UNESCO Open Training Platform Minimize

Opportunity: matching local learning needs and existing learning resources, through an unprecedented collaborative effort driven by the UN and development agencies.

The Open Training Platform (OTP) is a web-based sharing and access space that offers learning and capacity building resources in all development topics to better serve local people’s knowledge and skill acquisition needs in developing countries.

The Online Training Platform is a poverty reduction tool and internet training/learning solution that enables developing nations to:

  • Participate in an unprecedented, cross-sector, and UN-led development collaboration to reduce poverty
  • Coordinate capacity building efforts, existing information centers and training as required by individual National Poverty Reduction plans
  • Access timely (up-to-the-minute) development information, technology, and organizations to maximize the training of local people
  • Fill global development knowledge gaps via a responsive, flexible information warehouse that and can be tailored to the learning needs of local constituencies

The OTP Project was initiated in March 2007 and hyperlinked to 2300 resources constantly completed. Today, its 1,600 members share resources from all UN agencies and over 630 other institutions dedicated to development at all levels in 21 key domains for development. These topic areas include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Agriculture
  • Health and HIV/AIDS
  • Education
  • Entrepreneurship/Economy
  • Environment
  • Information Management
  • Community Development
  • Gender
  • and more…

The OTP is also extensively used as a knowledge management tool for development agencies to leverage and adapt existing resources and avoid duplications.

Objectives:

Through an unprecedented collaboration driven by the UN and other development agencies, the Open Training Platform (OTP) aims to achieve the following objectives:

  • Match existing access centres and learning resources;
  • Unlocking and maximizing people learning opportunities for living conditions improvement;
  • Poverty reduction using ICTs.

Target:

The OTP therefore targets:

  • specialized and local communities (through access center managers and trainers) to provide access to free quality training and capacity building resources and better respond to local learning needs.
  • development stakeholders to globalize and make their training and capacity-building resources openly accessible, thus maximizing their circulation and use, avoiding duplications in resource development and allowing stakeholders to build on each others resources.

Deliverables:

  • The Platform evaluation is being held (15 April-31 May). Its conclusions will drive the OTP development plan and awareness raising campaigns according to forces and weaknesses identified.
  • The Francophone version heavily requested by OTP users will be launched in July 2008 to facilitate the access to francophone resources so as to better serve learning needs for development in Francophone Africa.
  • A new customization service: The customization service being tested will allow specialized networks to enjoy a tailored learning resources sharing tool (personalized interface with selected domains pertinent to the working community/network). Such request were already made from networks in the area of HIV/AIDS, food security, SME and micro enterprise development, vocational education, sustainable development and disaster management.
  • The “training-on-demand” service is to be expanded in order to better fit with the local learning needs reality: Any learner/trainer/development stakeholders will be able to contact OTP team to search for specific resources or specific learning resources’ formats (video, podcasts, etc.).
  • An ongoing awareness raising activities (Conferences, news editing, etc;): the OTP traffic illustrates that much is still to be done to raise awareness among the LDCs development stakeholders and authorities. Raising awareness is a constant challenge for the OTP team and we will sustain this effort.
  • New partners sensitized to open content licensing need: UN agencies and ICT4D stakeholders are being invited to join this free learning resource sharing effort as partners. They will also be encouraged to opt for open licensing when developing training resources.
  • In addition to these deliverables, the technology watch and on going mobilization of development stakeholders in GAID priority areas (education, entrepreneurship, governance, health, etc.) will be at the core of the OTP team concern to keep up with a flexible and optimized service to learners, trainers and development stakeholders.

More detailed information are included in the OTP project Charter and the OTP business plan.

Lead organization:

UNESCO

Partners:

In addition to the 1600 members who voluntarily enrich the OTP, this open multi-partners initiatives counts 9 UN agencies (FAO, ILO ITC, ITU, UNEP, UNESCO, UNITAR, UNU, UNV and WHO), development agencies (IDRC and SPIDER) and well as initiatives advocating for open educational content (APC, CURRIKI, Development Gateway, GLP, Merlot African Network, OER Commons and the Shuttleworth Foundation).

UNESCO expects more UN agencies and development stakeholders of join this open and collaborative effort.