The Asian Development Bank on Knowledge Management

EuropeAid is in the process of establishing a coherent Learning and Knowledge Management Strategy and, as part of a wider exercise, has consulted other organisations to learn about their experience and best practice. Last month, Senior Advisor for Knowledge Enterprise at the Asian Development Bank, Christopher MacCormac visited DG DEVCO to share his experience of defining the ADB’s new Knowledge Management Directions and Action Plan 2013 -15.

“Knowledge Management (KM) is the way an organisation manages its own processes that serve the accumulation, sharing and application of the knowledge necessary to perform its mission,” explained Dr Beata Kolecka, Head of EuropeAid’s Training, Knowledge Management and Document Management Unit in her Brussels office last week.

“When we talk about KM, its not so much about the management of knowledge, it is more about managing the processes and structures, about people and the working culture, and the supporting IT solutions that facilitate knowledge management,” she continued. 

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The KM concept was first applied in the private sector, and has been adopted by public institutions and international organisations - particularly in development cooperation, where so much of the assistance is knowledge-based. 

In the process of developing an overarching KM approach, and to ensure hamony between existing and future solutions, Beata Kolecka and her team have undertaken numerous consultations, both in-house and with external partners including the World Bank, DFID, GIZ, Swiss Development Organisation and the United Nations Development Programme. 

On October 4th, at a meeting opened by EuropeAid’s Deputy Director General, Klaus Rudischhauser, Christopher MacCormac from the Asian Development Bank presented the ADB’s Knowledge Management Directions and Action Plan, which extends across all aspects of institutional management, including Operations, Human Resources, Information and Communication management, as well as IT solutions.

This ‘Voices & Views’ features an interview with Mr MacCormac, with an introduction from Dr Kolecka. For those who cannot access video, the transcript of this interview is available here, in the Public Group on Capacity Development and Technical Reform.

This collaborative piece was drafted with input from Beata Kolecka, with support from the capacity4dev.eu Coordination Team.