COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION EXCHANGE

1. COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION EXCHANGE Is this being done effectively in the context of the needs & requirements of the RCA MSs? Dr John F Easey

2. Motivations for Change • Better use of Time and Effort for all those involved in the RCA • More effective Communications • Reducing Communications and other costs • A higher level of Information on the RCA and its Programme provided for all Member States • Support continued improved of Decision-making and Management in the RCA and its Programme

3. Communication & Information Exchange • How well is the message delivered? • How clear is the message and does it provide useful and relevant information?

4. BasicDefinition Communication is: • The process of transferring / conveying information from one entity to another

5. TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

6. One Way / Linear ModelTV, Radio, Newspapers, Reports

7. Two Way / Interactive ʹειξΰμзβпа϶ϧӾԑᴌᴔᴓ па϶ξΰ 12 &90 %@! Message Source Receivers Feedback

8. Transactional Communications Model Codifying Decodifying Sending Message • Analysing Shoes is My shoes hurt me! Is Shoes They are my shoes! Feedback Evaluating

9. Examples of these Types of Communication in the RCA Context. One-way • The finalised RCA Annual Report. Two-way / Interactive • Inputs for editing the draft RCA Reports. Transactional • Agreeing the wording of the Conclusions and Actions at the end of a session at a NR Meeting.

10. Comments on Communications A few beneficial technologies using electronic media and the internet are being employed in the RCA for One-way and Two-way communications. However the RCA does not appear to be adopting beneficial Transactional communications technologies such as Video conferencing and Skype communications, even though these have wide use for both commercially and personally and have potential for improved utilisation of individual’s time and efforts as well as other cost savings such as travel.

11. Key Players involved in RCA Communications The follow key players are involved in a complex web of communications on RCA matters: • RCA Focal Person • IAEA Project Management Officers • IAEA Technical Officers • RCA Chair • RCA National Representatives • RCA Regional Office • Lead Country Coordinators • National Project Counterparts • Project Teams

12. Major Items Communicated for the RCA Programme • Reports – Annual Reports, NRM Reports, GCM Reports, RCARO Reports • Briefing Materials for RCA Meetings • Prospectuses - Training Courses and Meetings • Success Stories – Printed • Training Courses / Meeting Presentations – PowerPoint presentations, Oral presentations, Written notes

13. Comments on RCA Documents These documents are the major items communicating much of the essential information on the RCA and its programme to the Member States. • Although these documents are produced on computers and mostly distributed electronically, there has been little or no introduction or incorporation of enhanced functions such as bookmarks and hyperlinks. • For the most part they remain essentially paper-based in structure and retain the traditional templates for their layout.

14. Decision-Making in the RCA The two Meetings of RCA National Representatives that take place each year are the decision-making fora for the RCA. • Is the information provided in the background documentation for these crucial meetings in sufficient detail, in a suitable format, complete, up-to-date and readily extracted? • Would changes in the presentation of information and the level of detail provided on the RCA and its programme, assist Member States in discussion, debate and decision-making?

15. Case Study 1 RCA Annual Report for 2012 Identificationof Potential Areas for Improvements in Communications and Information Exchange

16. RCA Annual Report What is the major function of this document? • It is an obligation under the Agreement Article VII (4) for the Agency to prepare a report of the implementation of the projects based on the input from Member States Who is the main audience? • The main audience is composed of the RCA Member States and the IAEA.

17. Comments on the CurrentAnnual Report Template The 2012 Annual Report has 51 pages and 18,323 words. The current template does not incorporate any e-document functions: for example, there are no links between headings in the Table of Contents and the report sections. Thus referencing particular sections /sub-sections involves scrolling through the report page by page, which is an unnecessary time-consuming process.

18. Improving Decision-making and Programme Performance through enhanced Information Presentation The RCA Annual Report contains important information on the RCA Programme and its implementation. • However the full value of this information is only achieved through detailed analysis, which not a component of the current reporting regime. • Individual MS may undertake such analyses but these are not commonly shared amongst MSs. • Therefore MSs do not have common base lines for discussions and debates concerning matters affecting the RCA and its Programme.

19. Suggestions for Improvement A central data base could be established for the Member States on key implementational and financial aspects of the RCA over the past 10 to 15 years, for example: • No. of expert missions, meetings, regional training courses planned and no. implemented each year. • Participation data for expert missions, meetings, regional training courses. • Overall and individual project implementation rates. • Project budgets approved by the IAEA Board. • Annual extrabudgetary donations and annual expenditure.

20. Benefits to Member States • All Member States would be able to work to common reference materials. • New RCA Member States would not be disadvantaged because of a lack of previous knowledge and interaction. • Member States would not be disadvantaged by changes in their National Representative or the national RCA support staff.

