From 12–23 January 2026, the Enterprise Breeding System (EBS) Knowledge Exchange Program (KEP) was successfully conducted at IRRI Headquarters, Philippines, convening partners from the International Potato Center (CIP)–Kenya and CIMMYT–Ethiopia for an intensive, hands-on training on centralized process operations and EBS core breeding workflows. The program was led by May Sallan, Digital Solutions – Adoption and Consuelo Parducho, CCO Data manager
The program supported Ruth Wangeci Gikonyo, Research Assistant in Data Management and Information Systems at CIP–Kenya, and Dufera Tulu Gedefa, researcher from CIMMYT–Ethiopia, in strengthening their capacity to adopt and operationalize EBS within their respective breeding programs.
Building Practical Expertise in EBS Workflows
The two-week program opened with CCO orientations and guided facility tours, setting the foundation for in-depth discussions on strengthening standard operating procedures and aligning breeding workflows with digital systems. Ruth completed hands-on training in EBS tools covering core breeding processes, data analytics, and mobile data collection through face-to-face sessions, workshops, and interactive exercises. Sessions were conducted in English and facilitated by experts from Breeding Resources and Digital Solutions (BRS DS), RBI CCO, and RBI BDS-DM.
For Ruth (CIP–Kenya), the training directly supported its ongoing EBS adoption initiative. Key focus areas included:
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Deepening understanding of EBS and mapping CIP breeding processes into EBS workflows
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Adapting potato and sweet potato data workflows to the system
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Refining storage and nursery management workflows
Through structured discussions and live system configuration exercises, participants translated real breeding use cases into functional digital workflows—ensuring that EBS implementation aligns with operational needs.
Advancing Nursery, Storage, and Digital Data Collection
In parallel, Dufera strengthened competencies in nursery management workflows for maize, development of storage management SOPs, and enhancement of digital data collection protocols for collaboration with partners. Dedicated sessions on EBS FieldBook integration, experiment configuration, entry types, nomenclature standards, and harvest management provided practical grounding in standardized digital processes.
Participants also completed sessions on user management and role-based access control (RBAC), genotyping workflows, and communication materials development—supporting readiness not only for system use but for structured institutional rollout.
From Learning to Implementation
By the conclusion of the program, participants had developed agreed outputs aligned with their respective KEP proposals and institutional adoption plans. IRRI use cases served as reference models, while solutions were tailored to CIP’s potato and sweet potato breeding context.
The Knowledge Exchange Program reinforces CGIAR’s commitment to advancing digital breeding transformation across centers. By investing in capacity building, workflow refinement, and collaborative problem-solving, initiatives such as this accelerate EBS adoption and empower breeding teams to deliver improved varieties through more efficient, standardized, and data-driven systems.