KM Impact Challenge unConference- Registration now open

KM Impact Challenge unConference – Discovering Measures that Matter for KM
Date: May 5-6, 2011 from 9:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m.

Venue: ASAE’s Marriott Learning Complex, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washin...
Cost: Free
Sponsor: United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with support from the Global Development Network (GDNet)
Register now at: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/510561/km-impact-challenge-unconference-registration-form

Can't make it in person? Participate by webinar

While many of us believe that more knowledge-driven programmatic approaches are inherently better, most of us are challenged to effectively measure results and demonstrate the impact of our investments in knowledge and learning. The KM Impact Challenge is a collaborative learning process that has brought together practitioners over recent months to describe and share their experiences in assessing their knowledge and learning initiatives. To read the case stories gathered visit: http://kdid.org/kmic/entries

The KMIC unConference will convene an interdisciplinary group of KM and M&E practitioners with experience in measuring the impact of knowledge and learning activities, or a strong interest to do so in the future. Participants will come from diverse organizations such as international development agencies and foundations to smaller NGOs and independent consultants and represent experiences from a variety of sectors. This two-day event will blend formal, pre-programmed presentations with participant-led discussion sessions. An open-space component will encourage creative, collaborative and participant-led knowledge sharing.

Objectives of the event:

Showcase practitioner experience measuring knowledge management and learning activities
Analyze and accelerate learning around effective tools and approaches
Strengthen connections within an emergent community of practitioners
Develop an agenda for ongoing action

The UnConference format blends formal, pre-programmed presentations with open-space components to encourage creative, collaborative and participant-led knowledge sharing.

Case story top finalists will present their experience on evaluating the impact of a range of KM initiative.

Subject matter specialists will share their expertise on different approaches and methods that can be used to measure KM.

KM Impact Challenge team will talk about the findings from the case story synthesis report.

Discussion sessions will enable participants to interact, contribute their experiences and discuss shared challenges and potential approaches relevant to a variety of thematic areas. Open space sessions will also invite participants to explore how traditional M&E methods should be adapted and applied to KM. Interested in sharing a specific experience or proposing a discussion session for the unConference? Please use the registration form to suggest one.

Some of the topics that will be discussed at the unConference include:

Approaches to measure the application of knowledge
Getting the right balance between quantitative and qualitative data
Innovative uses of social media and web tools
Measuring the effectiveness of online portals
Mechanisms to compile and aggregate qualitative data
Transparency and use of monitoring data
Organizational Network Analysis

KM Impact Challenge unConference Agenda*:

