The document discusses knowledge transfer and exchange in the context of global health research. It explores how new technologies and networked societies are challenging traditional models of knowledge generation and dissemination. It also examines examples of new configurations for knowledge sharing, such as open data initiatives, crisis mapping, and open access protocols that utilize distributed networks instead of hierarchies. Finally, it calls for future research on knowledge transfer and exchange to take a more critical approach and consider how power structures and institutional contexts are impacted.

1. Media, information and the promise of new
technologies in Knowledge Transfer (KT) practices
Mauricio Delfin
Trauma and Global Health Program
GLOBAL HEALTH RESEARCH INITIATIVE: TEASDALE-CORTI PROGRAM SYMPOSIUM
Innovations in Global Health Research
Global Social Justice and the Social Determinants of Health: Setting the Course for the Future
October 1-3, 2012 | Marriott Hotel | 100 Kent St, Ottawa, ON
http://www.mcgill.ca/trauma-globalhealth

2. Knowledge Transfer
Knolwedge Translation
Knolwedge Dissemination
Knolwedge Transfer and Exchange
Research-to-Action
[…]

3. trans-
prefix meaning "across, beyond, to go beyond," from
L. trans-, from prep. trans "across, over, beyond,"
probably originally prp. of a verb *trare-, meaning "to
cross" (see through).

4. “The common element among these different terms is
a move beyond the simple dissemination of
knowledge into actual use of knowledge.”
“Knowledge creation, knowledge distillation and
knowledge dissemination are not enough on their own
to ensure the use of knowledge in decision-making.”
Defining knowledge translation (2009)
Sharon E. Straus MD MSc, Jacqueline Tetroe MA, Ian Graham PhD

5. Vectors [carriers] of Knolwedge
Transfer

6. Vectors [carriers] of Knolwedge
Transfer

7. Vectors à Networks/Instances/
domains for the performance/
construction of Knowledge

8. Greenhalgh, T., & Wieringa, S. (2011). Is it time to
drop the “knowledge translation” metaphor? A
critical literature review. Journal of the Royal
Society of Medicine, 104(12), 501–509. doi:
10.1258/jrsm.2011.110285

9. “To the extent that even “hard” science is socially
constructed, knowledge translation cannot be
viewed as a politically neutral exercise in the
transmission of facts.”
“…A wider range of metaphors and models
would allow us to research the link between
knowledge and practice in more creative and
critical ways.”
Is it time to drop the ‘knowledge translation’ metaphor? A critical literature review (2011)
Trisha Greenhalgh and Sietse Wieringa

10. “Conceptualizing the generation, circulation and
sharing of knowledge as ‘translation’ will
inadvertently close our minds to alternative
framings which could add to the illumination and
analysis of this complex field”.
Is it time to drop the ‘knowledge translation’ metaphor? A critical literature review (2011)
Trisha Greenhalgh and Sietse Wieringa

11. Translation: Assumptions
Three assumptions underpin the knowledge translation metaphor:
1. ‘Knowledge’ equates with objective, impersonal research findings.
Knowledge is seen as un-problematically separable from the scientists who
generate it and the practitioners who may use it.
2. It is useful to conceptualize a ‘know – do’ gap between scientific facts and
practice (whether in the clinical encounter, the management of staff or around
the policy-making table). This implies that knowledge and practice can be
cleanly separated both empirically and analytically.
1. Practice consists more or less of a series of rational decisions on which
scientific research findings can be brought to bear. These assumptions are
widely held within the medical field, but they are also widely questioned by
scholars outside this field.
Is it time to drop the ‘knowledge translation’ metaphor? A critical literature review (2011)
Trisha Greenhalgh and Sietse Wieringa

12. But first, an example from this Symposium:

14. New knowledge configurations:
Strengthening Nurses’ Capacity in HIV Policy Development
in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean
Canada, Kenya, Jamaica, Uganda, South Africa, and Barbados
Capacity Building Strategy (1 of 5) :
• Leadership Hubs: Three leadership hubs will be established in
each country, fostering dynamic collaboration among front-line
nurses and managers, researchers, decision makers and
community representatives. Hubs will link nursing leaders with
other stakeholders in government, NGOs and the community to
build a sustainable infrastructure for leadership capacity in
research, knowledge translation, and collaboration. They will
function as a lever for change, or enabling mechanism, that
translates enhanced capacity into action for policy and practice
change on HIV and AIDS.

