The African Development Bank Sample Assignment

Analysis

As far as the current arrangements for data collection and analysis are concerned, it can be seen that they are mainly reliant on secondary resources of data which are readily available from numerous resources. Depending on the relevant niche of the data in context, it is obtained from the sources which publish that particular data. For example, as far as information about corporations are concerned, it can be seen that information regarding their overall financial standing is taken from their published accounts, on an annual basis.

Secondly, the overall aim and purpose to make knowledge concerning public interest available to anyone who needs it is to increase the overall learning trajectory of the people who want to access this particular information. Hence, making 20 or 30 year old archives available for analysis is also a forte entertained by African Development Bank, in their aspiration to be a knowledge broker.

Moreover, external reports from organizations like the United Nations, African Economic Outlook etc. are also put to use in order to ensure that they are able to get a total coverage of not just local, but also international changes so that people can get an idea about what is going on in their external environment, both within, and outside Africa.

The overall relevant procedures that are used in this regard are based on the premise of ensuring that the overall management for all the information is filtered, and catered to remove clutter. The main idea is to ensure that the overall process of knowledge is optimized in order to make the overall process easier, and more efficient for the users.

Using external sources, and events like African Economic Conference, they try to make sure that they have proper presence and they are able to reach out to sources which can increase the overall provision of information and knowledge for their forum, which in turn can increase the overall benefit to the overall society, and hence Africa in the longer run.

The overall rationale behind getting an amalgamated platform for ‘aggregated knowledge’ is to ensure that information, archives, data, and all relevant development related information is readily available to stakeholders who are interested in the relevant scheme. This is something that will ensure that they are able to work collectively for the benefit of Africa, and create a positive impact using this information. The broader end of the vision reflects towards this change, and this is something that has a considerable impact on the overall standing of people within Africa. Furthermore, this amalgamated knowledge is also indirectly aimed towards governments, and NGOs in lieu of bringing Africa, and the issues faced in limelight, so that there can be some attention diverted towards the relatively neglected parts of the world, and hence work towards those goals, in a more proficient manner.

Evaluation

The overall subjectivity of just the idea of knowledge makes it quite difficult to have a refined niche of operations. Despite the fact that the overall idea of taking position as a knowledge broker cannot be questioned in terms of intent, or the desired final outcome, yet it can be seen that it lacks a proactive and refined approach.

As mentioned in the case itself, it can be seen that the overall need to have a proper management system is something which is quite rudimentary in terms of getting better and more proficient outcomes for organizations. Therefore, the discriminating factor in the fast paced environment would not just be the overall access the knowledge, because given the rapid globalization, this access makes everyone at par. The only difference is the overall ability to manage such information, and to utilize it for their own advantage.

As far as African Development Bank is concerned, their overall aim and ambition to bring about a cosmic revolution in the vast availability of knowledge can be seen as positive step towards creating that differential between people. However, inability of them to categorically divide their variables makes the overall information quite confusing.

The existing management systems should further be refined in order to make that categorization possible, to further streamline the process. The tools that should ideally be used should be coherent with the need to target the right people, and to get them the correct information that they require in a timely fashion.

The overall usefulness of these tools is meant to create a smoother and streamlined system in order to create efficacy of obtaining the knowledge from whatever source. Given the fact that the role is supposed to be a broker in this case, it becomes absolutely pivotal that the role of intermediary is effective, and eventually this particular intermediary becomes more credible and convenient as compared to primary sources from which this knowledge was originally obtained.

Development

In order to develop a proper structure for having knowledge management system, it becomes necessary to have strategy in place which can ensure that the overall information is managed in an efficient manner. The strategy formulation should essentially revolve around the traffic that has been generated in the past. This will help them to refine the overall approach towards how to align their data, and how to acquire more information so that they are able to facilitate these people to the maximum.

For that, there are solutions available which can be designed using artificial intelligence, which can track the overall need of information, based on the target audience. It is better for organizations like African Development Bank to start with a couple of verticals, and then expand further into that respective vertical based on the overall traffic that is generated in this regard.

For example, if rural poverty seems to be a major issue over the past decade, and if there have been NGOs and organizations working towards that, seeking information, then they know which areas to focus and prioritize on. This will speed up their process, to fulfill their ultimate aim. It will help them move an inch closer to their ultimate aim.

In the same manner, it can also be seen that it is going to help them to project their future concentrations. Knowledge Management in itself is quite subjective, so it has to be tailored according to what people need most. The overall relevance of data is something that should be highly prioritized, because eradication of clutter is the first step towards efficacy of the entire idea.

In the same manner, it also becomes highly important to ensure that these people are able to get the most out of the system, by using artificial intelligence, by giving suggestions, and giving possible important uses of data that they can use. This will enhance the user experience, and the overall outcomes can be achieved in a much quicker time.

The overall long term goal of such projects is to enable better decision making on parts of organizations, and hence better standards of living for people residing in Africa. With this aim in mind, it is rudimentary to have all the relevant information, to eventually meet the end goal. This knowledge brokerage center can also be subsequently be used as a proper channel to bring around change, by creating efficient platforms of change, which can ensure that they are able to maximize their impact, by acting as an agent between Africans and different NGOs.

Basically the idea of having a proper knowledge management system is to ensure that they are able to get the most out of the knowledge that is available first hand, to be presented in a much accessible form to the end user. With this facilitation, they aim to change the overall livelihoods of people in the geography, and hence, this can change the overall state of affairs for the people for the better.

Conclusion

Hence, it can be seen that the overall need to have an efficient knowledge management system is crucial, for any organization that wants to stay competitive in the increasingly fast paced environment. This is because of the fact that there are abundant opportunities that can be availed if this system is properly managed, and numerous advantages can subsequently be sought.

From an organizational point of view, it is inherent that it is going to greatly help in speeding the decision making process exponentially, because of the fact that it will help them to get plethora of information, filtered as per their requisites, to be used in a timely fashion. It will expose them only to the information that is relevant to them, and can benefit them in any manner possible.

On the other hand, as far as governmental institutions are concerned they too can use this brokerage as a one-stop solution since they know that they can get the required information from different areas from the same place, which is going to make it easier for them to eradicate all clutter, and be able to make much informed decision in a lesser amount of time.

Therefore, the overall impact of having a proper knowledge management system based on categorization using facilities of artificial intelligence is going to be able to render greater efficient system. This is because this brokerage will have a connection with both the demand and the supply sides, and hence it will be easier to arrange for information according to the needs to the people, and what they really want. It will also help organizations like African Development Bank to be able to realize their future projections, and what they want to do in lieu of increasing the overall impact that they wish to achieve in the future.

Hence, these features can only be achieved if they have clarity about the target audience, and the overall ultimate outcome that is rendered. In this case, and in case of most organizations who want to act as intermediaries for dissemination of knowledge, it can be seen that it becomes extremely crucial to know which areas to work on, and then further expand on those verticals to get the greatest impact. This is perhaps the first step that should ideally be taken for any knowledge management broker on a micro level, so that these benefits can be extrapolated on a macro level.

References

Jones, Basil. (2019). LINKING RESEARCH TO POLICY: THE AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK AS KNOWLEDGE BROKER.