A quiet revolution is sweeping the world of development; a revolution in plain sight yet often obscured by ubiquitous familiarity. It goes by the initials GIS or geographic information system.

The international debate about forests has come a long way in a short time. “It’s as if an earthquake has shaken everything in the forestry world,” says Gerhard Dieterle, Forests Advisor to the World Bank, “and as the aftershocks subside you see a structure where the tectonic plates have moved to different places.”

Recently, the Government of Japan and the World Bank through the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) teamed up to showcase lessons learned from recent disasters around the world—including Japan’s experiences.

It is clearly apparent that the global revolution in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is transforming forever the way human beings live and communicate. Less obvious – though equally dramatic – is the extent to which ICT is fuelling a developmental revolution in which ordinary citizens can grasp the levers of their own economic growth.

Agriculture may be the most important way for developing countries to reduce poverty and stimulate economic growth. Food production accounts for about one-third of economic growth in poor communities, and three-quarters of the world’s poor live in rural areas, where agriculture is the principal source of livelihood.