Knowledge Management in Knowledge Management in AcademiaAcademia

Knowledge Management in Knowledge Management in AcademiaAcademia

Anuraag Gupta Anuraag Gupta Mayank KumarMayank Kumar

Prof. Purnima Prof. Purnima SinghSingh

Recap

• What is Knowledge Management (KM) ?• What is Knowledge and where it is found?• Why Knowledge Management ?

– Knowledge, Technology, Organizational, and personal drivers of KM.

• Psychological Factors to technology Change– Resistance to technology Change and ADKAR Model

• Knowledge Management in Academia– The need– 9 Step Road Map - Report submitted.

Contents• The methodology

– Research and Analysis (WHAT)• Analyse structure of organization• Analyze knowledge resources• Information/Knowledge Flowcharts

– Put into Practice (HOW)

• First Questionnaire– Why did we do it– How – Results useful for KM initiative– First KM Blueprint

Contents

• Second Questionnaire– Why did we do it– How did we do it– The BASIC KM Blueprint

• Third Questionnaire– Why will we do it– How will we do it

The Methodology – The Methodology – Research and AnalysisResearch and AnalysisThe Methodology – The Methodology –

Research and AnalysisResearch and Analysis

The Methodology – WHAT

• Analyse structure of Academia• Analyze knowledge resources

– Source of Knowledge– Users of Knowledge

• Information/Knowledge Flowcharts– Existent– Potential

• Feasibility study of which potential knowledge pathways can be implemented

The Methodology - HOW

Structure of organization

Knowledge Resources & Pathways

• Research and Development – ProjectsKnowledge acquired during research projects.

• Tacit KnowledgeKnowledge hidden inside the minds of Professors and Students

• Course KnowledgeKnowledge generated during courses.

• Lab capability and ProcessesKnowledge embedded in lab processes and experiments.

The Methodology – The Methodology – Analysis put to practiceAnalysis put to practice

The Methodology – The Methodology – Analysis put to practiceAnalysis put to practice

The Methodology - HOW

• First Questionnaire• Design of first KM blueprint• Second Questionnaire• Design and Development of final basic

blueprint• Third Questionnaire• Design of extended blueprint

First QuestionnaireFirst QuestionnaireFirst QuestionnaireFirst Questionnaire

First KM BlueprintFirst KM Blueprint

First Questionnaire - Why

• A basic discussion with select professors on the idea of knowledge management– Relevance– Existing ideas – Suggestions and new ideas– Major issues present

First Questionnaire - How

• The idea was discussed with Dean UGS .– To discuss the overall need of the academia vis-à-

vis Knowledge Management

• The idea was presented in SAC Senate Meeting– So that we receive support from faculty in making

this initiative a reality.

First Questionnaire - results for KM

• Need a prototype model to be displayed• Need good content to display and then the

model self-sustains• Need a tangible form of the ideas to present

– Understand ideas– Collect ideas– Segregate ideas– The basic collection requirements

First Questionnaire - Results

Centralized Project Database• 3 types of project from professor’s perspective

– Typical Scientific projects eg SURA, MiniP etc– Sponsored projects eg BTP, MTP and comes through IRD– Consultancy project which comes through FIIT and IRD

• Project database department wise; otherwise it would be a great management problem.

• Great Need - We are not able to portray a true picture of the kind of work done at IITD to the industry and the world.

First Questionnaire - Results

Knowledge base creation • A very novel initiative. To make it a success, you should

concentrate on generating good content to start with. • Identify volunteers to generate great content for

Technopedia. M-Tech and PhDs can start under the guidance of the professors

• Boot-strap as soon as possible.

First Questionnaire - Results

LMS • LMS would be phased out in 1 year• New software would come in its place• Task given to us to suggest what features professors

would like to have

First Questionnaire - Results

LMS • LMS would be phased out in 1 year• New software would come in its place• Task given to us to suggest what features professors would

like to have

Intellectual Property Rights• Students should be made aware • Amazed by the lack of awareness• We should also look forward in conduction some workshops

in this direction. This will also help reduce plagiarism.

First Questionnaire - Results

Interest based convergence • Please see that these groups are maintained properly and

only relevant discussion takes place in them. • A great idea. Work on the technology that will power it• Social Networking for Projects – linkedin.com

Information and idea sharing among those working under same project is a great problem. Due to culture divide among the different sections, we always deliver less than our potential. The Interest Group creation can be extended to meet the needs of social networking for projects.

• Research is an organic process.

First KM Blueprint

• Centralized Project Database: Our objective is to create a searchable database of project done inside IIT Delhi which might contain but is not limited to such details.  

• Knowledge base Creation: Creation of a platform where students, professors and research scholars can share their knowledge and create a repository of valuable and meaningful knowledge.

• Interest Group Creation: Creation of interest academic driven interest groups to bring like – minded students and professors close.

Psychological AspectPsychological AspectPsychological AspectPsychological Aspect

Resistance to Technology ChangeResistance to Technology Change

Our Approach

• We have created a diverse team of 15 students from different department – The KM Team

• They are entrusted with these responsibilities– To propagate the awareness of Knowledge

management.• Among Student community• Among Professor Community

– To inculcate the desire for THE CHANGE. – To impart knowledge of how bring the change with

upcoming KM initiative

Awareness Desire Knowledge Ability Reinforcement

Our Approach

• We have created a 10 member team of web experts – To develop the Proposed model– To ensure maintenance and continuity of the

developed application.

