Invitation to a discussion of work-in-progress on the management of knowledge for
development:
Discussion: Who owns the truth? The role of different types of
knowledge in development
Location: Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Hague
Date: Wednesday 24 June
Time: 13.30-17.30 followed by drinks in the ISS bar
Working Group 3 of the Information and Knowledge Management Emergent
Research Programme (IKM Emergent) is critically examining the role of information
and knowledge management practice within development organisations.
The Working Group (Valerie A. Brown, Julie E. Ferguson, Simon Hearn, Ewen Le
Borgne, Kingo Mchombu and Sarah Cummings) would like to present some of the
research that we have undertaken to date and, with you, examine our plans for
research and collaboration in the coming period.
Programme
13.30 A short introduction to IKM Emergent (Mike Powell, IKM Emergent) and an
overview of the afternoon’s programme (Sarah Cummings, IKM
Emergent/Context, international cooperation)
13.45 Who knows?
Who owns the truth? Different validations for personal, community, specialist, organisational
and holistic knowledges (Prof. Valerie E. Brown, Australian National University)
Translating the truth in ethnographic research: who knows? (Dr Martha Chinouya, London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK)
Discussion in groups
14.30 Recent research (3 presentations, 10 minutes each, with discussion in World cafe)
The link between knowledge and policy (Simon Hearn, Research and Policy in Development
(RAPID), Overseas Development Institute, UK)
The state of the art of organisational knowledge management (Ewen Le Borgne, IRC
International Water and Sanitation Centre)
Knowledge management & multiple knowledges: a multi-case study within the development
sector (Paula Zirschky)

15.15 World café… (with coffee and tea)
16.00 Fish bowl on the evaluation of knowledge management
Complexity and the implications for evaluation of knowledge management: the case of the IKM
Emergent Research Programme (Dr Chris Mowles, Red Kite Partners/Complexity and
Management Centre, University of Hertfordshire, UK)
Discussion in a fish bowl
16.30 IKM’s plans for the future
Development of knowledge management activities in Namibia (Prof. Kingo Mchombu, Dean of
Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Namibia)
An introduction to scientometrics and possible implications for development (Dr Iina Hellsten,
Athena Institute, VU University and Sarah Cummings)
Other developing plans on corporate epistemologies, informal organizations and networks,
evaluation of knowledge management etc.
Discussion in three groups
17.30 Close (and drinks in the ISS bar)
IKM Emergent
For more information about IKM Emergent, the website can be found at: www.ikmemergent.net
The latest version of the newsletter can be consulted at: http://wiki.ikmemergent.net/files/090310-
newsletter.pdf