Maarifa Knowledge Centres

Describes experiences of: Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN), ILRIInitiated in 2007, the Maarifa Centres (Maarifa is the Swahili word for knowledge) are a project that aims through multimedia tools, to facilitate the exchange of ideas, experiences, and knowledge among communities to enhance learning for improved socio-economic empowerment. The project involves the establishment of community knowledge centres (CKC) in the rural areas of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda which, in partnership with other agencies, seek to bring information and communication technologies (ICTs) to rural communities to enable the documentation and sharing of local knowledge - in particular, knowledge relating to farming and natural resource management. Lead institution: Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN), ILRI ALIN is an International NGO that facilitates information and knowledge exchange to and between extension workers or other infomediaries and arid lands communities in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The information exchange activities focus on small-scale sustainable agriculture, climate change adaptation, natural resources management and other livelihood issues. Climate communication aims: The communication aims of this initiative are to foster local knowledge generation and sharing on climate adaptation and other topics across a network of arid lands communities. The method of operating at scale includes careful combination of strengthening the capacity of local people to use ICTs for the benefit of their community and their livelihoods. This promotes inclusion and engagement within the network. Communications/social learning characteristics: At the Maarifa Centres, community members can access and share information on how to improve their livelihoods through new technologies for farming, livestock keeping, coping with environment and climate change, and current marketing information. The centres also offer information related to health, gender, and HIV and AIDS. Much of the communication and social learning opportunities are built into the processes for gathering and dissemination the information A typical Maarifa Centre is managed by an advisory committee of about 5-8 local community stakeholders. The selection process ensures that the membership is diverse, gender-balanced, and represents interests of special groups. ALIN's volunteer programme supports the running of the centres. The volunteers work at the centre for one year and are supervised by local host partner organisations. They are generally young graduates in mass communication, agriculture, environmental studies, or community development. The volunteers manage the centre's activities, coordinating the collection of development-oriented local knowledge and experiences and training local communities on the use of ICT tools. The information collected and submitted by community development workers, community members, or volunteers is shared through the OKN platform which links all the CKCs and is accessible across the ALIN network. To ensure continuity and effective knowledge transfer, the volunteers work with a local person who acts as a Community Knowledge Facilitator (CKF) representing local interests. It is claimed that this information and knowledge flows across the ALIN network as well as being tailored for local dissemination to marginalised groups in a way that fosters inclusion, local interest and good understanding of local issues. This is an example of a looped/looped learning environment where practical local knowledge is shared, discussed and adapted for differing contexts. Audience: The centres offer basic ICT training to community members, often young people who have graduated from secondary schools as well as primary school pupils, many of whom have formed information clubs. The centres also act as information access points for community development workers who provide agricultural and related extension services in the region. They use the centres to acquire free (online) development information and to send weekly reports to their ministries or organisations, but also benefit from basic office services such as typing, photocopying, and free internet access. The Maarifa Centres also support the active involvement of women. In order to enhance the capacity of women to play an active role in development initiatives and to reverse the trend of their insufficient inclusion, especially in the dry land areas, ALIN promotes the integration of women in development and information support. Getting research into use (how this case study does or does not contribute to that): This example demonstrates evidence of local practical examples of climate change adaptation being discovered, discussed and understood, and in some cases used elsewhere (local->local transfer). It is not so clear where the climate science meets traditional local knowledge and how this works together. Also, to what extent are traditional climate science centres learning from these more autonomous innovations (and the ALIN model itself) to change their approaches to monitoring, predicting, adapting to and communicating climate change. Evolution of the project (how has the project evolved or developed if known): The Maarifa centres started in 2007 and have expanded to 10 centres. Use of ICTs and people networks have evolved over this period to extend the outreach beyond the centres themselves to surrounding villages and communities

Can processes make relationships work? The Triple Helix between structure and action

This contribution seeks to explore how complex adaptive theory can be applied at the conceptual level to unpack Triple Helix models. We use two cases to examine this issue – the Finnish Strategic Centres for Science, Technology & Innovation (SHOKs) and the Canadian Business-led Networks of Centres of Excellence (BL-NCE). Both types of centres are organisational structures that aspire to be business-led, with a considerable portion of their activities driven by (industrial) users’ interests and requirements. Reflecting on the centres’ activities along three dimensions – knowledge generation, consensus building and innovation – we contend that conceptualising the Triple Helix from a process perspective will improve the dialogue between stakeholders and shareholders

Significance of Trans-European Transport Networks for Logistics Centre Localization as Exemplified by the Łódź Region

This work complements and structures knowledge in the field of logistics centres (with focus on the Łódź region). It presents a thorough analysis of strategic documents of the European Union in reference to the functioning of international transport networks. It also provides a detailed description of logistics facilities operations from the theoretical standpoint and definition of relations in points where logistics centres and TEN-T networks overlap. The result of this work is a set of recommendations referring to effective development of logistics centres on the background of transport corridors

