Archive for the ‘Govt. 2.0’ Category

Within a couple months of my hiring and having gained a better appreciation of what the SOG is all about, it became clear to me that something was missing–online Communities of Practice (CoP).  We were the great conveners–regularly bringing communities of practice together face-to-face to learn from us and from one another, and then they all went home…until we did it again.  I know this doesn’t capture the ongoing phone and email support we provide our clients, nor the collective toe we’ve stuck in the water, or knee-depth wading we’ve done with our listservs.  Some have even waded in quite deep with their wikis and blogs, but in my view, we’ve not yet realized the potential synergies of bridging the experience and expertise of our clients with that of our own in-house experts.

Last year we submitted a grant proposal (unsuccessful) to lay the technical foundation for a NC Land Use Planners Community of Practice–an open forum for government practitioners to learn from each other as well as providing a common platform to engage with School of Government faculty and resources.  More than a portal where people come to find resources, a CoP is place where all can contribute resources, and at many different levels.   More than a blog, with a single or few authors, a CoP can be “authored” by all subscribers.  More than a wiki, A CoP is equally focused on the community and contributers as it is the content they contribute.  I think this quote captures much of my thinking on CoP:

“People are the best conduits of information. Studies have shown that workers spend a third of their time looking for information and are five times more likely to turn to a coworker rather than an explicit source of information (book, manual, or database). Time is saved by conferring with members of a CoP. People have tacit knowledge which is not found in a book [or blog, webpage or wiki]. ” (Dalkir 2005).

Such a community space would allow our client groups to: Read the rest of this entry »