Air Force Knowledge Now (AFKN) is a web-based collaborative environment developed by Triune Group for the U.S. Air Force (USAF). From 1999 to 2012, AFKN grew to more than 19,000 Communities of Practice (CoPs) and 400,000 members. In 2004, Air Force CIO John M. Gilligan designated AFKN the Air Force Center of Excellence for Knowledge Management, making it the USAF’s only certified and accredited enterprise-wide knowledge management program. By focusing on social, behavioral and cultural aspects of knowledge sharing, AFKN evolved beyond traditional knowledge management systems, which focused on capturing information through technology.
has been the prime contractor for the AFKN program since 2004. The USAF extended the AFKN contract through 2015
Strong support structure – a human touch is critical
Reach – access must be anytime anywhere
Validation – users need to trust the system
Rewards – recognition sweetens the deal
Word-of-mouth cultural shift – users will advertise for you
Focus areasEdit
The program has two focus areas:
Collaboration Suite: Provides management and maintenance of the Air Force Knowledge Now application; a web-based platform providing knowledge sharing and collaboration through virtual workspaces (called Communities of Practice) offering Web 2.0 functionality. The AFKN approach has always been technology agnostic and the program has embraced new technologies as they have become available.
Knowledge Management Services: Provides consulting services throughout the Air Force to help organizations design and implement knowledge centric solutions, typically on the Air Force Knowledge Now application. These solutions include a KM Maturity Model, Knowledge Retention and Transfer (KR&T) process, and Knowledge Management Workshops (Taxonomy Development, Implementation, Governance, etc.).
Collaboration suiteEdit
Adopting a Communities of Practice (CoPs) architecture, AFKN promotes commitment to working together by building a collective knowledge base around a common vital interest. By going beyond explicit knowledge, which is usually limited to some type of stored information, it reflects the social, behavioral and cultural aspects of knowledge sharing. By focusing on tacit knowledge ("know-how"), true organizational learning occurs, thus creating a more agile and adaptive Air Force.
This web-based collaborative environment allows members of a CoP to use shared information and communications tools to conduct business, manage projects, keep abreast of important group issues, and solve group problems. The capabilities of the AFKN system include:
Capability
Description
Document Management System (DMS)
File sharing relevant to work and special interests. The DMS includes version control, check in/out, multi-level security, auditing, review periods, etc., and supports all file formats (documents, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, audio, movie files, etc.)
Discussion Forums and Blogs
Threaded discussions. Discussion forums enable users to have meaningful group interaction regarding a specific topic, course of study, idea, project, etc. They also can be used for private messaging, blogging, polling, journal entries, and more. Attachments reside within KN’s DMS to leverage all of its features and functionality.
Learning Management System (LMS)
Online eLearning. Each workspace has the capability to host and manage its own SCORM version 1.2 training courses. Users can register and take courses, receive/print certificates, and review transcripts. Workspace administrators can create course frameworks (categories of courses), manage students, run reports, and include feedback/questionnaires.
Wiki
Collaborative, editable web pages. Wikis allow users to create, delete, modify, and lock web pages through an integrated text editor. Each community has its own Wiki with a dedicated search feature, user-defined tagging, and customizable navigation. Wikis can serve as directories, glossaries, and even intranets. The Wiki is also employed to provide robust on-line help.
Action Item Tracking
Assign, update, and track tasks and projects. Users can create and group tasks within projects and provide status updates and history for online review and access. Includes powerful security, parallel tasking, and project management features. Attachments reside within KN’s DMS to leverage all of its features and functionality.
Questionnaires
Conduct polls and surveys. Workspace administrators have the ability to use text areas, checkboxes, drop-down lists, and radio buttons to design questionnaires and feedback mechanisms that collect responses from workspace users. Responses can be collected anonymously, if desired, and can also be exported to a spreadsheet for easy analysis and review.
Search and Discovery
AFKN search currently indexes all Knowledge Now content (including people and expertise) and several external sources as well.
Alert notifications
Users can easily subscribe to be notified as content changes within a workspace, a discussion forum, or even down to an individual document. The alert system aggregates changes in all your work spaces into one clickable email.