21. Example for Possible Incorporation in an RCA Database

22. Example for Possible Incorporation in an RCA Database

23. Example for Possible Incorporation in an RCA Database

24. Case Study 2 Report of the RCA National Representative Meeting Nay Phi Taw, March 2013 Identificationof Potential Areas for Improvements in Communications and Information Exchange

25. RCA Reports of NRM & GCM What is the major function of these documents? • Record the conclusions and decisions of the RCA Member States. Who is the main audience? • The main audience is composed of the RCA MSs and the IAEA.

26. Communications and related Information Exchange Meeting Documentation: • Background papers are distributed by email and are “soft” documents but are in “hard copy” format. • Most information supplied is related to the past year. • In many cases additional information is required on past years to provide a perspective on trends, etc. • Full analysis of the information provided in the documentation requires knowledge of and access to past relevant documents as well as significant time for analysis.

28. Review of the Process Preparation of the Meeting Report: • Rapporteurs were from the participating Delegations (AUL & MAL). • Carrying out this function limited the rapporteurs’ ability to contribute to their Delegations. • The rapporteurs prepared a draft report which was to be delivered to the RCA Focal Person within 2 weeks. • Draft Report was circulated to the National Representatives by the RCA Focal Person on 19 April. • Tracked changes were requested to be received by the RCA Focal Person by 3 May. • The final version of the report is distributed by the RCA Focal Person on 10 May – 49 days after the NRM closed.

29. Main Observations Rapporteurs involvement: • The present duties of the rapporteurs impinge on their ability to contribute to their Delegations. • The essential RCA information contained in the main section of Meeting Report is the text on Conclusions, Recommendations and Decisions, which is recorded at the end of each session and then agreed by the delegates before the conclusion of the Meeting. Member States involvement: • Member States were given 2 weeks to review the draft report. • Following the Meeting 7 weeks elapsed before the final version of the Meeting Report was issued. Conclusions: • The present arrangements for both the preparation and the finalisation of the Meeting report do not appear to be an efficient use of the resources of Member States or the Secretariat.

30. Suggestions for Improvement The format of the National RCA Representatives Meetings Reports could be changed so that: • the main text only contains a record of the conclusions, recommendations and decisions of the Meetings as formulated at the end of each session and agreed at the end of the Meeting. • the annexes should still be attached to the report.

31. Benefits to Member States • The report would be finished at the conclusion of the Meeting and no draft copies would need to circulated and agreed. • The work of the rapporteurs would be markedly reduced and they would be able to spend more of their time deal with their delegations needs. • The Meeting Reports would be much shorter documents (e.g. the main body of the 2013 NRM report is 22 pages and 7,609 words. Only reporting the conclusions, recommendations and decisions reduces the main body of the report to 7 pages and 1,943 words).

32. Is continuity of participation by delegates from Member States in RCA Decision-making Meetings a Potential Issue? Case Study 3 35th RCA NRM 2013

33. Profile of Participants attending the 35th RCA NRM in 2013 2013 RCA NRM - 40 participants from 16 MSs • 26 of these 40 participants had not attended the 2012 RCA NRM. 9 MSs without continuity. • 31 of these 40 participants had not attended the 2011 RCA NRM.9 MSs without continuity. • 31 of these 40 participants had not attended the 2010 RCA NRM. 10 MSs without continuity. • 32 of these 40 participants had not attended the 2009 RCA NRM. 11 MSs without continuity.

34. Conclusion • Only 7 RCA Member States were able to draw on experience from an individual’s previous participation (35%) in the 2012 NRM. • 9 RCA Member States did not have delegates with experience of the 2012 NRM and were dependent on feedback from previous national participants and the information provided in the distributed background documentation. • Participation of individual from Member States in NRMs before 2012 steadily decreases with time. Only 8 individuals from 5 Member States had continuity of participation over the 5 years extending back to the 2009 NRM.

35. Overall Conclusions • The information exchange environment in RCA has become less efficient because of the slow adoption by the RCA of current communications technologies, practices and techniques. • Most information exchange is through information imbedded in RCA reports and documents, which require detailed analysis to extract it and place it in context. • There is little information open to all RCA Member States on historic RCA data and data trends. • Member States are currently responsible for creating their own data bases.

36. Overall Conclusions (cont.) • Upgrading communications and information exchange could provide significant benefits to all RCA Member States and greatly assist Member States in decision-making and the management and progression of the RCA programme. • As illustrated by the data on participation in the 2013 RCA NRM, there is significant turnover in national participation and representation, which places enormous importance on information exchange at the national level to achieve continuity. This could be alleviated through the establishment of databases accessible to all RCA Member States.

37. Thank You! Any Questions?