Implementing knowledge strategies: lessons from international development agencies

The Research and Policy in Development (RAPID) programme at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) has been working since 1999 to promote development policy-making processes that are evidence-based and focused on the needs of the poor. One of the key dimensions of the RAPID programme at ODI is ‘knowledge and learning systems in development agencies’.
This study synthesises existing research on knowledge and learning in the development sector, and draws out eight key questions for examining related strategies and systems in development agencies. Together, these questions make up a comprehensive Knowledge Strategies Framework, which bears close resemblance to the framework used by the ODI to assess complex processes of change within the development and humanitarian sector. The dimensions of this new Knowledge Strategies Framework are mapped out as Organisational knowledge, Organisational links, Organisational contexts, and External factors.
The study then presents the analysis of data collected on current knowledge and learning practices in 13 selected case study organisations1. This data was gathered via desk based reviews, interviews, consultations with agency staff and focus groups. The Knowledge Strategies Framework is used to analyse and synthesise these findings, to formulate the recommendations of the study, and to suggest key next steps.