Other features
Each workspace can also include a Community Calendar, a Mailing List tool, blogs, and many other tools.
Knowledge-management servicesEdit
Capabilities that support AFKN are:
Comprehensive workshops
Online virtual collaboration and sharing
Robust Document Management
Expertise Locators
Integrated E-learning
Search/Discovery (powered by Vivisimo Velocity, starting in 2009)
Adkins, Randy. AFCEA Signal Connections. 15 May 2008
Brook, Doug. 2006. 19 Nov. 2007
Turnipseed, Cathy. "Transformation-U.S. Department of Defense." Air Force Center Improves Access to Knowledge. 2005. 19 Nov. 2007.
Morrow, Jim. "Air Force Link". Tons of Knowledge Resides in Air Force Web Site. 2003. 19 Nov. 2007
Lesser, Eric L. (2000). Knowledge and Communities. Massachusetts: Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN0-7506-7293-5.
English & Baker. (2006) Winning the Knowledge Transfer Race. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN0-07-145794-1.
Davenport, Rex. “Does Knowledge Management Still Matter?” Training and Development Feb. 2005: 18–25.
Myers, Paul S. (1996). Knowledge Management and Organizational Design. Massachusetts: Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN0-7506-9749-0
Air Force Knowledge Now (AFKN) Team (2007). Knowledge Centric Operations. Dayton: Triune Group. 1–23
Davenport & Prusak. (2000). Working Knowledge. Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press; 2Rev Ed edition ISBN1-57851-301-4
Further readingEdit
Collison, C. & Parcell, G. (2004). Learning to Fly: Practical Knowledge Management from Leading and Learning Organizations. Chichester, West Sussex: Capstone Publishing. ISBN1-84112-509-1
Wenger, Etienne. (2002). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge, UK; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-66363-6
Wenger, Etienne. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. ISBN1-57851-330-8
October 23, 2023
force, knowledge, afkn, based, collaborative, environment, developed, triune, group, force, usaf, from, 1999, 2012, afkn, grew, more, than, communities, practice, cops, members, 2004, force, john, gilligan, designated, afkn, force, center, excellence, knowledg. Air Force Knowledge Now AFKN is a web based collaborative environment developed by Triune Group for the U S Air Force USAF From 1999 to 2012 AFKN grew to more than 19 000 Communities of Practice CoPs and 400 000 members In 2004 Air Force CIO John M Gilligan designated AFKN the Air Force Center of Excellence for Knowledge Management making it the USAF s only certified and accredited enterprise wide knowledge management program By focusing on social behavioral and cultural aspects of knowledge sharing AFKN evolved beyond traditional knowledge management systems which focused on capturing information through technology Triune Group has been the prime contractor for the AFKN program since 2004 The USAF extended the AFKN contract through 2015 Contents 1 Guiding principles 2 Focus areas 3 Collaboration suite 4 Knowledge management services 5 See also 6 References 7 Further readingGuiding principles EditDecentralized approach let your users lead Ease of use make it easy and users will come Strong support structure a human touch is critical Reach access must be anytime anywhere Validation users need to trust the system Rewards recognition sweetens the deal Word of mouth cultural shift users will advertise for youFocus areas EditThe program has two focus areas Collaboration Suite Provides management and maintenance of the Air Force Knowledge Now application a web based platform providing knowledge sharing and collaboration through virtual workspaces called Communities of Practice offering Web 2 0 functionality The AFKN approach has always been technology agnostic and the program has embraced new technologies as they have become available Knowledge Management Services Provides consulting services throughout the Air Force to help organizations design and implement knowledge centric solutions typically on the Air Force Knowledge Now application These solutions include a KM Maturity Model Knowledge Retention and Transfer KR amp T process and Knowledge Management Workshops Taxonomy Development Implementation Governance etc Collaboration suite EditAdopting a Communities of Practice CoPs architecture AFKN promotes commitment to working together by building a collective knowledge base around a common vital interest By going beyond explicit knowledge which is usually limited to some type of stored information it reflects the social behavioral and cultural aspects of knowledge sharing By focusing on tacit knowledge know how true organizational learning occurs thus creating a more agile and adaptive Air Force This web based collaborative environment allows members of a CoP to use shared information and communications tools to conduct