KM E-conference 2005: ‘The reality on the ground’

Updated - Friday 27 May 2005

Rather than having one big event which lasts for 3 weeks, IRC wants to host 4 shorter conferences or E-discussions of 10 days each (to accommodate two weekends), spread over the year. We want to capture the essence from each E-discussion and aggregate lessons to be shared with a wider audience.

Dates 2005: the E-discussion on Knowledge Management for the WATSAN sector will run on:

18-28 March 2005
20-30 May 2005
2-12 September 2005
4-14 November 2005

The thinking behind the periods is that we post the initial forum message on Friday. Participants have two weekends and five workdays for their responses. This way participants using Internet cafés in the weekend are better able to participate. The closing report is expected to be ready in January 2006.

Week 1

Considering the above, we propose to discuss during the first week what we mean by knowledge management. Does it have to do with capturing indigenous knowledge, is it a management activity or is it a step too far because grass root organisations are still struggling with information management?

Week 2

During the second week the topic will be ‘how to create awareness for knowledge management’. The question is how to get knowledge management on the manager’s agenda.

Week 3

The third week we discuss the more practical angle; ‘how to share the knowledge we manage’ within our own organisations and direct surrounding or ‘how to inspire?’.

Week 4

The last week builds upon the others three E-discussions. The proposed topic is ‘Spreading the word in the WATSAN sector’. How to get our understanding of KM across in the WATSAN sector? How to create awareness and share knowledge in the WATSAN sector?

In short, the four E-discussions; ‘KM, the reality on the ground’: