The Scottish Knowledge Management network held its most successful gathering to date in Aberdeen on June 11. Hosted by Subsea 7, the meeting attracted delegates from a number of local authorities in the north of Scotland alongside knowledge management experts from the commercial sector and the Improvement Service.
The theme for the event was" KM becomes even more crucial in the economic downturn" and it provided an excellent opportunity for members in northern Scotland to network and pick up ideas and practical hints and tips on knowledge management.
Tessa Darley and Mike Mclean from the improvement service started the day with an exercise that highlighted the importance of networking and the maintenance of personal profiles.
Alf Michaelsen for Logica provided an overview of knowledge management within Logica with a focus on the oil industry. He highlighted areas where significant progress and financial efficiencies have been measured as a direct result of KM activity and made the point that many successful KM initiatives start life as small scale projects.
Subsea 7 gave a presentation on use of SharePoint 2007 combined with an active knowledge management team. The progress Subsea 7 has made in KM was impressive and showed that the commercial world faces many of the same challenges as the public sector.
Grainne Hamilton provided an introduction to an Online Communication course which has been developed by the Scottish Social Services Learning Network North and the Robert Gordon University to aid online collaboration. Grainne enhanced her presentation through the use of digital voting to capture the experience and thoughts of those in attendance.
All attendees agreed the event was worthwhile and beneficial to them. The network plans to run future events and are seeking future hosts/interested parties to run further events. In addition the group recognised the potential for online meetings and have established a forum discussion and will evaluate the potential of webinar tools within the community.
A big thank you is offered to Anne Robertson and all at Subsea 7 for making the day such a big success.
More information
The SKMN group was set up to provide a means for people based in Scotland (particularly in the public sector) who want to share learning, expertise and work together to enable organisations to get better at collaborative working; capturing and sharing expertise and knowledge; and encouraging learning and innovation. Visit its Community of Practice at http://www.communities.idea.gov.uk/comm/community-search.do?queryText=scottish+knowledge+management+network
