DSWD KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE CENTER

OPERATIONS MANUAL

I. Introduction

A. Rationale

The Department recognizes that knowledge is a key organizational

resource that should be managed effectively. The Knowledge Management
Framework has set the direction of knowledge management in the
Department. It includes developing and managing a system for collecting,
storing, and sharing available knowledge and facilitating creation of new
knowledge through the collaborative efforts of people. When implemented
effectively, this direction will enable the company to learn continuously,
adapt to new demands and social practices, and provide more effective
services.

To achieve this end, the Knowledge Exchange Center (KEC) was

established by the Department in 2011. It is the vehicle that will
operationalize the realization of the knowledge management direction.
Supported by technology, the KEC will be the hub for the dynamic sharing
and development of knowledge that will bring about collaboration, better
decisions, and higher productivity in the Department.

The KEC will establish a resilient organizational memory of important

knowledge that is not vulnerable to loss when employees leave or move to
other jobs. The knowledge that is in the heads of people can now be
documented. It will be easily accessible to anyone who needs it. Through
this facility, there will be creative opportunities for knowledge to be shared
with others by facilitating networks between individuals. As a result,
knowledge will be available when people need to make better decisions. It
is also used to help the Department achieve its objectives.

B. Objectives

This Operations Manual will provide guidelines in the management of the

Knowledge Exchange Center. It will provide information on how tacit
knowledge can be transformed into explicit knowledge and put into action
through collaboration, knowledge sharing, and dynamic interaction
between and among employees of the Department and its intermediaries,
partners, beneficiaries, and other stakeholders. More particularly, this
manual will:

a. Clarify the philosophical and legal basis for the creation of the
Knowledge Exchange Center;
b. Describe the features, objectives, elements, services, and target users of
the KEC;
c. Specify the implementing guidelines and procedures in the operations
of the Center; and
d. Identify the institutional arrangements in the operations of the Center.

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 The intended users of this manual include the Capacity Building Bureau, the
Central Office Bureaus/Offices/Units, the Field Offices and Attached Agencies.

C. Philosophical Basis

Organizations are bodies or communities of knowledge embedded into the

organizations beliefs, policies, practices, operations, and procedures. As such; the
management of knowledge becomes the central work of the Department. It is its
business and something it cannot do without.

In managing knowledge in the organization, it is important to take a dynamic life

cycle view of knowledge. This means that new knowledge is created, validated and
subsequently embedded into organization practice. The KEC is founded on this
philosophy.

D. Legal Bases

The KEC is recognized as a main vehicle for the attainment of the Departments
vision for 2030. In the Performance Governance System-Balanced Scorecard (PGS-
BS), the need for a hub for knowledge exchange was defined. It was identified as a
necessary foundation for the Department to eventually become the worlds
standard for the delivery of social protection services.

The DSWD Knowledge Management Framework per Administrative No. 17, series of
2011 also supports the establishment of the KEC as one of the enabling
technologies of KM which can greatly facilitate more effective decisions, project
quality and operational excellence for the Department.

E. Definition of Terms

1. Codification is the process of getting peoples knowledge into a form that can
be communicated independently of those people. The most common method is
writing things down and putting them into documents and databases. Other
methods include pictures, and sound and video recordings

2. Communities of Practice are groups of practitioners networking in particular

fields of endeavor to define a practice and knowledge domain

3. Explicit knowledge is knowledge that can be expressed easily in words or

numbers, and can be shared through discussion or by writing it down and
putting it into documents, manuals or databases. Examples might include a
telephone directory, an instruction manual, or a report of research findings

4. Information is data that has been organized within a context and translated
into a form that has structure and meaning

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5. Information management is the management of an organizations information
resources in order to improve the performance of the organization. Information
management underpins knowledge management, as people derive knowledge
from information

6. Knowledge is a fluid mixture of experience, values, contextual information,

and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating
new experiences and information

7. Knowledge management is a process of creating an environment where

peoples experience and wisdom on social protection and social welfare
program delivery are valued; and where internal processes are structured to
support social welfare policy makers, program managers and service providers
in creating, sharing and using knowledge

8. Knowledge integration - is what happens after new knowledge has been

validated. It boils down to the implementation of new knowledge within the
organization to whatever extent is required

9. Knowledge portal refers to a place where users will interact with the system
as a first point of entry. From here, user will do everything they want in order to
accomplish their task or mission

