Knowledge Management

Effective information availability enables organizations to achieve dynamic situational awareness. Effective knowledge sharing promotes enhanced decision making and promotes unity of effort across an organization and with its external stakeholders. To accomplish these outcomes, ConvergeITS principals are experienced with strategic knowledge management (KM) planning and implementation that addresses the necessary changes to information mobility and the associated knowledge alignment with respect to overarching policies, processes, and systems. Our strategic approach to KM identifies the critical cultural shift required to support collaboration and improved knowledge sharing.

An “information sharing value chain” (ISVC) is the metaphor by which ConvergeITS has developed its KM core capability. The ISVC articulates the “opportunity” of information sharing to support informed decision making, shared situational awareness and improved knowledge consumption at every level of an organization, program, or project. The risks encountered at each step of the information sharing value chain are managed to mitigate negative consequences.

ConvergeITS refers to this as “information mobility.” Knowledge can be created at any of the boundary points along the information mobility value chain. We call this the discovery of knowledge disclosure points and is the foundation for shared and user-defined situational awareness. Trusted information must be made visible, accessible, and understandable to any authorized user in an organization or to external partners and stakeholders except where limited by law or policy.

Transforming an organization with an information sharing mindset is a challenging effort. Leadership should address and change deeply rooted paradigms of “how things have always been done.” Involving stakeholders through communications and outreach is crucial to gaining the buy-in and participation that is needed to successfully foster information sharing leading to knowledge disclosure. Leadership, in particular, plays a key role in defining this change and in building support both across the Department and with external partners.

ConvergeITS principals have experienced real economic realities in their engagements with knowledge management implementations. Their personal knowledge capabilities have transitioned into concrete lessons learned. Clear, concise and comprehensive guidance is the hallmark of the ConvergeITS approach for implemeningt an Information Mobility and Knowledge Sharing Strategy.