Working Group 3: Management of knowledge
This working group, one of the three working groups of the IKM Emergent Research Programme 2007-2012, will be investigating the role of information and knowledge within organizations in the development sector? Why is this necessary?
Although there has been much work on knowledge within development, much of it is fragemented and piecemeal. Such work often has an overly practioner-based focus with insufficient grounding in the body of related research. Our working group has the ambition to look at the role of knowledge in development from a system-wide persective, looking at what has been achieved so far, and building on this to develop new approaches. Our mission is to promote a type of knowledge management that is more focused on strategic development objectives and less on the possibilities of the tools and techniques, substantial though these may be. To promote this mission, we will be working with what we are calling ‘fellow travellers’, organizations, networks and individuals with similar ambitions and goals.
Our key message:
A development strategy comes first, followed by a knowledge management strategy in its service. Tools and technology should be in service of these, and not vice versa.
Our approach is based on:
Research
As a group of hybrid researchers-practitioners and practitioner-researchers were are undertaking indepth research into what is happening in the fast-moving field on knowledge management for development, and to build on this to develop new, development oriented research agendas.
Practice
We will be investigating the practice on knowledge management in development organizations, working with organizations and practitioners. Although we don’t believe in ‘best practices’ as such, we do will be investigating initiatives that are able to bridge the divides between knowledge asymetries to highlight their experience for others.
Agenda setting
We are aiming to shape, with others, the agenda setting around knowledge management for development.
The giraffe 
Bravo to all of you!
I am Jerry Ash, managing editor, Inside Knowledge magazine, founder/manager, the Association of Knowledge Management (AOK) and author of a series of three books titled “Next Generation Knowledge Management”.
My focus now is on reaching beyond the small island of KM wonks to link to every corner of the workplace where actual knowledge work goes on. And so, your views on knowledge application in the development area fits well with me.
I’m wondering how we might team up to spread the word on KM4D. I see you are involved in research and perhaps you might connect me to practitioners who are using KM in their development practices. I’m sure you will have the sources for some good case reports and it would be a way of spreading the word about your work.
Almost always at your fingertips.
Jerry Ash
* Managing Editor, Inside Knowledge magazine
* Author, ‘New Generation Knowledge Management’ series
* Founder, manager, Association of Knowledgework (AOK)
* KM Coach
Email: jash@kwork.org
Phone: 813.634.4397
URLs: http://www.IKmagazine.com | http://www.kwork.org
I’m very interested in staying in touch with your work on development. I’m currently doing some consulting work with conservation International, not exactly a development organization, but shares many of the same problems.
Nancy Dixon
Very impressed to read about your mission. I am part of a large network; a community of communities; known as The Constellation. We connect local responses using KM tools. We span over 30 countries and have no idea how many members.
Our KM systems and tools have been adapted from those originally used by BP, which were shared in a book called “Learn to Fly” by Parcell and Collison.
We are a “starfish” organisation (for definition, see Brafman and Beckstrom’s, the Starfish and the Spider), which means that if a piece of our network dies, the other pieces just grow back and continue to thrive. KM is a critical piece of keeping the different legs of our Starfish healthy.
Please visit us. http://aidscompetence.ning.com/
Let’s share and learn together!
You can also contact me directly; olivia.munoru@gmail.com, to find out more.
Olivia