Information Management and Knowledge Sharing Technologies and Tools in the World Bank February 2003

Business Information Systems SAP/ BW—commercial product, the Bank's enterprise transactional data system that provides a single, consistent source for key business information Management Information Systems or the Management Dashboard—home-built product that surfaces SAP and BW data on the web and for work program planning and budgeting by all VPUs SAP-Commercial product. SAP is the Bank's enterprise transactional data system that provides a single, consistent source for key business information. It is also used as a common platform on which other information systems can be based. BW-Commercial product (part of SAP). Business Warehouse is an integrated data warehouse solution which allows Bank staff to generate management reports and perform information analysis and decision support. SAP reports are real time while BW reports are not. The BW reports are strategic or historic whichever are needed to perform analysis and use in decision making. Management Information Systems or the Management Dashboard—home-built product that surfaces SAP and BW data on the web and for work program planning and budgeting by all VPU units.

Records and Communications Systems Lotus Notes—commercial product used as e-mail tool, e-calendar, collaboration tool, and repository of documents in LN databases Domino.doc—commercial IBM/Lotus product used primarily for content storage, including the Integrated Records and Information System (IRIS) Lotus Notes-Commercial product used as e-mail tool, e-calendar, collaboration tool, and repository of documents in LN databases accessible via web. Domino.doc—commercial IBM/Lotus product used primarily for content storage, including the Integrated Records and Information System (IRIS).

Human Resources Systems PeopleSoft—Commercial product used to record all human resources transactions for staff and their dependents. Staff Directory—Intranet application which provides search capabilities for finding information about staff by extracting certain information from PeopleSoft and an Oracle database containing skill/personal profile information provided directly by the staff members Employee Self Service Systems HR Kiosk, JobWorld—home-built, ASP bases systems, YourNet—personal Lotus Notes based websites PeopleSoft-Commercial product used to record all human resources transactions for all staff and their dependents. It is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications platform. It's an Oracle-based relational database product. Staff Directory—Intranet application which provides search capabilities (using Google) for finding information about staff by extracting certain information from PeopleSoft and an Oracle database containing skill/personal profile information provided directly by the staff members. HR Kiosk—home-built asp based product connected to the Bank's PeopleSoft database that enables staff to take charge of their personnel records. JobWorld —home-built asp based product used by the Bank, IFC and MIGA staff for handling the creation and filling of job vacancies. It affords a staff as an applicant an on-line way of making known his/her interest in a particular job. YourNet—personal Lotus Notes based websites that allows staff to create content on YourNet in six main types of web pages: People, Skills, Projects, Thematic Groups, Business Units, Products & Services which display on the web as soon as the pages are saved.

Information Request Tracking Remedy—commercial product for IT Help Desk and Trust Fund Operations request tracking Unified Case Management—modified Visual Help Desk, Lotus Notes based product that includes e-mail request tracking tool, FAQ database, requesters’ directory, and reporting tools used by advisory services and information help desks (currently being upgraded) Remedy-commercial product for IT Help Desk and Trust Fund Operations request tracking Unified Case Management system—Lotus Notes based home-built product that includes e-mail request tracking tool, FAQ database, requesters’ directory, and reporting tools. There currently is a Bank-wide exercise aimed at upgrading this tracking tool set to a more robust tracking functionality offered by commercial help desk product Remedy and other products. Other tools, like: FAQ database, requesters’ directory, and reporting tools are still being identified.