10.Knowledge production - is the creation of new ideas, new insights, and outright
innovation as a function of interaction between people and/or the acquisition of
knowledge from outside sources

11.Knowledge validation is the process by which new knowledge claims are

subjected to peer review and a test of value in practice

12.Learning is the process of gaining knowledge

13.Learning Organization is an organization that acquires knowledge and

innovates fast enough to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing environment;
a learning organization a) creates a culture that encourages and supports
continuous employee learning, critical thinking, and risk taking with new ideas,
b) views mistakes as opportunities for learning and values employee
contribution c) learns from experience and experimentation, and d)
disseminates the new knowledge throughout the organization for incorporation
into day-to-day activities

14.Organizational knowledge - is generally expressed by what an organization

believes, does, or by how it behaves. That is, organizational knowledge is
embedded in organizational practice

15.Tacit knowledge (or implicit knowledge) is the knowledge or know-how that

people carry in their heads. Compared with explicit knowledge, tacit knowledge
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 is more difficult to articulate or write down and so it tends to be shared between
people through discussion, stories and personal interactions. It includes skills,
experiences, insight, intuition and judgment.

II. The DSWD Knowledge Exchange Center

A. Description

The KEC is both a process and a facility. It was founded to facilitate dynamic
development and sharing of knowledge which is aimed to bring about strong
collaboration, better decisions, and higher productivity. The KEC strives to be an
accessible, user-friendly and repository of important knowledge in social welfare
and social protection. It is also a hub for the database network of the Department's
and its partners' knowledge materials. It is located at the fourth floor of the DSWD
Central Office.

B. Objectives

Specifically, the Knowledge Exchange Center will serve as a venue:

a. To institutionalize a system for collecting, storing and sharing knowledge;
b. To facilitate creation of new knowledge through collaborative efforts; and
c. For dynamic sharing and development of knowledge that brings about
collaboration, better decisions and higher productivity in the Department.

C. Components

The KEC has three (3) components illustrated in the Figure 1 below:

KEC

Library Conference Room Knowledge Portal

Physical Library Face-to-face discussion

E-Library (OPAC) Web meetings

Figure 1: KEC Components

1. The DSWD Library is considered a special library which houses a modest

collection of books and journals particularly on social welfare and social
protection. It includes social issues on children and youth, women, family,
disabled persons and the elderly. If also has general reference, graduate theses
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 produced by DSWD staff, researches and technical reports, and pamphlets. The
Library also has a collection of audio-visual CDs and DVDs on topics related to
social welfare and social protection that are available for viewing within the KEC
only.

The Physical Library has two (2) sections:

a. Corporate Knowledge Section - this section houses the collection of DSWD

knowledge materials. It includes all publications such as pamphlets, books,
journals, concept papers, lessons learned and success stories papers, policy
documents, program briefers, technical reports and others issued by the
Department. All corporate knowledge is for ROOM USE only. This section is
only accessible to the KEC staff and all requests must be served through
them. This collection can also be accessed thru the Knowledge Portal.

b. Library Knowledge Section - this section is divided into three (3) subsections:
Foreign collection - books and non-book materials written and published by
foreigners about various topics related, but not limited to, social welfare
and social protection.
Filipiniana collection - books and non-book materials about the Philippines,
its people, history, art and culture. The materials may be produced inside
or outside the Philippines by Filipino or non-Filipino authors. The product
could be literature written in any of the languages and dialects in the
Philippines or a foreign language.
General references - include reference resources such as dictionaries,
encyclopaedias, atlases, maps, journals, and CDs/DVDs, as well as theses
and technical reports written and produced by sources outside DSWD.

The DSWD E-Library also known as the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) and
can be accessed online thru its web address http://elib.dswd.gov.ph. In the
OPAC, all the list of all library collections to include its catalogue number,
author, title of documents can be viewed. Further, internal and external links to
various collections and network of libraries are installed.

2. The Conference Room has a multi-media equipment and home TV theatre. It

can accommodate 12 to 20 persons for face-to-face discussions. Installed
teleconferencing equipment is used in the conduct of web meetings with other
DSWD staff and partners.

Reservation will be coursed thru the General Services Division of Administrative

Service. The staff from GSD will update the KEC staff everyday of reservations
received and approved by their office.

3. The KM Portal is a content management system used to capture, manage,

store, preserve, and deliver content and documents related to organizational
processes. It can be accessed thru its web address http://kec.dswd.gov.ph. Each
user has different level of access to these applications which is stipulated in the
Implementing Guidelines and Procedures portion of this manual.

