Enhancing FAO as a Knowledge Organization

1. Enhancing FAO as a Knowledge Organization

2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) • FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations with its own independent governance • 190+ Member Countries • HQs in Rome, Offices in over 80 countries with 3600 staff.

3. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) • Collects, analyses, interprets and disseminates information on nutrition, food and agriculture • Policy Advice • Furnishes Technical Assistance and Advice • A Neutral Forum for International Cooperation

4. Our new mandate.... Ensure that the world’s knowledge of food and agriculture is available to those who need itwhen they need it and in a form which they can access and use.

5. FAO’s Independent External Evaluation • The Problem: • FAO must become a more flexible Organization • FAO needs to break out of its risk-averse culture, creating greater efficiency and effectiveness. • FAO has talented staff, stifled by the fragmented structures of FAO and rigidly centralized management systems.

6. FAO’s Independent External Evaluation • Recommendations: • Play a policy role in seeking to balance interests between knowledge generation and availability, especially for the least developed countries • Facilitate knowledge sharing • Develop a strategic vision focused on development in specific areas of knowledge access

7. New steps to enhancing knowledge capture and sharing within the organization and between FAO and its partners • Thematic Knowledge Networks • Best Practices • AskFAO • ShareFair • Knowledge Strategy • Collaborative Learning • Knowledge Sharing ToolKit

8. Thematic Knowledge Networks A 2006 survey indicated that a new generation of networks should be established, taking full advantage of new technologies, to further enhance FAO’s role as a facilitator of knowledge exchange. • Pilot phase (18 months) - Build virtual communities of professional staff and collaborating Centres. • Goals: • foster knowledge sharing, • allow network members to communicate and work more effectively together on common goals or outcomes. • Results: Fifteen new TKNs established.

9. TKN Review - Lessons Learned • Support and sponsorship from management • Ensure proper membership • Needs to be demand-driven • A need for continuous facilitation • Have a flexible approach (i.e. tools, size, timeframe) • Give recognition to staff time dedicated to this activity • Tell success stories of TKNs • Monitor and evaluate.

10. Best Practices Learn from the Organization's experience Record successes and failures. • Characteristics: • divided by theme • adopted successfully in more than one region • interdisciplinary in nature • emerged from consultation with FAO in field and HQ.

11. “Ask FAO” is one mechanism to provide access to FAO’s “tacit knowledge” based on user needs • Launched in December 2005. • Two basic components: • public web-site • question and answer service

12. A few numbers..... Over 10,000 questions have been answered since December 2005. Questions come from students (24%); academics (18%); agronomists/agriculturalists (9%); farmers (3%) and journalists (4%)‏. Over 50% of the questions are from users in developing countries (22% come from Africa alone, which accounts for 2.4% of all access to www.fao.org). Inquiries are mostly about locating information or learning more about the organization (about 70%).

13. Knowledge “Share Fair” 20 – 22 January 2009 • Organized by CGIAR, FAO, IFAD and WFP • demonstrate how knowledge sharing improves effectiveness, efficiency and impact. • provide an opportunity to learn from each other Day 1: Opening ceremony and exhibitions; Days 2 and 3: Interactive workshops and presentations, panel discussions and exhibitions.

14. Knowledge “Share Fair” 20 – 22 January 2009 Showcase competition of good knowledge sharing practices Face-2-face learning events using techniques such as Peer Assists, Most Significant Change, AAR, etc. Fun ways to share knowledge such as Chat/Talk Shows, World Café, Fish Bowl, etc. Fun staged interactions that engage participants (KM "diagnosis", KM theater).

15. Knowledge “Share Fair” 20 – 22 January 2009 Hands on technology workshops introducing tools such as Blogs, Skype, Online Collaboration Platforms, Wikis, etc. Fun technology seminars such as publishing a video on YouTube, creating a podcast, Tagging, Photo Sharing, etc. Specific session on developing a knowledge strategy. Desire to have internal network of Who’s Who to work with (K-Café)

16. FAO Knowledge Strategy • In response to the Independent External Evaluation the Governing Bodies have requested that FAO produce a KM Strategy • Roadmap Workshop in June 2007: • Experiment with KM • Proceed with champions • Look for “low-hanging fruit” • Start with an action plan rather than a strategy

17. FAO Knowledge Strategy – Phases and Working Papers

18. FAO Knowledge Strategy - Vision Vision FAO will facilitate the access to and exchange of knowledge, as well as its generation, in the domain of agriculture. It will assist its Members in generating, accessing and utilizing knowledge in food and agriculture, as well as any other knowledge that relates to it, required to address Members’ individual and collective development and food security goals.

19. FAO Knowledge Strategy - Objectives • Change Objective 1: In FAO’s programmes, improving the balance and integration between: • FAO’s efforts to produce needed information and knowledge, and • FAO’s efforts to facilitate access and flow of needed information and knowledge. • Change Objective 2: In FAO’s day-to-day work internally and with its partners, increasing the adoption of information and knowledge sharing concepts, methods and tools by FAO managers and teams.

