Are Your Reform Partners Going Beyond your Pilot?

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A week ago I was pleasantly surprised to learn, in a workshop on  Local Road Network Development Planning, that the Provincial Government of Agusan del Sur had created not one, but at least five move “Industry Maps” and infographics. 

These maps show the location of key players in a specific sub-sector that drives the Provincial economy of Agusan del Sur. Provincial planners use these maps to identify roads that connect key players. They then identify road segments that require investment, and propose projects for inclusion in the road network development plan.

Compiling the list of key players and mapping their location can be challenging. So when ADS agreed to explore this idea with us about two years ago, we decided to focus on one specific commodity: Palay (rice).  The Provincial project team, working with the local Chamber of Commerce, identified organizations, business, facilities that performed functions described in Michael Porter's classic Value Chain diagram. They located these roads on their Roads Database, and eventually produced their “Palay Industry Map”.  To enhance communication with stakeholders, they also created graphical presentations of the data.


What I learned last week was that Agusan had gone beyond our initial work. On their own, they applied the same ideas and approach to four other commodities - Banana, Cacao, Oil Palm, and Rubber. 


Applying this new idea beyond its original area of application is a form of local scaling-up. It could only happen because the ADS Provincial planners found the “Industry Maps” to be useful. Practical utility is also the basis for sustainability. Which is why I’m expecting to hear more from this amazing Province in the future.






Comments

  1. GOwinMay 17, 2017 at 1:21 PM

    Excellent write-up Rene. I'm wondering if they are still utilizing Open data (e.g. OpenStreetMap). I know that some of the participants we trained in our workshops in Agusan are still mapping using OSM, at the municipality-level. but I wonder if that goes up the chain, somehow.

    The maps are silent about the data sources.

    /Erwin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ren SanapoFebruary 1, 2022 at 8:54 AM

      Hello Erwin. Apologies for the very late reply. What we know is that some individuals have taken it up as a hobby, but it has not been adopted by a larger body. Keep on mapping!

      Delete

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