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 A users guidelines was developed to bring order in the use of the KEC nooks
and maximize its use (please see Annex A).

D. Elements

Following a life cycle view of knowledge, the KEC facilitates the process of
Knowledge Production, Knowledge Validation, and Knowledge Integration.
Knowledge Production creates new ideas and insights as a result of interaction
between people and the acquisition of knowledge from different sources.
Knowledge Validation reviews knowledge that has been created and determines
whether there is value in making it part of the Departments practice. Knowledge
Integration implements the new knowledge in the organization and ensures that it
becomes embedded in the Departments operations.

The diagram that shows the complete KEC Business Process is shown in Figure 1 on
the next page.

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 Figure 2: KEC Business Process
Diagram

The diagram identifies the three entities that have important roles to play in the
business process.

DSWD Employees are both the users and producers of knowledge. The
knowledge they produce may come from their own efforts or studies, or it may be
sourced from partners, intermediaries and other external stakeholders with whom
they relate or come into contact with in the course of their work. The employees
may initiate submission of a knowledge material to their units Knowledge Team for
possible inclusion in the KEC database.
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Knowledge Management Teams which are composed of at least three (3) staff
headed by a KM Focal Person. The group represents their respective DSWD offices
and units in ensuring that the important knowledge created or sourced by the
employees and units are considered for integration into the Departments
operations. The KM Teams will also perform the following functions:

a. Provide awareness and support in institutionalizing KM in the Department;

b. Plan for knowledge sharing within the office and motivate staff and partners to
take part in knowledge sharing from tacit to explicit knowledge;
c. Develop and/or recommend Knowledge Products (KPs) for submission/uploading
to the KM Portal:
Inventory of KPs for digitization
Gather/Collect KPs by the units of the OBS/FO
Conduct first level screening of possible KPs of completed projects,
specialized seminar/training materials, etc. using the prescribed checklist;
and
d. Advocate accountability and security of the knowledge management portal.

The KM Focal Person preferably should be from the Division Chief level and/or who
has been consistently attended the series of capability building activities
conducted on knowledge management. The following are the KM focal persons
functions:

a. Spearhead meetings and activities of their respective offices KM team;

b. Attend the meetings and contribute to knowledge sharing within the KM Core
Team;
c. Conduct initial review of knowledge products including documentation of good
practices with the offices KM team; and
d. Prepare the semestral knowledge management accomplishment reports
following the prescribed format which will form part of the IDCB report.

The KM Focal Person Alternate should take on the functions of the KM Focal Person
in his/her absence. The Alternate should be a technical staff occupying a III or IV
position. Both Focal Person and Alternate should occupy a regular position in the
Department.

KEC Management will ensure that the process of knowledge production,

validation, and integration is kept dynamic and relevant. It will perform the
following functions:

a. Approve or disapprove the inclusion of a knowledge material endorsed by a

Knowledge Management Team using the Guidelines in the Approval of Endorsed
Knowledge Materials contained in the KEC Operations Manual;
b. Disseminate the availability of new knowledge and sharing of such knowledge
through the SWD Forum;
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 c. Monitor and evaluate the use of knowledge to ensure that the whole KM process
is enhanced.

The KEC Management staff (see Figure 3) will be composed of the KEC Manager,
Librarian and KM Portal Administrator. The KEC Manager will oversee and provide
directions and supervise the Librarian and KM Portal Administrator. The Librarian
will facilitate library service, update library materials and manage the library
website. He/she will also be responsible for the management of the KEC
Conference Room. The KM Portal Administrator will manage and maintain the KM
Portal.

KEC Manager

Librarian KM Portal Administrator

Figure 3: KEC Management Structure

In addition, KEC Management shall form and call to order an ad hoc KM core team
to discuss policy and system-wide issues that may arise in the KEC business
process implementation. The group that will be chaired by the KEC Manager will be
composed of one representative from each of the five clusters, namely Policy and
Programs Group (PPG), General Administration Support Services Group (GASSG),
Operations and Programs Group (OPG), Institutional Development Group (IDG) and
Office of the Secretary (OSEC).

E. Services

The KEC will provide the following services to users and producers of knowledge:

a. Online access to DSWD databases which consist of the Departments

knowledge products, corporate knowledge and library knowledge ;
b. Use of catalogue that shows the Social Welfare and Social Protection collection
of the DSWD-Central Office Library, 16 Field Offices and link to selected public
information centers;
c. Use of books, papers, journals and other publications in Social Welfare and
Social Protection through the library;
d. Use of the conference room for face-to-face discussion and web meetings; and
e. Use of assistive device to access online databases for the visually impaired.

