A Report on Staff Sensitization on Data Needs, Data Gaps and Way Forward

Acknowledgement

Knowledge Management Unit wishes to acknowledge the KEFRI Director Dr. Joshua Cheboiwo, the Senior Deputy Director Dr. Jane Njuguna, the Deputy Director Forest Research Support Services Dr. Mbuvi, Assistant Deputy Director Mr. Paul Tuwei and Head Knowledge Management Section Ms. Sheila Mbiru for providing logistical support to conduct the sensitization. Mr. David Omuse of ICT is acknowledged for facilitating registration and providing the technology for the webinar. The presenters from: KM Unit – Sheila Mbiru, and Victor Kamau; and Biometrics and GIS section – Celestine Ingutia and Nancy Bor are appreciated. Naomy Kemboi and Rebeccah Nenkai are recognized for facilitating raportouring. Much thanks goes to all 111 participants for attending and making the webinar a success.

Introduction

KEFRI being a research institute pays a lot of importance to data as it is the backbone of information and knowledge. Sound decisions, cutting edge science and useful technologies cannot be achieved without appropriately collected, analysed and interpreted data. It was in this background that KM unit in collaboration with Biometrics and GIS section carried out data needs and data gaps identification and documentation in all KEFRI regional programmes between the year 2018 and 2020. The presentation of the findings and sensitization of staff on the same was done through a webinar held on 21st June 2021 with the following objectives:

1. Presenting the finding of the identification and documentation of data needs and data gaps activity in all KEFRI Regional Programmes
2. Sensitization on development of KEFRIs institutional Information Asset Register
3. Raising the visibility of KEFRI Scientists and research impact

The webinar was chaired by Mr. Paul Tuwei and Dr. Mbuvi (Deputy Director - Forest Research Support Services), Dr. Jane Njuguna (Senior Deputy Director - Research and Development) and Dr. Joshua Cheboiwo (Director) gave their remarks before presentations by Sheila Mbiru, Victor Kamau and Celestine Ingutia. thereafter, discussions were guided by Dr. Vincent Oeba.

Dr. Mbuvi noted that data is KEFRI's commodity of trade and thus should be made data available to the institute and to the public. He commended the KM Unit for the sensitization and asked that the availability of data challenge be addressed during the webinar.

Dr. Jane Njuguna emphasized the mandate of KEFRI being to conduct research is forestry and allied natural resources which meant that KEFRI is mandated to collect data and analyse them to guide the nation in forest management and in the utilization of forest resources and other natural resources. She expressed the need to value the data collected and development of means of storing and availing it in future to achieve 10% tree cover and to improve the livelihood of all Kenyans.

Dr. Joshua Cheboiwo noted that knowledge and information is main asset of the institute and its sharing is paramount. He acknowledged the use of virtual meetings to share knowledge, as it is a low-cost technology. He also noted that data availability is a big challenge over the years, yet it is a requirement for publishing. He requested all Deputy Directors and Scientists to ensure that all work done should be well conceptualized, the methodology should be convectional, data collected should be guided by international standards for quality and the type of data to be collected, and at the end, data should be synthesized to create outputs and impacts and messages to different stakeholders. Finally, he reminded all participants KEFRI is a knowledge based institution, therefore, data and information is very critical, and it is the duty of all scientists to create data, interpret and produce outputs that can guide forestry in the country. After this, he opened the webinar and wished all fruitful discussions.

