TECHNICAL REPORT ICTforAg 2023: Cultivating Inclusion Jawoo Kooa* and Courtney Gossb aInternational Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC, USA bDevGlobal Partners, Edmonds, WA, USA I NFO ABSTR ACT Submitted 16 December 2023 Keywords Information and Communication Technology, Capacity Sharing, Conference, Community of Practice, South-South Collaboration Flagship Co-LAB Work Package Enabling environment ICTforAg is an annual convening where agricultural stakeholders and technology experts come together to share knowledge, find solutions, and form partnerships to address challenges in agri-food systems across low- and middle-income countries. The main goal of ICTforAg is to grow communities and catalyze meaningful conversations, insights, and collaborations, increase participation of participants from the developing world, promote knowledge sharing and learning, and inspire practitioners to develop inclusive and sustainable ICT solutions. ICTforAg has a strong history since 2015 and owes its success to the contributions made by various organizations to build this community. In 2023, CGIAR and DevGlobal, in partnership with USAID Feed the Future and DAI Digital Frontiers, jointly implemented ICTforAg 2023 as a global online conference on November 7-9 with 145 speakers across 40 sessions. Out of the 2,608 individuals who registered for the event, a total of 1,778 attendees (constituting 68% of registrants) participated over the three days. In addition to the main sessions, the conference also featured the Expo, virtual exhibition space that allowed various organizations from academia, research, and the private sector to showcase their innovations interactively, the Inspire Challenge, a new Pay-for-Results program intended to increase women’s participation in digital agri-food advisory services and programs, the ICTforAg+ Satellite Events, a series of locally-led satellite events in four countries (Indonesia, Mexico, Nepal, and India), and the ICTforAg Learning Network, an online platform designed to support the collaboration amongst the global ICTforAg community of practice. Partners USAID Feed the Future, DAI, DevGlobal 1. Rationale ICTforAg is an annual convening where agricultural stakeholders and technology experts come together to share knowledge, find solutions, and form partnerships to address challenges in agri-food systems across low- and middle-income countries. The main goal of ICTforAg is to grow communities and catalyze meaningful conversations, insights, and collaborations, increase participation of participants from the developing world, promote knowledge sharing and learning, and inspire practitioners to develop inclusive and sustainable ICT solutions. ICTforAg has a strong history since 2015 and owes its success to the contributions made by various organizations to build this community. In 2019, it moved to being hosted by USAID with support from DAI and the Digital Frontiers project. For the first five years, ICTforAg events took place in Washington, DC, with 100–200 attendees annually. The COVID pandemic prompted ICTforAg to become a global online forum, with over 1,500 participants in 2020 and 3,000 in 2022. Speaker numbers also grew, from 40 in 2019 to 145 in 2022. In 2023, CGIAR and DevGlobal, in partnership with USAID Feed the Future and DAI Digital Frontiers, jointly implemented ICTforAg 2023 as a global online conference on November 7- 9. CGIAR, the world’s largest agricultural research for development organization, and DevGlobal, the world-class professional event management expert, have a track record of jointly organizing online, hybrid, and in-person events and engaging with well-recognized ICTforAg practitioners, *Corresponding author (email address: j.koo@cgiar.org). This publication has been prepared as an output of CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation, which researches pathways to accelerate the transformation towards sustainable and inclusive agrifood systems by generating research-based evidence and innovative digital solutions. This publication has not been independently peer- reviewed. Any opinions expressed here belong to the author(s) and are not necessarily representative of or endorsed by CGIAR. In line with principles defined in CGIAR's Open and FAIR Data Assets Policy, this publication is available under a CC BY 4.0 license. © The copyright of this publication is held by IFPRI, in which the Initiative lead resides. We thank all funders who supported this research through their contributions to CGIAR Trust Fund. Koo, Jawoo; and Goss, Courtney. 2023. ICTforAg 2023: Cultivating inclusion. Digital Innovation Technical Note. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 14p. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/137366 TECHNICAL REPORT 2 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital academics, researchers, and service providers and users in both public and private sectors, including smallholder farmers, across low and middle-income countries. Both organizations are committed to growing ICTforAg communities and catalyzing meaningful conversations, insights, and collaborations. 2. Progress Since the inception in January 2023, CGIAR and DevGlobal worked closely with DAI and USAID to design and deliver the ICTforAg 2023 as a global online event. Detailed activities during the reporting period are presented below. 2.1. Management and Obligations Regular meetings of the ICTforAg team members from CGIAR, DevGlobal, DAI, and USAID were held to update on key activities, roles of each member, and expected actions throughout the reporting period. Contractual obligations were discussed during the meetings in January-February, including a two-day hybrid workshop held in Washington, DC, on February 22-23, to ensure clarity of expectations. With goals to grow communities and catalyze meaningful conversations, insights, and collaborations and increase the participation of participants from low and middle-income countries, strengthen knowledge sharing and shared learning, and inspire practitioners to develop inclusive and sustainable ICT solutions, CGIAR and DevGlobal agreed on the following desired outcomes from the 2023 ICTforAg and subsequent events over the next several years: · Local digital ecosystems (e.g., policymakers, investors, service providers, practitioners, and users) are strengthened to invest and deliver impactful, inclusive, and sustainable ICTforAg solutions. · New innovative ICTforAg projects and collaborative partnerships are developed. · Small-scale producers benefit from more localized, gender-responsive, and affordable ICT services becoming available in the local digital ecosystem. Building on a flexible collaboration model to meet the needs and execute the ICTforAg