F. Target Audience

The DSWD Employees comprise the primary audience of the KEC. They both
produce and use knowledge that helps them do their jobs effectively. In the
context, however, of the Department as the leader in Social Protection and as an
organization that must benefit from various knowledge and ideas from different
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 sources, the scope of the knowledge exchange through the KEC would include all
those who have a stake in Social Welfare and Social Protection Thus, the other
parts of the target audience would include the beneficiaries, intermediaries,
partners, and other stakeholders including the general public.

G. Available Knowledge Materials (Content)

The knowledge materials (content) that will be made available at the KEC are of
three types, namely:

1. Knowledge Products
2. Corporate Knowledge
3. Library Knowledge

Knowledge Products are knowledge derived from expertise, research, and

lessons learned in DSWD that respond to different demands of users and can cover
a wide range of purposes. It represents the core knowledge of the Department that
has been formed in the course of the employees experience in providing service to
their constituents. It is the benchmark product of the KEC. It has five categories, as
follows (Reference: UNDP Knowledge Management Toolkit for the Crisis Prevention
and Recovery Practice Area):

1. Concept Papers
2. Lessons Learned or Good Practice Papers
3. Comparative Experiences Papers
4. How to Guide Papers
5. Position Papers

The five categories of Knowledge Products are described in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Categories of Knowledge Products

Knowledge Definitions Use

Products
1. Concept Short discussion papers exploring When new social
Papers and conceptualizing new welfare and social
concepts, emerging trends and protection area-related
cross-cutting issues (an example challenges arise, or
is CBBs concept paper on when seeking new and
Knowledge Management in DSWD) innovative direction to
respond to existing
challenges
2. Lessons Lesson Learned are reflections on When designing new
Learned or past practice and concrete social welfare and
Good recommendations for improving social protection area
Practice DSWDs performance in the projects and seeking
Papers future. experience elsewhere
Good Practice is a process or
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 Knowledge Definitions Use
Products
methodology that has been shown in DSWD to learn from
to be effective in one part of the good practice and
organization that may have avoid repeating
implications for practice at any mistakes
level elsewhere (an example is the
Compendium of Success Stories
on Pantawid Pamilya)
3. Comparati Compilations of experiences on When designing new
ve topics which showcase various social welfare and
Experience approaches and distil shared social protection area
s Papers commonalities and challenges (an or projects, informed by
example is the KALAHI-CIDDS Mid- the experiences of
term Evaluation Report on others
Selected Provinces)
4. How-To Practical and operational guidance When met with a
Guides to both DSWD focal points and/or particular project-
targeted partner or intermediary related challenge and
audience on specific areas of seeking step-by-step
DSWD work (an example is the guidance, based on the
Pantawid Pamilya Operations experience of others
Manual)
5. Position Position papers are usually written When embarking on a
Papers by Central Office or Regional new social welfare and
Office to articulate the corporate social protection area-
DSWD position on topics related to related work and
each Practice Area (an example is seeking a broad
the DSWD position paper on draft introduction to the
Senate bill Safe Haven for Infacts issues
Act of 2004)

Corporate Knowledge are knowledge related to the components that make up

DSWD as a dynamic organization and serve as a context and enabling knowledge
for decision-making. It has six categories as follows:

1. Planning, Strategic, and Performance Knowledge

2. External Stakeholders Knowledge
3. Organizational, People Skills and Competencies Knowledge
4. Operational Knowledge
5. Internal Support Services Knowledge
6. Financial Performance Knowledge

The definition and content of each category are shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Categories of Corporate Knowledge

