News and Events

KM4Dev (Knowledge Management for Development) Forum 2007 Program
Strengthening Knowledge Networks for Development: Understanding Issues, Facing Challenges, and Seizing Opportunities

DAY ONE: 8 February 2007

A. Welcome Message

Dr. Bindu Lohani, Director General of Regional and Sustainable Development Department (RSDD) welcomed the participants on Day One of the KM4Dev Forum 2007. He was introduced by Daan Boom, Principal Knowledge Management Specialist of RSDD-KM Center. View the abstract of Dr. Lohani’s message here. [PDF: 79kb | 1 page]

B. Keynote Address

Prof. Dr. Thomas Menkhoff of Singapore Management University delivered a presentation entitled—Managing the “Knowledge Trap”: Challenges and Opportunities for Development Agencies in Asia. To learn more about the knowledge trap, read the article “Little-understood knowledge trap”. [PDF: 128kb | 5 pages]

C. Forum

Representatives of the United Nations Development Programme, World Bank Institute, Microsoft Corporation, Philippine economic planning agency National Economic and Development Authority, Islamic Development Bank in Saudi Arabia, and Development Gateway shared their experiences, practices, and challenges on knowledge management. They were joined by Prof. Dr. Thomas Menkhoff and Rory Chase of Teleos who summarized the whole discussions. Before the activity ended, Erik Johnson introduced the KM4Dev Community to the participants. For the documentation of the plenary discussions, view the file here. [PDF: 206kb | 6 pages]

D. KM Workshops

Six concurrent Knowledge Management Workshops were conducted. These were:

1. Organizational Knowledge Assessment (OKA)
   Erik Johnson of the World Bank Institute presented the methodology behind the OKA, lessons learned from the pilot, and plans for using the tool more extensively with clients, particularly in the public sector. View the discussion points [PDF: 34kb | 3 pages] and the presentation. [PDF: 18kb | 16 pages]

2. Approaches in Knowledge Sharing
   The workshop had three mini-presentations and its objective was to familiarize participants with the use of a shared platform for systematizing and sharing their own information on projects, organizations, documents, persons, and Good Practices.

   1. Landscaping the Knowledge Enterprise in Health
      Chris Zielinski of the World Health Organization introduced the Knowledge Enterprise in Health (KEH) to his participants as a framework of mechanisms and systems of knowledge acquisition, creation, dissemination, application and improvement. View the discussion points [PDF: 25kb | 1 page] and the presentation. [PDF: 603kb | 19 pages]

   2. InfoBridge Platform: Systematized Sharing of Information for Sustainable Development
      Frans Neuman of InfoBridge Foundation described the platform as a repository of information experts, projects, organizations, publications, and more. View the discussion points [PDF: 26kb | 1 page] and the presentation. [PDF: 1.13mb | 19 pages]

   3. Blog+DL: Groupware for Knowledge Management
      Prof. Vilas Wuwongse of the Asian Institute of Technology made his presentation on Blogs and Digital Library (Blog+DL)-based Knowledge Management Systems as modern information technologies that are combined to develop a second-generation of KM systems. View the discussion points [PDF: 25kb | 1 page] and the presentation. [PDF: 1.95mb | 60 pages]

3. Sharing of Good Practices on Knowledge-based Development (KBD) for the Poor
   Prof. Serafin Talisayon of CCLFI.Philippines discussed the concept of KBD, and how it relates capital development to the economic, social, and natural value domains of sustainable development. Alwin Sta. Rosa of First Philippine Holdings Corporation facilitated a group exercise involving all participants. View the discussion points [PDF: 95kb | 4 pages] and the presentation. [PDF: 451kb | 15 pages]

4. The Knowledge Fairs for Development
   Agi Veres, Robert Juhkam, and Johan Arvling of UNDP presented the Knowledge Fairs for Development approach. They showed their practical experiences in planning and implementing knowledge fairs as a vehicle for development. They underscored its value as a venue for people to connect and share knowledge and experience. View the discussion points [PDF: 35kb | 3 pages] and the presentation. [PDF: 2.46mb | 63 pages]

   For samples of UNDP's Knowledge Fairs, visit these sites: UNDP Asia-Pacific Knowledge Fair* and UNDP Water Knowledge Fair*.

5. Storytelling and Behavioral Change
   Iris Tutuarima shared Central Bank Indonesia’s experience on the implementation of Storytelling to effect behavioral change. View the discussion points [PDF: 28kb | 2 pages] and the presentation. [PDF: 1.48mb | 23 pages]

6. The Last Mile of Knowledge Networking
   Zbigniew Mikolajuk highlighted the need for remote communities and disadvantaged groups to have access to different types of knowledge. He cited cases and examples from Mindanao, Philippines; Himalayas; Sri Lanka; India; Pakistan; and Nepal. View the discussion points, [PDF: 25kb | 1 page] presentation [PDF: 1,679kb | 14 pages], and exercise [PDF: 659kb | 11 pages].

E. KM PRACTICE STORIES

Participants were given the opportunity to present their respective organizations’ KM practice stories. They prepared posters and posted them around the designated area so that other participants could look around and swap stories. View the guide questions and photos [PDF: 295kb | 2 pages] of this exercise.

F. OPEN SPACE: AGENDA SETTING

Participants were introduced to Open Space Technology (OST). Facilitator Mr. Peter Malvicini outlined the process and explained when to use it, probable outcomes, how it works, and four principles that govern navigation in open space. View the primer [PDF: 55kb | 5 pages] that was provided to participants.

Mr. Malvicini asked the participants to fill in the open space matrix with their own topics of interest. He reminded the group to focus on the questions “What’s an ideal strategic future for KM in development? How can we get there?” when pondering on topics to propose. View the list of topics [PDF: 32kb | 1 page] the participants placed on the matrix.

The first day ended with an evening reception. ADB’s Dance Guild performed some Philippine ethnic dances.

DAY TWO: 9 February 2007

A. MAKE Rankings

Mr. Rory Chase introduced the Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise (M.A.K.E.) methodology to the participants. He urged them to continuously reflect, challenge oneself, come up with action plans, determine what resources are available, and what resources are still needed to engage in Knowledge Management. View the discussion points [PDF: 75kb | 3 pages] and the presentation. [PDF: 555kb | 22 pages]

B. OPEN SPACE: WORKING SESSIONS

A total of 22 open space sessions were held throughout the day. A convener who had selected that particular topic for discussion facilitated each session. One session lasted approximately one hour each. Three rounds of sessions were held back to back with each other. View the Book of Proceedings [PDF: 226kb | 36 pages] of their issues and discussions.

C. CLOSING

The event ended with the following activities:

1. Mr. Malvicini asked participants to continue the sentence: “One thing that struck me from the KM4Dev Forum is that…” View the answers here. [PDF: 29kb | 2 pages]

2. Erik Johnson invited the participants to visit the KM4Dev Community website*, become its members, and continue sharing their experiences about the Forum and other KM-related issues.