Database Project for Poverty Alleviation by the African Institute for Capacity Development (AICAD)
The Japanese government hosted the Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development II (TICAD II) in which the Japanese government set out a plan to support capacity development in Africa with the establishment of the African Institute for Capacity Development (AICAD). Funded by the Governments of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Japan, the AICAD is an international organization with its Headquarters located at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) with the main goal of poverty reduction in the African region through human capacity development.
AICAD’s Information, Network and Documentation (IN&D) Division collects, processes, stores, retrieves and disseminates information. Information patterns are collected from R&D Division, university research units and other institutions in the region and beyond on causes and effects of poverty and the means of combating it. The processed information is repackaged in various dissemination instruments and used by T&E in training and imparting communities with knowledge and skills necessary for poverty reduction and development. The division facilitates publication of various documents of the Institute, as well as production and dissemination of audio-visual materials. It runs an electronic/reference library at the Institute, together with information networking and resource sharing with the participating institutions.
As the technical advisor to IN&D, IC Net guided the IN&D team on drafting the Information Architecture to develop contents such as: i) identification of beneficiaries, ii) understanding the needs of beneficiaries, and iii) search for and selection of sources of information on the needs, then proceeded to database system development. The project utilizes open-source software to minimize costs and ensure sustainability.