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 Corporate Definition Content
Knowledge
1. Planning, Knowledge related to the a. Department Charter
Strategic, and Departments directions b. Corporate History
Performance and goals and their rate c. Corporate Strategic Plan
Knowledge of achievement and Programs
d. Reform Agenda
e. Policies
f. Directives
g. Attainment of
Performance Indicators
2. External Knowledge related to the a. Stakeholders Profiles
Stakeholders Departments b. Stakeholders Critical
Knowledge beneficiaries, Concerns
intermediaries, partners, c. Local Government Units
and other stakeholders, Social Welfare Practices
including their profiles and Lessons
d. Academes New Body of
and critical concerns and
Social Protection/Social
knowledge products
Welfare Knowledge
Based on Research
Studies
e. Beneficiaries First Hand
Needs and Lessons
f. Other Partners like the
World Bank, Asian
Development Bank,
Australian Aid, etc. and
their charters, services,
and issues in Social
Protection
3. Knowledge related to the a. Departments
Organizational, Departments Organization
People Skills organization structure and b. Structure and Functions
and its people and their c. Profiles of Key Officers
Competencies competencies and Personnel
d. People Skills and
Knowledge
Competencies
4. Operational Knowledge related to the a. Services relating to
Knowledge Departments four Major formulation, advocacy of
Final Outputs, including SWD plans, policies and
their indicators, units of programs
measure, and their rate of b. Standards setting,
achievement licensing and
accreditation
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 Corporate Definition Content
Knowledge
c. Support services and
technical assistance to
intermediaries
d. Direct services to
community-based
clients
5. Internal Knowledge related to a. Internal processes and
Support internal support services, systems
Services including Legal, HR, b. Technologies
Knowledge Internal Audit, MIS,
Financial, Administrative,
Procurement, and Social
Marketing
6. Financial Knowledge related to the a. Departments financial
Performance Departments financial condition and
Knowledge condition and systems performance
b. Assets and liabilities
c. Funds allocation and
utilization
d. Financial systems

Library Knowledge is a collection of publications including books, articles,

reports, newspapers, magazines, journals, CDs, DVDs, and other information
materials that also serve as enabling knowledge for research and study in social
protection. It includes all other information and knowledge that cannot be
categorized under Knowledge Products or Corporate Knowledge but which are
considered valuable for decision-making in Social Welfare and Social Protection.
Library collections include those that are beyond the physical boundaries of the
library through access to electronic resources both within and outside the
Department.

The potential scope of the collections at the library is wide-ranging given the depth
of the growing body of research in social work and social protection. Table 3 below
shows the scope of the present library collections in terms of the sectors served
and the corresponding functional expertise of the Department.

Table 3: Scope of the Present Library Collections

Sectors Served by the Functional Expertise of the

Department Department

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 1. Child and Youth Welfare 1. Social Welfare and Development
2. Family and Community Welfare Policy and Plan Development
3. Women Welfare 2. Social Technology Development
4. Older Persons Welfare 3. Standards Development and
5. Persons with Disability Welfare Compliance Monitoring
6. Disaster Victims/Internally 4. Direct Services Delivery and
Displaced Persons and Groups Transfer of Technology
5. Advocacy in Behalf of the
Vulnerable Sector
6. Networking and Partnership
7. Resource Development for Social
Welfare and Development Program
8. Program Management
9. Financial Management

H. Regional Learning Resource Center (RLRC)

The RLRC is the mini-KEC in the Field Offices and offers the same services as the
KEC. All the Field Offices are targeted to establish their respective RLRC following
the standards set (see attached Annex F).

III. Implementing Guidelines and Procedures

Knowledge Sourcing is the first important activity in the KEC Business Process. In the
course of their work, DSWD employees constantly engage themselves in various
interactions with people inside and outside the organization including the
Departments intermediaries and partners. At other times, they obtain information
from DSWD databases and other sources. All of these create new knowledge that
can be codified into such forms as memos, emails, web page, reports, programs,
articles, books, pictures, sound recordings, video, and other content materials.

The Knowledge Management Team (KM Team) which should be constantly in touch
with the knowledge users and producers will influence knowledge producers to send
content materials to the KM Team on a continuing basis. Upon receipt of the content
materials, the KM Team will evaluate them based on certain criteria and will send
those they consider valuable to the KEC thru the KM Focal Person/Alternate.

The KEC Management in turn will check if indeed the content materials are worthy of
inclusion in the Knowledge Portal (KM Portal) based on certain guidelines. Once the
content materials are confirmed as valuable and of relative high priority, the KEC
Management would store the knowledge in its database and disseminate its
availability to the knowledge users. If necessary, the KEC Management would
recommend training on the new knowledge to the proponent office for the
employees especially if it is concerned about the use of skills or the implementation
of a new system, procedure, and the like.

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 The DSWD Employees (and the Departments stakeholders) may access the KM
Portal. They may use the knowledge they obtained directly or they may decide to
share it with others. They may also opt to use the collaboration tools available at the
KEC.

The KEC Management will monitor and evaluate the use of knowledge in order to
enhance the knowledge management process.