conferences, CGIAR and DevGlobal agreed the following terms of reference: · CGIAR will focus on the overall program strategy, planning, and management; funder and donor relations, including but not limited to financial management and mechanisms; cross CGIAR Centers relations and local engagement connected to CGIAR Centers and Research Initiatives and Programs. · DevGlobal will focus on technical event management; establishing public-private sector partnerships; overall logistics, management of programs, and coordination with event production teams. Additionally, the following summarizes DevGlobal’s scope of work for the 2023 ICTforAg in more detail: · Overall Project Management & Event Strategy - Weekly project communications, meeting coordination and facilitation, workback schedule development and management. - Vendor sourcing and management. - Risk mitigation planning. - Project reconciliation: Budget reconciliation, project archival. - Development of event name, tagline, theme, goals, objectives, and outcomes. - Agenda planning and scheduling. - Event format recommendations - Long-term strategy planning (beyond 2024 event) · Speaker and Attendee Management - Manage speaker communications after initial outreach by CGIAR, DAI and/or USAID (event details, rehearsals, webinar links, etc.) - Manage all communications with attendees - Track all speaker and attendee details (via AirTable and/or chosen registration platform) - Prep speakers – technical training, best practices for a virtual event, etc. - Talent management (emcee/moderator) · Sponsorship planning and procurement - Develop sponsorship tiers and plan - Create all necessary sponsorship documentation and collateral - Manage sponsor communications after initial outreach by CGIAR, DAI and/or USAID - Collect and manage sponsor donations · Communications - Development of communications plan - Copy writing/editing - Email design - Social media content creation TECHNICAL REPORT 3 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital - Survey creation, facilitation, and analysis (e.g., post event and in-session support for speakers) - Management of event email (attendee/speaker correspondence) · Creative Development - Brand development workshop · Graphic design - Email headers (one per event) - Social media posters (one per event) - Assets required by virtual platforms - Event branded PPT template · Video and motion design - :10 - :15 second motion opening video - :05 motion closing video - Transition/wipe - Lower thirds · Technical Pre-Production - Determine virtual event requirements and provide the recommendation for online platform. - Configure platform(s) including all design and technical deliverables - Produce all production documentation (ROS, technical diagrams, storyboards, production schedule, etc.) - Contingency/mitigation plan 2.2. Preparatory Phase (February-May) Initial discussions involved setting up the series of regular check-in meetings; tentative dates of the 2023 ICTforAg while ensuring no major conflicts with CGIAR and USAID events and other conferences with similar ICTforAg-related themes; possible plans on re-engagement of the communities engaged in previous events; communication strategies to announce the 2023 ICTforAg via different social media platforms; and potential rebranding of ICTforAg. Sharing of information from past (2020, 2021, 2022) ICTforAg events provided by USAID and DAI were valuable in learning the past themes, agenda, speakers, list of participants, and other relevant information in the planning of the 2023 conference. A hybrid two-day kickoff workshop was held on February 22- 23 in IFPRI, Washington DC. The main objective of the kickoff meeting was to develop concrete workplans and responsibilities of each partner. A schedule of regular meetings was agreed upon to ensure joint development of activities, targets, and monthly milestones. Discussions during the meetings revolved on potential main themes and sessions, Figure 1 Brand guidelines (logo and the color scheme) (Source: Roslyn Hyde) TECHNICAL REPORT 4 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital potential keynote speakers, and the range of participants (i.e., researchers, academia, government, local actors, developers, private sector, farmers, youth), the establishment of advisory committee, drafting the conference logo and tagline (Figure 1), and other logistical concerns including which online conference platform (e.g., Zoom vs. Teams), survey tools, publicizing the announcement of 2023 ICTforAg, ideating the new Inspire Challenge, and the online exhibition booths. During the subsequent meetings during this period, the main theme of the 2023 event was decided as “Cultivating Inclusion,” highlighting the role of ICT in benefiting all agricultural actors inclusively and sustainably. Three thematic areas, or tracks, were designed as the following: · Inclusion: Critically review technology solutions through the lens of gender and social inclusion. Sessions will highlight the policies, strategies, and other enabling considerations that can lead to the inclusive digital ecosystem · Innovation: Explore innovative digital technology solutions that are available in agri-food systems in the developing world. Sessions will delve into cutting-edge research, technologies, and approaches that are scaling while overcoming adoption barriers. · Inspiration: Share inspiring real-world examples, showcasing both success and lessons-learned stories from around the world, highlighting the potential of digital technology to drive positive changes in the agri-food sector. 2.3. Launch Event On June 15, 2023, the ICTforAg 2023 Launch Event was held online to announce the main event dates, discuss the event theme, “Cultivating Inclusion,” and a fireside chat with one of the headlining keynote speakers. Detailed program of the launch event is the following: · Overview of the ICTforAg and the announcement of the main event dates · Welcome message from CGIAR’s Executive Director · Panel discussion on “Cultivating Inclusion” · Interactive sessions on the audience survey of internet speed and AI-generated session ideas · Fireside chat between one of the main event keynote speakers, Kentaro Toyama (University of Michigan) on the role of ICT in agriculture in the age of A.I., and David Spielman, Director, Innovation Policy and Scaling, Figure 2 Screenshot of the ICTforAg 2023 Launch Event TECHNICAL REPORT 5 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital Transformation Strategies (TS), IFPRI. · Introducing the Inspire Challenge and other ways to get involved. The 1-hour online event was attended by 245 people (registered 779). The recording of the announcement event was posted to YouTube (Figure 2; https://youtu.be/fuStaJFNNUg), embedded in the ICTforAg website (https://ictforag.com/session/ictforag- 2023-launch-event). 