Designing an Effective Knowledge Management system

Before any dissemination of information takes place, there are few essentials that need to be present. Effective knowledge management system needs:

Knowledge Resource Management System: There are a wide range of knowledge sources available for a project ranging from the Concession Agreements to the minutes of meeting and organizational expertise. All these resources are different from each other and require a unique management system. Post categorization of similar kinds of resources, technology systems need to be designed on existing platforms indicating requirements for each stage of the project lifecycle. Also, wherever possible, resource sharing should be encouraged to minimize costs. Guidelines, Policies & Tools: Specific to each stage of a project, i.e. pre- award, award, construction, operations & handover, tools must be developed. For instance, in the Operations stage, a policy on recording, managing and reviewing KPIs information and checklist documents is an effective tool which helps in improving Authorities’ contract management practices. Often issues such as non- standardized data management are witnessed which lead to greater challenges. If Authority’s existing tools and policies are limited, focus must be laid on creation of new tools.

Effective Implementation Mechanism: Facilitating effective management and ensuring right usage of these tools and systems, is of utmost importance without which all these processes and tools serve the purpose in a limited manner. Appropriate training on management of these tools and encouragement/ penalties for non- adherence to them need to be instilled so that this tacit knowledge is spread across all sections of stakeholders in the project. This guarantees service continuity and obedience to set standards.

After all the important pre-requisites are in place, a training plan can be designed. For maximum output the training plan should be developed for all the stakeholders to ensure maximum reach. For developing an understanding of how information will be managed and distributed through the various systems, policies, tools and implementation mechanisms designed, the Authority needs to take into account the following aspects through the knowledge management cycle: I. Generation and receipt of information

 Who creates the information?  What information will be collected?

 What types of documents and information are there, and what are their attributes and relationship with other information?

 Who owns and controls the information?

 What specific provisions must be included into the Concession Agreements to ensure that the knowledge and information dissemination requirements are legally enforceable between the parties?

 How will information that may be difficult to collect—such as emails, minutes of conversations or meetings—be captured?

 How will knowledge and information be stored and maintained (both electronically and physically)?

 What metadata will be attached to the information to assist with its retrieval?  What are the security requirements for the information?

 How should the information be classified when it is stored?

 Will different types of documents and information have specific storage requirements? For example, copies of disaster recovery plans, and copies of difficult to replace documents (such as land deeds, technical plan and certificates of insurance) should be stored on-site and in other locations off-site.

III. Demonstration, distribution and sharing of information

 What are the purposes for which this information is likely to be used by the contract management team or by others during the various phases of the project (procurement, construction, service delivery, and contract expiry or termination stages)?

 Are there common tasks (such as document, communication and version control) for all phases of the project?

 How will the information be accessed and by whom?

 Are there types of information maintained by the Private Party (for example, operating and maintenance manuals, design, engineering and survey plans) that the Authority will need to access? If so, in what stages during the project? In what form?  How will the information be transmitted between team members, stakeholders and

contractors, and in what form?

 What internal records, document and information management policies, procedures and guidelines should be adhered to?

 What information or documents will the Authority need to share regularly with stakeholders (for example, contact lists and organizational charts)? In what format? How will the information or documents be transmitted?

 Are stakeholders clear on their information provision responsibilities?

 What information does the Authority need to satisfy stakeholders’ performance reporting requirements?

 In what electronic and/or hard-copy format is this information required? How will the information be transmitted?

 What agreed information formats should be established between parties to reduce double handling of information and resource duplication?

IV. Review, maintenance and disposal of information

 How will the quality of the information be monitored over the life of the project (for accuracy, consistency and currency) and during the various stages of the project and transitions between stages?

 Who will be responsible for the various processes of information management? How will they know the scope of their responsibilities?

 How can the relationship between electronic and physical records be maintained effectively?

 What knowledge, information, tools and processes need to be delivered to the Authority on termination, step-in or expiry of the project?

 What access restrictions (internally and between the parties) are appropriate?  How can the Authority best comply with its governance, compliance and legislative

responsibilities (for example, obligations under Freedom of Information legislation)?