16. Hubs/Networks/Gaps/Empowerment
“…a center around which
other things revolve or
from which they radiate;
a focus of activity…”

19. Hubs/Networks/Gaps/Empowerment

20. Hubs/Networks/Gaps/Empowerment

21. Hubs/Networks/Gaps/Empowerment

22. Hubs/Networks/Gaps/Empowerment

23. Hubs/Networks/Gaps/Empowerment

24. Technology Today

25. In 1983 Time magazine
nominated the PC as the
“Machine of the Year”.

26. In 2006 “the cover is a
symbol of the emancipation
of the computer user from
the alienated user of 1983 to
the “hero of the Information
Age” in 2006” (Schaefer,
2008).

27. Cover for Sep. 24, 2012, “The
Agents of Outrage”.

28. Cover for Sep. 24, 2012, “The
Agents of Outrage”.

29. The Wealth of Networks
"The dramatic decline in the cost of the material means of
producing and exchanging information, knowledge, and
culture has substantially decreased the costs of
information expression and exchange, and thereby
increased the relative efficacy of non-market production.
When these facts are layered over the fact that
information, knowledge, and culture have become the
central high-value-added economic activities of the most
advanced economies, we find ourselves in a new and
unfamiliar social and economic condition”.
Benkler, 2006

30. Impact of Technology on Knowledge and Action
• Networks for the performance/construction of knowledge are
affected by today's networked society, through distributed flows
of information that obfuscate traditional trajectories of
knowledge generation and dissemination, mediated through
emerging information and communication technologies.
• New technologies should challenge our vision of potential
Knowledge Transfer and Exchange strategies, bringing
renewed attention to the logics of networks, an emerging
“sharing economy" and open source logics.
• The changing landscape of Knowledge Transfer politics,
affected and influenced by technology, affects institutional
contexts and established power structures.

31. The Wealth of Networks (2)
A restaurant owner shouts, with his clients behind him, at demonstrators to stop throwing stones at his restaurant, after a protest against
spending cuts and the government of Mariano Rajoy ended in riots acroos Madrid (Daily Telegraph, Australia).

32. Protesta
en
Túnez,
el
14
de
Enero
2011

33. Protest
in
Tunisia
on
January
14th,
2011
(Le<)
and
at
midnight
on
January
26th,
2011
in
Cairo
(Right).
Sign
reads:
“Mubarak
GAME
OVER"
[Reuters]

34. EGYPT

35. SPAIN
España

36. USA

37. System
administrator,
rouWne
check-­‐up.

38. ACCESS
Internet
“Cabina”
in
Ventanilla,
Callao
-­‐
Peru
(2010)

39. Networks vs. Hierarchies

40. Examples of new configurations (of power)
• Urban crowdsourcing
• Crisis mapping initiatives
• Open access protocols and infrastructures

41. Urban crowdsourcing

50. Crisis mapping

55. Roundup
of
Global
Internet
AcWvism
Course
Trebor
Scholz,
New
School
University
(2009)

56. Roundup
of
Global
Internet
AcWvism
Course
Trebor
Scholz,
New
School
University
(2009)

57. Roundup
of
Global
Internet
AcWvism
Course
Trebor
Scholz,
New
School
University
(2009)

58. Developer Steve Mutinda displays a mobile application at crowdsource mapping platform
Ushahidi's office in Nairobi, Kenya in 2008.

