An interesting KM program

An interesting knowledge management (KM) program is at the Training, Research and Networking for Development (TREND) Group in Ghana. While I'm sure we have large technology differences, both on the KM side and application side (drinking water technologies), I was surprised to see how similar our KM challenges and approaches are.

In their background paper they describe the knowledge challenges as:
1) How to tailor information to the needs of local users
2) Ensure that information is optimally used,
3) To develop capacity to manage and use the knowledge, and
4) Identify where more knowledge is needed.

They go on to describe the development of a Resource Center with services to:
- Assess knowledge needs and demands
- Collect, validate and store information
- Package and version information to target groups
- Dissemination knowledge
- Quality assurance of knowledge disseminated
- Marketing and promotion
- Generate revenue to support KM activities

They have spent a lot of effort on promoting the need for KM. One comment that sounds familiar is that there is little coordination of KM activities between institutions.

For implementation they approach KM from 4 angles:
- Information and communication technology
- Human resources management
- Office and workspace instruction
- Organizational set-up