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By APD writer Melo M. Acuña
**MANILA, Dec. 6 (APD) – **Experts from the science and agriculture community gathered to launch Asi@Connect RICESTATS DATABASE: Leveraging the Cloud for Rice Statistics and Analytics.
In a statement released by the Los Baños, Laguna-based International Rice Research Institute today, RICESTATS DATABASE which is under the auspices of the Institute, hopes to create a reference resource by using an ontology to combine data into a one-stop accessible database with a displayable dashboard for rice statistics.
The platform runs on Amazon Web Service (AWS) such as AWS Glue, Athena, and S3 for data extraction, transformation, and loading while the transformed data from existing household surveys conducted by IRRI worldwide and will include data from national bureaus and international organizations. Currently, such a consolidated database with disaggregated data, such as production by season and gender of household head up to the village level, does not exist for rice in Asia.
In his keynote remarks, academician Dr. William Padolina, former Secretary of Science and Technology, said “Without new knowledge especially in science and technology, without the new knowledge that will be generated, it will be difficult to make good decisions on conservation and resource use, something that is vital to the success of rice production.”
The launch was hosted by IRRI, the Department of Science and Technology-Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI), and AWS recently at Dusit Thani Hotel Manila.
DOST-ASTI Director Dr. Joel Joseph Marciano, Jr. said the importance of this collaboration with IRRI and DOST-ASTI’s long standing partnership which resulted into a good working rapport in research networking, high performance computing, and cloud computing.
He added IRRI is connected to the Philippine Research, Education and Government Information Network (PREGINET). PREGINET is the country’s sole National Research and Education Network (NREN) that is connected to a global REN, of which Asi@Connect is the Asia-Europe connection.
“IRRI believes that the Asi@Connect project can help fulfill a number of Sustainable Development Goals through improved access to education and research resources across the Asia-Pacific,” said Dr. Jean Balié, IRRI Agri-Food Policy Platform leader.
Meanwhile, Dr. Romeo Recide, IRRI Representative for the Philippines said RICESTATS DATABASE will enable the dissemination of comprehensive rice socio-economic data through an easily accessible database interface on a wider scale. He added the project will provide a unique resource for agricultural and social science researchers, academia, policy makers, donors and investors in the rice sector and beyond.
The launch was attended by partners from agriculture and science organizations, officials from national government agencies, and members of the academe in the Philippines.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
