Knowledge Unplugged – The Deakin Portal Professor Brian Corbitt Deakin University

Introduction In the modern higher education setting academics and general staff and students are trying to grapple with the increasing global nature and accumulation of knowledge and the vast qualities of information and knowledge that are created and stored daily. Knowledge is at the heart of much of today’s global economy and at the micro level, at the heart of our higher educational institutions. Managing knowledge has become vital to success.

Introduction There is a need to manage knowledge in different ways and incorporate their knowledge into structure and processes, which assist those in the institution.

Introduction In 2003 Deakin University introduced the first phase of what is known as the Deakin Portal.

The Deakin Portal

Knowledge Unplugged - The Deakin Portal The introduction of portals into universities has been as a result of mixed motivation. –On the one hand some universities have introduced portals because it was accepted from about 1999 to 2002 that portals were the way to go. They were replacing intranets. –They were seen as a means of creating new structures which would enable large organisations such as Universities to in some way produce a clever solution to a problem that has existed since the mid 1990s.

Knowledge Unplugged - The Deakin Portal The problem was essentially too much information, too many services and therefore the desire to provide solutions of this for students and staff. However, invariably the solution was driven by the need to introduce a technology and it was subsequently driven by the technology.

Knowledge Unplugged - The Deakin Portal At Deakin we have taken a different approach in terms of introducing a portal and what the portal is about. It is essentially in our view, a means of unplugging the knowledge that exists within the University.

Knowledge Unplugged - The Deakin Portal Knowledge is important as is the management of knowledge in institutions such as universities because it makes a difference. It enables the organisation to ensure growth and inevitably create value for those that use it.

Knowledge Unplugged - The Deakin Portal There is a belief in the literature that getting knowledge management right brings substantial benefits to an organisation. But what are these benefits? –Are they something that you just expect because you have created a knowledge management system or introduced a portal? –Or is there an expectation that you can drive benefits from a system by putting in place a tool that will enable knowledge to be made available to more people?

Knowledge Unplugged - The Deakin Portal The Deakin Portal is a means of incorporating knowledge. It is a means of recognising innovative ideas. It is a means of trying to keep information up to date. It is a means of implementing continuous quality improvement. It is a means of being able to deal competitively with other like institutions. It is a means in some cases to, “reach world class” or “exceed world class”. All of these things are utilised in many University strategic plans as the reasons why they use them.

Knowledge Unplugged - The Deakin Portal Knowledge is pushed through the portal rather than enabling knowledge to be pulled through that structure and it is this direction that we are tyring to drive what is happening at Deakin. We want the users of the portal structure to demand what knowledge they want, what capabilities they have, or that they want,

Knowledge Unplugged - The Deakin Portal Pulling knowledge is very very difficult. Push is something that is deeply engrained in our society. It has been very much a part of the higher education system in Australia to push activities, push technology, push solutions onto students.

Knowledge Unplugged - The Deakin Portal We need to do some things to encourage a pull environment to unplug the knowledge which is in use in the University. We need to dismantle individual barriers. We need to have an acceptance in the University that knowledge is power.

Knowledge Unplugged - The Deakin Portal Successful knowledge management programs rely on sharing not hoarding. Knowledge sharing starts by taking the time to help others and this invariably means that we need to introduce a culture of cooperation, rather than a culture that knowledge is power.

Knowledge Unplugged - The Deakin Portal The second thing we need to do is align the individual motivation of each stakeholder in the University in which an administrator or general staff member or a student to align their individual motivation with corporate goals – –To come together to avoid hoarding. –To increase the gains that come from co-operation and to set high or world class targets to encourage acceptance of external knowledge and to foster the personal engagement and responsibility for peoples own ideas.

Knowledge Unplugged - The Deakin Portal This cannot be done by introduction of a portal. It has to sit beside the introduction to implementation of strategic planning and the introduction of operational planning and at Deakin we have done that as well.

Knowledge Unplugged - The Deakin Portal We need to put in place incentives to increase cooperation. These incentives can be can be financial, they can be personal, they can be driven by other forms of status. We need in a sense then to create a new scenario for knowledge.

Knowledge Unplugged - The Deakin Portal What we have to do is embed into the portal a culture: – that knowledge can be character building. –That knowledge can be unplugged by encouraging people to transfer knowledge, to self re-enforce the notion that knowledge transfer is good. –To accept that knowledge wears out and that content has to be changed and accept that spontaneity is a fundamental part of what occurs. –The serendipitous nature of knowledge management is a key component of the nature of a portal. –Knowledge cannot be generated on demand but developed spontaneously.