google Plus

Connecting and engaging with research audiences: Oxfam social media mix and strategy

Earlier in April 2012 the third and last R4D peer exchange meeting took place in DFID. After having discussed issues related to measuring the success in research uptake and understanding audiences behaviours in accessing digital content, this third session looked into how to connect and engage with research audiences. Joel Bassouk, Digital Communications Manager at Oxfam International, presented the great work that his organisation is doing, how they are using social media and the results they are achieving.

Connecting with audiences with social media

View more PowerPoint from Euforic Services

Oxfam social media mix and strategy may be fairly similar to what others are doing but clearly the scale of the results achieved by the organisation is impressive. Some key points and practises are definitely worth mentioning and highlighting.

According to Joel, connecting and engaging with users online means first and foremost to know the audiences you are targeting your communication to. Google Analytics, user surveys and regular content audits are key elements of this process.

Once you have clear who you want to reach, the next step is to create good and engaging content: research reports, articles, policy papers, blogs, press releases, photos, videos, infographics, presentations, case studies, op-eds, interviews - these are all content items that need to be taken in consideration. But equally important, it's to define clear guidelines, workflows and sign-off process that each staff member can easily access through the corporate intranet.

However, it is not enough to have great content if this just sits on a website. Therefore, Joel reminded us how important it is for this content to be findable, searchable and shareable. In Oxfam's experience, as for may other organisation, visits from search engines represent the first source of inbound traffic. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and writing for the web need to be taken seriously if you want make sure Google search works in your favour and not against you. 

Additionally, one key element that emerged from Oxfam experience is the need to repackage and cross post content on the different social media channels in use. Oxfam produces a lot of research reports and the digital communication team accompanies these with additional outputs such as infographics and images but also sound bites and 'three things about the report'. These additional outputs are tweeted and posted on the appropriate channels.

But with all the social and digital media available, how do you choose the right mix? According to Joel, there's a clear A-list that forms Oxfam social media portfolio: Facebook, Twitter YouTube and Flickr are clearly the must-have channels. Additionally, Oxfam makes also use of Google+, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Scribd.

Last but not least, RSS feed should not be forgotten - and I cannot agree more with this: as an old colleague of ours used to say, "RSS are really the blood of the social web."

How ODI uses digital tools for measuring success in research uptake

A fascinating peer exchange last week in DFID discussed issues (and possible solutions) to the challenges related to monitoring and evaluating research uptake and communication efforts. The session, facilitated by my colleague Pete Cranston, was the first in a series of 3 meetings organised as part of the R4D project, to address different aspects of social media and engagement in and around development research.

The conversation was started by an excellent presentation from ODI’s Nick Scott. Over the past months, Nick has put a lot of effort into looking at how ODI was doing its own M&E of research uptake. As a result, the organisation has adopted a new analytical framework - and a new set of tools to track usage and uptake of their research outputs. The ODI approach and dashboard is well described by Nick in a recent post and presented in the slides below - if you have missed them and are interested in the subject, make sure you have a read both of them.

ODI's M&E approach and dashboard on Prezi

What the ODI’s experience shows is why and how research organisations should escape the “tyranny of downloads”. Downloads and pageviews alone are simply not enough to capture the different ways in which users interacts with the digital content in today’s social web. For example, for ODI a good 10% of their traffic is generated by social media. Tweets, shares, Facebook likes they all add a new layer of information that needs to be taken into account. An efficient use of digital tools can help in capturing much more of this information and do a better job in assessing the uptake and impact of research outputs.

Additionally, even when you are able to track all these elements, you need to make up your mind and decide on which metrics you are actually going to focus. When it comes to Google Analytics for example, ODI focuses on just a couple of the many different things you can track - unique visitors, entry pages, country of origin and a few others. But the choice of metrics and indicators is very much related to the goals you want to achieve, and how the information gathered can be put to use.

But why track stats and pile up information if you can’t make use of it? ODI M&E reports are now more intuitive to read, more colorful and graphic and able to present insights in easy formats. They are shared throughout the organisations in a much more open way. Further, because the different statistics are tracked at the level of the single outputs produced, they provide ODI’s communications team with the evidence to back up what its already known, but not always proved: using a balanced mix of channels and a more comprehensive communication approach creates a positive circle that gives more mileage to the research outputs. ODI researchers are now more inclined to write opinion pieces and blog posts that complement research reports, or to tweet about their new publications.

Finally, looking at the specific technical implementation that ODI has put in place, this seems to be rather advanced and complex. It uses APIs, servers logs and business intelligent applications to combine a set of different statistics into a structured dataset that can be enquired at any given moment though a dashboard interface. This is the result of 6 months of work and quite some investment in time and technology, so it wouldn’t probably be a viable solution smaller organisations. However, as Nick suggests in the video below, there is a huge need of a ‘think tank M&E’ tool that is affordable and allows to track the footprint of research outputs across the social web. Hopefully we won’t have to wait long before such an application is available.