59. “Crisis
Room”
in
Boston,
Massachusse`s

60. Disaster
Relief
2.0:
The
Future
of
InformaWon
Sharing
in
Humanitarian
Emergencies
(2011)

61. Open access protocols and infrastructures

62. The cost of knowledge:
The Elsevier Boycott

65. The cost of Knowledge (1)
“Refusing to submit papers to all overpriced publishers is
a reasonable further step, which some of us have taken,
but the focus of this boycott is on Elsevier because of the
widespread feeling among mathematicians that they are
the worst offender.”.
Source: http://thecostofknowledge.com

66. The cost of Knowledge (2)
“Recently, Elsevier has lobbied for the Research Works
Act, a proposed U.S. law that would undo the National
Institutes of Health’s public access policy, which
guarantees public access to published research papers
based on NIH funding within twelve months of publication
(to give publishers time to make a profit). Although most
lobbying occurs behind closed doors, Elsevier’s vocal
support of this act shows their opposition to a popular
and effective open access policy”.
Source: http://thecostofknowledge.com

67. The cost of Knowledge (3)
“Some people would like to see the journal system
eliminated completely and replaced by something else
more adapted to the internet and the possibilities of
electronic distribution. Others see journals as continuing
to play a role, but with commercial publishing being
replaced by open access models. Still others imagine a
more modest change, in which commercial publishers are
replaced by non-profit entities such as professional
societies”.
Source: http://thecostofknowledge.com

70. Open Data

71. Open
Government
Partnership
Anual
MeeWng
in
Brasilia
(April,
2012)

72. Open Data
Open data is the idea that certain data should be freely
available to everyone to use and republish as they wish,
without restrictions from copyright, patents or other
mechanisms of control.
The goals of the open data movement are similar to those
of other "Open" movements such as open source, open
content, and open access.
(open data, open standards, and open source)
Source: Wikipedia.org

73. Open Data
• “We-Government” (seems oriented towards
“gadgetization”)
• “App” fever (which requires a particular economy)
And/or:
• Vigilancia Ciudadana (Citizens monitoring)
• Denuncia (Denunciation)
• Knowledge interaction

77. Extensible Markup Language (XML) The comma-separated values (CSV)
“set of rules for encoding documents “pseudo-file format; a set of file formats
in machine-readable form. used to store tabular data in which
numbers and text are stored in
The design goals of XML emphasize plain-text form that can be
simplicity, generality, and usability easily written and read in a text editor”
over the Internet.”
Source: Wikipedia.org

82. Information is power.

83. Sometimes, information is power.

84. What are particular configurations/formations
that facilitate positive (fair, equal, transparent,
mutually beneficial…) construction and/or
performance of knowledge transfer and
exchange?

85. The Future
According to Greenhalgh and Wieringa (2011), research
should move beyond a narrow focus on the ‘know–do
gap’ to cover a richer agenda, including:
1. the situation- specific practical wisdom (phronesis)
that underpins clinical judgement
2. the tacit knowledge that is built and shared among
practitioners (“mindlines”)
3. the complex links between power and knowledge;
and
4. approaches to facilitating macro-level knowledge
partnerships between researchers, practitioners,
policymakers and commercial interests.”

86. Conclusions
• The science of knowledge translation is a relatively new
field and requires a critical approach.
• A kind of Meta-KTE is required.
• Future research should focus on:
• The harnessing of specific configurations/formations/domains that
impact positively in the KTE process.
• Analysis of the impact of KTE strategies firmly grounded on
sharing/open economies, comparing them with traditional ones)
• The effects of open data initiatives in global health research
• “Transdisciplinarity” as political action
• How are institutional contexts and established power
structures affected by KTE understood as a
transformation (challenge) of established political and
institutional cultures?

87. Thank you

88. More information at:
http://www.mcgill.ca/trauma-globalhealth
Support provided by:
Teasdale Corti Team Grant and the Global Health Research Initiative
This file can be shared under the following license:
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY)