UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
|
| UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
|
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The electronic version of this document is being made available by the
Population Information Network (POPIN) of the United Nations Population
Division/DESIPA and the Pan African Development Information System
(PADIS) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. For
further information please contact Ms. Nancy Hafkin, PADIS
Officer-in-Charge at: hafkin.uneca@un.org
***************************************************************************
Distr.: LIMITED
E/ECA/PSPI.9/10
15 January 1995
Original: ENGLISH
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
Ninth Session of the Joint
Conference of African Planners,
Statisticians, Population
and Information Specialists
Addis Ababa, 11-16 March 1996
PROMOTION OF NORMS AND STANDARDS FOR THE
EXCHANGE OF DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION IN AFRICA
Introduction
1. The ever increasing role of information and
documentation services in the field of development creates
a continuous need for the exchange of information between
such systems at national, regional and international
levels. However, compatibility problems are a major setback
for information systems and networks, while exchange of
information within a network requires a minimum set of
common standards and methodologies. To facilitate the
interchange of information and help in reducing or even
eliminating technical barriers and compatibility problems,
standards need to be developed and adopted. The PADIS
Standing Committee on the Harmonization and Standardization
of Information Systems in Africa was set up in 1989 to deal
with these matters on a continuous basis. PADIS in
cooperation with member States and African subregional and
regional institutions have developed and adopted a series
of standards including guidelines, manuals and computerized
programs for textual data base development and on-line
authority file preparation. In this regard, standardization
activities are carried out in subcommittees
chaired by experts from member States which report to the
Standing Committee on the Harmonization and Standardization
of Information Systems in Africa. Seven such subcommittees
have been created to tackle standardization problems in
Africa.
Definition of standard and its use
2. Standards are specifications, models, measures,
patterns or types developed with consensus by contributions
from various partners. One of the specificities of
standards and standards-like documents is that they are
normative documents because they have a binding force
either by law, contract, or convention. Also, they cover
specific technologies, products, and procedures; they make
effective human communication possible. Since there are
many examples of human communication which create problems
both of understanding and of technology, standards will
apply in regulating specific actions and codes of practices
in society. Examples are as follows:
- Varying railway gauges in the same country;
- Cars having their steering wheel in left or right
position depending on the manufacturer and having
to change the driving side of the road from
Senegal to Gambia and back when going from Dakar
to Ziguinchor thus making travelling between the
two countries not easy; and
- Varying film colour specifications (NTSC and
SECAM) or conflicting video specifications (VHS
and BETAMAX).
3. Most of these problems could be solved by applying
standardization - at national or international levels.
This was the case with the video industry using the
MULTICOLOUR specification which encompasses NTSC, PAL,
SECAM and MESECAM.
Standards and global exchange
4. Considering the transborder flow of industry and trade
with railways systems covering a continent, and the supply
of electricity from one country to another, it has become
a necessity to have international standards covering
countries of the same region and countries from various
continents. Indeed, international networking and exchange
would be impossible if products, tools, technologies and
procedures were based on narrow national standards which
would contradict each other. The ideal is standardization
on an international scale to achieve international
compatibility for smooth exchange of information, products
and services at a global scale. In the area of technologies
and tools standardization applies, for example, to
packaging and containers, steel manufacture, and magnetic
tapes.
5. Standards and related documents (specifications,
technical regulations, packaging requirements, sampling and
testing procedures, metrology and certification activities)
are an essential information source which cannot be
overlooked by economic operators, since their use and
application stimulate progress in bringing about technical
improvements and innovations, thus paving the way for wider
markets. Standards allow economic operators to seek
markets, find products and assess such products. This is
true both in regard to conversion, diversification,
development of product ranges and for setting up a company
or conquering a national or foreign market.
6. Compliance of products with specified standards and
other requirements is an essential element of successful
and smooth international trade (exports and imports).
