Why knowledge management matters to the RAAF

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Why knowledge management matters to the RAAF
The retention of the right knowledge and the
ability for subsequent generations of warfighters
to build on that knowledge is the key to being an
effective Air Force.
AIRCDRE John Blackburn, DGPP-AF Air Power
Conference 2000
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Introducing Knowledge Management Into Complex
Organisations

• Factors Essential for Success

Who knows useful things, not many things, is wise
Aeschylus
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Overview

• CDF Fellowship
• Research tenure limited to 12 months
• Presentation concentrates on work related to
  final report not DIT

Ours is the age which is proud of machines that
think, and suspicious of men who try to H.
Mumford Jones
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Problem Statement

• Need for action driven by changes in environment
• DER/DRP
• Erosion of technological advantage
• Stated pursuit of knowledge edge
• Development of Capability and Group Management
  Concept

The reasonable man accommodates himself to the
ways of the world. The unreasonable man attempts
to get the world to accommodate itself to his
ways. Progress depends on unreasonable men
George Bernard Shaw
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Knowledge Edge
Our highest capability development priority
therefore is the knowledge edge, that is, the
effective exploitation of information
technologies to allow us to use our relatively
small force to maximum effectiveness
Australias Strategic Policy 1997
Decision Superiority
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Capability and Group Management Concept

• Multi axis approach
• Focus on outputs in terms of capability
• Consider resources across all capabilities
• Develop long term plans
• Dynamic networked teams

Knowledge resides in the user and not in the
collection of information. It is how the user
reacts to a collection of information that
matters Peter Drucker
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Information Sources
RAAF Knowledge Management Concept
JCSE
Intranet
Better, Faster Decisions
SDSS
Extranet
Log
CAMM
RAAF Portal
DRMS
PMKEYS
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Knowledge Management
caters to the critical issues of organisational
adaption, survival and competence in the face of
increasingly discontinuous environmental change
Essentially, it embodies organisational process
that seek synergistic combination of data and
information processing capacity of information
technologies and the creative and innovative
capacity of human beings Yogesh Malhotra
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RAAF KM Strategy

• Pilot Site
• AFHQ
• 100 users
• Tools
• Culture
• Structure

• ADFA
• CDF Fellowship
• Research
• AFHQ Guinea Pigs

• Phase 2
• RAAF
• ADHQ (?)
• ACSS

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Constraints

• Technical Architecture
• DRN SOE MS Exchange, NT4, IIS
• Bandwidth limitations
• Deployments.
• Dispersed data repositories
• Operational Architecture
• Balance RAAF vs Joint requirements
• Not Canberra or garrison centric!

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Who did we talk to

• C3ID
• DISG
• DAO
• META Group
• Delphi Group
• ASIO
• Vendors / Consultants

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Where is this heading

• AFHQ Pilot Site
• Decision Aug-Sep 00
• Move to other parts of Russell..
• ADSC Paper CDF Fellowship
• RAAF
• Funding?

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Lessons Learnt

• High level support critical
• structural and cultural change
• Resource requirements significant
• tools, infrastructure and management
• High rate of technological change
• tools rapidly evolving
• User requirements change
• No silver bullet/corporate solution

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Questions
Research should be fun rather than a grind and
one should believe in its relevance and value
Peter Keen