2.4. Development Phase (July-October) The planning team maintained close communications throughout the development phase to develop the agenda and contents, while making efforts to increase the number of registrants through communications and outreach efforts. Highlights include: · Online assets, including the ICTforAg.com domain, contact@ictforag.com email address, and the website, were transferred from DAI to CGIAR’s Amazon Web Services account in July 2023. · Registration started in August along with the new ICTforAg website. Initial registration of 164 participants in August rose to 2,608 in November. About 70% of the attendees registered within 3 weeks of the event. Out of the registrants, 30% were female while 68% were male (Figure 3). The majority (52%) of the participants were in the age bracket of 30-45 years old followed by youth (15-29 years old) at 24% (Figure 2). The primary occupation of the participants was presented in Table 1. Most of the participants came from consultancy agencies (19%) followed by research/academics and international non- government organizations, both at 15% each. · Agenda development started in August through the Call for Sessions online form. To accommodate the diverse nature of content types and formats, three session types were developed: keynotes, breakouts, and lightning talks. Total of 40 sessions was developed in the agenda with 145 speakers . Total accumulated number of session attendance reached 6,020 over the three-day period. · Youth engagement was an important factor in the agenda development. Based on the lessons learned from the Youth Ambassador program in the ICTforAg 2022 (e.g., Youth Ambassadors were mainly used for campaigning on social media and facilitating sessions), the planning team actively engaged with youth by recruiting the leader of the 2022 Youth Ambassador program, Femi Adekoya, as a planning Figure 3 Gender composition of the ICTforAg 2023 participants Figure 4 Age disaggregation of the ICTforAg 2023 participants Primary Occupation Percentage (%) Consultancy 19 Donor agencies 5 Extension service 9 Financial institution 1 Food service/retailer 1 Government agency 5 Input supplier 2 Media/marketing 1 Multilateral 1 Int’l Non-government organization (NGO) 15 Local NGO 6 Processor 2 Producer/famer 8 Research/academic 15 Startup 9 Trader/wholesaler 1 Table 1 Primary occupation (%) of ICTforAg 2023 participants TECHNICAL REPORT 6 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital team member and co-created youth-focused sessions where young farmers, food value-chain actors, and data scientists share their experiences applying ICT in agriculture and share learnings. 2.5. Main Event (November) To cater to a global audience hailing from over 100 countries, the ICTforAg 2023 event was strategically scheduled across various global time zones. The event spanned three days, with the following schedule (presented in Eastern Standard Time): · Day 1: Tuesday, November 7, from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM. · Day 2: Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, November 7-8, from 10:00 PM to 5:30 AM. · Day 3: Thursday, November 9, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The event featured a total of 145 speakers, of whom 43% were women, and encompassed 40 sessions. This included 11 keynote presentations and 6 lightning talk sessions. Out of the 2,608 individuals who registered for the event, a total of 1,778 attendees (constituting 68% of registrants) participated over the three days. These participation metrics are on par with or exceed those of the ICTforAg 2022 event, where 1,955 attendees (52% of registrants) participated. The top four countries in terms of attendance were Nigeria (26%), the United States (14%), India (9%), Kenya (4%), and Mexico (3%) (Figure 5). In addition to the main sessions, the conference also featured a unique segment called the Expo. This virtual exhibition space allowed various organizations from academia, research, and the private sector to showcase their innovations interactively. The Expo was designed to foster connections between solution providers, thinkers, and ideas with an engaged audience, all facilitated through virtual booths. Over 50 exhibitors participated in this engaging component of the ICTforAg 2023 event. Analyzing the average number of attendees by session start time and type showed some high-level insights to help develop agenda for the ICTforAg 2024 (Figure 6). Figure 5 Number of attendees by country TECHNICAL REPORT 7 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital Figure 6 Average number of attendees by start time of day (EST) and the session type Figure 7 Graphic used in the post-event email campaign to the attendees, capturing some of the selfies uploaded. TECHNICAL REPORT 8 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital · Breakout Sessions have a relatively consistent attendance throughout the day, with a range typically below 100 attendees. The sessions start as early as 2:00 AM for Europe, Africa, and Asia, and continue until 3:30 PM for U.S. There's a slight increase observed around 2:00 PM, indicating a potentially more favorable time slot or a topic of greater interest. · Keynote Sessions: The Keynote category shows a very pronounced peak, with the highest average attendance by a significant margin occurring at 7:45 AM. This suggests that the keynote session held at this time attracted the most interest compared to other sessions. · Lightning Talks: These are shorter sessions indicated by the orange bars, with a relatively consistent attendance of about 50 to just over 100 attendees. 2.6. Post-Event (November-December) In the week following the ICTforAg 2023 event, a sequence of emails was dispatched to all participants. These emails expressed gratitude for their participation and provided information regarding access to session recordings (Figure 7). Initially, these recordings are available on the Zoom platform until December 31, 2023. After this date, they will be accessible via the conference website. A separate, personalized email was sent to the speakers, extending special thanks for their contributions and offering them the option to receive session participation metrics. Post-event, the regular weekly meetings have resumed. Notably, two meetings were dedicated specifically to the planning team’s reflection and feedback. These discussions are centered on evaluating the aspects of the event that were successful, identifying areas for improvement, and outlining action steps and future strategies. Additionally, all session recordings have been uploaded to the conference’s YouTube channel, which can be found at https://www.youtube.com/ channel/UC_USVAit1Sv8zEtNheHizpw, and are also embedded on the conference website at https:// www.ictforag.com/sessions/?