R4D at the European Development Days

During the 4th edition of the European Development Days - held from 22 to 24 October in Stockholm - Euforic actively promotes the Research for Development (R4D) project.

R4D is a free access portal containing information about research programmes supported by DFID. It provides you with the latest information about research funded by DFID in the framework of its 2008 Research Strategy, including news, case studies and details of current and past research in over 20,000 project and document records. Information is available on a broad range of topics, such as sustainable agriculture, climate change, economic development, health and capacity building.

R4D is unique in the sense that it makes information available to researchers, students and policy makers that hitherto was circulated at a limited scale. Documents and reports are presented in full text, there are various search options for different types of information, plus the Research Dialogue and Communications Corner blogs allow for reflection and debate.

Please feel free to meet with Euforic's Rosien Herweijer at stand 25 to hear the latest about R4D and to subscribe to the newsfeeds of your choice.

You can also visit Euforic's research feedfinder page to subscribe to selected R4D newsfeeds.

What's your view on R4D?

R4D is a free access portal containing information about research programmes supported by DFID. It provides you with the latest information about research funded by DFID, including news, case studies and details of current and past research in over 20,000 project and document records.

We are conducting a short survey to help inform future improvements. It covers what you think of the current service from R4D, and what you would like to see on the R4D portal. The survey should take around 5 to 10 minutes to complete, depending how much you choose to say. It does not ask for personal, identifying data.

We need your views on R4D and thank you in advance for your input!

To start the survey, please click here.

This survey is being conducted on behalf of DFID, the UK Department for International Development.

Visit Euforic's research feedfinder page to subscribe to selected R4D newsfeeds

After 2015: promoting pro poor policy after the MDGs

On June 23, a High Level Policy Forum entitled 'After 2015: Promoting Pro-poor Policy after the MDGs' took place in Brussels. It was organised by DFID, ActionAid, DSA, EADI, and IDS, in partnership with The Broker.

The MDGs have played a major role in focusing development policy since their original incarnation in the 1990s. Some development agencies, notably DFID, have gone as far as to judge their activities on the contribution to achieving the MDGs. What happens when we no longer have the MDGs? How will we promote pro-poor policy after 2015?

The Forum debated these issues and addressed three questions:

• What has been the impact on poverty reduction of the MDG paradigm?
• What are the major global processes shaping development up to 2015 and beyond?
• How can we promote pro-poor policy after the MDGs and amid global changes?

The Broker has published a background article 'Beyond 2015: Rethinking development policy' by Andy Sumner (IDS).

To support the communication and outreach activities of the High Level Policy Forum, Euforic has published a dossier presenting a rich collection of background information plus reports and impressions of the event. We published blog stories, blips, presentations and pictures. You can follow the discussions by subscribing to the High Level Policy Forum newsfeed.

See also Euforic's newsfeeds about the MDGs and the activities of Euforic members

This project is co-financed by the European Union. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Commission

R4D, tool to access DFID-funded research

Over the last decade, DFID has invested around £700m in international development research. Hundreds of research partners around the world, running thousands of projects and programmes, have generated knowledge to shape our thinking on key development topics.

For the first time, information about this research is available on a free searchable database through DFID’s research portal (R4D). 

It has never been easy to find out what research topics, projects, and programmes DFID is funding or has funded. Researchers all over the world (and even DFID staff) had to rely on a network of personal contacts or inspired detective work to discover who was already working in a particular area, what was already known, and what lessons had been learned.

But now, R4D puts that information at your fingertips. Responding to a demand expressed by many DFID stakeholders for better and open access to all this information, R4D is a free on-line database containing information about research programmes supported by DFID.

R4D contains nearly 5,000 project records, and details of more than 20,000 research outputs. Every month we add new items, update existing information, and add historical documents as they become available. In addition to the database, R4D publishes research news and case studies, and keeps you up to date on the latest from DFID, including calls for new research programmes commissioned under the DFID Research Strategy 2008-2013.

R4D could become a vital link in your information chain, both for keeping in touch with other researchers’ work and for sharing your own DFID-funded research results.

Keep in touch ...

R4D’s monthly e-mail newsletter alerts you to the latest on R4D. There are also 60 themed e-mail alerts or feeds on specialist subjects, from agriculture to water, and more than 160 more related to specific countries. You can also produce your own tailored feeds, or let us know and we will do it for you.

Hot off the Press ...

DFID’s Research Strategy promised to spend up to 30% of its overall £1bn funding in ‘making research available, accessible and useable through a range of means’. This week sees the launch of R4D’s revamped Communications Corner. Its purpose? To provide practical support and guidance to anyone wanting their research to be communicated effectively. A weekly CommsCorner Blog aims to inspire with examples of innovative communications, both from within the DFID research community and from further afield. A companion blog R4D Podium Posts invites DFID researchers to share communications approaches, tactics, successes and challenges with other researchers. Take a look!

DFID launches new research strategy

On 22 April 2008, the Secretary of State for International Development Rt. Hon Douglas Alexander MP launched the new research strategy for the UK Department for International Development (DFID).



The new strategy focuses on 6 priority themes - agriculture, climate change, governance, growth, health, and future horizons. It also gives significant attention to research capacity strengthening and research communication and uptake.

Listen to video reflections on the strategy; read commentaries from research leaders. Sign up for email alerts on the strategy

Euforic helps extend reach of DFID R4D portal

As a partner in the CIMRC consortium with CABI and ComsConsult, Euforic contributes to the "Research for Development" platform of DFID.

In 2007, we worked on four main elements:

• Newsfeeds on over 50 subjects and all target countries - see the full list at http://del.icio.us/r4dfeedfinder
  


• Subject views for each major subject area on the portal, combining news, case studies, projects and documents


• Marketing R4D content and services at international meetings: for example at the Web2fordev conference in Rome, the European Development Days in November, and at several Brussels Development Briefings.


• Knowledge Organization to enhance the search services and database structure behind the R4D site.


• DFID Research Strategy, helping to promote wider participation.
  

More:

• Research for development portal
• Euforic development research dossier
  
• Euforic research feedfinder
  
• CIMRC consortium

Extending a consultation on DFID’s research strategy

In 2007, the Department for International Development (DFID) developed a new research strategy, for which it launched a public consultation.

Beginning in September, Euforic was contracted by DFID’s Central Research Department to publicise the e-consultation process; extend the reach of the consultation to Southern research suppliers, users and knowledge intermediaries; and enable feedback and interaction among different elements of the consultation process.

This was a small project that utilized 1) the power of some new ‘social’ media to capture contributions and 2) the reach of existing networks beyond DFID’s immediate orbit.

The main ‘tools’ used were a blog and a Dgroup. Email and RSS alerts for the consultation were set up using Feedburner.

We started by ‘populating’ the blog with the various consultation questions, announcing these widely, then encouraging people to contribute their thoughts and experiences using the ‘comment’ functionality of the blog.

We identified networks and groups likely to be interested in the issues and to be willing to re-disseminate information about the consultation and the questions to their stakeholders. We also contacted some groups in developing countries asking for similar outreach and encouraging them to organize a small national consultation if desired.

120 comments were contributed on the Blog/Dgroup. Two organizations also contributed substantial papers with comments:

- DNet Bangaladesh
- Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa.

All of these contributions were brought together into a report and provided to DFID.

See R4D consultation page

Visit the blog.

Sign up for updates on the DFID research strategy consultation

Public Consultation on DFID Research Strategy 2008–2013

The Department for International Development (DFID) funds research which aims to help reduce poverty in poor countries by developing new technologies and policy-related knowledge and helping to get these used.

In 2007, DFID is seeking views to help it develop a new research strategy to begin in April 2008.

Issues for the new research strategy include discussion of 'what' research DFID should support. Urbanisation, globalisation and climate change are just some of the issues which present new challenges for development and development research. This consultation asks how the new research strategy can help countries deal with emerging issues - be they new diseases, trading opportunities, migration, changes in world economic power etc.

The consultation seeks to explore how DFID can build on its four priority research themes:

• sustainable agriculture;
• “killer diseases” and healthcare;
• states that work for poor people;
• the impact of climate change on poverty.

It also ask for ideas on 'how' DFID supported research can best be impleented, how DFID can:

• improve the way it identifies demand for research from end-users in developing countries;
• promote more cutting-edge science that will benefit poor people;
• work more effectively to help developing countries to carry out, access and use research themselves; and
• make it more likely that research will be used.

How to give your views

The electronic consultation is available on the DFID website at www.dfid.gov.uk/consultations

Euforic joins CIMRC to extend access to DFID-funded research

In May 2007, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) announced that the CABI-led CIMRC Consortium is contracted to manage its 'Research4Development' portal. This provides up-to-date information on the activities and outputs of research projects supported by DFID.

The consortium brings together expertise of CABI, Euforic, and CommsConsult; the R4D portal provides research news, success stories and case studies, information on projects and programmes, and gives access to publications produced by the various projects and programmes.

Within the consortium, Euforic will particularly focus on 'product development' - ensuring that R4D content can be accessed through a wide range of products and services and via the services of partner organizations and 'knowledge organization' - looking to the effective indexing and organization of the portal content. We will also contribute to 'marketing and communication' efforts - ensuring that key stakeholders are aware of the R4D content.

More:

• Research for development portal
• Euforic development research dossier
  
• Euforic research feedfinder
  
• CIMRC consortium