Tuesday 21 April 2009

The use of D-groups at FAO

Interview with Kristin Koshus, main D-group administrator at FAO Rome. Kristin has been working for 9 years with FAO and is since one year and a half the D-groups administrator. FAO has about 74 active online groups: as well small groups inside FAO linked to specific events of discussions and bigger groups with partners ouside FAO.

  • Large D-groups will often have a few active participants who communicate with a larger group. Smaller groups are much more focused with an active participation: they are time-limited and people know one another.
  • E-mail functionality, low bandwith and the fact that D-groups are relatively inexpensive are key for the use of D-groups.
  • The migration to the new platform caused a lot of frustration but his is now compensated by a much more performant platform. the new platform allows for better management of the contributions and for user analysis: who participates, from which countries, etc.

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