tion-based systems have enhanced the value of literacy in the agricultural sector (Warschauer, 1999) and this trend will probably continue in the future. Some of the options to strengthen these systems are described below.

6.3.3.1  Reducing the "Digital-divide"
Currently, the availability and use of IT in AKST in the NAE is uneven among countries and sectors. Some countries, such as those in Eastern Europe and to a lesser extent, Central Europe, have lower access to the technologies (Chinn and Fairlie, 2007). In comparison to Western Europe, availabil­ity in Eastern Europe is about 20-30%. The present uneven distribution of IT sets up some short term scenarios that might be useful to avoid, as they could create conditions that favor the persistence of long-term inequities. Some of the ways to counteract this digital divide are by:
•     Using data and information sources that can improve production;
•     Increasing access to software products that assist pro­duction (expert systems) in the production sectors in Central and Eastern Europe;
•     Encouraging investments both by the private and state sectors in capitalization of the production sector, IT maintenance and repair infrastructure and software de­velopment to help meet production goals; and
•     Providing education to be able to manage these IT sys­tems in production.

6.3.3.2  Reconfiguration of information systems If IT development progresses as expected, in the future vastly greater quantities of more detailed information will become available by faster and more convenient means for use by the AKST system and the wider range of stakeholders and clients with whom it will need to interact. If access to the hardware, software and information continues to increase, there will be too much information to be useful. Some spe­cific challenges will be problems associated with temporal and spatial scale matching and extraction of useful knowl­edge from the dense and numerous sources of information. In the future, information systems will be necessary to iden­tify and control emerging threats all at pertinent spatial and temporal scales. To avoid potential problems associated with information overload, several changes in the NAE AKST may be required, as mentioned below:
•     Define collectively (active participation by farmers, ex­tension services, etc.) what information is necessary and would be efficient for better farm and landscape man­agement of resources (biophysical and economic) at the different pertinent scales;
•     Promote, as far as possible, consistencies among data formats to be supplied for regulation purposes (control, follow-up...) and data used for farm, land and environ­mental management;
•     Reconfigure information flow and information manage­ment practices to prioritize environmental land man­agement goals in agricultural practice, in environmental practice and in government support policies, incorpo­rating a cross-compliance approach to agricultural land management; and
•     Develop  specialized software and data management

programs that can access and use the high volume of information.

6.3.3.3 From information systems to knowledge based systems
Information systems have been widely developed to the point that many people have access to so much information that they cannot use it effectively. In the NAE, the primary focus of knowledge generation (integration of information so that it is useful in making decisions and taking actions) in the AKST system has been educational and research institu­tions (Leeuwis, 2004). It is essential to promote the devel­opment of multiple loci of knowledge generation so that it will be possible to harness the vast flows of information to improve site-specific and temporally dynamic management (Hassell, 2007).
•     Encourage land managers to become sources of knowl­edge production and facilitate multi-directional flows of knowledge by the education and lifelong learning systems;
•     Expand the sources of knowledge-generation of AKST to go well beyond the institutional boundaries of educa­tional institutions, especially with electronic and other distance learning systems in a lifelong learning context; and
•     Develop several new and structurally innovative models for turning information into knowledge.

Similarly, many developing countries will probably experi­ence a rising flood of information, although it is likely to be more uneven and lag behind the NAE (Chinn and Fair-lie, 2007). It is also probable that the availability of IT and the AKST demands for its products will vary from region to region. It will be important to evaluate these regional needs and evaluate the relevance of the NAE experience so that IT is appropriately contextualized in the development strategy.

6.3.4 Promoting appropriate institutional and organizational arrangements

6.3.4.1   Towards new and "engaged" public institutes
A new kind of public institution is one that is as much a first-rate student university as it is a first-rate research uni­versity, one that provides access to success to a more diverse student population as easily as it reaches out to "engage" the larger community. Perhaps most significantly, this new type of university will be the engine of lifelong learning in the NAE region, because it will have reinvented its organi­zational structures and re-examined its cultural norms in pursuit of a learning society.
     Engagement, on the other hand, goes well beyond ex­tension, conventional outreach and even most conceptions of public service. Inherited concepts emphasize a one-way process in which the university transfers its expertise to key constituents. Embedded in the engagement ideal is a com­mitment to sharing and reciprocity. Engagement could give rise to partnerships, two-way streets defined by mutual re­spect among the partners for what each brings to the table. The engaged institution can: