Community Knowledge Management Running Head COMMUN

CommunityKnowledgeManagement1RunningHead:COMMUNITYKNOWLEDGEMANAGEMENTFORDEVELOPMENTCommunityKnowledgeManagementforDevelopment:Thecreationofcommunitylearningenvironmentsforreducingtheknowledgedivide.PeterRawsthorne([e-mail])MemorialUniversityofNewfoundlandPartialfulfillmentoftherequirementsforED6426AllisterDykeNovember,2006CommunityKnowledgeManagement2AbstractThispaperdescribestheresourcesandapproachrequiredtobuildaCommunityKnowledgeManagementSystem(CKMS)inruraldevelopingcommunities.TheincreasedavailabilityofInformationandCommunicationTechnology(ICT)throughtelecentres,cellulartelephones,ruralwirelessnetworksandcommunityschoolshaveincreasedthelikelihoodofpartnershipssuccessfullycreatingcommunityrepositoriesofindigenousknowledge.Throughtheuseoffreeopensourcesoftware(FOSS),accesstothemultimediaofvideorecorders,audiorecordersanddigitalphotographycombinedwiththeincreasingknowledgeofhowtousethesetechnologieswithsoundpedagogicalapproachesmakesaCKMSwithinreachformanydevelopingcommunities.Havingthemethodstogather,store,retrieveanddistributecommunityknowledgethroughlocalpartnershipsandemergingICTfurtherreducestheknowledgedivide.CommunityKnowledgeManagement3CommunityFocusOverthelasthalfcenturymuchefforthasbeenmadetoreducetheinequitiesbetweenthe‘haves’and‘have-nots’intheworld.Thecurrentvocabularybeingusedtodescribethisgapincludeswhathasbeentermedasthe‘digitaldivide’.The‘digitaldivide’isthegapbetweenthosewhoareabletouseinformationandcommunicationtechnology(ICT)fortheirbenefitandthosewhoarenot.Manyseethisdivideasmorethanjustdigital,thedividealsoincludesknowledge,education,atwo-wayexchangeofinformationbetweenthe‘haves’and‘have-nots’,andothers(Daniel&West,2006;Eglash,2002;Gurstein,2003;Macleod,2005;Miller,2001).TheamountofworktoclosethisdividethroughtheuseofICTandotherglobalinitiativesisover40billiondollarsannually(WorldBank,n.d.).Muchofthisworkisbeinginitiated,developedandimplementedbynationalandinternationalorganizations.Fortheseeffortstohavegreaterimpactandtohavelong-termsustainabilitytheyrequireagreatercommunityfocustodeepentheirsuccess(Daniel&West,2006;Gurnstien,2003;Keniston,2002;Tripathi&Bhattarya,2004).TheuseofICTcombinedwithfreeandopensourcesoftware(FOSS),educationalstrategies,indigenousknowledge,communityinnovation,anddigitalmediacancreatecommunitybasedknowledgemanagementsystemswhichencouragethisdeepersuccess.ThesuccessoftheCommunityKnowledgeManagementSystem(CKMS)willprimarilycomefromitsfocusuponcapturingindigenousknowledge.ThesustainabilityoftheCKMSwillcomefromhavingthecommunitybuildtheskillsandknowledgebycreatingandmaintainingthesystemthemselves.TheCKMScanbeeasilyreplicatedforthetechnicalinfrastructureisbaseduponFOSSandcommoditycomputerandnetworkinghardware.TheCommunityKnowledgeManagement4strengthofthisCKMSstrategyisthreefold;First,theinfrastructureisstandardizedacrossallcommunities,allowinginformationexchangeamongparticipantcommunities.Second,eachcommunityhasownershipoftheirindigenouscontent,thereforekeepingcontroloftheirintellectualpropertyandcommunityknowledge(Gupta,2003).Third,thestandardizedinfrastructureallowscommunityknowledgetobeconsolidatedatthenationalandinternationallevels.Issues:bottom-upvs.top-downOverthelastdecademuchattentionhasbeengiventousingICTfordevelopmentandforpovertyalleviation.Manysolutionshavebeenproposedandimplementedwithvaryingdegreesofsuccess(Gurstein,2003;Keniston,2002;Macleod,2005;Miller,2001;Wiley,2006).TheCKMSaddressesmanyunresolvedissuespresentwithinICTfordevelopmentandpovertyalleviation.AsstatedbyCIDA(n.d.),70percentoftheworld’spoorliveinruralandremoteareas,whereaccesstoinformationandcommunicationstechnologies,eventoatelephone,isoftenscarce—overone-thirdoftheworldpopulationhasnevermadeatelephonecall.ItiswithinthesecommunitiesthattheCKMSistargeted.TheissuestheCKMSwilladdressinclude;•accessandeffectiveuse•communityeducationandliteracylevels•infrastructure,bandwidthandconnectivity•knowledgecaptureandmanagement•communityandparticipantinclusionCommunityKnowledgeManagement5•localizedownership•softwarelicensingandcostsTheCKMSisbuiltfromtheruralcommunityoutward,whereprimaryfocusisuponbuildingtheknowledgemanagementsystemforthecommunity.Theapproachwillbefromthe‘bottom-up’,wherethe‘bottom’istheruralcommunityandthenationalandinternationalorganizationsarethe‘top’.Thebottom-upapproachispreferredforitreducesthepotentialnegativeimpactofatopdownapproach.ThisisdescribedbyMacleod(2005):a‘one-size-fits-all’,deterministicandtopdownapproachwherebymoneyandagriculturalequipmentwasdeliveredtodevelopingcountriesinthehopeofreducingpovertyonlytofindthatequipmentwasabandonedduetothelackofskillsinhowtouseitandtheexpectedtrickledowneffectdidnoteventuateaslittleattentionwaspaidtoothersocial,politicalandculturalfactorsthatimpactedontheiradoption.Subsequentinterventions,whichfocusedonbroaderdevelopmentgoalsandacommunitydriven,bottom-upapproach,werefarmoresuccessful.(p.45)Agrassroots(‘bottom-up’)andconsultativeapproachisconsideredmoreeffective(Gurstein,2003;Keniston,2002)asitinformsandprovidesacommunit