_sft_event=ictforag-2023. The process of producing and organizing these presentations and recordings is currently ongoing, further enhancing the accessibility of the event's valuable content. 3. Problems Encountered and Solutions The ICTforAg team encountered several problems throughout the reporting period. The followings document those problems and how they were resolved. 3.1. Low registration numbers The ICTforAg team enhanced communication efforts, employing a multi-faceted approach that included robust social media and email marketing campaigns, to increase the registration numbers. These efforts were augmented by targeted engagement in key ICT community forums, such as ICTworks, Agrilinks, and D4Ag, as well as through various mailing lists, including those of ICTforAg, CGIAR, and the Feed the Future Innovation Labs. An additional effective strategy involved actively promoting the roster of confirmed speakers across both the event website and various social media channels. These concerted efforts paid off, as evidenced by the significant increase in registration numbers, elevating them to levels comparable to those seen in previous years. This uptick in participation underscores the success of the team’s comprehensive and strategic communication initiatives. 3.2. Lack of interests in watch parties During the planning stage (July 2023), stakeholders in India expressed disinterest in hosting or attending watch parties due to the language, time zone, and contents not necessarily relevant to the local ICT community. Instead, there was a desire for an in-person, locally-led event at a local venue with more locally-relevant contents at a convenient time zone for their time zone. We validated similar demands in other regions. To address this, the ICTforAg global planning team developed a plan to organize the ICTforAg+ satellite event series. The ICTforAg+ event is a half-day in-person local gathering of ICTforAg community members. Organized by local hosts supported by the ICTforAg global planning team, these events are designed to provide insights into the ICTforAg theme of Cultivating Inclusion, but with locally Table 2 The trend of the total number of registration information submitted through the online form by date. TECHNICAL REPORT 9 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital appropriate sessions, speakers and languages. The global planning team created what is called an “Event-in-a-Box” toolkit so that all ICTforAg+ events could utilize the consistent ICTforAg branding, materials, and agenda strategies. To date, three satellite events have been successfully organized in Indonesia, Mexico, and Nepal; another event in India is scheduled to take place in late December 2023. 3.3. Too many session and speaker submissions This year, in an effort to inclusively accommodate the interests of the global ICTforAg community, the planning team adopted a comprehensive approach by accepting nearly all speaker and session submissions. These submissions were thoughtfully organized into two distinct categories: breakout sessions, each lasting up to one hour, and lightning talks, which were concise, 10-minute presentations. This inclusive strategy allowed for a wide array of speakers to cover diverse topics spanning multiple levels of the ICT ecosystem. However, this approach significantly stretched the planning team's resources, as they were required to provide extensive technical support and moderation across the multitude of sessions, spanning three days across multiple time zones. Recognizing the challenges encountered, next year’s strategy will involve a more selective process in determining the agenda. This approach aims to balance the richness of content with the logistical feasibility of the event, ensuring a focused and well-supported experience for both speakers and attendees. 3.4. Online platform issues Three significant issues occurred while executing the main event on Zoom. 1) Inaccessibility to the platform using Zoom Government accounts: While Zoom did guarantee that Zoom Government accounts would have no issues using Zoom Live Events, unforeseen authentication problems occur for some of Zoom Government account holders unable to access the platform. We worked with Zoom’s technical support team to troubleshoot, but the root cause was not fully identified. In the future, the planning team will do additional testing to make sure this does not happen again with any of our chosen technologies. For 2024, we will work to find a solution or we will not use Zoom for the upcoming hybrid experience. 2) Nonfunctional live translation feature: A number of attendees reported that Zoom’s automated translations did not work. We worked with Zoom’s technical support team to troubleshoot, but the root cause was not fully identified. We need to test and send better directions out to all attendees before the event begins if there are software requirements for a certain part of the technology to work. For 2024, we will work to guarantee a solution for the translation issue before the next event or we will not use Zoom for the hybrid experience in 2024. 3) Losing access to the backend after the event: After the event, Zoom merged multiple CGIAR accounts, including the one used for ICTforAg, into an organizational account. Although Zoom previously assured there would be no issue in user contents and experiences, this merge operation caused multiple Zoom account holders lose the access to the platform and previously created contents altogether. After three weeks of troubleshooting efforts, the event team finally was able to recover the recorded contents. This incident will be considered when the event team select an online platform for future events. 3.5. Low engagement with advisory committee members The planning team convened three online meetings with advisory committee members throughout the development phase, yet the overall participation and engagement with the committee members remained low. For the 2024 event, the core planning team will individually approach advisory committee members to re-engage them and hear their feedback. 4. Success Stories In addition to the successful key metrics in the event registration and participation (i.e., 2,608 total registered; 1,778 total attended; 68% of registered attended; 45 Expo booths with 169 visits; 145 speakers), the planning team implemented the following additional activities alongside the main event, proactively responding to the ICTforAg community’s feedback and desires from the past events. 