Knowledge Management Infostation
Knowledge Management (KM) Development in the Force

0 Photo

There is a wealth of knowledge available to the Force. A frequent complaint, however, is that staff is suffering from information overload or the information they need is not readily available. In some circumstances, the information remains buried.

Background

Information available to staff can be categorised as:

(A) Organisational Knowledge - the past knowledge of the Force, which is largely held in manuals, orders and policies, which have been developed through experience.

(B) Team/unit Knowledge - the past and current knowledge built through the experience of units and teams within the Force, much of which is now documented in the form of aide-memoirs, guidelines, action cards and checklists.

(C) Individual Knowledge - the expertise of individual officers, built up through experience, both Force sponsored and that undertaken in a private capacity.

(D) External Best Practice - the knowledge built up by law enforcement agencies, educational institutes, other government departments and organisations, which may be applicable to the Force.

KM addresses this issue. It leverages processes and supports IT systems to capture knowledge and make it more accessible. This was recognised in the 1998 review of the Force's business environment and Information Technology Strategy, when it was noted that:

* dispatch of information within the Force was slow, hampering communication among units, and

* access to policing knowledge nurtured within the Force was confined to a small population, and sharing of insights and information across the Force was ineffective.

What is Knowledge Management?

There is no universally accepted definition of knowledge management. In Force terms, KM can be defined as "the systematic processes by which knowledge needed for the Force to succeed is created, captured, shared and used", and the Force's KM objective is defined "to improve the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the Force".

Best practice research suggests there are essentially two different approaches, namely "Codification" and "Personalisation" that can be followed to introduce KM into an organisation. "Codification" is the capturing of written knowledge, storing it in databases and providing means to search for and retrieve knowledge easily. "Personalisation" is focused on bringing customised solutions to specific problems. It is the systemic identification of subject experts who have the know-how, judgement, exposure and skills and providing means for other officers to find them and learn from them.

Implementation and Progress

To demonstrate to officers that KM will make their job easier, a five-phase implementation plan for the Force KM system was introduced in June 2002. The first two phases use the codification approach. They are quick-wins which will make available a huge amount of organisational and unit knowledge online in a systematic manner. Most frontline officers will benefit significantly from the first two phases without having to contribute to the knowledge. In doing so they will be more ready to accept the subsequent phases (which use both codification and personalisation approaches) and which require their contribution. The scope of each phase is summarised as follows:

* Phase I is to place organisational knowledge, such as Force manuals, orders and policies in the KM system;

* Phase II is to place readily available unit knowledge, such as Regional/Formation orders, aide-memoirs, guidelines and action cards, in the KM system;

* Phase III is to make available less accessible unit knowledge such as legal advice, stated cases, frequently asked questions, causes of acquittal and commonly made mistakes on-line;

* In Phase IV, once substantial databases are created, Force members will be encouraged to contribute wherever they see gaps, and to share insights from overseas visits and private study which would be of benefit to the Force, and

* Phase V is to encourage units and teams to incorporate learning practices into their work, such as conducting post-operation briefings to identify, document and share lessons learnt as well as making use of the on-line facilities for team project collaboration.

A KM Co-ordinating Committee chaired by ACP SQ with representatives from Training Wing, Information Systems Wing and Service Quality Wing, monitors implementation. Representatives from other stakeholders will be invited to attend committee meeting as and when required.

For more information about the KM project, contact Knowledge Management Officer on 2860-6573.