Knowledge Management
What do we mean?Knowledge management involves creating the conditions for people to make the best use of knowledge and nurture innovation.
Why are we researching this?
The most useful information we find is contacting someone we trust will know the answer or someone who does. We rarely quantify how much time and money this can save. This doesn’t just mean we find the answer, we can also learn from colleagues’ experience and even avoid making the same mistakes and adapt practices that have worked before. To nurture knowledge with external organisations, like universities, who can provide the expertise we need within KCC and collectively across the public sector family in Kent .
How are we going to research this?
We want to review and test new platforms for information & knowledge transference. Because of the complexity of the tools, we will focus on those which are the easiest for people to interact with the content, search and manage their knowledge in a way that suits them. We will build on our collaboration with the CLG/IDeA Knowledge Hub, Warwick Business School on knowledge networks and the internal review of Information Management.
What are we going to research?
We will research how knowledge is currently managed, shared and created. We will look at innovative ways of doing this, like filtering knowledge/recommendations on a specific issue, visualising data to show patterns of working or discovering the “unknown unknowns”. From this, we will look at the applications that can be used in practice.
What does the analysis show us?
From existing practice such as the Medway Children Portal & LAA Data Room, we can see that given that more and more issues cross services and organisations, there is a risk that councils will make decisions without making the best use of their collective intelligence.
What do we want to achieve?
If we are to effectively re-use ideas, we want to make sure we can connect the processes, people and technology to manage this knowledge.
How can you be involved?
If you are researchers/consultants , we would like to explore how we could capture together how effective these techniques are on managing knowledge on a specific issue.
If you are innovators, we would like to explore how we could pilot your tools with a group of staff or citizens on a particular issue.
If you are organisations in sectors who have used these tools, we would like to share the learning and explore opportunities for collaboration
-Noel Hatch
* Thank you to takomabibelot for photo (top right: Daniel Chester French's 1904 Boston Public Library Bronze Door, "Knowledge") published on Flickr under Creative Commons licence, some rights reserved.
Sounds ideal for me, Noel.
I am working towards an MSc. in Clinical leadership, and in the middle of writing my action research proposal.
I have five years experience of setting up a project in the Community for a severely disabled and ventilated patient. Using knowledge transfer to teach the several long-term unemployed/ single parents, none of whom had a Nursing background - showed that running a High dependency project the Community takes commitment,innovative thinking, problem solving abilities, a willing work force, knowledge and hard work.
It was fascinating, rewarding,life changing stuff!
Linda McLean
At the moment, mapping innovation is the only activity we're doing on knowledge management, but we may be conducting more research on the topic once our business plan has been reviewed. Would you like to write a blog article on the project that you ran? We are definately interested in hearing more about it.
Kirsty