4.1. The Inspire Challenge To support the ICTforAg community’s effort to practice “Cultivating Inclusion” and bridge the gender digital divide, CGIAR and DevGlobal launched the Inspire Challenge as a new Pay-for-Results program intended to increase women’s participation in digital agri-food advisory services and programs. Through the Challenge focusing on digital gender inclusion, two objectives in the Inspire Challenge program are 1) to incentivize selected digital agri-food services and programs to improve gender balance in their current operations and 2) to share the learning of applying the Pay-for TECHNICAL REPORT 10 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital -Results approach to address complex ICTforAg challenges in the developing world. Through the online application process that gathered 334 organizational applicants and 80 submissions, five winners, or Challengers, were chosen to be given six months to achieve the gender inclusion goal. Three selection criteria were 1) readiness (e.g., the size and type of the business model to ensure it has reached a certain size of end-users, critically including producers/farmers), 2) innovative approaches (e.g., the innovativeness of proposed methods to achieve the goal in terms of their feasibility, creativity, and sustainability), and 3) verifiability (e.g., a credible, robust, and third party-verifiable track record of user profiles that include identity, gender, and contact information for the changes). Out of the 80 applications, the following 16 were shortlisted: African Youth Agriprenuers Platform, Agroconsultas, BILANGA, Climate Smart Coffee, Cropfix by eAgro, Empowering Women Farmers of Nepal: Super Krishak's Digital Initiative, Farm2Go, Farmer.Chat, Inclusión de la mujer como soporte en el agronegocio cafetero, Mobile Vaani Agritech for Women, Nampya Farmers Market, Project FarmSpeak Technology, Sauti East Africa, SiembraCo, Wombees, and the women-led agriHUBS. The shortlisted applications were invited to showcase their innovations at Expo, and these were reviewed by a panel of judges representing expertise on gender, human-centered design, and ICT throughout the ICTforAg main event. On November 8, the last day of the main ICTforAg event, five Inspire Challengers were announced by Khuloud Odeh (Executive Director, CGIAR): 1) Climate Smart Coffee by Sprout for its focused value proposition addressing a well-defined need of increasing climate resilience and improving gender inclusion by using design thinking tools. 2) Agroconsultas for its clear plan for engaging more women, both in terms of users and experts, and for collecting gender disaggregated data. 3) Wombees (Women for Bees) by LetsEndorse Development for its potential to provide tailored services and information to women beekeepers and increase their climate resilience. 4) Inclusión de la mujer como soporte en el agronegocio cafetero by Innovakit for its innovative, reputation-based financial inclusion program, and its potential to scale and serve more women coffee farmers. 5) Farm2Go by World Food Programme (WFP) for its proven ability to empower smallholder farmers, especially marginalized groups like women, by opening up new digital marketplaces. All Challengers are provided with a suite of technical support options, including human-centered design workshops, consultative meetings, and learning grants of up to 20,000 USD. If the goal is achieved, each Challenger will be eligible to receive the final prize of 30,000 USD in 2024. The prizes are sponsored by the following programs and organizations: · CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation sponsors two of the Challengers focusing on accelerating the transformation of agrifood systems using innovative, gender-responsive digital solutions. · CGIAR Initiative on Diversification in East and Southern Africa, also known as Ukama Ustawi, sponsors one of the Challengers focuses on a digital solution that aims to address gender digital divide and food and nutrition security risks in East and Southern African countries. · CGIAR AgriLAC Resiliente Initiative sponsors one of the Challengers focuses on a digital solution that aims to increase the resilience, sustainability and competitiveness of Latin American and Caribbean agrifood systems. · USAID Feed the Future sponsors one of the Challengers focuses on a digital solution that aims to address gender, climate change, and nutrition. The planning team anticipates the successful journey of five Challengers’ effort to increase women’s participation in the ICTforAg services will generate valuable lessons-learned and inspire others to make further efforts to bridge the gender digital divide. 4.2. ICTforAg+ Satellite Events In addition to the online global event, a series of locally-led satellite events were organized in three countries: Indonesia, Mexico, and Nepal. The fourth one in India will take place in late December. Branded as ICTforAg+, each of these events was organized as a half-day in-person local gathering of ICTforAg community with locally appropriate sessions, speakers and languages. Complementary to the global ICTforAg event, these locally- led satellite events were designed to provide an inclusive opportunity for local participants to engage with their peers in TECHNICAL REPORT 11 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital the vibrant local digital ecosystem and also connect with the global community. All ICTforAg+ events followed the same goal (i.e., to share knowledge, find solutions, and form partnerships to address challenges in agri-food systems), overarching theme (i.e., Cultivating Inclusion), and theme of three sessions (i.e., Inspiration, Innovation, and Inclusion). Within each theme, the local organizer will be responsible for selecting the most locally appropriate specific session topic, format, and speakers/panelists. Contents from the global event can be utilized with the added screen captions in a local language as needed. In each location, local CGIAR staff played the main convening role, in close coordination with partnering local organizations. Each local host was provided with an “Event in a Box” toolkit with customizable communication and branding templates for the coherent design of event. Additionally, the local host was given access to the ICTforAg website, online community platform, and other shared services that can help organize the event, communicate with the audience, and connect with global audience. ICTforAg+ Indonesia The national ICTforAg event on October 9, 2023, was organized as a complementary activity to the global ICTforAg 2023, co-organized by CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation, International Rice Research Institute, and Badan Standardisasi Instrumen Pertanian (Agricultural Instruments Standardization Agency). The event was opened by Jawoo Koo (IFPRI), followed by a pre-recorded