Champagne for 1000th Member

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Capacity4dev has reached another milestone. Our 1,000th subscriber, Luca Pitrone, signed up this week, winning a bottle of champagne. Mr Pitrone, a secretary in AIDCO's unit E6 (Natural Resources), expects to use capacity4dev daily. “It’s like Facebook, but for work purposes,” said Mr Pitrone. “It’s good that we have it available.”

Though much of the site is open to anyone using the internet, registered users have access to additional functions. A simple registration process, open to anyone, allows users set up collaborative work spaces, find others with a shared interests or expertise and join current discussions and debates.

"We are delighted to give the prize to a colleague from our sister unit," said Wojciech Lubowiecki, who heads the editorial team, "and we are somewhat relieved that we do not have to travel to faraway islands just to keep the promise to hand over the bottle. Our website community has grown in all directions and truly covers the world."

Indeed it is not just European Commission staff from Brussels who sign up. Capacity4dev has just broken another own record reaching 200 countries, from which registered users come. The majority, that is 62 percent, are drawn from the private sector, civil society and NGOs, partner countries and academia. Since the launch last October the website was visited by nearly 25,000 people.

Initially targeted to those who work in capacity building and technical cooperation Capacity4dev broadened its horizons and now hosts 31 workgroups. Some groups are set up around issues like Rural Development and Agriculture, or Coastal and Marine Management and Development. But others have been set up to follow specific tasks or implement work-plans.

Many more people access the site without taking advantage of the facilities that come with being a fully registered user. Records show that some 2,000 unique visitors access capacity4dev.eu every week with up to 160 non-registered users browsing the site at any one time.

If you haven’t signed up yet, click on the ‘Create New Account’ button in the top right of the homepage and fill out the online form. It’s quick, easy and will provide your passport to closer collaboration.