Knowledge and information management in the water and sanitation sector: a hard nut to crack
Updated - Friday 04 August 2006
Knowledge management: everyone talks about it, but what is it exactly and how can it help us in our work? This Thematic Overview Paper (TOP) attempts to clarify some of the issues around knowledge management (KM). It explores current thinking about knowledge management, information sharing and learning in relation to the sector. It discusses important factors in knowledge management, such as people, processes, technology and strategy, and identifies possible enablers and barriers to success. It also provides guidelines to improve knowledge management at the personal and the organisational level. The TOP also includes comprehensive sections with examples, further reading, TOP models and tools, web sites, contacts and references.
We wrote this TOP primarily for people working in the water and sanitation sector. The content is, however, sufficiently generic to be of use to people working in other sectors. The target group includes individuals who want to understand more about the way they acquire knowledge and manage it, trainers who want to find out more about knowledge sharing, and decision-makers responsible for introducing technology to enhance KM in their organisation.
You can download the whole document as a PDF or browse through the web summary (written by Bill McCann) first.
- - Download:
- TOP14_KM_06.pdf (1.2 MB)
- - Series:
- Thematic Overview Paper 14, 64 p.
1. KM: Strategy, people, processes, technology
Any initiative to develop a KM system, whether personal or within an organisation or network, must begin with the question: ‘Knowledge to do what?
3. Strategy
A good KM strategy will address real needs and issues and should be developed by combining the benefits of working from the top down and from the bottom up.
5. Processes
KM processes are described as those put in place to facilitate the creation, sharing and use of knowledge for the benefit of an organisation.
6. Technology
KM can be applied in a variety of ways, each supported by a number of specific technologies.
8. Improving Knowledge Management
Improving knowledge management can be done at the personal and at the organisational level.
