Results from the ILO Constituents Survey on Knowledge Management in Asia and the Pacific

Between November 5 and December 5 2007, 43 respondents from governments, workers’ and employers’ organization completed the survey on knowledge management and knowledge networking in the region. While modest, the sample size was substantial enough to inform decisions affecting knowledge sharing in the region and guiding design and focus of the ILO knowledge network on decent work.

The main findings of the survey are summarized below. For more information please download the full summary report - (pdf, 369Kb) or contact Ulrich@ilo.org

Main Survey Findings

There is a wide field of topics respondents to the ILO knowledge management survey are interested in. The distribution of interest is relatively even, there are no clear “winner” or “loser” topics. However, topics one could consider “traditional” or “core” ILO topics such as International Labour Standards, occupational safety and health, employment policy and social dialogue scored comparably high.

Several respondents indicated they would be willing to play a leading role in knowledge networks on topics such as employment policy and social dialogue. The ILO will follow-up with respondents that indicated interests in taking a leadership role and identify roles and ways to involve them.

Respondents are very interested in learning more about what has been done in other countries, from policy documents and legislation, through to reports on technical cooperation. They value the experiences of others and are seeking opportunities to be exposed to and learn from external experts and peers. These finding confirm the statements constituents made during the Beijing Employment forum calling for knowledge sharing amongst constituents in the region to enhance learning from each other. This suggests the ILO should increasingly play a role as a facilitator or knowledge broker connecting the right people with each other and directing them to the information they need.

Respondents made quite clear their desire for the use of the web to support exchange of ideas and information with websites coming out on top as the preferred vehicle of communication, followed by e-mailed summaries and newsletters. Taken together, this makes a strong contribution to the case for technology support in the knowledge sharing and knowledge networks.