Editorial

“Sharing knowledge is not about giving people something, or getting something from them. That is only valid for information sharing. Sharing knowledge occurs when people are genuinely interested in helping one another, develop new capacities for action; it is about creating learning processes.”

Peter Senge
Author of The Fifth Discipline

Knowledge management technology is used for various purposes like knowledge creation, knowledge dissemination and knowledge sharing. An important part of the knowledge management initiative in any organisation should be the ‘Knowledge Sharing Culture’ for effective collaboration and communication within the workplace and with the outside world. It includes the ability to exchange knowledge among individuals and organisations. At Development Alternatives, we acknowledge the responsibility of generating and sharing content for knowledge sharing. We also recognise the need to have a knowledge management system in place where we can share our learning and experiences.

Knowledge sharing has become an important means of survival for all organisations or institutions. One of the main reasons is the fact that it is related to the transfer of intangible products such as ideas, processes and information that will lead to innovation. This helps in collaboration across different branches of any establishment. Being a two-way process, organisations are motivated to take up a knowledge management programme with knowledge sharing as integral to it. The intellectual capital of an organisation lies in its knowledge, but besides creating knowledge-based products, it is equally important to disseminate this knowledge effectively.

DA has time and again demonstrated its belief in sharing knowledge. We have added to its value by the creation of knowledge platforms such as basin-SA knowledge platform, ENVIS and the new knowledge platform on Gender and Innovation which we are in the process of creating. These platforms try to bridge the gap between knowledge and practice by carrying valuable lessons learnt, case studies and best practice and to influence policy work.

For all this, the information should be made accessible in time. The support for the resources of knowledge sharing is provided by information technology. It provides support for storing and sharing knowledge and as a communication medium for knowledge amongst individuals. IT can be used to capture knowledge, categorise and present it in meaningful and explicit words, in accordance with the given context. It is also used as a medium for communication and sharing of knowledge across the globe.

There are two ways of approaching a knowledge sharing process, one is the formal and technology-based approach and, the other is the practice approach in which there is a moderate use of information technology in an informal fashion. For example, in 1996, the World Bank adopted a matrix organisational structure to promote exchange of information and know-how between regional units. The operations were divided by region as well as sector, and regional heads and sector heads worked together on policies and managed the budget for the given programme.

Thus, knowledge sharing should be made integral to the culture of an organisation as it refers not just to transfer of knowledge but also in bridging the gap between existing and potential relationship issues, and ensuring its complete transfer. This way the organisation works as a whole with a proper coordination among various departments and comes out with crystallised results.

There are several knowledge products used by the Development Alternatives Group to disseminate knowledge such as training toolkits, case studies, brochures, project reports, knowledge platforms and booklets. This issue of the DA Newsletter has very rightly taken knowledge management as the theme to inculcate and spread the culture of knowledge sharing amongst all within a network. q

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