The generation and application of knowledge underpins development effectiveness. ADB's developing member countries and partners recognize this and look to ADB to provide high-quality global, regional, and country-level knowledge.
Recognizing this, Strategy 2020 calls for enriching ADB's knowledge management activities through
- Internal learning from operational practice; and
- External learning from long-term strategic alliances with development partners.
Heeding this call, ADB has formulated a set of actions designed to ensure that ADB's knowledge continues to expand, be practical and usable, and remain of the highest quality. These actions are organized into 4 clusters.
Sharpen the
knowledge focus
ADB's edge in generating, disseminating, and applying knowledge stems from 3 comparative advantages:
- strategic position in identifying trends within and across the region
- capacity for interdisciplinary and integrated approaches
- ability to blend knowledge with large, concessional financing
To ensure that these advantages are optimized and used to produce knowledge that can enhance financing operations, ADB will promote greater ties between its operations and knowledge management efforts. In particular, ADB will undertake the following:
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Regional Level
Define a focused and coordinated approach to identifying and organizing regional studies. These studies support ADB's position as lead policy advisor on critical Asia-Pacific challenges. |
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Country Level
Incorporate knowledge management indicators, activities, and resources in the country partnership strategies. This will ensure that knowledge management processes are effectively mobilized in policy dialogues, and program development and implementation. |
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Project Level
Encourage project teams to emphasize knowledge management related considerations-innovative features of the project, prospects for impact evaluation, avenues for learning, etc-when developing loan and technical assistance proposals. |
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Empower the
communities of practice
Communities of practice keep knowledge of a specific subject alive by sharing what they know, building on that, and adapting the knowledge to specific sector and project applications.
Currently, ADB has 12 formal communities of practice, covering the following themes or sectors:
- Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food Security
- Education
- Energy
- Environment
- Finance Sector Development
- Gender and Social Development
- Governance
- Health
- Regional Cooperation and Integration
- Transport
- Urban
- Water
To encourage more staff to participate and contribute actively to the communities of practice and enable these to exchange ideas and good practices and drive change, ADB will undertake the following:
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Incorporate CoPs in ADB's business processes
This means supporting staff members' participation in the communities and allowing CoP chairs sufficient time to perform their CoP functions. |
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Increase budgets
Focus will be on measurable outcomes of improved knowledge management. Communities of practice that generate and share useful knowledge will receive a bigger budget. |
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Encourage communities of practice to engage in external partnerships
They can design and establish results-based partnerships, particularly with regional and non-regional knowledge hubs. |
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Enhance the role of knowledge management coordinators
Propose a community of practice on knowledge management to harness the coordinators' knowledge, skills, experience, and interest. |
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Strengthen external
knowledge partnerships
Knowledge networks facilitate information exchange on a particular field and ADB intends to strengthen its ties with networks within and outside the region to harness this potential.
In doing so, however, ADB recognizes that knowledge networks should be based on a clear understanding of the forms and functions of network and anchored on clear expected outputs and outcomes. These networks should also forge closer ties between developing member countries and ADB's communities of practice.
To date, ADB has established several knowledge hubs under various technical assistance projects. Actions to these and future partnerships include the following:
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Develop criteria for selection of external knowledge networks
The criteria can include the strategic directions of Strategy 2020, priority sector and thematic areas, and other research priorities previously established. |
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Align expected outputs and outcomes with ADB and developing member countries' priorities
Closer ties between the knowledge hubs, ADB's resident missions, and communities of practice will be fostered and knowledge hubs will be held accountable for well-chosen performance targets. |
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Disseminate information on network activities and products
Proactive dissemination of its activities and products in ADB and DMCs will be a basic activity of the network. |
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Keep a lookout for potential knowledge partnerships
The possibility of establishing knowledge partnerships will be considered whenever ADB partners with institutions via memorandum of understanding, letter of intent, etc. |
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Enhance staff
learning and skills development
Engaging all ADB staff in knowledge management is crucial to generating and sharing knowledge. But mainstreaming knowledge management has a long list of requirements-from incorporating staff learning and development into their annual performance review to conducting myriad training programs to update their technical and professional skills.
To begin work on this area, ADB will
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Design and implement a needs-based learning program for staff
This program will be jointly designed by ADB's human resources department and the CoPs and will cover all staff. |
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Push staff to compete for learning and knowledge exchange opportunities
One concrete step would be to introduce a merits-based and results-focused concept of "sabbatical." |
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Open ADB's doors to senior and junior researchers
ADB will invited researchers to undertake short-term assignments on forward-looking studies aligned to the priorities of Strategy 2020. |
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Capture knowledge and experience of departing staff
This can be done through exit debriefings and participation in induction programs. |
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