and partnership. It involves building partnerships with Market research and strategy
policy makers, politicians and the technical experts from As indicated, one of the challenges facing the EIN is
participating institutions. Technical issues can never be the lack of visibility. Therefore a key focus of the EIN
completely divorced from politics. It is extremely impor- should be to develop and implement an outreach strat-
tant to have the commitment of high-level decision mak- egy that would have a two pronged effect: first and fore-
ers in partner institutions and the politicians. Cultivating most improve network visibility and knowledge of its
this commitment cannot and should not be a one time products and services; and secondly enhance awareness
affair. This commitment translates into marketing of the on environmental issues and show how the network
EIN and increased public support for its activities, as well products can aid decision making, education or other
as mobilisation of financial resources, among others. purposes. This would stimulate interest among civil so-
Low public awareness about the network translates into ciety, the scientific, business and political community
low demand for its products. Increased demand for prod- and increase demand for services. At the same time it
ucts means greater innovation and ensures relevance and would compel the lead agencies and districts to report
sustainability for the network. and improve their environment information manage-
ment procedures.
Networking should also actively include working with
other programmes in the same arena, so as to reduce du- Some of the issues that could be looked at include market
plication, and enhance effectiveness through synergies. research, preparation of a business plan outlining key el-
One such initiative is the Uganda Spatial Data Infrastruc- ements of the activities to be undertaken, branding of the
ture (SDI) initiative, under the Ministry of Finance, Plan- network, fund raising and products such as brochures
ning and Economic Development. and website, among others.
22 Best Practices in Environmental Information Management in Africa
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