SIPAL INFORMATION SYSTEM TO ASSIST AQUACULTURE PLANNING IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN TABLE OF CONTENTS

Conceptual Design

By:
Salvatore R. Coppola

Fishery Resources Officer
Fishery Resources and Environment Division
FAO Fisheries Department

DOCUMENT PREPARED BY GCP/RLA/102/ITA PROJECT
“SUPPORT TO REGIONAL AQUACULTURE ACTIVITIES
IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN” — AQUILA II

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FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS - FAO

Mexico City, May 1994
© FAO 1994

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

AQUILA II PROJECT STAFF

PROJECT PUBLICACIONS

ABSTRACT

PREFACE

1. INTRODUCTION

2. SYSTEM OVERVIEW — OBJECTIVES AND CHARACTER STICS

2.1. The Objectives

2.2. The Characteristics

3. THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN

3.1 A predefinided architecture

3.1.1 SIPAL hierarchical structure

3.1.2 The information flow

3.2 Human Resources

3.2.1 The Design Unit

3.2.2 The Developing Unit

3.2.3 The End-users

3.3. Automatic and manual Instruments

3.4. A Set of Procedures

3.5. Pre-established Data Information Model

4. WORK PLAN AND SCHEDULE OF WORK

4.1. Preparatory Work - March/June 1992

4.2. Phase I - System Design and Development - July/December 1992

4.3. Phase II - Evaluation of the Output of Phase I, Completion of the SIPAL Prototype - January/September 1993

4.4. Phase III - Evaluatio/revision/improvement and Ensure Continuity of the System - October 1993/February 1994

4.5. CConsolidation/expansion

5. EXPECTED BUDGET

ANNEX 1: GLOSSARY

ANNEX 2: HARDWARE CONFIGURATION FOR THE WORKSTATIONS FORMING THE PROJECT NETWORK

A. Server/manager Workstation - First Level (Aquila II HQ)

B. System Development - Second Level (Aquila II HQ)

C. Backstopping, Training, Seminars, Demonstrations, etc… - Second Level (Aquila II HQ)

D. Typical Configuration Suggested for SIPAL National Workstations

E. Software

ANNEX 3: TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE SYSTEM MANAGER

ANNEX 4: TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE DATA MANAGER

ANNEX 5: TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE ANALYST-PROGRAMMER

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1 - SIPAL System Overview

Figure 2 - SIPAL Decision-making Process

Figure 3 - Regional Desk Information Network

Figure 4 - SIPAL Operational Processing Chart

Figure 5 - SIPAL Complex Data Information Model

Aquila II Project Staff

Project Publications

Field Documents:

Memorias del III Curso Básico Regional de Capacitación en Planificación y Gerencia en Acuicultura (Caracas, 5/10-20/11/1992)

Reports on the Project's Activities:

1. Marzo - agosto de 1992

2. Septiembre '92 - febrero '93

3. III Marzo - agosto de 1993

4. IV Septiembre '93 - marzo '94

ABSTRACT

The need for a dedicated information system intended to produce a continuous flow of information for forecasting, evaluating, measuring, maintaining and controlling events and performance in aquaculture has been emphasized by the countries in the Region in various fora. In response to the above the regional Project AQUILA II (GCP/RLA/102/ITA - “Support to regional aquaculture activities in Latin America and the Caribbean”) decided to include in its workplan an activity totally devoted toward to the design and development of an Information System to assist Aquaculture Planning in Latin America and the Caribbean, SIPAL.

The essential features of its conceptual design were set out at a workshop held in Santiago de Chile, 10–14 December 1990, with the contribution of the participating countries Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela, as well as of the representatives of FAO Fisheries Department (cf.FAO document COPESCAL/91/Inf. 16 of March 1991).

1. DEFINITION: SIPAL is a tool conceived to allow the management, in predefined sub-systems, of data and information of different nature (though all pertaining to the aquaculture sector) retrieved from various national, regional and global sources for planning purposes.

2. ARCHITECTURE: in order to rationalize SIPAL development and implementation, to enhance its possibility of success, and to increase its use and interest by all parties concerned, the system will be composed of five substantial and two accessory Modules, i.e.:

   • National Module	• Regional Module
   • FAO Module	• Extended Module
   • Analytical Module
   • Processing Module
   • System Configuration Module

   The National Module, will provide SIPAL with direct access to national databases. However, this option will be available only for those countries where a national information system exists and the national coordination staff is able to develop the appropriate communication protocols. Alternatively this module will contain the same software as in the Regional Module managing data at a lower level of aggregation and having all the typical functions of data entry. This option is reserved for the country's own use and management.

   The Regional Module is a corporate system which summarizes the information supplied by countries according to a given methodology. It is a collection of all the selected databases, customized to allow all the typical retrial functions: Select, Search, Print, Save, Export, Configure.

   The FAO Module will contain some of the officially published software and data bases obtainable from FAO HQs and relevant to SIPAL. Most of them are part of the FAO Computerized Information Series.

   The Extended Module will contain an abstract prepared by SIPAL of information collected through the linkage with worldwide commercial and non-commercial networks. As far as networking with remote sources is concerned, SIPAL will contract access and authorization to redistribute data.

