An Overview
The Knowledge
Management Program of the African Capacity
Building Foundation (ACBF-KMP) is geared towards
generating, sharing and disseminating knowledge
for capacity building and development management.
The program seeks to achieve the following
objectives:
- To enhance the quality
and efficiency of internal project and program
operations based on best-practice methodologies,
strategies and instruments.
- To foster the development
and sharing of best practices in capacity
building, in the design and implementation
of development policies and programs as well
as in reform programs that are directed at
strengthening the effectiveness of Africa’s
development process.
- To contribute to
programs and mechanisms for extracting and
sharing tacit knowledge for the benefit of
national and regional development.
- To improve efficiency
and higher productivity as well as increasing
returns to investments in capacity building.
As a component
part of ACBF-KMP, the Foundation supports
a Senior Policymakers and Development Managers’ Knowledge
Sharing Program (SPM-KSP). This program is
targeted specifically at extracting tacit
knowledge from senior policymakers and development
managers who have made significant contributions
to the development process in Africa or other
developing regions and are willing to document
and share their memoirs for the benefit of
Africa’s development. The memoirs will
offer professional advice, insights, reflections,
skills, processes and experiences in the
management of specific policies and programs
as well as case studies detailing skills,
processes, practices and experiences associated
with specific policies and programs that
made measurable impact either positively
or negatively on growth.
Participating policymakers, professionals and scholars will be drawn from
the public and private sectors, civil society organizations, regional organizations,
development agencies, ACBF partner institutions, tertiary institutions of
learning, research and specialized training institutes, among others. The
professionals to be targeted by SPM-KSP will comprise successful practitioners
on retirement, sabbatical and leave of absence. Others will be professionals
on attachment and internship programs with the Foundation, staff exchange/secondment
programs – including ABF-supported and partner institutions - visiting
academics and eminent guests.
SPM-KSP ‘s
contributions will consist of memoirs on
capacity building and development issues,
production of knowledge products and services
- books, journal articles, contributions
to Occasional Papers and participation in
knowledge-based program support activities.
Launch
of SPM-KSP
The program
commenced on October 20, 2003 with Ambassador
Vijay S. Makhan, ex-Commissioner at the African
Union. Ambassador Makhan is a career diplomat
from Mauritius. He was Secretary for Foreign
Affairs of his country up to 1995 when he
was elected Assistant Secretary-General of
the OAU. He was re-elected in July 1999 and
later served as interim Commissioner following
the transformation of the OAU into the African
Union before his departure in 2003. His assignment
consists of the following:
- Joint authorship with
the Foundation of a Book on NEPAD,
Economic Integration and Africa’s Development – Assessment
of Prospects.
- Memoirs on his service
at the Organization of African Unity/African
Union, which will provide a rigorous assessment
of the challenges facing the African Union.
- Giving an interview
for the Fourth Quarter Issue of ACBF Newsletter.
Amb Vijay
Makhan was in the Foundation in the first instance
from October 20-23, 2003 discussing the contents
of the tasks and mapping out strategies for
ensuring effective delivery of the assignments.
He granted an interview, which will appear
in the Fourth Quarter Issue of the ACBF Newsletter.
MAIN
COMPONENTS OF KNOWLEDGE
|
| Explicit Knowledge |
Tacit Knowledge |
Based on documented skills,
competencies, experiences and expertise,
policies, procedures,instructions, standards,
results, etc
|
Based on undocumented experience
and expertise. Reflects ways of doing things |
Exists as part of an organization
|
It is personal to the owner |
Often well documented
|
Rarely documented
|
Held within an organization
|
Held within individuals
|
| Accessible and easy to share |
Not easily accessible and
difficult to share |
| Accessed and enabled through collection
and codification |
Accessible only through personal
exchanges, learning and practice |
| |
|
| See:
Maja Van der Velden, JID, (14), pp. 27,
2002 & ACBF Knowledge Management Strategy,
2002 |
|