Knowledge Sourcing

Knowledge can come from the interactions of people, existing DSWD databases
or other sources.

Promoting Interaction

Knowledge is continually being created in any group or organization since the

very interaction among people generates knowledge. One of the main aims of the
Knowledge Exchange Center is to capture the knowledge that is produced during
such interactions. If allowed to prosper, such interactions become a source of
new knowledge and innovation. It is important, therefore, to promote interactions
among people.

Interaction in Networks

Aside from ad hoc or informal groups that are occasionally formed, other groups
can be formally created to promote knowledge sharing and collaboration similar
to what the Department has in operation today. These are the Core Group of
Specialists and the SWD L-Net. These groups focus on connecting people with the
knowledge they need, rather than only collecting and compiling documents in
online repositories.

DSWD Databases

The DSWD databases represent a rich source of existing knowledge. Every

employee and/or unit has their own file systems that contain knowledge in social
welfare and social protection. Some of this knowledge may be lodged in the KEC
or it can at least be accessed from where they are.

Other Sources

Every employee or OBS in the Department has the potential to source knowledge
from other sources in the course of their work. Any stakeholder, partner or
intermediary interested to share their knowledge product should coordinate and
submit their KP to DSWD thru CBB or their partner OBS.

B. Creation of New Knowledge

Knowledge can be created in various ways as follows:

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 1. Knowledge from outside the Department can be captured by accessing
different sources such as publications, websites, emails, and the Internet.
2. Explicit knowledge from within and outside the Department can be captured
in various forms such as printed reports, minutes of meetings, copies of
memos and circulars, etc.
3. Tacit knowledge can be created and captured during discussions and meetings
with employees and stakeholders as well as from the speakers in seminars
and conferences.

C. Initial Codification

This step involves writing down or documenting the knowledge sourced from
interactions or from a study or research that the employee has done. It may also
involve capturing the knowledge sourced in pictures, sound and video recordings.
The idea is to get peoples knowledge into a form that can be communicated
independently of those people.

Developing and Writing Knowledge Products

As benchmark products of the KEC, knowledge products require particular

attention in their development. The writing of a knowledge product is the
responsibility of the office or unit that has functional accountability over the
question or topic that the knowledge product is responding to.

Assessing the Demand for the Knowledge Product

In developing a knowledge product, it is important to determine whether the

product being planned is likely to meet the needs of the intended audience. The
steps involved are as follows:

1. Assess the demand for the particular knowledge product. Find out whether the
question or topic has already been sufficiently dealt with in the Department.
Determine whether a knowledge gap exists in the area.
2. Begin to assess a knowledge gap and demand by browsing through existing
knowledge products posted in the KM Portal to avoid repetition. However, if
the intention is to build on the existing knowledge product or to provide a
different perspective as a result of new experiences or developments in the
field, the development of the knowledge product may be considered.
3. Review other possible sources of demand for the particular knowledge product
such as archives of queries and consolidated replies, related e-discussions,
workshops, seminars, etc.
4. Talk and check with colleagues on the particular question or topic of the
knowledge product and get their ideas or opinions on the value and necessity
of the planned knowledge product.

Prioritization and Sequencing of Knowledge Products

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 Prioritizing knowledge products will help proponents plan within a realistic time
frame and resource constraints. Sequencing knowledge products will enable them
to respond to the evolving nature of projects, each phase of which may require
different types of knowledge (e.g. lessons learned, position paper). For example,
the proponent may start with a Concept Paper to outline the theme; followed by a
Comparative Experiences Paper to gather experiences and examples; before
putting all of the materials together in a Position Paper. This may then be
followed by a How to Guide to explain how to make the question or topic
operational.

Planning the Development of Knowledge Products

Here are the steps in planning the development of knowledge products.

1. Determine how long it takes to develop a knowledge product from start to

finish, including researching, drafting, reviewing, editing, design, publishing,
dissemination and follow-up. Make a detailed timetable for the entire process
and circulate it to all those involved.
2. Identify the staff who will be involved at different stages of the process,
including researchers, policy advisers/mentors, communication specialists,
etc. Think carefully about who should write the draft. He/she should be given
authority to make decisions on substance and process. Ideally, he/she should
be a staff member with extensive experience in the question or topic and
knowledge of the internal operations, rather than an outside expert.
Furthermore, he/she should be an excellent writer in the language the
knowledge product will be published (e.g. English or Tagalog).