   The Analytical Module will contain various programs for the analysis of the data/information processed through SIPAL or gathered from other sources specifically obtained or developed to assist in the technical and financial management of aquaculture production projects.

   The Data Processing Module will enable the user to process and critically analyze the information retrieved through SIPAL. In fact, one of the characteristics of the system is that it will not be dependent upon pre-determined models. This Module will therefore contain all the commercial software which the user might need to carry out the analytical studies (word processor, spreadsheet, DBMS, project management tool, graphics, statistical package, etc…).

   The System Configuration Module will assist in configuring SIPAL according to the different hardware/software platforms where it is installed.

3. Customization: SIPAL will allow all the users to establish their own “made to measure” research procedures tailored each time to suit their requirements according to their decision making process.

4. End user identification: SIPAL end users are classified by group according to their position and fields of interest. The primary end user is the staff of the fisheries and aquaculture services in the various national offices in the region, who will be using SIPAL mainly for reporting and planning purposes, but also to answer queries from the private sector. This group is also the most important one for data supply. Among a second group of end users are aquaculturists, economists, fishery specialists, traders and investors in the industry, trade and educational institutions, in both the public and private sectors. Each SIPAL national management unit will organize its own national end user group.

5. End user contributions: the end users will be called to actively contribute not only to the common user activities but also and most significantly to propose new applications as well as modifications to the existing ones through the national coordinator. Such initiatives may materialize by submitting to SIPAL a detailed report containing:

   • description and objectives;
   • identification of interested users;
   • data manipulation required;
   • output format;
   • possible sources of data;
   • data entry format;
   • data retrieval format;
   • suggestions and limitations.

6. Dissemination: it has to be highlighted that all countries adhering to SIPAL, regardless of whether they are data suppliers or just information recipients, will be provided with the same tool.

7. Data base content: SIPAL will be developed by applying a few basic criteria:

   • avoid burdening participating countries with a demand for additional data collection activities to be carried out specifically for SIPAL;

   • supplying the system only with national data/information which exist and are obtainable in the majority of the countries, which are of regional interest and which are not classified.

   • ensuring that all data/information feeding the system be specifically and officially authorized as appropriate.

8. Regional standardization: in order to facilitate exchange of data within and between countries, the Regional Module, in addition to the automatic data transfer from national data banks to SIPAL, will provide the data entry and management procedures for each of the applications data bases. These data bases will be structured according to a standardized regional format. For each data base, the characteristics, definition, units, directories, etc…, will be documented as appropriate.

9. Country participation: it must be strongly emphasized that SIPAL will be developed with the essential and direct contribution of national staff. This will produce a transfer of know-how from FAO to the participants and promote circulation of information and familiarization at a regional level.

10. Delivery: The overall system including the documentation will be delivered to all interested parties, presumably by June, 1994.

PREFACE

Project FAO/GCP/RLA/102/ITA-Aquila II is engaged in the promotion of aquaculture development through the establishment of a permanent mechanism for cooperation/coordination in the Latin American and Caribbean region. The Project aims at the creation of a network of regional aquaculture development institutions together with the strengthening of such institutions and the aquaculture input supply industry. Once the project had started, the need to strengthen the network activities through the establishment of an information system to assist aquaculture activities and planning at national and regional levels became evident.

This paper presents the conceptual design of an Integrated Information System to be developed and installed in the Aquila II Project area. This system should provide aquaculture/fishery managers, planners, producers and services with a regional desk information system fed with input from various interrelated sources.

It is a system that will produce useful and usable information through organized methods of selecting, storing, retrieving and reporting on data available from national, regional and international (FAO) offices. It is emphasized that this is the revision of a working document which was discussed and agreed by the delegates of eight of the AQUILA II countries: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela. All the country representatives actively participated in building up the conceptual design during the three-day Seminar on Information and Documentation held in Santiago (Chile) from 11 to 14 November 1990¹.

Since the present document is also intended to constitute a guideline for the design of similar regional information systems, it maintains its original structure, including the system development phases originally planned, some of which have been already implemented by AQUILA II Project.

This paper is the first of a series of project documents dealing with this work; in addition to the papers and Information Notes that will be prepared on specific subjects, the SIPAL series will contain the following three papers which will be completed by the end of the present Project phase:

• SIPAL—Reference Manual.

• SIPAL—User Manual.

• SIPAL—Installation Manual.

The SIPAL series will be available in both Spanish and English.

Apart from the representatives from the above mentioned countries, the design of this System involved the participation of experts who, at different levels, contributed to guide the design as much as possible toward real situations and needs of future users: Messrs. L. Loria and A. Freddi from the first phase of AQUILA project; Messrs. C. Gregorio and E. Varsi, Director and Aquaculturist of the Project AQUILA II, respectively — the latter also acted as Data Manager during the development of the prototype of SIPAL, and took on the task of translating this manual into Spanish; Messrs. M. Pedini and M. Martínez of the Fisheries Department of FAO.

¹ Cf. Document FAO-COPESCAL/91/Inf. 16 marzo 1991.