7. The standards should refer to product characteristics
whose presence is a necessary factor of product "fitness
for use" or "fitness of purpose" or "customer
satisfaction", in terms of adequate functioning and respect
for health, safety and environmental factors, as quality
depends heavily on those aspects and also on "product
conformance with the requirements".
8. As defined by ISO 8402 (Quality vocabulary), product
quality is the totality of characteristics of a product
that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied
needs. This also means that product quality should be
appropriately defined, as a requisite for successful export
and import trade since the consequences of quality
achievement is the satisfaction of the buyer, user or
consumer.
9. The information needed to define product quality in a
proper way falls mainly into the following categories:
- Standards;
- Specifications; and
- Technical regulations.
They should relate, among others, to:
- Products, parts, components, materials, etc.;
- Packs, packages and packaging materials;
- Labels;
- Inspection, sampling and test methods; and
- Certification requirements.
10. The requirements included in the above mentioned
information should be as established by the buyers,
importers, users or the national authorities of the target
markets. In addition to the above, standards are also
needed on the taste and preferences of the potential users/
consumers of the product in the intended market.
Furthermore, standards are also needed in developing
countries on inspection, testing and quality control
instruments and materials, and on their suppliers.
Standards are also critical to bibliographic control,
bibliographic description, production and reproduction of
documents as well as organization of information systems
and services.
11. It is necessary that all the information referred to
above be from up-to-date standards in order to avoid the
problems and failures concomitant with obsolete
information.
Updating of standards
12. Because standards are intended to guide the
development of a society, they need regular updating to be
able to set the path for new technological developments.
However, if electronic means are not used and because of
the time it takes to approve and publish standards on a
paper form, they often lag behind current best practice.
This is because new developments may have taken place in
the technology since the standard was drafted.
13. In the field of information, standards that influence
everyday practice - for example, cataloguing rules,
classification systems, guidelines for bibliographic data
base, etc. - may quickly become out of date as new
technology and methods are introduced. Therefore standards
have to be periodically reviewed and modified where
necessary.
Standardization and work sharing
14. Standards enable human work to be more effective and
productive. Increasingly people have to specialize and
learn to share the workload with each other. This is the
case of managers and their assistants, doctors and nurses,
administrators and labourers. Specialization means that
people concentrate on acquiring knowledge in one particular
area. This may lead to increased skills and improvements
in working practices and would prevent conflicting
assignments. Standardizaton facilitates dialogue and work
sharing between different actors which may be working
together but with different levels of knowledge and
experience. Each of them would have its own
responsibilities, but there must be an agreement of
practice and language - and a level of understanding to
enable them to work together effectively. Indeed methods
of working and wok sharing are already embroided in
standards like documents such as codes of practices and
manuals because standardization does not limit itself in
technical specifications for products and technologies but
also encompasses procedures, guidelines, methods, systems
and terminologies, thus facilitating transfer of knowledge
and uniformity of practices.
Developing standards
15. The establishment and widespread adoption of standards
will only occur when a substantial number of key
institutions and individuals participate in this process
and have a vested interest in promoting and using standards
being developed. That is why standardization activities
are always carried out in working groups, subcommittees,
committees and technical committees where experts will
share their experience and will develop specifications,
guidelines, codes of practices and other standards type
documents for the interest of the companies and the
lobbying groups or consumers they represent.
16. Regardless of whatever type of institution is creating
the standard, the normal developmental process of a
standard will be as follows:
- PLANNING. It will normally be carried out by
specialists in the process or technology in
question. They will work with a steering, co-
ordination or controlling committee made up of
the specialists themselves, and representatives
from the standardizing institutions and the
Standards Body.
- ANALYSIS. Analysis of the process or of the
technical elements of the product will be carried
out by specialists using the best tools for
evaluation.
- DEFINING OF PRINCIPLES. This will be the
responsibility of the standardization committees.
