Bienvenidos al Sistema de Información Agropecuaria MAGFOR
Submitted by fyl on Thu, 2009/11/12 - 16:10.
That's what appears on the front page of the Django/Linux-based system that Johannas put together for MAGFOR. There is an article about it on the Linux Journal site. You can, in fact, actually go to the live site and look at the information that is available.
To me, it looks like a first-class system that has been needed for a long time. Having worked in State Government in the U.S. I have an appreciation of both how difficult it would be to get around the "not invented here" politics to implement this and what it would have cost back in 1979 when I worked for the state to implement such a system.
Agriculture is the base of Nicaraguan economy, so effectively managing and delivering information to the people is an essential part of development and also essential in the fight to reduce poverty. SIMAS, an NGO consisting of young Nicaraguan idealists, has tried for a some time to push open source solutions in various sectors of Nicaragua, but so far in vain. "For years, every other project of the Ministry of Agriculture have had one component called 'information system' to it", explains Falguni Guharay of SIMAS, "yet that has never really materialized, as it's hard to find any kind of system that can be easily extended to work with the different kinds of information sources and data that the Ministry deals with".
For you computer geeks out there, take a look at the system. If you have ever been involved in something of this size and general concept, take a SWAG at what it would have cost to produce in the U.S., particularly if it was being done for a state government.
Slashdot!
The ultimate "good thing" for any "geek system" is to get "Slashdotted". Well, ALBAstryde got it.
Yes, wow! I only posted it
Yes, wow! I only posted it there thinking that there are few times in ones life that one has something important enough to say to post it to Slashdot. Incredible that they actually took it.
Now I also noticed this article about the system: http://www.net.hr/tehnoklik/page/2009/11/14/0011006.html . It looks as if they've actually experimented a little with the system. The country ending tells me it's Croatian. Anyone here with the necessary language skills?
-- Johannes Wilm http://www.johanneswilm.org
Here is your translation!
I'm sure you could have done this yourself but here it is!
Experiment in Nicaragua showed the world how powerful can be open source software. This poor country has the best software solution to display data on agriculture. When at least followed the example of our country! A year ago the government of Nicaragua began work on an information system for regional offices of the Ministry of Agriculture. Project joined Johannes Wilm.
Agriculture is the base of Nigerian economy, and efficient information management is very important in the fight against poverty.
Wilm and his team have found a strategy and create a system that was general enough that it could be extended to other applications in the future.
Wiki systems are the basis for text data and Javascript to display statistical data. The system, called ALBAstryde available on the internet and built using open source tools, and is himself under the GPL.
Please next time don't use others to try to make yourself look better than you really are!
Thanks a lot! And honestly,
Thanks a lot!
And honestly, you make me look "better" than what I am, when assuming I know Croatian. I absolutely don't. I thought maybe you were the writer behind this article given that you mentioned you have some background/connections from that general area or the world.
--
Johannes Wilm
http://www.johanneswilm.org
I forgot to thank Google for the translation
That's why I said you could have done this yourself. :-) Croatian is not one of the languages I speak. A simple visit to Google Translate did the trick.
Your suspicion that the language was Croatian turned out to be correct.
J and J
Johannas is a female - Johannes is a male.
Besides that. The simas is pretty good project. It will help those that has a computer ( very few ).
Roger.
from the article: Guharay
from the article:
Guharay makes the important point: "But it is not only the system itself, it is also the new government's approach to who should have access to the data it is collecting that makes a difference, take prices for example. Before they would have to come to Managua, or call from an influential source and then someone will sit there on a computer and generate the data for that person, with no one else having access to the data. Since the beginning of this year, we at SIMAS have worked with the Ministry in sending the prices of agricultural goods in Managua to two radio stations as a pilot basis. These stations then broadcast them to the peasants and cooperatives who thereby, often for the first time, have the information of the price at the capital market and get an advantage in the bargaining table. Up to now they simply didn't know what their products were worth when the big distributors sold them on the market." There are already 16 other radio stations interested in distributing the prices of Managua as well, currently all of this is still done by email. Once ALBAstryde takes over later this month, radio stations will be able to check for themselves, and not only prices from Managua, but from any market they believe is important for the producers of the area.
-- Johannes Wilm http://www.johanneswilm.org
I am now convinced.
Johannes.
When you use Alba in connection with your work, it kind of falls down. We on the other side, not far away as you might think, have a total different view of Alba ( Chaves )
I personally have 3 friends that had their property confiscated in Venezuela. It's just unbelievable that you with your obvious talent and intelligent haven't realized that Marxism don't work, never will, and the past have a bad rap.
Oh boy! So after your only
Oh boy! So after your only real criticism of the system turned out to be based on you not having read the entire article, we are back to the good old argument "you are a communist!"
Come on, please find something better. At any rate I will not answer questions related to communism in this thread or any other, at least as long as they come from Larry, Sandinog/nicanor, Roger Troll, Nicareal or anyone else on line with them ideologically speaking.
However, anyone, including them, is welcome to criticize, comment on, or ask questions about the system, I will be very interested in hearing that.
-- Johannes Wilm http://www.johanneswilm.org
glad to see you put me at the head of the list Johannes
if I was you I would avoid debate as well-you just aren't capable. Academic theories and ideological role-playing are no match for "Realpolitik" in the streets, and in the jungles of the world. .
Why won't you discuss the benefits of communism as you see them?
Or socialism, or Marxism, or capitalism?
Mr. Wilm, I will start a new thread that I or someone of your chosing will moderate. If you so chose, you can discuss the ideology in a civil manner without taking away from another thread. I will make the tread relevant to Nicaragua. You will be able to share your contributions, successes and failures.
That is of course if you are willing to defend your ideology at all.
I sure hope to see you there Mr. Wilm
I'd be interested
I'd be interested in seeing this thread happen. Though I'd like to see it be an even broader discussion of what systems *do* work, if any. Of course, before we'd begin this discussion by defining what "work" means, and what benchmarks would be used to identify a "successful" system. Some measure of gross domestic product? Will that include some measure of how equally/unequally money is disbursed (e.g., wage gaps)? What about poverty rates? Illiteracy rates? Rights for marginalized groups (women, minority ethnic groups, minority religious groups, LGBTQ)? Proportion of national wealth that goes to items that help people (health care, social services) versus killing people (military defense, wars)?
Because the measure that we use to define "success" is going to determine the answer to the question. And I strongly suspect that all of us - rogertroll, nicareal, johanneswilm, myself, and everyone else - each use a slightly different definition.
Just as one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter, one (wo/)man's ideal economic system is another (wo/)man's nightmare. From a rich person's wealthy point of view, communism and socialism is an evil that takes their "hard-earned" property and/or assets away. From a poor person's point of view, capitalism is an evil that allows the wealthy to exploit their labor, while they toil away hours to make a measly wage, and in the case of marginalized groups are not even allowed equal opportunities or rights.
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Life is what happens while we're busy making other plans
I have started a thread about Nicaraguas political system
I would welcome everyone's participation. Feel free to take it in any direction relevant to the subject.
That is really interesting.
Perhaps we will see the truth/facts or get a ticket to a gulag camp.
Looking forward to hear from the some of the members that usually is so quiet.