I am trying to explore issues of Knowledge Management at the level of a development project and I would appreciate your comments on practical examples and theoretical aspects. The term development project is used in a very broad sense to cover a large diversity of development activities. An underlying factor for these considerations is the project life cycle and the role the knowledge plays at each step of project inception, planning, implementation and evaluation. A project is a unique venture to be accomplished in a given time. The time constraint is the main factor differentiating Knowledge Management in a project from Knowledge Management at an institution. The institution aims at establishing a Knowledge Management program as a permanent process in its operations. Knowledge Management in a project is a process with specific start/end dates and clear purpose to support planning, implementation, monitoring and dissemination of results. This process is conducted in a context of larger knowledge sharing systems developed by donor agencies, global multilateral initiatives, local and national governments and in specific cultural and political environments. I would like to see much more attention paid to the grassroots level knowledge sharing.
Knowledge Management in respect to post-project activities and sustainability of processes initiated by a project could be a topic for a separate discussion. I am trying to address some of the following questions in relation to specific types of projects: - What concrete problems do we want to solve by introducing Knowledge Management in development projects? Can Knowledge Management contribute to higher effectiveness and impact of development projects and how? - What knowledge is needed and who has that knowledge? - Who needs what knowledge and what are the means to access and use the knowledge by project staff and beneficiaries, researchers and population at large? - What are the cultural and political conditions for the empowerment through knowledge and what are the implications of wider access to knowledge in the society? - Which computer-based tools and methods and electronic communication facilities can be adapted in cost-effective way for the needs of development projects, particularly at the grassroots level (local lonaguages)? - What knowledge can be represented and disseminated in an electronic format and how it can be collected and codified? In some cases, knowledge is the most valuable result of a development project. How to make this knowledge effective? A question to members of this list: How can I find the information on how many computers (amount spent) were purchased for development projects by donor agencies? Kind regards, Zbig -- Zbigniew Mikolajuk Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, an NGO that is a GKP member*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