• Incentive initiatives – Project Ratings by community (like IMDB)– Techno Champions (For Technopedia)– Due recognition to expertise – KM Credits Model

Awareness Desire Knowledge Ability Reinforcement

Second QuestionnaireSecond QuestionnaireSecond QuestionnaireSecond Questionnaire

The Basic KM RoadmapThe Basic KM Roadmap

Second Questionnaire - Why

• First detailed questionnaire with a single professor from 3-4 streams of several department– Relevance in their stream– Support possible– Requirement gathering process – Basic set for

KM– Existing ideas – Suggestions and collection of FAQ.

Second Questionnaire - How

• Project Database– What is project knowledge to you?– How do YOU manage knowledge now?– What are the different tangible objects (like

device list-function, algorithm-function etc) in which knowledge is stored in a project and consequently can be shared?

– What do you consider as transferable knowledge? Which of these objects are transferable, per say useful for transfer?

– Misc. Ideas from them on how they think that knowledge should be managed.

Second Questionnaire - How

• Course Management– Why moodle and LMS not working???– What alternative is currently in use and

what advantage (this is very critical to ask – as this would give us the points on what are IITD’s requirements for course management)does it have over LMS and MOODLE??

– Features to be added to course management?

Second Questionnaire - How

• Course Management– Specific features to be added to courses of

your department (these would depend on what kind of content would generate interest in) e.g. assembly line processes video scrollbar for the mechanical deptt.,

– Key points on lab knowledge to be uploaded (specific to the professor’s area) would eventually be a part of the knowledge base

Second Questionnaire - How

• Knowledge Base Creation (Technopedia) – What do you think about Special Interest Group???– Type of content

--Ideas for design--Ideas for what type of content can be collaborated upon

– We need excellent content to begin with so that people can be motivated to see it’s good and useful and initialize the process of contribution. What according to you is that excellent content that we should start with and people who can create it (PHDs/ M.Techs)?

Second Questionnaire - How

• Special Interest Group– Would you be willing to join it?– Would you take part in mentoring through IRC

and guidance on wiki creations?– How frequently should special interest groups

meet together except for regular online IRC discussion?

Second Questionnaire - How

Second Questionnaire - How

Basic Blueprint

1. Project DatabaseOur objective is to create a searchable database of project done inside IIT Delhi

which might contain but is not limited to such details.  • Project Title• Abstract/Write-up• Department• Field• Supervisor • Type -> Mini P, BTP, SURA etc• Goals Achieved • Technology / methodology employed. (For Knowledge Transfer, KT)• Link to library section from where soft/hard copy of report could be

issued/found. • Other Department Specific Data

The Roadmap - Technopedia

2. TechnopediaAs things grow, so does the information. We could promote students to come

forward and put their tacit knowledge in a form which could easily be transferred to later batches, so that they do new and different things, instead doing the same old things every time. Some of the ideas that we have in our mind are:

• Introductory material for difficult courses. • Tutorials on using Lab equipments. • Tutorials on working with different hardware during projects• Getting started with different simulation and designing environment.   This would be driven by the IITD community, just like wikipedia is driven by

international community. One major task is to find good writers (Techno-champions) for the upcoming

initiative.

The Roadmap – Expertise Tracking System

3. Interest Groups We would like to develop a culture of interest groups at IITD. These groups will cover any happening field of interest like Mathematics, Signal Processing, Terrain mapping, Web scripting etc. So, We will develop a platform where people of same interest could share there ideas and get solutions to their problems, find like minded people to work on a particular project and thus, start working on a student initiated and community driven project supported by technocracy. This might include, but is not restricted or confined to these 

• Discussion Forum• Interest Group Meetings• Chat facility • IRC Channel

• Expertise Tracking System: When people join these interest group, they would also mention their level of expertly in particular fields related to their interest area, Thus, Interest group will directly cater to the needs of an expertise tracking system.

The roadmap – Social Networking for Projects

4. Social Networking for projects: • Research and funded projects are done by students who

are from different background, level of expertise and culture. We have B.Techs, M.Techs, research scholars and PhDs working for a project. Professors are involved also. A need is always felt to keep everyone updated about the work progress. This could easily be done if we will come up with a tailored solution for social networking. Facilities like Project Homepage, discussing, task distribution, deadline tracking, file sharing, and easy communication and notification can be given.

Implementation

• Web Experts from 2nd and 3rd year are assigned projects to implement the Basic KM Blueprint– Design of project Database system– Design of Technopedia – Design of Social Networking for Interest Groups and

Projects

• The project will be done under the supervision of Dean UGS, Dr. Santanu Choudhury

• Will result in first Model of the Basic KM blueprint.

Future WorkFollow-up

• Discussion with a single professor from 3-4 streams of each department to capture stream-specific knowledge needs after demonstrating them the basic Model developed. – Transferable knowledge in their stream– Tangible (Capturable) knowledge in their stream

• This would form the extended KM Blueprint planned to cater beyond the basic KM needs common to all.

Future WorkFollow-up

• The Web team will continue to support and improve and modify the Model in the coming semester.

• Technocracy -> An initiative by the students to improve the research standards at IITD by motivating students to go into research, by organizing tech workshops and by Industry – Academia interaction. – took the responsibility of following up on the

initiative.

Special Thanks

– Dean UGS – Santanu Chowdhury – Technocracy Initiative - Sankalp

Dayal – KM Team, Technocracy – Web Team – Technocracy