The IKM Emergent Update, March 2011 is available at: http://wiki.ikmemergent.net/files/IKM_Emergent_Update_March_2011.doc

IKM Background

IKM Emergent is a research and communication programme founded on a critical analysis of current practice in the use of all forms of knowledge, including formal research, within the international development sector.  It is based on an international network of development practitioners. To find out more about the programme see the IKM Emergent site for more details.

Latest news from IKM

• Webinar on monitoring and evaluation of KM took place as part of the Knowledge Management Impact Challenge (KMIC) on 27 January 2011. Presentations were made at the webinar by IKM colleagues, Simon Hearn, Valerie Brown and Ewen le Borgne, on M&E of knowledge, and also about previous work on this subject. This was followed by an update from Marie-Ange Binagwaho, Louise Clark and Norma Garza of the findings to date on the KMIC.
• Evaluation of the IKM Emergent Research Programme: taking a complex..., an entry to the Knowledge Management Impact Challenge, one of over 45 entries.
• Development knowledge ecology: another visit to the KM kitchen? Gives some background to a more holistic look at development knowledge. You can also join the discussion the KM4Dev discussion list.
• Definitions: traducture reflects on ‘traducture’, including an audio file of Wangui wa Goro at the EADI General Conference in 2008 during a presentation on Knowledges, dialogues and translations.
• The September 2010 issue of the Knowledge Management for Development Journal included two IKM papers:

Multiple knowledges, multiple languages: are the limits of my langu...: Valerie A. Brown, Vol. 6, issue 2, p.120-131

Progress to date of the IKM Emergent Research Programme: synthesis,...: Mike Powell and Sarah Cummings, Vol. 6, issue 2, p.132-150

IKM Highlights

Linked Open Information for Development- Reflections, discussions and resources

New technical developments in linked and open information will have a major impact on development information. Despite claims of instant returns emanating from assorted techno-enthusiasts, the real question is whether this impact will be positive. IKM Emergent is concerned that linked, open information has the same potential to privilege certain sorts and sources of information over others; filter out the voices of the poor and marginalised; and centralise both thought and power in ways which render development assistance less effective as well as less equitable. Anyone interested in participating in detailed work on these issues is welcome to join an emerging community of practice, LinkInfo4Dev, moderated by Hugo Besemer.

• IKM Discussion Note: This discussion note provides a brief explanation of what linked open information is and why it might matter.
• Draft Report of a workshop in November 2010 which discusses both the positive and negative potential of the widespread adoption of linked, open information within the development sector.
• Linked data experiment: Read postings on this subject posted on the Giraffe platform.
• IFPRI has taken the Global Hunger Index (GHI) as an example and published it as a linked data RDF files and documented the experience.
• Tim Berners Lee - the inventor of the Web - outlines the next layer of the web - linked data experiment, the machine readable web.

Upcoming events

• KM Impact Challenge Unconference: 6 May 2011, Washington DC, USA: http://kdid.org/kmic/events/km-impact-challenge-unconference
• Lost and found in traducture: 27-29 May 2011, Windsor, UK:  SIDENSI and IKM Emergent are organising a joint international interdisciplinary colloquium to address critical issues of traducture by bringing together translation and information knowledge production and management practitioners to share insights, experiences, strategies, techniques, tools and methodologies. More information to follow shortly at sidensi.com
• Rethinking development in an age of scarcity and uncertainty: 19-22 September 2011, York, UK: 13th General Conference of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) and the UK Development Studies Association (DSA)
  http://www.eadi.org/index.php?id=1204

IKM Emergent resources

The following resources produced by the programme are freely available online.

• Newsletters: here you can find an archive of IKM Emergent newsletters, from 2007 to the present.
• IKM Background Material: here you can find the IKM Emergent programme overview summary, synthesis and detailed overview, as well as the Which knowledge? Whose reality? An overview of knowledge used in th... article that set out the rationale for the project and the analysis from which it started.
• Evaluation: here you can find the two evaluations of the programme, conducted in 2008 and 2009.
• Working Papers: here you can find the on-going development of working papers commissioned or produced by the programme.
• IKM Summaries: here you can find long summaries of research undertaken by IKM Emergent to date. Including: Meta-review and scoping study/ Communicating information and knowledge / Monitoring and evaluation of knowledge / Learning networks for bridging knowledge divides / Knowledge and policy in development / Learning from promoting and using participation: the case of intern... ‎ How wide are the Ripples? / Knowledge management and multiple knowledges: a multi-case study wi... / Good planning or benign imposition? Innovation, emergence and risk ... / ‘Things can be other than they are’. Understanding the limitations ... / Power and interests in developing knowledge societies: exogenous an.... Long summaries are also available in French and Spanish.
• Thematic resources: here you can find a range of materials accessible by theme,  including:  Complexity / Culture / Development/ Development KM /  Development Management / Development Research / Development Theory / Ethics / Evaluation / General KM / Infomediaries IKM / Information Societies / Local Exchanges / Local Intellectual Output / Means of Expression / Multiple Knowledges / Network Management / Participatory Methodologies / Policy / Project/ Programme M&E / Societies /Translation

IKM online

IKM Emergent site: the site, like the programme it is part of, aims to explore, through multiple lenses and a variety of perspectives, what information and knowledges are used in the international development sector, how they are expressed, handled and received, and the possibilities for change. http://wiki.ikmemergent.net/index.php/Main_Page 

The Giraffe Blog: a platform for sharing reflections and information on knowledge for development http://thegiraffe.wordpress.com/

Twitter http://twitter.com/IKMEmergent

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/localikm#p/u

Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/group/ikmemergent/

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/ikm_emergent/ (public group)

LinkdIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=1824839 (public group)

Delicious tagged links: These are links that have been highlighted by IKM Emergent as of interest.  http://www.delicious.com/tag/ikm_emergent  

Join us online:

 Join the IKM Emergent mailing list  & the new IKMEmergent group on KM4Dev. 

http://www.km4dev.org/group/ikmemergent.

Contact IKM Emergent: Mike Powell, Director, mike@ikmemergent.net or Sarah Cummings sarah@ikmemergent.net. IKM Emergent Secretariat, EADI, Kaiser Friedrich Strasse 11, D-53113, Bonn, Germany.