Swiss TPH

Knowledge Management (KM) in the health context is essential to make every institution, network or system a learning organization. Rapidly changing conditions and fast growing amounts of knowledge need both: the fast adaptation to changed situations and systems which allow the access to relevant information and knowledge. Centre of every KM system is a knowledge cycle consisting of gaining knowledge by creation, identification or acquiring, sharing knowledge, storing knowledge but also using appropriate knowledge and renewing it if necessary. One important aspect deals with the fact that knowledge is not only available as visible and storable explicit knowledge but also as tacit knowledge in the people’s minds while they often are even not aware of possessing that knowledge. A possible way of making this knowledge accessible is the documentation of lessons learned or good and bad practice as part of a project’s cycle. Knowledge often has not only to be identified but also to be compiled and made digestible. Storing knowledge does not mean creating data cemeteries but accessible places where understandable and current knowledge is available, often in collaborative environments like WIKIs. It is also important to be aware of the fact that knowledge is changing and has to be adopted and keep up to date. The role of ICT in KM is that of an enabler offering tools for every step of the knowledge cycle, while organizational processes and people play a raole which is at least as important. The three dimensions Men, Organization and Technology are considered to be central for every KM strategy.

Bertha Camacho

Bertha Camacho Tuckermann is Sociologist with an MA in Development Management from the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. She works as Knowledge Management Specialist at Skat Consulting since early 2007 and has more than 10 years of working experience in various organizations, programmes, and international development agencies, especially in Latin America and the Caribbean. Her strengths are in the area of participatory research, capacity building and training, facilitation of workshops and monitoring and evaluation.

Knowledge Audit on HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean

Confronted with the situation that there is a considerable accumulation of knowledge and information on HIV/AIDS in the region but organisations/institutions do not know where to find such information, information tends to be duplicated unnecessarily, information is not necessarily being used to improve HIV programmes and limited information is being shared among organisations/institutions.
This lead to the development of a regional Knowledge Management Centre on HIV/AIDS to promote access and efficient use of information, facilitate information and resources on HIV/AIDS and strengthen the ability to manage knowledge and information.
A Knowledge audit was conducted to identify sources and types of information and knowledge on HIV/AIDS in the region, to get an overview of the most important stakeholders in the HIV/AIDS information and knowledge system and last not least to identify information and knowledge gaps on HIV/AIDS in the region.
As results knowledge gaps were identified concerning more or less every step of the knowledge cycle. Focusing on creating and identifying knowledge large amounts of information are available but often unorganized, not evident, often not reliable or useful. Implications have been made to improve the situation for every step of the knowledge cycle. All this can be a good basis to improve the knowledge management system on HIV/AIDS in the project region as well as it could be a model for other KM audits within the health system.