Writing the Knowledge Product

As a guide to writing knowledge products, templates are provided in Annex B. In

addition, further guidelines on how to write the actual text of four knowledge
product are given in Annex C and guidelines in the identification and
documentation of good practices in Annex D.

D. Endorsing Knowledge Materials for Posting to Knowledge Portal

The Knowledge Management Team shall review the knowledge that has been
created and codified and decide if it is something that can be endorsed for
inclusion in the KM Portal. For this purpose, the team may use the Checklist for
Inclusion of Knowledge Materials (Newly Developed and Old/Archived) into KM
Portal shown in Table 4 below.

Table 4: KM Team Checklist for Inclusion of

Knowledge Materials into KM Portal

Old Knowledge Materials New Knowledge Materials

1. Value 1. Value
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 Old Knowledge Materials
Is the material important in the
achievement of DSWDs mandate
or enhance the delivery of SWD
and Social Protection programs
and services?
Does the material address an
identified knowledge need/ gap in
the Department?
Is the material worthy to be shared
to other users/ offices/
organizations other than the
originating office which authored
it?
2. Risk
Did the material come from a
credible source? Was it cleared
with and/ or endorsed by the top
management or regional
officials?
Is the material not obsolete/
outdated? (This can be used with
old documents that can be part
of projecting DSWDs historical
background)
Is the material cleared from
confidentiality, copyright and
intellectual property issues?
Has the material been properly and
clearly scanned to meet the
international standards,
converted into an e-copy and is
ready for uploading without
editing?
3. Utilization
Is the material projected to be used
as much as it should be?
Will the materials inclusion into the
KM Portal increase public interest
regarding the topics or message
discussed?
Is uploading the material beneficial
than having it on file of the
proponent office?
Does the material responds to the
New Knowledge Materials
Is the material important in the
achievement of DSWDs mandate
or enhance the delivery of SWD
and Social Protection programs
and services?
Does the material address an
identified knowledge need/ gap in
the Department?
Is the material worthy to be shared
to other users/ offices/
organizations other than the
originating office which authored
it?
2. Risk
Did the material come from a
credible source? Was it cleared
with and/ or endorsed by the top
management or regional
officials?
Has the material addresses/
discusses the current initiatives
and development inside the
Department?
Is the material cleared from
confidentiality, copyright and
intellectual property issues?
Has the material been properly
documented and edited in pdf file
format?
3. Utilization
Is the material projected to be used
as much as it should be?
Will the materials inclusion into the
KM Portal increase public interest
regarding the topics or message
discussed?
Is uploading the material beneficial
than having it on file of the
proponent office?
Does the material responds to the
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 Old Knowledge Materials
high demand of access? Can it be
easily downloaded by individuals,
groups, offices or organizations?
(such as AO, MC, and other
written memos signed by the
ExeCom/ ManCom)
4. Categorization
Does it fall under the 2 knowledge
categories such as:
New Knowledge Materials
high demand of access? Can it be
easily downloaded by individuals,
groups, offices or organizations?
(such as AO, MC, and other
written memos signed by the
ExeCom/ ManCom)
4. Categorization
Does it fall under the 2 knowledge
categories such as:

A. Knowledge Products: A. Knowledge Products:

Concept Papers
Lessons Learned
Good Practice
Comparative Experience
Papers
How-To-Guides
Position Papers
B. Corporate Knowledge:
Planning, Strategic and
Performance Knowledge
External Stakeholders
Knowledge
Organizational, People Skills
and Competencies Knowledge
Operational Knowledge
Internal Support Service
Knowledge
Financial Performance
Knowledge
Concept Papers
Lessons Learned
Good Practice
Comparative Experience Papers
How-To-Guides
Position Papers
B. Corporate Knowledge:
Planning, Strategic and
Performance Knowledge
External Stakeholders
Knowledge
Organizational, People Skills
and Competencies Knowledge
Operational Knowledge
Internal Support Service
Knowledge
Financial Performance
Knowledge

Note: An answer of YES to all the above questions suggests a definite inclusion of
the knowledge material into the KM Portal. If there is one or a few NO answers
but the material is still deemed worthy for inclusion, it may still be endorsed
subject to deliberation by the KM Team and Capacity Building Bureaus (CBB) KM
Division staff.

Upon deliberation of the knowledge material/s and the team has decided to
endorse it to CBB, the KM focal person of the concerned OBS/FO will upload to the
KM Portal the said knowledge material/s using the OBS/FO username.

