68185 NOVEMBER 2011 ABOUT THE AUTHORS Taking Haitian Agriculture to the Clouds: DIEGO ARIAS is a Senior Agriculture Implementing Google Apps for Government at the Ministry of Agriculture Economist in the Latin America and Caribbean Region of the World Bank. He has extensive experience working on agriculture and rural development projects that The January 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti directly affected the foster innovation and infrastructure and personnel of the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources strengthening of public sector institutions. He has been and Rural Development (Ministère de l’Agriculture des Ressources Naturelles working with the agriculture sector of Haiti since 2003. et du Développement Rural,or MARNDR). It weakened the ministry’s capacity to lead the economic recovery and food security improvements of the NICOLAS WEBER is an expert in Cloud country, and set back research, innovation, and extension systems in the Computing strategies. Since agricultural sector. In addition, most of the existing information systems and 2008 he has been working with the Government of Haiti, a vast number of electronic and hardcopy documents, including reports, the World Bank, International Development Bank and USDA. studies, files, statistics, maps, and accounting data, were destroyed. This He has over 25 years of senior was due, in part, to the sheer physical destruction of the earthquake — but engineering leadership experience in West Africa, also because MARNDR lacked a centralized archiving system. This Middle East, Europe, Latin America and Caribbean. SmartLesson describes the successful introduction of cloud computing technology to the MARNDR’s ICT system as the primary method to manage APPROVING MANAGER Ethel Sennhauser, Sector knowledge and preserve documents for the agricultural sector in Haiti. Manager, Latin America and the Caribbean, Agriculture and Sustainable Rural Develop- Background ment. The January 2010 earthquake was not the first time that a destructive event struck the information infrastructure of Haiti’s agricultural sector, and weakened its capacity to perform. Certain political events, including the 2004 departure of President Aristide and the embargo of the 1990s, resulted in similar setbacks — for example, the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture in Port-au-Prince were destroyed in 2004, along with archives and computers. The agricultural sector is especially important in Reconstruction of the main building of the Haiti—it generates a quarter of the country’s MARNDR two months after the earthquake. GDP and provides half of the country’s employment. But in order for MARNDR to lead the country’s economic recovery and provide MARNDR needed to become more efficient much needed government services, the Ministry and transparent, and more responsive to needs access to reliable information and farmers’ and the sector’s needs; the quality of information systems. This urgency led MARNDR public agriculture services also had to be and the World Bank to partner in order to improved in a sustainable manner. After an strengthen the agricultural-knowledge assessment of public agriculture services in management system of the country by making Haiti, we determined that MARNDR’s it resilient to future natural disasters and crises, information and communications technology and by adapting it to local conditions. system was at the core of the necessary reforms. SMARTLESSONS — NOVEMBER 2011 1 The Ministry faced a number of problems, including: Project Description • L ow level of official email use by MARNDR staff and Through the World Bank-financed Strengthening of extension agents; Agriculture Public Services Project, the Bank and the Ministry redesigned the ICT system of MARNDR to be based • ifficulty making telephone calls and conducting D on cloud technology. The objective was to develop and teleconferences — the lack of a landline phone system improve the agricultural sector’s innovation, research and forced staff to use personal cell phones; extension systems, with particular regard to future crisis and natural disaster. • H igh costs incurred by staff for electricity, telephone, transport and other services; The decision was made to implement a cloud-computing platform as the primary ICT system for MARNDR. Cloud • A bsence of secure and centralized electronic archives computing is a relatively new technology; it allows users for documents; using local computers and an Internet connection, to work work on and modify files, and use applications that are • D ifficulty for farmers and agribusinesses in obtaining stored remotely. The Bank facilitated an agreement official forms or making requests; and between the Government of Haiti and Google, allowing the Ministry of Agriculture to use Google Apps for • n overall reliance on paper systems and outdated A Government. communications systems. This cloud technology platform was launched in Haiti in May The MARNDR system, deployed across a secure and private 2011. The platform offers transparent and effective network for all Ministry buildings in the country, helps communications, information-sharing, and collaboration tools address some of these issues by giving workers full access to for MARNDR staff and departments across the country, and their information across devices (e.g. desktops, laptops and also to other government agencies and partners. Apps for tablets) and platforms (e.g. Windows, Mac and Linux); Government allows Ministry staff to share and modify agendas allowing them to work in multiple locations; and leaving and documents, and to communicate through email, video fewer data on vulnerable, physical devices. conferencing, or phone from any device with Internet access — meanwhile, the files are safely stored on Google’s servers. MARNDR does not have 24/7 air-conditioned rooms, which makes it difficult and unsustainable to install servers. Furthermore, electricity is not available at night, requiring staff to constantly back up their files. The cloud computing revolution — in combination with the explosion in the use of mobile and wireless devices — presents an exciting opportunity to bridge the digital gap in rural areas of Haiti; it has enormous potential to change and improve the main delivery channels for government services. Lower prices make mobile phones and other new technologies more accessible, and technological advances allow for more flexibility, greater collaboration between agencies, and increased security. Press release on the cloud computing launch. The ICT initiative was structured around six components: I 1. nstallation of network hardware, e.g. fiber optics and Wi-Fi, at MARNDR offices in Port-au-Prince and in 10 regional offices. T 2. raining for 200 MARNDR staff and users on the new systems, with at least 40 hours of training per staff member. Cloud computing was identified as the optimal platform for the 3. A three-week training session for ICT administrators in Haitian agriculture sector’s ICT system. cloud computing technology and the Google Apps system. 