The series consists of files compiled by DGO Robert Picciotto that relate to topics not directly connected with the work of OED; most of the files concern committees, commissions, task forces, or boards on which Picciotto served. The majority of files concerns the Bank-wide Social Development Task Force (SDTF) which was established early in 1996 as an acknowledgement of the social dimensions of development in project design and to take a considered look at the various initiatives and approaches underway onsocial development and to make recommendations on further actions to advance [that] work. Picciotto served as chair of the Task Force's Satellite Group 9 on Bank Instruments of Lending. Picciotto's Task Force records include: agenda for meetings and retreats; copies of and comments on the drafts of the Group 9 report; correspondence with other members of Group 9 and with other Task Force members; and copies of input from the other Task Force groups.

Related to the SDTF are records filed under Adapting Lending Products and Adaptable Lending Products. Picciotto was a member of the New Products Steering Committee which was organized to implement the recommendations of the SDTF. That led to the Adaptable Lending Group which first met in March 1997 to create a new line of lending products recommended for Bank-wide adaptation to implement SDTF goals. The Executive Directors approved the Adaptable Lending Instruments in September 1997. The files contain Picciotto's correspondence regarding the development of the new lending products.

Filed under Project Implementation Commission - Brazil are Picciotto's records, dated July 1999 - August 1996, for the Brazil/World Bank Commission on Improving the Developmental Effectiveness of World Bank Financial Projects. Picciotto was a member of the joint Bank/Brazil Commission which was created to improve the Bank's portfolio in three sectors (education, rural poverty, and health) in the Northeast Region of Brazil and in the environment sector across Brazil. Picciotto's recordsinclude: correspondence with Commission members; Terms of Reference for consultants assigned to work with the Commission; minutes of Commission meetings; intra-OED correspondence regarding audits of Brazilian projects and the establishment of new projects in Brazil; draft outlines of the Commission's final report; drafts of the Executive Summary of the report; and comments regarding drafts of the final report. Drafts of the entire report are not in the files.

Picciotto served on the Joint Fund-Bank Committee on Finance and Development which was the advisory board for Finance and Development (F and D), the quarterly publication of the International Monetary Fund and the Bank. His Board records (filed under Internal Correspondence - Finance and Development) date from December 1987 when he was Vice President for Corporate Planning and Budgeting. Included are: his correspondence with the editor of F and D; agenda and minutes of Board meetings; copies of book reviews he provided for publication; resumes of job applicants for positions with the publication; articles submitted for publication which were forwarded to Picciotto for comment; and a copy of an article, A New Project Cycle for the World Bank? which he and Rachel Weaving submitted for publication in October 1994.

In addition to board, task force, and committee records, this series includes files on several other non-OED topics. Filed under Socratic Seminar Files are Picciotto's records regarding his coordination work for a television program, Banking on the Poor, which was part of a public television series The Fred Friendly Seminars. Picciotto had the lead in planning for the October 1, 1994, program which took place in Madrid, Spain, at the time of the Bank's annual meeting. It was the third in a series sponsored by the Bank to examine the role of international finance in fighting poverty. The program followed the Socratic Seminar format, created in the 1970s by Fred Friendly and Stuart Sucherman. Picciotto's records are dated May to October 1994 and include concept papers and e-mails regarding logistical planning for the program.

This series also includes copies of June 1996 - June 1998 correspondence (filed under Knowledge Center - Management) Picciotto received regarding the Knowledge Management Board that was established in July 1997 as well as copies of his comments on proposals for knowledge management within the Bank.