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Resources:
Agenda
Founders
Expectations
Draft Charter
Working Group
Denning PPT
(Powerpoint presentation also available for download)
AlBanna PPT
(Powerpoint presentation also available for download)
Introduction
The first in what founding members hope will be a series of knowledge management (KM) roundtables was recently convened at Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology (CIT: http://www.cit.org). Located adjacent to Dulles International Airport, CIT seeks to increase the Commonwealth's economic competitiveness and quality of life by advancing the development of Virginia as a technology state and by creating and retaining technology-based jobs and businesses. As part of its efforts to achieve these results, CIT initiated activities to position itself as a major participant in the diffusion of KM into the business community. Thus, CIT provided a grant to ICASIT to help initiate a shared KM culture among organizations in Virginia by identifying organizations interested in KM and inviting them to participate in a KM roundtable.
The March 2, 1999 meeting (See Agenda) was attended by 17 participants from large and small private sector organizations; the university (8 members), nonprofit (4 members), and government (1 member) sectors were also represented. The 30 founding members (See Founders) assembled to hear about and discuss KM practices and to develop goals and a charter for future meetings.
Wolfgang Tölle, Acting Director of CIT, and Stephen Ruth, Director of the International Center for Applied Studies in Information Technology and Professor in the School of Management at George Mason University, welcomed the participants. Ruth indicated that a recent publication (KM in the University) could provide an overview of KM, lists of recent books, cases, and publications, and suggestions concerning teaching KM at the graduate level. Members expressed their expectations (See Expectations) to increase their understanding of KM and become involved in a community of KM practice.
Stephen Denning, Chair of the Knowledge Management Board at the World Bank, made a presentation, entitled "KM at The World Bank: building value for the public sector through KM" (See DenningPPT). Denning discussed the evolution of KM at the World Bank and outlined how KM activities have enhanced the organization's efforts to fulfill its mission. He presented anecdotes and examples to support his assertion that global knowledge will become the Bank's most important product as well as a significant factor in aligning the Bank's activities and processes with its organizational goals.
A robust discussion and Q&A session following the talk continued during the lunch break where members were able to meet new colleagues, share anecdotes and ideas stimulated by the morning's activities, and discuss issues that would be addressed during the consideration of the roundtable charter.
After lunch, members participated in a facilitator-led session and reached consensus on a working draft of a charter document (See DraftCharter). Much of the discussion focused on the need for a "safety principle." Several members from the private sector expressed concern that open and candid discussion may not transpire without such a principle.
Sami AlBanna, Chief Architect for the Corporate Knowledge Program at Computer Sciences Corporation, made a presentation entitled "Beyond Fundamentals: building communities of practice at CSC" (See AlBannaPPT). At CSC, the KM program, in operation for approximately five years, benefits from and builds upon experience gained from 12 years of initiatives involving corporate knowledge. Focusing on knowledge communities, AlBanna stated that CSC uses corporate knowledge to enhance its competitive advantage. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, he noted that the KM program at CSC provides an integrative framework for organizational change. AlBanna said that CSC's program managers feel they would not have been able to bid on 75 percent of the engagements and could not have won 83 percent of those bid upon without the KM program.
A working group (See WorkingGroup) will finalize the charter and determine the timing and content of the next meeting. Susan Hanley, Director of Knowledge Management Initiatives at American Management Systems in Fairfax, Virginia, agreed to host the next roundtable at AMS in about three months.