Capacity Building and Training

A study of Internet connectivity in Latin America and the Caribbean was undertaken in preparation for the IABIN Launch meeting. The data showed that significant differences in infrastructure capacity exist among the IABIN countries. Lack of connectivity is a significant challenge in many regions. Capacity building, therefore, is an integral part of IABIN development. An assessment of existing national capacities-including institutional, infrastructure and human resources-should be undertaken. Based on this assessment, a training program will be developed on topics that may include Internet services, metadata development and maintenance, and systems administration. Any training program should be oriented to both users and data providers and should include a methodology to evaluate program effectiveness. Feedback from both the training and the experiences of the users after training should be solicited to ensure that training programs remain relevant and requirements and opportunities continue to be identified.