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The Coherence in Information for Agricultural Research for Development (CIARD) initiative, for which GFAR and FAO provides a hub facilitating linkages between the many organizationsinvolved, was officially launched on August 26th 2008 during the World Conference on Agricultural Information and IT, jointly organized by IAALD and AFITA in Atsugi (Tokyo, Japan).
Ajit Maru (GFAR) introduced the initiative, Stephen Rudgard (FAO) discussed the background of CIARD and its objectives,
Peter Ballantyne (IAALD) introduced the Manifesto, Myra Wopereis (FARA) referred to CIARD's focus on the perspectives of the National Agricultural Research Systems, and lastly Chris Addison (Euforic) synthesized what it means to participate in CIARD.
The launch was attended by around 200 participants in the Conference whose response was very positive. The speakers called for interested parties to join the initiative, and as a first action to contribute to the finalization of the guidelines in the Manifesto.

Professor Mei from China, Ajit Maru, Peter Ballantyne and Stephen Rudgard: August 2008 t Atsugi, Japan
a* From the IAALD Flickr channel