fireside chat of Kentaro Toyoma (University of Michigan) from the launch event. There were two local presenters for each of ICTforAg three main tracks (i.e., Inspiration, Innovation, and Inclusion). An open discussion followed the presentations for each track. Sheetal Sharma (IRRI) closed the program with a vote of thanks. A total of 88 in-person (42% women; Figure 5) and 60 online attendees from the academe, development agency, government (national and provincial), non-government organizations, and private sector joined the event. Majority of the participants were from the Indonesian government agencies (69% national and 17% provincial). ICTforAg+ Mexico (LATAM) As part of the organization of ICTforAg, a Latin American chapter of the event was held at the headquarters of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Texcoco, Mexico, on November 8, 2023, coinciding with the global online event. A total of 49 in- person (33% women; Figure 6) participants from the academe, development agency, government (national and provincial), non-government organizations, and private sector participated the event. The non-government organizations (NGOs) were well-represented at 57% followed by the private sector at 24% during the event. ICTforAg+ Nepal ICTforAg+ Nepal took place 30 November at Kathmandu, Nepal. The one-day event served as a reminder of the transformative power of technology in transforming traditional practices and guiding agriculture towards a more efficient, resilient, and prosperous future. The event brought together different stakeholders of digital innovation actors including Senior government officials, specialists, startups, ICT Figure 8 Participants of the ICTforAg+ in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 9, 2023 Figure 9 Participants of the ICTforAg+ LATAM, CIMMYT campus, Texcoco, Mexico, November 8, 2023. TECHNICAL REPORT 12 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital enthusiasts, policy influencers and development practitioners together to discuss how and chalk out plans to advance Nepal’s digital agri-food systems landscape benefiting farmers. · Introducing the conference, Satish Nagaraji (CIMMYT), emphasized the need for the inclusive and responsible digital innovations for Nepal’s agri-food system. · The E-Governance Commission CEO, Dipesh Bista was the keynote speaker for the event. He stated that the commission is eager to convert all the public services from manual to digital so that they are more effective and accessible. Thapa also spoke on the e-governance commission’s digital transformation effort, which aims to update and alter Nepal’s digital policies. Additionally, he disclosed that they intend to design a blueprint for Nepal’s agricultural industry. · Judith Almodovar, Deputy Director of the USAID Economic Growth Office, expressed that the event served as a platform for the stakeholders to understand the status of digital innovations in Nepal and also to deliberate the issues and challenges. In her last remarks, she also mentioned and commended some of the ICT for Agriculture accomplishments made possible by the Nepal Seed and Fertilizer Project. · Dyutiman Choudhary, the CIMMYT Representative for Nepal, concluded the event by stating that digital agriculture is a major component and will play a significant role in the NSAF’s operations in the upcoming year and that Nepal is actively working to integrate ICT in agriculture. The event also heard international experiences from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Rama Devi, Director, Emerging Technology Wing, Government of Telangana, India shared how the policy of Telangana government and their initiatives are inclusive. Senior government representatives from Nepal and India, tech experts from Latin America, India, and Africa and private tech companies in Nepal presented on their experiences developing agricultural technology. Government representatives from National Soil Science Research Centre, Soil Quality Control Centre and Department of Agriculture were present demonstrating Nepal’s dedication to using technology to promote agriculture. Their participation and encouragement confirmed the government’s commitment to using ICT solutions to strengthen agricultural practices nationwide and empower farmers. ICTforAg+ India Following the ICTforAg+ satellite events in Indonesia, Mexico, and Nepal, Hyderabad is set to host the ICTforAg+ India on December 19, 2023. Hosted by the Government of Telangana’s Emerging Technology wing and the CGIAR initiative on Digital Innovation, the ICTforAg+ India event Figure 10 Photo from the ICTforAg+ Nepal event on November 30, 2023. TECHNICAL REPORT 13 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital will be held at T-Hub, Hyderabad, the world’s largest innovation incubator. 4.3. ICTforAg Learning Network As a response to the global ICTforAg community’s desire to continue conversations and collaborations outside of the events, CGIAR soft-launched the ICTforAg Learning Network (Figure 11; https://co-lab.cgiar.org/home) as an online platform with the following four main features: · Collaborative Space – Engage with peers across the global south to responsibly ideate, innovate, validate and scale digital innovations · Innovation Showcase – Explore the digital innovations from the global south that are designed to transform the agrifood systems · Digital Evidence Clearing House – Ask Digital Innovation Navigation Assistant (DINA) to search across 856 research-based resources · Learning Network – Improve your digital skills through online & WhatsApp based courses and connect with mentors to cultivate context-driven innovations The ICTforAg Learning Network was demoed at the Expo during the conference, and it will be first used as the main platform for the five Inspire Challengers to connect and learn from mentors and other community members. The Network will officially launch in early 2024. 