Questions that have been put live to the panel at the Bruges’ conference

Athina (GR)

A major division of our Public Employment Services Organization is dedicated to the vocational training.

Which are the main practical actions, that the management must take, to establish knowledge sharing attitude, among the personnel.

Could you also propose some motivation schemes, in order to promote knowledge sharing?

Braga (P)

This asset of apparently never ending resources, these practices that have been described to us, this network that is now being presented, shows us a huge field of opportunities; namely for the formal and informal apprenticeship. Which contributions can we still also expect for the social recognition of this knowledge in order that people can have an effective feedback of their professional and social investments?

Brugge (B)

The role of the instructor is changing from group trainer (the traditional ‘sage on a stage’, if you like) to that of coach (a kind of ‘guide on the side’). On top of this changing role, which brings with it new demands on the trainers’ competence and skills, the trainer will have to participate in the process of KM and knowledge sharing. What will be the effects of these changes on the workload of the instructor, in terms of availability of the instructor for the trainee, the interest of the customers vs. the need for training of the trainer himself, knowledge sharing activities, paperwork, etc? Is it time, in view of all this, for a new organisational model for the trainers? (Is one free, for instance, to gather knowledge during office hours?) And what should or could this organisational model look like?

Dublin (Irl)

How can Knowledge Management be used within an organization to retain the expertise / knowledge in an organization with an older age profile, to prevent that it is not lost when people retire?

Ettelbruck (L)

Comment peut-on évaluer un système de Knowledge Management, et comment établir des indicateurs de mesure (notion de transférabilité, d'échange et son transfert de l'individuel au collectif)? Est-ce qu'il y a déjà eu une 1ère évaluation et quelles sont les résultats/conclusions pour les projets"Training Village", "Learning Valley" et Exemplo? Quelle est aujourd'hui la valeur du stock des savoirs dans notre société pour laquelle la seule constante est le changement, et est-ce que ces stocks ne sont pas contre-productifs dans la mesure où on devra trouver de nouvelles issues/solutions, sans se référer aux savoirs existants?

Gosselies (B)

L’objectif ultime de l’AEFP et d’Exemplo est-il d’arriver à des standards de bonne pratique et donc à une uniformisation européenne ?

Göteborg (S)

Which are the basic requirements for Knowledge Management to succeed in a company ?

Harderwijk (NL)

KM is often called a hype because there are no learning organisations, but only individuals that learn in organisations.

Also: that what we call knowledge is often implicit or tacit knowledge/information experience.

Is it possible to catch or get a hold on this implicit(tacit) knowledge, information, experiences in VIRTUAL communities? Without any physical contact or physical sharing of contents and competences and common sharing of problem solving questions?

Can therefore KM in all aspects take place in a virtual community?

Or: what are the limits on virtuality of Knowledge management?

We now have in EVTA a virtual tool with EXEMPLO for the exchange of good/best practices.

But: Is not one of the most important conditions for KM that in each of the member organisations of EVTA there already exists an internal policy on KM before participating in the Virtual community of Exemplo?

Karlsruhe (D)

We think KS could be an important element to support the process of European unification. It is important to develop a system of mutual recognition of vocational qualifications in Europe. How can KS and KM support the process of integration of the various national training systems leading to a European certification system and how can the Exemplo project support this system?

Kuopio (Fin)

We find the input on chaos promoting creativity very inspiring. As educational organisations we have a lot of responsibilities to take into consideration, financial to name just one. Considering this, how can we allow ourselves to be in a state of chaos in order to create creativity? And how does this state of chaos correlate with the idea of creating a community, which promotes trust?

Padova (I)

What is the relation that can exist between development of innovation in training, the transfer of good practices and knowledge sharing?

Strovolos (Cy)

If we consider that attending programmes of training by the personnel, is a basic means for knowledge sharing, how can the design of a training programme enhance knowledge sharing among employees who attend the training programme, but also among the employees who would like to attend but due to various reasons could not attend the training programme? In other words how the structure or method of delivery of a training programme could enhance knowledge sharing? To what extent does knowledge sharing take into account the /Informal Organisation/ , that is the communication links among employees due to social, family or other networking rather than the /formal/ organization structure, and are there any ways of structuring the knowledge sharing in the informal organisation?