20. FAO Knowledge Café – http://intouch.fao.org/ • Internal Knowledge Sharing Portal • Who’s Who (Personal Information, Skills, Memberships in external collaborative tools) • Ask and Answer • Sharing in Action • Knowledge Sharing Tools and Methods • Upcoming Events

21. E-learning from FAO to support Information and Knowledge Management • Management of Electronic Documents • Digitization and Digital Libraries • Investing in Information for Development • Networking in Support of Development • Management of Spatial Data (in progress) • Building Electronic Communities and Networks • Techniques for facilitating and improving group work (Train4Dev) • Knowledge Sharing for Development (in progress) • Web 2.0 and Social Networking for Development (in progress)

22. Job Aids and Resources: • links to online resources • recommended reading • technical glossary • self-study tutorials • checklists, guides and forms • practical guidelines • software and manuals

23. E-learning – Right to Food - "A Primer to the Right to Adequate Food" • principles and concept of the human right to adequate food and its practical application. • 7 lessons, of approximately 30 to 45 minutes • UN Country teams and FAO staff; • Practitioners; • NGOs/CSOs; • General Public/Civil Society; • Academic Institutions.

24. Collaborative Learning • e-learning lessons are used as part of courses delivered online with support from a facilitator and subject experts. • participants work together in online collaborative workspaces and “learn while doing”. • allows participants the opportunity to learn together from geographically dispersed locations. • Some courses have a follow-up face-2-face event.

25. Virtual Workshops - Introduction to Online Communities • Week 1 - Introduction to Online Groups and Communities • Getting Started with Online Communities • Visit and evaluate another network • Skills and resources for an online community • Assessing the user's needs • Week 2 - Getting your Online Community Started • Introducing online communication in your work • Overview of technical options • Identifying activities and picking tools • Training for a successful online community • Week 3 - Facilitating your Community • Role and responsibilities of the e-facilitator • Preparing and organizing online discussions • Marketing your online community • Encouraging participation and engagement

26. Virtual Workshops - Introduction to Online Communities Interactive lessons – Self-paced e-learning is used to introduce major topics related to online collaboration. Online Discussions - A series of web-based group discussions on each of the topics being covered. Tool Tours - Playing with the technologies (chat, etc.) Weekly Podcast – Ex-students the communities they created after taking the course. Live Meetings - Synchronous "live" sessions using different online conferencing tools. Course Project – Wikis are used by students to plan for their own online community supported by facilitators. Cybrary - Collection of resources useful in designing, facilitating and evaluating a TKN.

27. Knowledge Sharing Workshops "Opportunities to discover, learn about, and apply innovative knowledge sharing approaches for impact" • Phase 1 – DISCOVER • 4-week-long online event • Explore knowledge-sharing challenges and opportunities • Discuss face-to-face and virtual collaboration • Explore role of networks in institutional settings

28. Knowledge Sharing Workshops • Phase 2 – FOCUS • 3-day face-to-face meeting • In-depth team work on areas of specific interest identified during Phase 1 • Design activities using the tools and methods explored in Phase 1 Phase 3 – APPLY On-going post-workshop activity Participants apply the KS principles and methods covered in phases 1 and 2 to a specific work project with virtual support from peer and facilitator coaches.

29. Knowledge Sharing Toolkit - www.kstoolkit.org FAO and the CGIAR are creating and growing an online resource of knowledge sharing tools and methods. Uses a wiki - continually updated. Anyone can request to join and contribute to the resources. Tools and methods are framed in the context of international development.

30. How the toolkit is organized • The toolkit has three main entry points: • Tools - Web-based software and offline physical tools that can be used with a variety of methods. • Methods - Group processes that people can use to interact with each other, online or offline. • What is Your Context? - perspectives and guidance on choosing choose tools and methods based on needs and contexts.

31. We are not yet finished, many challenges lay ahead... Establish a collective vision of knowledge management and what it means for FAO. Devise effective methods for capturing, structuring, sharing tacit knowledge. Embed knowledge management in FAO’s budgeting, programming and human resources processes Create a culture and infrastructure which improves staff skills, guarantees rewards and creates motivation.

32. www.fao.org/knowledgeforum www.kstoolkit.org

33. AGORA - http://www.aginternetwork.org/en/ • Set up by FAO in collaboration with major publishers. • Access to journals (1278) in the fields of food, agriculture, environmental science and related social sciences. • Band 1 – free access (GNP < $ 1000) • Band 2 – limited access ($ 1000 <GNP $3000 pay a fee of $1000 per year / institution) John Wiley & Sons Elsevier Bioline International Cambridge University Press Rockefeller University Press Taylor & Francis Oxford University Press