5. Scalable Best Practices The ICTforAg 2023 showcased a range of innovative practices that contributed to its success. These practices, rooted in strong collaboration, effective project management, and inclusive communication strategies, can serve as scalable models for future ICTforAg events and other similar conferences. This section details these best practices, offering insights into their implementation and potential for scalability. Figure 11 Screenshot of the ICTforAg Learning Network, Co-LAB (https://co-lab.cgiar.org). TECHNICAL REPORT 14 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital · Collaborative Framework: Highly collaborative meetings and collegial team efforts (e.g., regular team meetings, including weekly all-team readouts, fostered a collaborative environment) ensured that everyone was aligned and could contribute effectively to the project’s success. Involving the graphic design team early and throughout the project was one of the key success factors. This inclusion ensured that the visual and thematic elements were consistently and effectively integrated. · Project Management Excellence: The organized and thorough project management approach, including a clear workback schedule and regular communication channels, was instrumental. This ensured that tasks were completed on time and team members were always informed. · Communication Strategies: Consistent and clear communication through weekly cadence of meetings and emails, combined with clear agendas and action items, facilitated effective communication. This regularity and clarity in communication were pivotal in keeping the team aligned and focused. Centralized email communications using a central email address (contact@ictforag.com) for communications streamlined external interactions and helped maintain consistency in messaging. · Certificates of Participation: Through the Zoom Digital Certificates service (https://marketplace.zoom.us/apps/ XTT6lpFMRtitG1tlVisqmQ), Certificates of Participation (Figure 12) were issued to 60 attendees who requested them and were confirmed to have actively engaged in the conference sessions. · Session and Speaker Management: The coordination of speakers and sessions was meticulously managed, ensuring diverse and engaging content. The website and social media platforms were effectively used to communicate with participants and disseminate information, contributing significantly to the event’s outreach. · Branding and Aesthetic Appeal: The event’s branding, including its color scheme, graphics, and overall aesthetic, was highly praised. This attention to visual details enhanced the overall participant experience. The "Cultivating Inclusion" theme resonated well with the audience, and its consistent integration across various elements of the conference was effective. · Diversity and Inclusion: The diversity of speakers, including the inclusion of young scientists, added depth and perspective to the discussions. Actively integrating the theme of inclusion not only in the discussions but also in the operational aspects of the conference exemplified a commitment to diversity. · Technological Integration: The selection of appropriate technology platforms for sessions and communications, such as the efficient management of email chains and tech checks for speakers, played a crucial role in the smooth execution of the event. · Exhibition Management: The Expo section allowed participants to showcase their products and innovations, creating a space for additional engagement and learning. Figure 12 A sample Digital Certificate issued to a participant whose participation has been verified through the Zoom event platform. TECHNICAL REPORT 15 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital Appendix 1. Weblinks to the video recordings published on YouTube 1. Keynotes · Agricultural Development in the Age of AI - Kentaro Toyama, University of Michigan School of Information - Dina Esposito, USAID - Femi Adekoya, Integrated Aerial Precision · State of the Digital Agriculture Sector: Harnessing the Po- tential of Digital for Impact Across Agricultural Value Chains in Low- and Middle-Income Countries - Katerina Kotenko, Beanstalk AgTech - Jessica Gimenes Tambalo, Beanstalk AgTech - Hemendra Mathur, Beanstalk AgTech - David Saunders, Briter Bridges - Justin Ahmed, Beanstalk AgTech - Claude Migisha, Beanstalk AgTech - Josh Woodard, USAID · Cultivating inclusion through citizen science in water man- agement. Biomonitoring and digital innovations - case stories from southern Africa - Jim Taylor, University of KwaZuu-Natal · Powering the Mechanization Revolution in Smallholder Agriculture with AI - Jenny Walton, IFPRI HarvestPlus CGIAR - Robert Haidari, Hello Tractor - Vivek Sakhrani, Atlast Al · Digital Initiatives in Agriculture Sector in Telangana (India) - Jayesh Ranjan, ITE&C Department, Government of Telangana · Empowering Rural Communities Using Technology Solu- tions - Priyanka Singh, Reliance Foundation · Breaking silos in digital development: Guidance for devel- opment practitioners in agriculture, resilience, nutrition, and WSSH - Tao Platt, Genesis Analytics - Chloe von Widdern, Genesis Analytics · Innovating for food value chains with the private, not for profit and advisory sector: A few lessons learnt along the way - Christele Delbe, Chad Advisory · Empowering livestock farmers in small and middle income countries with artificial intelligence and digital tools - Adegbola Adesogan, University of Florida · Digital transformation of food systems through mission- oriented agricultural innovation systems - Laurens Klerkx, University of Talca & Wa- geningen University - Jawoo Koo, IFPRI · Local first: a different way of localizing technologies on a grassroots level - Sonja Betschart, WeRobotics 2. Break-out Sessions · The Role of ICT for Next-Generation Agricultural Entre- preneurs' Profitable Enterprise - Femi Adekoya, Integrated Aerial Precision - Tania Pozos Pérez, NGIN - Joshua Peter, Yohann Farms and Agro Services - Venky Ramachandran, Agribusiness Matters - Funmilayo Bello, Hephzal Green · Blockchain Opportunity in the Livestock Value/Supply Chains - Stacey Ferris, Finsuite Consulting - Chris Light, E-Livestock Global - Max Makuvise, E-Livestock Global Inc. - Stephan Nilsson, UNISOT · Charting a digital path toward professional farmer organi- zations in Kenya - Casey Harrison, Nuru International - Merciline Oyier, Catholic Organization for Devel- opment Aid (Cordaid)/AMEA - Boniface Akuku, AMEA · Inclusion of smallholder farmers into voluntary carbon markets through digital tools: great unachievable idea or a reality? - Emily Ongus, ACORN-rabobank - Natalia Pshenichnaya, The AgTech Network · Inclusive Digital Design Toolkit for USAID's Bureau for Resilience and Food Security - Chloe von Widdern, Genesis Analytics - Josh Woodard, USAID - Jona Repishti, Digital Green - Emily Springer, Athena Infonomics · Scaling up digital co-creation for sustainable rice and live- stock practices - Lini Wollenberg, Alliance of Bioversity & CIAT, TECHNICAL REPORT 16 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital and Gund Intitute at the University of Vermont - Guy Faure, European Commission - Violaine Laurens, Solidaridad - Trang Vu, International Rice Research Institute · Transforming food systems: The power of interoperability and partnerships - Beverley Hatcher-Mbu, Development Gateway: An IREX Venture - Omar Bakari, Tanzania Data Lab - Ousmane Koné, Development Gateway: An IREX Venture - Oluwafunmibi Asunmonu, Pula · Development Innovation Ventures: Small Investments for Big Change - Neha Paliwal, USAID - Theresa Fehle, Ignitia - Patricia Gichinga, Mediae - Anne Dioh, myAgro · Bridging gaps in agricultural finance and supply chains through B2B marketplaces - Valentina Rogacheva, Verqor - Ishan Mishra, Accion Venture Lab - Pavan Kosaraju, AquaExchange Agritech - Mukul Garg, Agrim · Data-driven agro-advisories for Africa - the AKILIMO and AgWise story - Thompson Ogunsanmi, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) - Samson Oguntoye, Notore Chemical Industries Plc - Meklit Chernet, CIAT Bioversity Alliance · Digital transformation – Catalyzing a more nutritious food system - Jenny Walton, IFPRI HarvestPlus CGIAR - Almut van Casteren, eProd Solutions Ltd - Ekanikpong Ben, El-kanis and Partners - Oscar German, Oritain UK Ltd - Primrose Najjemba, OLAM · Leaping gender gaps - Women as power users of AI chat- bots for extension - Archana Karanam, Digital Green Foundation - Jona Repishti, Digital Green · Cultivating prosperity: Improving outcomes of men and women small-scale farmers through effective information and extension services - Sarah Coughlin, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Ac- tion Lab - Leonie Rauls, J-PAL Global · Leveraging low-tech digital solutions to foster inclusion and exchange with marginalized populations of the Global South - Emily Sylvia, J-PAL (Poverty Action Lab) - Christian Chateauvieux, Ksapa - Raphaël Hara, Ksapa - Swarup Ghosh, Tomorrow’s Foundation - Tharusha Wanigasekera, Dialog Axiata · Scaling farmer tech solutions with user voice - Ellie Turner, 60 Decibels · Democratising Agri Finance in India for Small Farmers, Particularly Women - Ashutosh Vaidya, The Agricollaboratory · Towards inclusive climate information systems - Sophia Huyer, AICCRA-ILRI - Ndeye Amy Kebe, Jokalante - Renee Bullock, International Livestock Research Institute · Building domestic capacity in frontier technologies - In- sights from the YEESI Lab in Tanzania - Amol Jadhav, The AgTech Network - Kadeghe Fue, Sokoine University of Agriculture · Lost in translation – can generative AI plug bottlenecks in agriculture extension? - Ram Dhulipala, ILRI - Soma Dhavala, Wadhwani Institute for AI - Satish Nagaraji, CIMMYT-CGIAR - Stephen Kemp, ILRI · Role of technologies in acheiving Net zero transitions in agriculture - Ravi Gupta, Intellecap - Anil Nadig, TraceX - Shreejit Borthakur, IDH - Sonakshi Tripathi, Nestle · Introducing the ICTforAg+: Locally-led satellite ICTforAg events - Jawoo Koo, IFPRI - Sheetal Sharma, International Rice Research In- stitute · Catalysing Digital Inclusion through Human Centered De- sign - Gigi Gatti, Grameen Foundation USA - Sylvia Ng'eno, Farmbetter - Alfred Yeboah, Grameen Foundation - Jente Rosseel, Elewa Company TECHNICAL REPORT 17 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital - Roopa H Suresh, Grameen Foundation India · Learning from an ex-post study RE: investments in agri- cultural digitization in Senegal - Ben Fowler, MarketShare Associates - Jean-Michel Voisard · Responsible Digital Innovation - Andrea Gardeazabal, CIMMYT / CGIAR - Rozita Dara, University of Guelph - Priyanka Jayashankar, Ivy College of Business - Josh D'Addario, Open Data Institute - Kalika Bali, Microsoft · 'Longa, let's talk': reflections on the co-design of an auto- mated speech recognition tool for low-resource and Bantu languages - Eliot Jones-Garcia, University of Nottingham - Nelson Mganga, Zindi · Inclusively advancing agri-food systems through AI - Mark Schoeman, Genesis Analytics - Chloe von Widdern, Genesis Analytics · Solutions for smallholder inclusive implementation of de- forestation free supply chains - Federico Ceballos, Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT - Christian Bunn, Alliance of Bioversity Interna- tional and CIAT - Brian King, CGIAR - Louis Reymondin, Alliance Bioversity Interna- tional – CIAT 3. Lightning Talks · Lightning Talk 1 - App-ic failure: Human and administrative chal- lenges around ICT innovations, Gregory Vaughan, USAID - AI-based calf’s behavior monitoring technology for early disease detection and precision breeding, Ryan Shin, Bodit Inc - Small farmers, big tech: Agrarian commerce and knowledge on Myanmar Facebook, Hilary Faxon, University of Montana · Lightning Talk 2 - Improving Food Safety Capacity from Afar - How SPS Distance Learning Modules Can Help Ad- vance Knowledge Across the Globe, Dr. Molly Gonzales, Texas A&M University - Developing gender-inclusive livestock insurance - with the help of digital goats!, Sophie Javers, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Markets, Risk and Resilience - Leveraging Land Rights Data for Agricultural Growth and Inclusion, Matt Sommerville, Tetra Tech · Lightning Talk 3 - Empowering farmers in the Global South through Carbon Farming, Anirudh Keny, Boomitra - Farmer Centric Digital Technologies for Trans- forming Smallholder Agriculture, Srikanth Rupa- vatharam, ICRISAT · Lightning Talk 4 - Designing inclusive delivery channels for crowdsourcing food system data, Anna Muller, The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT - Farmer-led Digital Innovation - from SMS to AI (and everything in between), Sarah Mackay, Pro- ducers Direct · Lightning Talk 5 - mSafeFood: a mobile food safety learning plat- form for food SMEs, Thoric Cederstrom, Food Enterprise Solutions - RohyFambolena: Empowering Policy-Makers for Inclusive Agricultural Extension and Advisory Strategies with Data Insights, Samuel Adrianjafy, Farming and Technology for Africa - Gender digital divide in rural Kenya, Nathaniel Ferguson, IFPRI · A day in the Life of Junior Data Scientists - Shalini Gakhar, International Rice Research Insti- tute, India - MinAh Kim, International Food Policy Research Institute - Nelson Mganga, Zindi · Opening & Inspire Challenge Winner Announcement - Khuloud Odeh, CGIAR - Jawoo Koo, IFPRI 4. ICTforAg+ LATAM · Digital Transformation in Latin American Agroindustry: A Gateway to Innovation - Saul Vasquez Perez, GRUMA - Jesus Alberto Mazariegos Robledo, DISAGRO - Esteban Jaramillo Reyes, CANAMI · AgTechs for Innovation in LatinAmerica - Angelica Marcela Acosta Quiroga, IncluirTec TECHNICAL REPORT 18 CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation | on.cgiar.org/digital - Cesar Hugo Armando Piñarreta Mezones, Agros Idenitity Peru - Edward Asdrubal Solis Ordoñez, Fundación Gé- nesis Empresarial - Elena Diez Cabañes, NUUP - Mauricio Gonzalez, NUUP - Raul Vera, CODSTER - Eduardo Andres Patiño Balaguera, Amazon Web Services - Patricia Ornelas Ruiz, Servicio de Información Agroalimentaria y Pesquera · AgResearch and Digital Innovation in Latin America - Stanley Best, Instituto de Investigaciones Ag- ropecuarias-Chile - Guadalupe Tiscornia Tosar, Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria-Uruguay - Simon Fonteyne, CIMMYT