Presentations

Sheila Mbiru's presentation highlihted the following:

• An Information Asset Register (IAR) is a catalogue / database of the information an organization holds and processes, where it is stored, how it moves and who has access.
• IAR is important in ensuring security of institution’s information against risks like fire, floods and theft (both physical and cyber theft).
• The team constituted to develop IAR has representation from: Knowledge Management, ICT, Registry and Archives.
• The team has developed tools and has started working on the Main Registry at the headquarters where a total of 127 files were registered in the IAR.
• There are Statutory Regulations that have to be adhered to while developing IAR.
• The challenges experienced so far are: inconsistencies in files names, time consuming and requires a lot of consultation.
• The team is planning to focus next on Electronic Information Assets, sensitizing and training staff and digitising the IAR and make available in a central searchable repository
• There is need of raising the visibility of KEFRI and therefore, Scientists’ CVs are being uploaded on the KEFRI Website.
• Communities of Practices (COPs) is very key in knowledge management and sharing (See Presentation here)
  

Mr. Tuwei – Assistant Deputer Director, Chairing the Webinar.	Dr. Jane Njuguna – Senior Deputer Director making her opening remarks
Dr. Joshua Cheboiwo – Director, making his opening remarks	Ms. Sheila Mbiru – Head KM Presenting in the Webinar

Victor Kamau presentation highlighted the following:

• Data are raw facts and figures that on their own have no meaning. i.e. text, numbers, symbols. Processed data is information, on internalization it becomes knowledge.
• Without data it’s difficult to develop policies, guidelines, technologies and publications.
• KEFRI invests in knowledge Management to provide leadership in collection, storage, access and utilization of data, information and knowledge.

• Identification and documentation of data needs and data gaps was done at: RVERP on 19th to 22nd March 2018; NFPRP on 23rd – 25th October 2018; CERP on 4th – 9th March 2019; DERP on 11th to 15th November 2019; LVBERP on 18th to 22nd November 2019; and CHERP on 24th April 2020 and 10th June 2020

• the objective was to: create awareness on data and KM systems among staff; identify and document data needs; identify and document data gaps; and draw insights from the data.

• the methodology included: a questionnaire that was used to establish the different data needs and gaps; focus group discussions comprising representatives of functional areas were used to obtain additional information; and analysis was done using SPSS. (See Presentation here)

Celestine Ingutia presentation included the findings findings:

• data needs;
• data availability;
• data storage; and
• data gaps for both R$D and CS. (See Presentation here)

Victor Kamau presented again on insights drawn from the findings. They included:

• Readily Available data;
• Partially available data;
• Common Data Needs and Gaps;
• Unique Data Needs And Gaps; and
• Data Storage. (See Presentation here)

Discussions

The following were the highlights of discussions:

• There are a lot of inconsistencies in data files from the registry at headquarters and the regions.
• The summary presented is from a report of a survey conducted where the staff filled questionnaires.
• The gaps and data needs are in tandem with KEFRI mandate.
• Retrieving old data from diskettes to modern storage forms is an expensive process and therefore, there is need to know the value of the old data to be converted.
• Common data tools will be considered
• The indexing of files needs to be updated and in collaboration with national archives.
• The research work should be packaged in various formats that will be accessible to specific stakeholders and in this case as policy briefs as well.
• The team will work on the lifespan of data and statutory requirements for data collection, handling and storage.
• The institute is looking forward to acquire a heavy duty digitizing scanner.
• Data security is looked at in three dimensions: availability, integrity and who has the right to access the data. Therefore, data has to be categorized into public or private while storing it.
• Data that is meant for wide availability can be stored in cloud while data considered being private has to be stored in the data centre depending on its capacity.
• The institute is planning to have a primary data centre at the headquarters and a secondary data centre at Kitui. This is institute information and should be kept private.
• There will be folders in the system where data will be uploaded in various categories like according to thematic areas. The data to be uploaded is KEFRI’s only, and not personal information
• On submitting data in Scientists’ PCs, once the agents are run in the system, they will be able to back up the data to the primary data centre and then back up the data to the secondary data centre. More sensitization will be done.
• There is a clause/ petition that public information should not be stored in cloud but we will try and have highly available data saved in cloud using the proper channels of doing it and not bridging the government policy.
• On integrity issues, there is Segregation of Duty (SOD) Matrix which classifies who to access the data and who should not. This enhances data security as well.
• The work uploaded is date-stamped and time-stamped, meaning the latest version of the work will always be clear. The genesis of the work and who did it will also be displayed.
• On physical verifications, the team is working on the Information Asset Register and once it is done, we will visit the registries and offices for verification.
• The Knowledge Management Section is acquiring a plagiarism software; turnitin

Way Forward

• We should have harmonized data collection tools.
• ICT should capture knowledge/ information produced within the KEFRI internet.
• Information should be packaged into various forms for specific stakeholders.
• The available data should be clustered into different thematic areas.
• Let us shift from using our PCs and use the institute’s devices.
• Digitise all KEFRI publications.

