In a move aimed at enhancing protection and access of NARO-generated information, scientists and support staff of NARO Bulindi ZARDI on May 3rd, 2023 attended a sensitisation meeting on digitisation in the main conference hall, on-station.

While facilitating the meeting, Dr. Imelda Kashaija from the NARO Information Management Centre, observed that most staff have not yet recognised the importance of storing key organisation’s information and documents in digital (computer readable) format.

She noted that documents stored in analog format (put in bookshelves) are not only susceptible to permanent damage or disappearance but also difficult to share with target audiences.

These documents, she said, include but not limited to; newsletters, research articles, reports, books, booklets, guides, brochures, keynote speeches, manuals, posters, leaflets, videos and photos.

Attendees were encouraged to convert all relevant documents (which are not copyrighted) that they have in hard form into digital form so as to increase sharing, access to and utilisation of research-generated information by both external and external beneficiaries.

This involves sorting and taking an inventory of the digitsable documents, assessing the condition of the documents to be digitised and scanning what is digitsable. During the meeting, Mr. Abor Bob (Development Communication Officer) was selected as the Focal Person to coordinate digitisation efforts and sharing Institute information on NARO Information Hub.

The Director of NARO Bulindi ZARDI, Dr. Sylvester Dickson Baguma, was pleased that officers from the NARO Information Management Centre chose NARO Bulindi ZARDI to be among the first four institutes to benefit from the sensitisation because the Institute has plenty of information to digitise.

Staff expressed the need for capacity enhancement and equipping institutes with gadgets for digitisation such as computers, scanners and reliable internet connectivity to facilitate information sharing.

Through this initiative, NARO hopes to enhance the quality of research through eased access to past research information, increase productivity due to timely access to and application of research findings and heighten its visibility in the public domain.