Web Technology Web is the interface of choice for knowledge sharing The Internet Services Program (ISP) Multi-year project to upgrade the Bank’s Internet and build an e-business platform Recent hardware acquisition includes: IBM Websphere servers IBM Websphere Portal Servers (in pilot phase) Netegrity web security software iPlanet Directory Vignette content management software Online Collaboration SameTime—Commercial product that offers collaborative tools and work spaces Electronic Publishing Epublish—home-built Web publishing tool based on Vignette content management software (for content caching) Search Google—commercial product. Search retrieves information from Bank’s internal and external websites Compendium—Home-built product. Metadata Warehouse to allow federated searches in multiple data repositories (in pilot phase) IBM WebSphere—Commercial product. Application server for transactions, e.g., time recording, leave recording, etc. IBM Portal Server—Commercial product to support personalization of information and selected access to information and tools. The product is still not implemented in the Bank. It is being evaluated and tested by the ISG. Netegrity and I-Planet Directory servers—two commercial products are used to implement web security. PassKey is a name given to the web "single sign-on“ function. It offers: better protection of online information and data, compliance with the Bank's Information Security Policy, support for e-business infrastructure for secure transactions with external partners (Borrowers, Donors, etc.) SameTime (not yet implemented)—Commercial Lotus Notes product that offers collaborative tools and work spaces like instant messaging and collaborative meetings. The tool is still not widely implemented in the Bank. It is in a pilot stage being tested by ISG. E-Publish (Vignette)—Home-built content management and web publishing tool based on a commercial product Vignette. Small part of Vignette is used for Web Caching. (Web caching is the temporary storage of web objects (such as HTML documents) for later retrieval. Advantages to web caching: reduced bandwidth consumption, reduced server load, and reduced latency (since responses for cached requests are available immediately, and closer to the client being served). Google-Commercial product. Bank pay’s for the license on annual basis. Search retrieves information from Bank’s internal and external websites from the following collections: Services, Bank Documents and Reports, Project information, and Knowledge. There is a separate search for the Bank’s People Directory using Google. Compendium (not yet implemented)—Home-built product that serves as a Metadata Warehouse to allow federated searches in multiple data repositories. It is a single point of access to World Bank information assets created in different business systems.

KS Technology Technologies and Applications Initiatives Global Satellite Communications Links connecting HQ and Country Offices Videoconferencing—satellites, ISDN, IP Interactive TV—TV broadcasting by satellite and interaction via phone, fax, e-mail Web—online learning applications (Commercial products: WebCT, Netg, Element; Home-built product: VLE) Webcasting—web-based video casting using a commercial product Realserver Online discussions and newsletters—Lyris, commercial product Initiatives GDLN—Global Development Learning Network – using a “blended” approach to use of technologies; videoconferencing, web, CD-ROM, print, on occasion Interactive TV Development Gateway—collaboration, information and resource sharing,  development community building web facility. DG’s core technology platform is implemented using the ArsDigita Community System (ACS), an open-source code software system for interactive Web applications. B-Span—web-based video casting facility Development Forum--the Bank's venue for electronic discussions GDLN—Global Development Learning Network that facilitates knowledge sharing using a mix or “blend” of multiple technologies: interactive video, voice and data communications, using; videoconferencing on satellite, ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)and fiber systems, with simultaneous translation facilities; Webcasting on IP (Internet Protocol) networks and the Internet, bridging between GDLN core network and the networks of partners in a “network of networks” (sometimes using satellite Interactive TV). Electronic and print based publishing is a part of the “blend”. Development Gateway—collaboration, information and resource sharing,  development community building web facility. DG’s core technology platform is implemented using the ArsDigita Community System (ACS), an open-source code software system for interactive Web applications. With the exception of the Oracle database, all components of the Development Gateway platform use open-source code, to manage the code and to distribute the code as widely as possible to developing countries without having to pay proprietary license fees. B-Span—web-based video casting facility based on a commercial product Realserver. Development Forum--the Bank's venue for electronic discussions using Lyris commercial product. Discussions are available via e-mail and via the web. Online Discussions and Newsletters use a commercial product Lyris. WebCT—Commercial product used for client online learning. The Bank has bought a license. Interface:1 % HTML, rest dynamically generated. Programming language: Perl. VLE—Home-built product used for client online learning. Interface: HTML. Programming language: Java, C++. Back-end: Access database. Netg—Commercial software used for staff learning mainly for the IT courses. The Bank has purchased 3 year subscription. Elementk—Commercial software used for staff learning mainly for the IT courses. The Bank has purchased 3 year subscription.