- DRAFT PROPOSALS. Preparation of drafts proposals
will be done by one or several specialists who
have agreed to make submissions to the
standardization committees through working
groups, technical committees or subcommittees.
- DISCUSSION OF THE DRAFT PROPOSAL. This will be
undertaken by a working group composed of experts
in the subject field. This will be set up by the
Standards Body to examine the draft proposals.
This should lead to a set of amended proposals.
- AMENDED PROPOSALS. This is the result of the
Draft Proposal discussed by a working group and
will form the basis for a Draft Standard.
- DRAFT STANDARD. It is a project drawn up from the
amended proposals.
- CIRCULATION AND VOTING. The Draft Standard may
be circulated for voting by member bodies and
interested institutions. COMMENTS will be
incorporated where appropriate. Voting does not
take place in the case of a company standard; the
latter is approved by the company's executive
direction.
- The draft Standard with any amendments will be
APPROVED AND PUBLISHED by the Standards Body as
a STANDARD. In some countries, the standard will
enter into force by publication of an Act by the
Parliament or the parent institution of the
Standard Body.
- PROMOTION AND CONTROL. They will be undertaken
by the Standards Body, and the committee, as well
as by co-ordinating and supervising bodies in the
field.
- IMPLEMENTATION. It is carried out by any
institution or individual interested in it. They
can be a government department, an industry, an
administration, an association, an international
organization, or any institution or individual
interested in the application of a specific
standard.
Applying standards in information handling
17. Standards and standardization are critical to the
effective management of information services, to co-
operation with other services and to the international
availability of information. To enable information
services and co-operative systems to work together
effectively at local, national and international levels -
a high level of standardization between them is of the
greatest importance.
18. Areas in information handling which require
standardization are mainly:
- Bibliographic control to enable library
catalogues, national bibliographies and other
bibliographic records to be understood and used
widely.
- Bibliographic descriptions to be able to have an
harmonized way of describing and organizing
records of a data base.
- Subject analysis and retrieval. Standardization
is also highly desirable in classification
schemes - subject headings - thesauri- indexing
and abstracting, among others, to enable common
language for retrieving information.
- Machine readable bibliographic information.
Standardization is essential when publishing
bibliographic information in machine readable
form. This should cover the use of equipment -
networking the interconnection of systems - as
well as the style of bibliographic formats used.
- Management of document collections. Standardized
practices will also be applied to the
acquisition, storage, safety and repair of
documents - space requirements, buildings and
fittings - lighting, heating and ventilation -
and levels of service.
- Preparation of a document or information.
Punctuation, use of abbreviations and the
inclusion of references need a standardized
approach when presenting or publishing
information.
- Presentation and layout. Standardization is
required in the way the text is organized and
arranged - in the use of citations and notes in
indexing and in proof reading.
- Production and reproduction of documents.
Whatever format the information is to be
presented in, for example in a book, a magnetic
tape or a CD-ROM, a standardized approach to its
production is required. Examples: how to arrange
information into a CD ROM and which information
to put in, selecting the fields in a CD ROM data
base.
- Organization of information systems and services.
The management and administration of information
services are areas which can benefit from
standardized practices. These should be applied
to information policies - the planning and
organization of services and networks and staff
education, training and performance.
ECA Activities on Standardization
The Standing Committee on Harmonization and Standardization
of Documentation and Information Systems in Africa
19. PADIS has been working to promote the use of
compatible standards through the Standing Committee on
Harmonization and Standardization of Information and
Documentation Systems in Africa established in Tripoli in
1987 by the seventh meeting of Chief Executives of
ECA-sponsored Regional and Subregional institutions. PADIS
has convened the Standing Committee annually since from
1987 through 1992. In 1992 the meeting of ECA-sponsored
institutions adopted a resolution changing the periodicity
of meetings of the Standing Committee to every even year,
along with other ECA legislative meeting and organs, with
the understanding that the Subcommittees of the Standing
Committee would meet in the alternate years. The Standing
Committee thus held its last meeting at ECA in Addis Ababa
in 1994.
