Community Contribution
Africa Knowledge Management Awards
Resources
Description
Describe The Approaches Utilized To Measure / Assess This KM Initiative:
The measure would simply be the number of entries received on the website and the reach of the initiative through out the African Continent. The variety of entries from Reserve Banks, NGOs, Private Companies, Government Departments amongst many.
Sector:
Knowledge Management
What Do You Think Are The Main Unanswered Questions Or Challenges Related To This Field Of Work?:
Where are all the KM practitioners? How should young people believe in KM yet it is not visible or is known by some other names in the workplaces?
What Was The Purpose Or Motivation For Assessing This KM Initiative? :
The motivation was the lack of recognition given to KM efforts in Africa, there are a lot of KM initiatives in Africa at indigenous level, Government Department Level as well as NGO level, most of these are usually unknown or known by another name.
What Were The Most Important Lessons Learned About The Assessment Process?:
Firstly, getting people to devote time to such an initiative is not easy, marketing the initiative without any sort of sponsorship is extremely challenging and expensive. On a positive note to get adjudicators was extremely easy because there are plenty of people that believe in the benefits of KM and this is encouraging
Image Upload:
Describe The KM Initiative:
The initial idea was to recognize KM excellence in Africa during an annual Awards ceremony. Through a website individuals would submit their stories of how they have succeeded or failed in their KM efforts and what lessons they learnt in the process, detail the entire project in terms of goals and targets. The overall idea was to create a platform where KM can be visible and stories usable through out Africa to make KM better understood. Through an adjudication panel the overall winners would be chosen.
What Advice Would You Give To Others Based On Your Experience?:
It is best to always start small no matter how noble the idea is. Maybe by starting with a South African KM Awards and then replicate the success to a much larger scale.
Country:
South Africa
This case was submitted as part of the KM Impact Challenge in 2011. The challenge was sponsored by USAID's Knowledge-Driven Microenterprise Development project, as a key part of the project’s Assessing & Learning component, which sought to improve the understanding of how investing in learning can increase and extend the overall impact of USAID's development efforts.
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