Conclusion

The webinar was well attended as a total of 94 participants were registered. Participants noted that such forums should be planned regulary to update schientis on the data needs and gaps in the institute.

The data gaps and data needs identification and documentation should be a regular activity and KM Unit proposes it to be done every three years.

Attendance

	Name	User Email	Total Duration (Minutes)
1	Jane Menge	jmenge@kefri.org	304
2	George Tonui	gtonui@kefri.org	211
3	KEFRI	domuse@kefri.org	182
4	Riziki Mwadalu	zikiemwa@gmail.com	180
5	Eston Mutitu	estonmutitu@gmail.com	180
6	Gitehi Giathi	giathig@gmail.com	180
7	Victor Kamau	vkamau@gmail.com	180
8	Nellie Oduor	nelliecoduor@gmail.com	179
9	Musingo Tito E. Mbuvi	mtembuvi@gmail.com	178
10	Linus Wekesa	weknus@yahoo.com	178
11	Collins Obonyo	obonyoc@gmail.com	177
12	Sheila Mbiru	sheilambiru@gmail.com	177
13	Susan Wanjiku	swanjiku@kefri.org	177
14	John Otuoma	jmotuoma@kefri.org	176
15	Paul Tuwei	ptuwei@kefri.org	176
16	Rebeccah Nenkai	rebeccah.nenkai@gmail.com	176
17	Jane Njehu	janenjehu1@gmail.com	175
18	Joseph Githiomi	josephgithiomi@ymail.com	175
19	Celestine Ingutia	cingutia@kefri.org	173
20	Chemuku Wekesa	cwekesa@kefri.org	172
21	Benjamin Mukoya	benjaminmukoya@yahoo.com	172
22	Jonah Kiprop	jonahkipsat@gmail.com	167
23	Dr. Joram Kagombe	jokagombe@kefri.org	167
24	Magrate Kaigongi	kaigongim@gmail.com	166
25	Dr. George Muthike	muthikegm@gmail.com	165
26	MARY GATHARA	mwgathara@gmail.com	165
27	Peter kimani	pgachie@yahoo.com	164
28	amina maalim	aminkeyaden@gmail.com	163
29	Bernard Kamondo	bkamondo@kefri.org	163
30	Anthony Macharia	tonymwasi@gmail.com	163
31	Angela Muthama	amuthama@kefri.org	160
32	Ambani Aluha	ambanidenis@gmail.com	159
33	Elema Mohamed	elemah11@gmail.com	159
34	Leila Ndalilo	leylilo@yahoo.com	156
35	Elyas Hassan	eliyas.hassan@gmail.com	155
36	Stephen Ndung'u	sndungu@kefri.org	155
37	Emmanuel Karisa	kengaemmanuel@outlook.com	154
38	Norah koima	nkoima@kefri.org	154
39	jemimah nzilani	maggienzilani@gmail.com	152
40	Mercy Rutto	mrutto@kefri.org	151
41	Vincent Oeba	voeba@kefri.org	151
42	Eugene Olung'ati	eojuku@kefri.org	150
43	Dr. NYAMBATI ROBERT	rnyambati@kefri.org	150
44	Albert Luvanda	luvandaa@gmail.com	149
45	Ernest Kiplangat	nestarono@gmail.com	149
46	Henry Komu	henrymwaka@gmail.com	149
47	Jonathan Njuguna	chegenjugunakarega@yahoo.com	146
48	Nancy Bor	nancyborc@gmail.com	146
49	Violet Oriwo	voriwo@kefri.org	144
50	Flavian Mangoja	mangojaflavian@gmail.com	143
51	Ann Elizabeth	kiluianne@gmail.com	142
52	Nereoh Leley	nereoh24@gmail.com	142
53	Willis Atie	woatie@gmail.com	139
54	Valentor Okul	valvineraks@yahoo.com	138
55	STELLA GATAMA	sgatama@kefri.org	138
56	Evans Cheruiyot	ekibet@kefri.org	137
57	Brian Machote	bmachote@kefri.org	135
58	Gregory Namasaka	gnamasaka@kefri.org	134
59	Jesse Owino	owinojesse@gmail.com	134
60	Joyce Ojino	joyceojino@gmail.com	134
61	joyce okumu	joyce.okumu@gmail.com	130
62	Beryn Otieno	botieno@kefri.org	128
63	James Ndufa	jndufa@kefri.org	126
64	Rachel Kariuki	rwanjiku@kefri.org	121
65	Emily Njagi	mlynjagi@gmail.com	121
66	Patrick Kwiriga	kaupinformat@gmail.com	121
67	George Migom	geomigom2009@gmail.com	119
68	john njoroge	njoroge_09@hotmail.com	118
69	mary mwangi	marymwangi36@yahoo.com	116
70	Roxventa Ongugo	rongugo@gmail.com	109
71	Florence Cherono	ftowett@kefri.org	105
72	Naomy Kemboi	kemboinaomy90@gmail.com	101
73	EUNICE WAKABA	ewakaba@kefri.org	101
74	Faith Rono	faithrono64@gmail.com	100
75	Emmanuel Makatiani	emakatiani@kefri.org	99
76	Esther Manyeki	emanyeki@kefri.org	99
77	George Otieno	gwotieno@kefri.org	96
78	Alice Adongo	adongo.alis@gmail.com	95
79	Asenath Adienge	adiengeasenath@gmail.com	93
80	caroline Gikunda	cgikunda@kefri.org	92
81	Josephine Musyoki	josephinemusyoki@gmail.com	90
82	Samson Ojunga	sojunga@kefri.org	86
83	RASHID MOILE	moilerashid89@gmail.com	86
84	Priscilla Kimani	pkimani@kefri.org	82
85	Stanley Nadir	snadir@kefri.org	81
86	Kibwezi Team Scientists	mikemairura@gmail.com	78
87	Vincent Mosome	vmosome@kefri.org	74
88	Phedister Riziki	phedisterr@gmail.com	73
89	Simon Choge	schoge@kefri.org	72
90	Naftali Kojo	ochungjnaf@gmail.com	71
91	Welimo Martin	mwelimo@gmail.com	68
92	Oliviah Nyaundi	oliviahnyaundi@gmail.com	67
93	George Etindi	gettindi68@gmail.com	63
94	Reuben Shanda	rshanda@kefri.org	60
95	Francis Osia	fosia@kefri.org	59
96	Sylvia Mwalewa	uchisylvia@gmail.com	54
97	Millicent Jepchumba	mjepchumba@kefri.org	43
98	Joshua Cheboiwo	jcheboiwo@kefri.org	42
99	Dr. Jane Njuguna	jwknjuguna@yahoo.com	42
100	RUFO JILLO	rjillo@kefri.org	39
101	FREDRICK OCHIENG	fodhiambo@kefri.org	38
102	Timothy Namaswa	wektim@yahoo.com	34
103	Joram Mbinga	jmbinga@gmail.com	34
104	James Maua	james_maua@yahoo.com	32
105	David Omuse	omusedavid@gmail.com	29
106	Edward Mengich	emengich@kefri.org	22
107	Dr. David Langat	dlangat@kefri.org	19
108	Stephen Ndung'u	sndung'u@kefri.org	17
109	Kigwa Bernard	kigwabk1959@gmail.com	10
110	John Titus	titusndongi@aol.com	5
111	Walter Onyangu	walteronyang@gmail.com	3