20. Originally membership on the Standing Committee was
limited to the 30-odd ECA sponsored institutions. However,
in 1989 the membership was enlarged at the request of a
number of African organizations to include any subregional
or regional institution in Africa with an interest in
standardizing its documentation and information activities.
In 1993, out of concern for the importance of the issues
that the Standing Committee deals with, the Regional
Technical Committee for PADIS further enlarged the
membership basis of the Standing Committee to include any
institution, - whether operating at national, subregional
or regional level, - with an interest in normalization of
its information system. Hence, in addition to member
States the Standing Committee is composed of 50 PADIS
subregional and regional participating centres. The list
of subregional and regional institutional participating
centres is attached in annex.
21. The Standing Committee is a forum for information
professionals to discuss common problems, exchange
experiences and ideas, harmonize activities and standardize
working procedures and methods between information and
documentation systems. At its meetings they look for
appropriate and realistic strategies which will enable them
to develop and promote information exchange mechanisms
capable of contributing to the dissemination of science and
technology, the development of African countries and
African economic integration. One particularly important
aspect of its work has been in the area of development of
Tconversion programmes to handle different data structures
and facilitate transportability of data.
22. The following standardization subcommittees have been
established to carry out standardization work in the
framework of the Standing Committee on Harmonization and
Standardization of Documentation and Information Systems in
Africa:
Subcommittee 1: PADIS Manual for document analysis
Subcommittee 2: Selection and evaluation of criteria of
textual database programs
Subcommittee 3: Evaluation of textual database formats and
structures
Subcommittee 4: Selection and acquisition of microcomputer
hardware configurations
Subcommittee 5: Computer networking e-mail and on-line
access
Subcommittee 6: Authority files
Subcommittee 7: CD ROM
23. Work of the Standing Committee has been enhanced by
support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York which
since 1994 has been allocating funds for the activities of
the subcommittees. Hence, most of the substantive
standards from the Standing Committee were developed
through two Carnegie grants entitled: "Promoting
information exchange and compatibility in Africa".
Review of outputs of the Carnegie Grant "Promoting
information exchange and compatibility in Africa (Grant B
5965)"
24. PADIS benefited in 1994 from a grant from the Carnegie
Corporation of New York. The project which was developed
concentrated on five pressing issues which posed severe
constraints to information exchange both within the Africa
region and beyond. Three of those issues related to the
creation and utilization of databases while two fell within
the area of microcomputer hardware configurations and
electronic information exchange. Those issues were studied
and yielded results through the work of the respective
subcommittees. The project had the following outputs:
- Output 1: Guidelines on textual database
management software for use by African
institutions
- Output 2: Conversion programmes between varieties
of textual database management software
- Output 3: Report on standardization of worksheets
and manuals
- Output 4: Authority file of African institutions
- Output 5: Guidelines on communication software
for use in Africa
- Output 6: Guidelines on selection and acquisition
of microcomputer hardware configuration
25. Following the success of the activities of the above
project and the need to continue standardization activities
in the region, the Carnegie Corporation awarded a new grant
to the Economic Commission for Africa to finalize work
undertaken under Grant B5965; it was Grant B6198.
Review of outputs of the Carnegie Grant "Promoting
information exchange and compatibility in Africa (Grant B
6198)"
26. The above grant was awarded to PADIS in 1995 for a
duration of one year. In the framework of the grant,
subcommittees 1, 3 and 6 met in Cairo, Egypt, from 13-16
November 1995 with a view to reviewing:
- the manual for document analysis together with
the PADDEV automated computer program;
- the authority file program for data entry; and
- the common format for the African Development CD-
ROM.
