Rationale

There have been some recent efforts to predict the future on knowledge management for development, the field (KM4D) and the community (KM4Dev). One such effort has been the Envisioning Km4Dev Futures 2013-2014, funded by International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD) which featured a series of projects looking at the future of KM4Dev.[i], [ii]  Others have encouraged KM4Dev to take a transformational path such as Valerie Brown’s work on transformational science (Brown and Harris 2013), to focus on KM4Dev as the ‘new Enlightenment’ (Ferreira 2009) or to explore the link between KM4D and transdisciplinary research, and use this to make predictions about the future of KM4Dev (Cummings et al, 2013).

On the private sector side, we regularly see scoping views on where KM is headed, what the ‘next big thing’ is, and what internal and external forces will cause the discipline to shape itself over the coming years. Similarly, it would be interesting to hear what this community thinks about the future KM4D field trends.

This issue

In this issue, we would like you to use your experience and imagination to write about where you would see KM4D or KM4Dev in the future, or where you fear it might be going. You can focus on a field of practice, such as facilitation, communities of practice or evaluation, or on a theme or sector, such as KM4D related to big data, food and nutrition security,agriculture and rural development or ICTs, or covering local, regional or continental perspectives. Or you can try to cover the whole field, linking it to predictions about the state of development, such as the Sustainable Development Goals, or of knowledge management. Technological predictions for our field are also welcome. Contributions can cover emerging trends, technologies, political developments, organisational aspects, etc. We hope to see a rich range of contributions, including a combination of personal reflections and papers. We would also like to encourage those involved in the KM4Dev Futures project to share their reflections and insights.

Submission of abstracts and papers
We welcome articles, case studies, thought pieces, publication reviews, short stories, KM4Dev Community Notes, life stories, debates, letters and annotated bibliographies from both academics and practitioners. Literary contributions – such as poems, stories or metaphors – would also be welcome. Contributions are welcome in English, French and Spanish.

The submission and review process leading to publication is explained below, together with a schedule. If you would like to submit a paper, or be actively involved in this initiative in any other way, please send your abstract (minimum one paragraph – maximum one page) or your message by e-mail to km4dj-editors@dgroups.org before 3 July 2015 (please include ‘Future Issue’ in the title of your email).

Guidelines for authors are available on the KM4Dev wiki in English, French and Spanish:http://wiki.km4dev.org/KM4D_Journal_-_Editors%27_Workspace#Author_G...

Schedule

Submission deadline for the title and abstract                        3 July 2015

Acceptance/rejection of proposal                                            10 July 2015

Full contribution due                                                              15 September 2015

Peer review completed                                                            15 October 2015

Final versions submitted                                                         15 November 2015

Publication of the issue                                                           December 2015                                                                                           

Kemly Camacho, Pete Cranston, Sarah Cummings, Charles Dhewa,
Ivan Kulis and Nancy White

Guest Editors, Knowledge management for development in 2020: let your imagination fly!