An international conference with the aim to initiate an integrated regional knowledge management (KM)-based sharing of research, experiences and lessons on KM interventions in agricultural biotechnology will take off in Thailand this October.

Dubbed International Conference on Knowledge Management in Agricultural Biotechnology: The Asian Experience (KM in Agri-biotech), the conference is organized by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) together with the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), Program for Biosafety Systems (PBS), Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSP II), Center for Agricultural Biotechnology (CAB) and the Biotechnology and Biosafety Information Center of the Kasetsart University. It will convene policy makers, technology and R&D managers, scientists, knowledge managers and officers, and development planners with initiatives on agricultural biotechnology at the Rama Gardens Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand
on 1 – 2 October 2009.

The KM in Agri-biotech conference hopes to provide an avenue for key actors in biotechnology to: 1) share experiences and lessons on advocacy, dissemination, capacity building, and networking on agricultural biotechnology, as well as its application/adoption, thereby reflecting on its relevant KM schemes and frameworks in Asia; 2) get updated on KM models and practices applicable to the contemporary issues and challenges facing agriculture R&D and agri-based industries; and 3) discuss KM arrangements and identify priority and collaborative KM initiatives in agri-biotech for Asia.

The conference will feature distinctive speakers with diverse perspectives on thematic plenary sessions in KM and agricultural biotechnology, KM platforms for agri-biotech regulatory policy, capacity building, and KM networking. Small groups will discuss the relevant components of a regional collaboration on KM in agricultural biotechnology and recommend policy directions after the plenary sessions.

The KM in Agri-biotech conference will be held back-to-back with the International Conference on Socioeconomic and Environmental Impact Assessment of Biotech Crops also organized by SEARCA with ISAAA, ABSPII, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Monsanto Singapore, Pte. Ltd., and Thailand Development Research Institute, which will kick-off at the same venue from 29 – 30 September 2009.

To learn more about the conference, please visit its website at http://www.bic.searca.org/kminagbiotech/. (Rochella B. Lapitan, SEARCA BIC)

For inquiries, please contact:
Dr. Maria Celeste H. Cadiz
Manager, Knowledge Management Department
SEARCA, College, Laguna, PHILIPPINES
Telephone: (63-49) 536-2554, local 173/125
Fax: (63-49) 536-2283
E-mail: mchc@agri.searca.org

or

Ms. Jenny A. Panopio
Special Project Coordinator and BIC Network Administrator
SEARCA Biotechnology Information Center
Telephone: (63-49) 536-2290, local 406/169
Fax: (63-49) 536-4105
E-mail: jap@agri.searca.org