27. The following outputs were achieved by the
subcommittees 1, 3 and 6:
- the PADDEV program which enables automatic
installation of the structure of the PADIS
main bibliographic data base under any other
name without having to go through the whole
process of data base definition, thus
facilitating data base design activities in
African information centres. The program is
specifically developed for:
a. data entry using customized worksheets;
b. automated selection of authority lists by adapting
the ODIN program;
c. index generation for purpose codes, sectoral
codes, geographic codes, author index, shelf
indexes; and
d. data export using comma delimiters by
Fangorn facilities; and
- the adoption of a common format for the
preparation of the African Development CD ROM and an
on-line regional data base to be fed with data from
member States and African institutions.
28. Work of Subcommittee 3 was further enhanced by
activities carried out in the CD ROM Subcommittee which met
from 6-8 March 1996.
Standardization of PADDEV worksheet and manual
29. The subcommittee has developed a manual for document
analysis (CDS/ISIS version) which incorporates a model
customized bibliographic database for use by African
countries and institutions. The manual includes new
customized printing facilities in the customized
bibliographic database using sort and print worksheets for
descriptors, sectoral codes and purpose codes is done.
Authority file of African institutions
30. Subcommittee 6 on Authority file produced a List of
Institutions Authority file and a Report on the Authority
file. The computerized validation program of the Authority
file (ODIN) was tested, reviewed and distributed.
Guidelines for the use of the Authority file have been
developed and are being reviewed. They will be fully
implemented once the Authority file program will be ready
for full implementation.
Data base searching via e-mail
31. The following standard was developed and reviewed by
the Subcommittee from 6-8 March 1996: Computer Program for
data base searching via e-mail.
Development of an African CD ROM on scientific, technical
and development literature and on experts
32. To be able to effectively share their information
resources, with minimum cost and appropriate technology,
African countries and institutions are putting together
their databases onto a CD ROM. The subcommittee on CD ROM
met from 6-8 March 1996, and adopted the format for the CD
ROM as well as conditions for participation in the first
African development information CD ROM.
Annex
LIST OF OFFICIAL INSTITUTIONAL PARTICIPATING CENTRES
IN THE PADIS NETWORK
8 May 1996
1. African Accountancy Council/AAC
C/O UNDP Kinshasa
Kinshasa, Zaire
2. African Development Bank/ADB
BP 1387
Abidjan 01, Cte d'Ivoire
3. African Institute for Economic Development and
Planning/IDEP
P. O. Box 3186
Dakar, Senegal
4. African Regional Centre for Engineering Design and
Manufacturing/ARCEDEM
P. O. Box 19, U.I. Post Office
Ibadan, Nigeria
5. African Regional Centre for Technology/ARCT
P. O. Box 2435
Dakar, Senegal
6. African Regional Industrial Property
Organization/ARIPO
P. O. Box 4228
Harare, Zimbabwe
7. African Regional Organization for Standardization/ARSO
P. O. Box 54363
Nairobi, Kenya
8. African Regional Remote Sensing Centre/ARRSC
P. O. Box 240
Bamako, Mali
9. African Training and Research Centre in
Administration for Development/CAFRAD
BP 310
Pavillon International
Tanger, Maroc
10. Arab Organization for Agricultural Development/AOD
Khartoum
Sudan
11. Arab League Documentation Centre
ALDOC
Tahrir Square
P. O. Box 11642
Cairo, Egypt
12. Association of African Trade Promotion
Organizations/AATPO
P. O. Box 23
Tanger, Morocco
13. Association of African Universities/AAU
P. O. Box 5744
Accra North, Ghana
