1. Technology Stewardship for communities Elmi Bester KM Practitioners Group – Johannesburg Chapter 26 May 2010

2. Welcome! Human spectrogram

3. Agenda Why (and how) did the CSIR became interested in technology stewardship? What are the practical value and implications of technology stewardship for knowledge management initiatives? Is this not something KM practitioners have been doing all along? What are the traits of value-adding technology stewardship? What’s next in terms of technology stewardship for the CSIR?

4. WootWoot! Woo Hoo! © CSIR 2009 www.csir.co.za Technology has fundamentally changed how we can be together. Tech + social Whether we are in the same place or scattered across the globe. We have the business imperatives. We have the technology. Yet why does it remain so hard?

5. crystalking.com/writingblog/ crystalking.com/writingblog/ www.wealthyleader.com/blog/ crystalking.com/writingblog/

6. © CSIR 2009 www.csir.co.za Technostress http://www.kf6nvr.net/blog/archives/images/computing_stress.jpg Just more islands Disillusionment

7. © CSIR 2009 www.csir.co.za

8. “Technology stewards are people with enough experience of the workings of acommunity to understand its technology needs, and enough experience with technologytotake leadership in addressing those needs. Stewardship typically includes selecting and configuring technology, as well as supportingits use in thepracticeof the community .” Digital Habitats (Wenger, Smith, White)

9. It is not about replicating what is working for me/ us/ others … This is working for the Ya-Ya sisterhood You should do this as well! The community http://tparty.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8345159f569e201156fa9aab2970c-400wi Not working? Then this should work This is not us! http://www.brandweek.com/bw/photos/stylus/74095-SocialNets.jpg http://thetearoom.typepad.com/.a/6a00e54fccb6d2883401156f5dcdcb970c-800wi

10. Technology stewards? http://www.gapingvoid.com/sms229.jpg

13. be in and use communities & networks (people)

14. express theiridentity

15. find and create content

16. usefully participateNancy White © 2010 http://onlinefacilitation.wikispaces.com/Stewarding+Technology+for+Online+Communities

18. Discussion What are the practical value and implications of technology stewardship for knowledge management initiatives? Is this not something KM practitioners have been doing all along? Is this part of the KM agenda?

19. © CSIR 2009 www.csir.co.za What are the traits of value-adding technology stewardship? (1) Support community experimentation & make ‘tool use’ visible From Digital Habits (Wenger, Smith, White 2009)

20. IMPRESS THEM… or confuse them… do they need to know all of this? http://www.lukegilman.com/high-on-the-hog/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/social-media-whiteboard.jpg

21. www.oriones.com/.../01/twitter-bots-cartoon.gif

22. What are the traits of value-adding technology stewardship? (2) © CSIR 2009 www.csir.co.za There is a method in the madness … with frameworks

23. … meetings … projects … open-ended conversation … access to expertise … content publishing Community activities oriented to … … relationships … individual participation … community cultivation … context Base material from: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for communities © 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith

25. Community Name: KM4Devglobal knowledge sharing network Once a year and only about 10% do/can participate. … meetings Email list is core of community activity … open-ended conversation … projects When funding allows. E.G. supporting ShareFair Community knowledge wiki, content management system to bring together resources. … access to expertise … content publishing activities oriented to … Informally via the email list by asking/answering questions. With only one meeting a year, large size and diversity, KM4Dev focuses on enabling individual participation. Relationships mostly via meetings and core group. … individual participation Strongly external – all resources public/shared. … relationships While everyone pays attention to the community, no centralized efforts… … community cultivation Base material from: Digital Habitats: Stewarding technology for communities © 2009 Wenger, White, and Smith … context

26. Right balance between evangelism and scepticism To establish the right practices first you must practice Listen ListenListen Reflective conversations It is about the second wavers Geeky friends, information specialist friends, communications friends Ambient awareness of community, community boundaries and technology use Mindful learning agenda What are the traits of value-adding technology stewardship? (3)

28. http://steve-dale.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/dilbert-laptop2.gif

29. What’s next in terms of technology stewardship for the CSIR? Focused initiatives Safe-fail Overcoming tool barriers? Embedding technology stewardship in relevant places Digital literacy?

30. don’t worry – there will be bumps in the road…TALK about them http://onlinefacilitation.wikispaces.com/Stewarding+Technology+for+Online+Communities

32. Waves are funny things. Think of ocean waves. They go up and down, they can be gentle or pound us into the sand. Just when we think we have their rhythm, the next wave changes and surprises us. The key is staying alert, knowing how to swim and to expect the unexpected. Nancy White, 2010