business manage projects keep abreast of important group issues and solve group problems The capabilities of the AFKN system include Capability DescriptionDocument Management System DMS File sharing relevant to work and special interests The DMS includes version control check in out multi level security auditing review periods etc and supports all file formats documents spreadsheets presentations graphics audio movie files etc Discussion Forums and Blogs Threaded discussions Discussion forums enable users to have meaningful group interaction regarding a specific topic course of study idea project etc They also can be used for private messaging blogging polling journal entries and more Attachments reside within KN s DMS to leverage all of its features and functionality Learning Management System LMS Online eLearning Each workspace has the capability to host and manage its own SCORM version 1 2 training courses Users can register and take courses receive print certificates and review transcripts Workspace administrators can create course frameworks categories of courses manage students run reports and include feedback questionnaires Wiki Collaborative editable web pages Wikis allow users to create delete modify and lock web pages through an integrated text editor Each community has its own Wiki with a dedicated search feature user defined tagging and customizable navigation Wikis can serve as directories glossaries and even intranets The Wiki is also employed to provide robust on line help Action Item Tracking Assign update and track tasks and projects Users can create and group tasks within projects and provide status updates and history for online review and access Includes powerful security parallel tasking and project management features Attachments reside within KN s DMS to leverage all of its features and functionality Questionnaires Conduct polls and surveys Workspace administrators have the ability to use text areas checkboxes drop down lists and radio buttons to design questionnaires and feedback mechanisms that collect responses from workspace users Responses can be collected anonymously if desired and can also be exported to a spreadsheet for easy analysis and review Search and Discovery AFKN search currently indexes all Knowledge Now content including people and expertise and several external sources as well Alert notifications Users can easily subscribe to be notified as content changes within a workspace a discussion forum or even down to an individual document The alert system aggregates changes in all your work spaces into one clickable email Other features Each workspace can also include a Community Calendar a Mailing List tool blogs and many other tools Knowledge management services EditCapabilities that support AFKN are Comprehensive workshops Online virtual collaboration and sharing Robust Document Management Expertise Locators Integrated E learning Search Discovery powered by Vivisimo Velocity starting in 2009 Shared Network Folders Threaded Discussion Forums Validated practices librarySee also EditKnowledge management Communities of Practice CoPs Explicit knowledge Tacit knowledge Organizational learningReferences EditAdkins Randy Airmen Tap Into Knowledge Now AFCEA Signal Connections 15 May 2008 Brook Doug Triune Software s Air Force Knowledge Now Solution wins 2006 Knowledge Management Award 2006 19 Nov 2007 Turnipseed Cathy Transformation U S Department of Defense Air Force Center Improves Access to Knowledge 2005 19 Nov 2007 Morrow Jim Air Force Link Tons of Knowledge Resides in Air Force Web Site 2003 19 Nov 2007 Lesser Eric L 2000 Knowledge and Communities Massachusetts Butterworth Heinemann ISBN 0 7506 7293 5 English amp Baker 2006 Winning the Knowledge Transfer Race New York McGraw Hill ISBN 0 07 145794 1 Davenport Rex Does Knowledge Management Still Matter Training and Development Feb 2005 18 25 Myers Paul S 1996 Knowledge Management and Organizational Design Massachusetts Butterworth Heinemann ISBN 0 7506 9749 0 Air Force Knowledge Now AFKN Team 2007 Knowledge Centric Operations Dayton Triune Group 1 23 Davenport amp Prusak 2000 Working Knowledge Massachusetts Harvard Business School Press 2Rev Ed edition ISBN 1 57851 301 4Further reading EditCollison C amp Parcell G 2004 Learning to Fly Practical Knowledge Management from Leading and Learning Organizations Chichester West Sussex Capstone Publishing ISBN 1 84112 509 1 Wenger Etienne 2002 Communities of Practice Learning Meaning and Identity Cambridge UK New York NY Cambridge University Press ISBN 0 521 66363 6 Wenger Etienne 2002 Cultivating Communities of Practice Boston Harvard Business School Press ISBN 1 57851 330 8 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Air Force Knowledge Now amp oldid 1175661354, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
