Promotion of norms and standards for the exchange of development information in Africa

Abstract

The ever increasing role of information and documentation services in the field of development creates a continuous need for the exchange of information between such systems at national, regional and international levels. However, compatibility problems are a major setback for information systems and networks, while exchange of information within a network requires a minimum set of common standards and methodologies. To facilitate the interchange of information and help in reducing or even eliminating technical barriers and compatibility problems, standards need to be developed and adopted. The PADIS Standing Committee on the Harmonization and Standardization of Information Systems in Africa was set up in 1989 to deal with these matters on a continuous basis. PADIS in cooperation with member States and African sub regional and regional institutions have developed and adopted a series of standards including guidelines, manuals and computerized programs for textual data base development and on-line authority file preparation. In this regard, standardization activities are carried out in subcommittees chaired by experts from member States which report to the Standing Committee on the Harmonization and Standardization of Information Systems in Africa. Seven such subcommittees have been created to tackle standardization problems in Africa.