Day 1	Presenter
Peer Introductions	Participants
Opening Remarks	Stacey Young, USAID Jeff Kwaterski, Impact Alliance
Keynote Presentation(s)	Marie-Ange Binagwaho and Louise Clark from the KM Impact Challenge team, will be presenting the key findings from the KM Impact Challenge Synthesis Report.
Introduction to Top Finalist Case Stories	Mridula Seth: Providing Academic Support and building Life Skills of Children fro... (India) Eliana Quiroz: UNDP Bolivia promotes democratic governance through gobernabilidad.... (Bolivia) Sherine Ghoneim: Connecting researchers from the Global South to those with the powe... (Egypt) Nathan Horst: EthnoCorder: An Innovation in Mobile Data Collection and Use (Burundi) Graciela B. De Oto: Improving the Social Value of Knowledge for Women Entrepreneurs (Argentina) Anthony Mugo: Connecting Arid Lands Communities With Knowledge (Kenya) Corinne Farrell: The HRH Global Resource Center: Strengthening the Global Health Wor... (United States) Jay Liebowitz: Fostering Research and Scholarship through Knowledge Sharing Activi... (United States) Sarah Cummings: Evaluation of the IKM Emergent Research Programme: taking a complex... (Germany) Soledad Muñiz: Participatory Video for Monitoring & Evaluation in Community Ba... (Kenya and Argentina) Alakh Asthana: Breaking the Walls of a KM Class Room with YouTube (India) Q&A and dialogue with audience
Explanation of Afternoon Sessions and Agenda Creation Process	Facilitator: Louise Clark Participants
Lunch
Discussion Session 1: Understanding how we use knowledge	A: Measuring the effectiveness of online portals Is it possible to know what happens to information downloaded from web portals? Is it necessary to know what happens to information downloaded from web portals? How can we make webstats useful? What are the challenges of collecting feedback from users? What mechanisms exist to measure the influence of multiple media sources? B: Measuring the uptake and application of new knowledge How do we know that new knowledge / information is used and applied? What mechanisms exist to measure this (drawing from sector examples, e.g. health, agriculture, education, etc) What can we learn from other disciplines experience with behavior / social change?(social marketing, development communication / C4D, private sector ) Is it possible to define baseline levels of K? Is it enough to measure Knowledge flows to target groups? C/D: Open Space Topics (TBD)
Discussion Session 2: Understanding how we use M&E data	A: Transparency and use of M&E data How do decision makers use M&E data? How can these data support decision making in other stakeholder groups? What are the barriers to making monitoring data more widely available? How can we make donors / aid agencies more accountable? How can we use our KM skills to make M&E data more useful to different stakeholder groups B: Embedding M&E in project activities: making monitoring useful How can we ensure that collection and analysis of monitoring data does not create an additional burden to project staff? How to ensure that monitoring data is useful to improve project performance and meet reporting requirements? How to incorporate M&E design into project planning? Ideaslism vs Realism: Budget, training, time and other constraints C/D: Open Space Topics (TBD)
Synthesis Session	Reporting back from discussion sessions
Reception	Networking
Day 2
Recap of Day 1 highlights
Keynote Presentation(s)	Mike Powell, IKM Emergent
Discussion Session 3: Practical considerations	A: Innovative use of social / visual media for data collection How can we capitalize on the potential of SMS and social media to simplify data collection processes? Does visual media improve utility of monitoring systems and make data more actionable? B: Mechanisms to compile and aggregate qualitative data How can we simplify the analysis of qualitative data to rapidly identify key lessons and tendancies ? How can we aggregate qualitative data across different experiences and contexts How can we simply present the findings from qualitative methods? What mechanisms do we have to quantify qualitative data? C: Getting the right balance between quantitative and qualitative data How can we combine the need for rigor with the need to tell the story? How can we budget for both? D: Organizational Network Analysis (ONA)
Lunch
Discussion Session 4: Peer reflections and sense making	Small groups will be created to work together and discuss their understanding of: • What we know • What we agree on • What we disagree on • What we do not know • What needs to be done going forward
Synthesis Session	Identifying agenda for ongoing action
Closing Recap and Remarks	Stacey Young, USAID

Download this agenda here: KM%20Impact%20Challenge%20unConference%20Agenda_April%208.docx

*Please note that this is not the final agenda nor list of speakers. We will continue to update this blog post with the latest agenda and details for the unConference.

The unConference will also provide a space to strengthen connections within an emergent community of practitioners. It aims to foster a lively debate between practitioners around common challenges and accelerate learning around effective practice, documenting identified solutions and promising tools and approaches to share with practitioners around the globe. UnConference participants will help develop an agenda for ongoing action to provide our community with clear sign posts of the shared journey ahead and to encourage ongoing collaboration.

Can't make it in person? Participate by the webinar, tune in on May 5th and 6th, 2011.

Webinar: http://irgltd.adobeconnect.com/kmic_unconference/

The final webinar schedule will be provided soon. Please check back for webinar schedule updates for your time zone.

Washington DC, USA	9:00 am - 11:00 pm
Mexico City, Mexico	8:00 am - 10:00 am
London, United Kingdom	2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Nairobi, Kenya	4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
New Delhi, India	6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Sydney, Australia	11:00 pm - 1:00 am

Hotel Suggestions:

These are a few hotel options that are centrally located in Washington, DC. They are all walking distance to the unConference venue and metro accessible.

Washington Marriott at Metro Center

775 12th Street NW Washington, DC 20005

Phone: +(1) 202-737-2200

Website: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/wasmc-washington-marriott-at-...

J.W. Marriott Washington DC

Address: 1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 2004

Phone: +(1) 202-393-2000

Website: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/wasjw-jw-marriott-washington-dc/

Hotel Rouge

Address: 1315 16th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036

Phone: +(1) 202-232-8000

Website: http://www.rougehotel.com/

The KM Impact Challenge is an initiative of USAID's Knowledge-Driven Microenterprise Development (KDMD) Project and conducted in collaboration with KM4Dev.

Follow the unConference on facebook and twitter hashtag: #kmimpact

Questions about the unConference? Contact us at: kmicinfo@kdid.org