2 SMARTLESSONS — NOVEMBER 2011 4. stablishing sustainable and cost-effective energy E of the stakeholders in the agriculture sector — farmers, sources for the ICT system, e.g. solar energy, inverters, researchers, and agribusinesses. The extension agent is a and batteries (currently no MARNDR office has pivotal actor, linking these groups with the public sector. electricity for a full day). Finding an ICT solution that extension agents were comfortable with was key to the rapid adoption of new 5. Providing Internet access through WiMAX and/or technologies in Haiti. MARNDR has conducted tests with satellite. extension agents by collecting and disseminating real-time food price data from different remote locations within 6. n agreement between the World Bank, MARNDR, A Haiti, comparing the previous, hand-written system to the and Google to use Google Apps free of charge. updated ICT system. Users seem to be using more price data for decision making, though no formal evaluation has been Lessons Learned conducted yet. 1) To design an ICT system in the agriculture sector, 3) To build local capacity and limit staffing requirements, incorporate the needs of remote users and plan for the train ICT specialists in both the public and private sectors worst. on cloud computing In Haiti, natural disasters, political crisis, and even theft In order to administer and service the new ICT platform, have marred the institutional memory of the agriculture one of the key success factors has been creating in-country sector for decades. However, the 2010 earthquake was a capacity. Cloud-computing applications were uncommon in wake-up call for MARNDR to rethink the ICT system of the Haiti, so significant training was built into the project, for Ministry and the agriculture sector of Haiti in general. both MARNDR staff and the IT firms that would eventually Planning for a worst-case scenario, like the one in 2010, provide services to the Ministry. Over 200 users throughout where buildings and equipment collapsed, led to an ICT the country will be given 40 hours of on-site training. As a system that would have to do away with any local, physical result of the introduction of clouds computing technology storage of information. in MARNDR, three firms in Haiti now offer their own training in cloud computing and Google Apps. The system also needed to be equipped with built-in alternatives for when the electricity and/or Internet were It was also important to build capacity within the ministry. disconnected. Given the daily limitations and characteristics Only four ICT staff members are required to maintain the of ICT in Haiti — the need to access materials from rural new system in the Ministry. Today, MARNDR has a reduced areas, constant electricity cuts, and the reliance on cell ICT unit supervising one of the largest Ministries in the phones rather than land lines — a solution was found in a country. This low ratio of ICT staff to total Ministry personnel combination of cloud computing, solar electricity, would not be possible without cloud computing — uninterruptible power supply (UPS), laptop and smartphone maintaining servers and the internal network alone would platforms, and three different Internet connection require at least four times as many personnel. technologies (to ensure a back up option). Google Apps for Government allows for off-line use, and users can access their mail, calendar, and documents when they don’t have an Internet connection. When users reconnect, Google Apps automatically sends any outbound messages and syncs updates to other documents. Incorporating these features will help prepare the Ministry for worst-case scenarios. Of course, enabling ministry staff to work from multiple locations raises new security concerns. Previously, security reasons demanded that staff only work from government offices; this had to be addressed in order for cloud computing to be effective as an ICT platform. To maintain security for remote access, the Bank helped MARNDR Training of the MARNDR’s four ICT administrators in Paris in Janu- introduce a two-factor authentication that relies on a ary 2011. password and a code provided by text message. Staff were given mobile modems to connect to the Internet, since being able to work from home or a remote area through an Internet connection or mobile phone, were key aspects of Conclusion the project. The 2010 earthquake, destructive and horrific, forced the 2) Enlist extension agents to help introduce a new ICT MARNDR to rethink its ICT infrastructure. One positive system to farmers and agribusinesses. result has been the implementation of a cloud computing system for MARNDR, conducted with Bank support. Haiti The new ICT platform also needed to respond to the needs now joins jurisdictions like the District of Columbia, the City SMARTLESSONS — NOVEMBER 2011 3 of Los Angeles, and the State of Arizona in using Google Apps as its primary ICT platform. The new system allows past and future agricultural knowledge to be protected, shared and used, even in times of crisis, and makes the agricultural innovation and extension system more effective and resilient. Screen shot of the MARNDR system which offers real time and effi- cient agriculture information and statistics. 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