Psychological contract and knowledge management mediated by cultural dynamics

Contact centres are the vital link in the value chain between the organisation and its customers because they offer essential front line sales and services of products. Evaluation of their success can be assessed in terms of customer retention, up selling and the promotion of the brand. This is brought into sharp focus if the centre is outsourced because of the impact of the strategic behaviour of the principal and its relation with its agents. The association of employees with the brand in outsourced operation is not as effective as in captive operations partly because communications from principal to agent are attenuated. Emotional connectivity, diagnostic skill set, requirement gathering, and knowledge are some of the most sensitive qualities required in agents working in the contact centres. These characteristics are found to differ according to whether this is in-house or outsourced operation and affect the psychological contract between the service provider and its employees. In addition, the employees are unlikely to achieve any rewards and are unable to offer any commitments to the customer in an outsourced operation; hence the “psychological contract” is breached. One of the consequences of this breach is on knowledge management. The knowledge of an employee regarding the products and services is lost with that employee’s attrition. Also employees’ then have little interest towards customer service and organizational welfare, which impacts on the customer centric goals of the principal. We argue that the psychological contract between employer and an employee and has positive influence on Knowledge Diffusion, mediated by cultural dynamics, which further contributes to the overall organizational effectiveness. This paper aims to investigate, as a pilot study, the elements of organisational culture and secondly its role in the diffusion of knowledge in contact centres, in-house and outsourced. We demonstrate how by deploying a blend of qualitative methods, it is possible to perceive the effect of each element of the cultural web on diffusion. Finally we propose a hypothesis of the role that Power Distance (Hofstede, 1980) can play, as a proxy for the Psychological Contract to leverage knowledge diffusion

Role and relevance of business incubators in ICT led global educational system: case for eco-enterprise village

Following paper presents the case of Business Incubators (BIs) as future educational and learning centres. It explores the question of how feasible and relevant is this concept andt how they can be designed to deliver educational & training programmes that meet the requirement of knowledge economy by suitably preparing youth to face the challenges of the global market. Business Incubators are businesses aiming at nurturing and establishing other businesses. They are considered to be an excellent tool for Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) development. Targeted assistance at small entrepreneurs & start-up businesses- help them grow and graduate to mature enterprises. According to ILO estimates 300 million jobs have to be created world over in the next 5 years. As many as 45 million young people enter the job market annually, at a global level. There are three different kinds of BIs and they are public, private, and university based BIs and are commonly classified by ownership. In the IT-led global knowledge village, there are seamless potentials for study, earning a degree and education outside of the college campuses. Virtual campuses are the reality today. What are needed then would be centres for imparting practical lessons on commercialising the knowledge, innovative ideas, and technical skills. Also it is important to impart real training in starting, managing, making profit and pursuing the growth of enterprises & ventures that a youth entrepreneur could launch. In the knowledge economy, BIs can be real learning centres. Also, technological and academic oriented knowledge & literacy is not the only skill required for attaining success, set-up a business or getting a well-paying job in the new knowledge based global economy. But what is required are a set of skills called 21st century skills, which can be well delivered through BIs, when they are turned as educational centres. The paper also presents a BI model, which has an objective of building businesses with a strategic orientation towards environment and sustainable development. The BI design presented is called as Eco-Enterprise Village.Business Incubators; Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; Information & Communication Technology; Education and Training; Eco Enterprise Incubator

Knowledge and Innovation in the Indonesian Artisanal Furniture Industry

In developed countries, localized learning in clusters of small and medium-sized firms is seen as beneficial for innovation in these firms. This paper questions whether such a situation is also true for small firms in developing countries. By examining 90 furniture manufacturers in the district of Jepara (Indonesia) we observe knowledge access mainly through one-sided local learning mechanisms, e.g. in-house learning-by-doing and informal contacts with buyers (contractors). This pattern tends to cause a dominance of product innovation (changes in design) and low levels of newness, and points to a lack of advantages from local learning. The major principle behind this is the way in which subcontracting relations are structured. However, the furniture manufacturers in Jepara are willing to connect with global knowledge, but financial obstacles prevent a change. This situation calls for the establishment of centres or renewal of existing centres where global knowledge can be accessed e.g. through the Internet, and support can be given in absorption of the new knowledge.

A history of vision and plans for the transformation of a coastal tourism city into a knowledge city: Australia's Gold Coast

Many coastal mass tourism centres have attempted to reinvent themselves as they have grown from informal coastal towns into large cities. Lifestyle migration boosts urban growth as these cities become home to ‘permanent tourists’ attracted by the characteristics that attract tourism. Australia’s best known resort, the Queensland Gold Coast, provides a case study of a resort region experiencing similar transformations to those noted in Honolulu, Miami and Sitges, Spain. These cities have pursued broader socioeconomic resilience rather than the common strategy of simply expanding or improving their tourism appeal. Using literature review and documentary research, this paper traces how ideas of a ‘knowledge city’ have featured in Gold Coast planning history since the 1980s, through proposals including an ‘innovation corridor’, ‘research triangle’, a designated knowledge precinct and the development of universities and hospitals under plans and strategies for economic development. Although implementation has been sporadic, the case study demonstrates a continuity in narrative that has shaped outcomes towards the desired ‘knowledge city’, thereby creating a more cohesive urban structure integrating knowledge nodes, town centres and urban transport infrastructure investments. This case study will add knowledge to inform planners grappling with the transformation of similar coastal tourism areas into significant cities

Data Mining for Shopping Centres – Customer Knowledge-Management Framework

Shopping centers are an important part of the UK economy and have been the subject of considerable research. Relying on complex interdependencies between shoppers, retailers and owners, shopping centers are ideal for knowledge management study. Nevertheless, although retailers have been in the forefront of data mining, little has been written on Customer Knowledge Management for shopping centers. In this chapter, the authors aim to demonstrate the possibilities and draw attention to the possible implications of improving customer satisfaction. Aspects of customer knowledge management for shopping centers are considered using analogies drawn from an exploratory questionnaire survey. The objectives of a Customer Knowledge Management system could include increasing rental incomes and bringing new life back into shopping centers and towns