This brochure presents the Programme on Bridging the Rural Digital Divide, that begun in 2003 under the implementation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The programme highlighted innovative approaches to knowledge exchange that were taking advantage of new (at that time) digital technologies, and that were based on synergies between information management and communication for development. At the time this was referred to as "information and communication for development"(ICD).

This brochure is on the Virtual Extension and Research Information and Communication Network (VERCON), a conceptual model that any country can use and adapt to improve access to agricultural information and knowledge sharing and to strengthen the linkages between rural institutions and individuals, using information and communication technologies.

This course aims to guide actors in member countries in effectively enhancing country capacity and to ensure that programmes and projects lead to truly effective and sustainable change. It consolidates existing knowledge, tools and lessons learned from FAO’s work.

This document aims to guide a small team tasked to assess the capacity for agricultural innovation in a multi-stakeholder context. The context might be an actual or potential “innovation platform” such as the three commodity-based platforms selected for the piloting capacity assessment methods, or it might be a project or programme that is more generally focused on strengthening of innovation within a subsector of agriculture within a country, such as livestock or horticulture.