14. Centre International des Civilisations Bantu/CICIBA
BP 770
Libreville, Gabon
15. Centre on Integrated Rural Development for
Africa/CIRDAFRICA
P. O. Box 6115
Arusha, Tanzania
16. Centre regional d'nergie solaire/CRES
BP 1872
Bamako, Mali
17. Centre Regional d'Information et de
Documentation Commerciales/CRIC
20 BP 1246
Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
18. Commission du Bassin du Lac Tchad/CBLT
BP 727
N'Djamona, Tchad
19. Communaute Economique des Pays des Grands Lacs/CEPGL
BP 58
Gisenyi, Rwanda
20. Council for the Development of Economic and
Social Research in Africa/CODESRIA
BP 3304
Dakar, Senegal
21. Eastern and Southern African Mineral Resources
Development Centre/ESAMRDC
P. O. Box 1250
Dodoma, Tanzania
22. Eastern and Southern African Management
Institute/ESAMI
P. O. Box 3030
Arusha, Tanzania
23. Eastern and Southern African Universities
Research Programme/ESAURP
P. O. Box 35048
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
24. Economic Community of Central African States/ECCAS
P. O. Box 2112
Libreville, Gabon
25. Federation of African Chambers of Commerce
P. O. Box 3001
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
26. International Government Authority on Drought and
Development/IGADD
P. O. Box 2653
Djibouti
27. International Centre for Insect Physiology/ICIPE
P. O. Box 30772
Nairobi, Kenya
28. International Energy Foundation/IEF
P. O. Box 83617 Main Post Office
Tripoli, Libya
29. International Livestock Centre for Africa/ILCA
P. O. Box 5689
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
30. Institut sous-regional multisectoriel de technologie
appliquee de planification et d'evaluation de
projets/ISTA
BP 3910
Libreville, Gabon
31. Institut de Formation et de Recherches
Demographiques/IFORD
BP 1556
Yaounde, Cameroon
33. Organisation Africaine de la Propriete
Intellectuelle/OAPI
BP 887
Yaounde, Cameroun
32. Organisation du Bassin de la Kagera/OBK
BP 567
Kigali, Rwanda
34. Pan African Institute for Development/PAID
01 BP 1756
Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso
35. Pan African News Agency/PANA
BP 4056
Dakar, Senegal
36. Pan-African Postal Union/PAPU
P. O. Box 6026
Arusha, Tanzania
37. Pan African Union for Science and Technology/PUST
BP 2339
Brazzaville, Congo
38. Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern
African States/PTA
P. O. Box 30051
Lusaka, Zambia
39. Regional Centre for Training in Aerospace
Surveys/RECTAS
P. O. Box 5545
Ile-Ife, Nigeria
41. Regional Centre for Services in Surveying Mapping
and Remote Sensing/RCSSMRS
P. O. Box 18118
Nairobi, Kenya
40. Regional Institue for Population Studies/RIPS
P. O. Box 96
Acrra, Ghana
42. Southern African Institute for Political and
Economic Studies/SAPES
P. O. Box MP 111, Mount Pleasant
Harare, Zimbabwe
43. Union Douani
re et Economique des Etats de
l'Afrique Centrale/UDEAC
BP 872
Bangui, Republique Centrafricaine
44. Women Research and Documentation Project/WRDP
University of Dar es Salaam
P. O. Box 35108
Dar es Salaam
Tanzania
45. Reseau Africain pour le Developpement Integre
(RADI)
BP 12085
Dakar
Senegal
Tel: 25 55 47
Fax: 25 55 64
Email RADI GEO2
46 Agence Panafricaine d'Etudes et de Consultations
(APEC)
BP 12022
Dakar
Senegal
Tel: 25 55 62/63
Fax: 25 55 64
47 Development Innovations and Networks (IRED)
104 Robert Mugabe Road
2nd floor, Silke House
Harare, Zimbabwe
Tel: 79 68 53
Telex: 22055 ZMMT ZW
Fax: 72 24 21
48 Service d'Appui aux Initiatives Locales de
Developpement
BP 11955
Yaounde, Cameroun
49 African Economic Research Consortium
Nairobi, Kenya
8th Floor, International House
P.O. Box 62882
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: 228057
Tel: 22480
Fax: 219308
50 Southern African Development Research Association
(SADRA)
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