E. Approving Knowledge Materials for Posting in the Knowledge Portal

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 The submitted knowledge material/s by the OBS KM Focal Person will be initially
assessed by KM Division staff. If it is acceptable, the material is submitted to
CBBs Director (Approver 1) for review and approval. If acceptable to Approver 1,
it will be recommended for posting. For knowledge materials that need thorough
assessment, Approver 1 will endorse the material to Approver 2 (Assistant
Secretary of Institutional Development Group (IDG)). If Approver 2, finds the
material acceptable for posting, he/she will endorse it to Approver 3
(Undersecretary of IDG) who will decide if it is for posting or not.

Knowledge products submitted by partners, stakeholders and intermediaries shall

undergo the same assessment. If KP endorsed is not qualified per criteria, it will
be returned to the concerned partner providing the reasons for disqualification or
it can be displayed in the Library.

The assessment of knowledge materials submitted by KM focal persons will be

conducted every other month.

Formal Codification

This involves indexing and storage of the knowledge materials to formally make
them part of the Knowledge Portal.

Indexing and Storage of Knowledge Materials in the KM Portal

In order to facilitate the subsequent retrieval of information, it is necessary to tag

content as data and information are added to the KM Portal. The document or
material will be properly tagged or categorized which will facilitate subsequent
search and retrieval.

G. Dissemination and Training on Knowledge Materials

The dissemination of knowledge is just as important as its production. Unless

knowledge is effectively disseminated, the development impact of knowledge will
remain limited. Effective dissemination will result in awareness, understanding
and utilization of the knowledge.

H. Accessing the Knowledge Portal and Using Collaboration Tools

The KEC has a single point of easy and timely access through the KM Portal. It
serves as the central point for sharing knowledge. Through this portal, users can
contribute information to the corporate pool of knowledge, access information,
and collaborate with other experts and their peers. Its basic functions are:

1. Search and access to Knowledge Products and Corporate Knowledge, and link
to Library Knowledge
2. Document Sharing

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3. Forum - facilitates online discussion among members of a particular group or
community focused on a specific priority topic
4. Content and Collaboration Tool Usage Log - facilitates the tracking of usage of
particular knowledge content and collaboration tool to determine their value
to the users

The user groups which will have access to the KM Portal are the following: KEC
staff/KM Portal administrator, DSWD officials, DSWD employees, partners,
intermediaries, stakeholders and the general public.

The KEC staff/KM Portal administrator is given an Administrator access. He/she

has the sole capability of deleting content other than those that have been
added/uploaded to the site.

The DSWD officials particularly the Undersecretary and Assistant Secretary of

Institutional Development Group are given access as Approvers. They have the
capability to approve documents for posting.

The KM Focal Persons are given a Contributor access to use their OBS username
since they will upload their knowledge materials for posting/sharing. They are
also given a Consumer access using their own username.

The DSWD Employees, Partners, Stakeholders and Intermediaries are given a

Consumer access if they create account thru the registration page.

The General Public is given a Public access unless they make their own account.

For the summary of the user groups and their corresponding access, see Table 5.

User Group Access

Public Those without username Browse only of publicly
(regardless whether one is a viewable documents
DSWD employee/
intermediary/stakeholder)
Register Those with username Browse
ed Consumer (regardless Can provide
whether one is a DSWD comments
employee/ intermediary/ Can participate in the
stakeholder) online forum
Can download
documents
Contributor (DSWD Can upload documents
employee/KM focal person for sharing
and alternate)
Approver (DSWD Approve documents
Central Office officials) for posting to public

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 User Group Access
Administrator (KEC CO System administration
staff)

For the library, the Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) will be made available.
This catalog is an integrated library system that enables online access to library
knowledge and information at the KEC and other libraries including possibly those
at the regional offices and selected external libraries.

The OPACs management is centralized at the DSWD Central Office. All Field
Offices will submit to the KEC their ledger of bibliographic entries which contains
the title, author, ISBN, subject, date of publication, name of publisher and other
descriptions such as volume/series number, etc. The KEC librarian will encode to
the OPAC the catalogued entries. This links the RLRC to the KEC in terms of
library materials (please see Annex G and H).

I. Monitoring and Evaluating Use of Knowledge

As the goal of the KEC is for people to use the knowledge they acquired through
the system, it is important to determine the extent that this is occurring.

A three-pronged approach shall be used to measure outcome, activities, and

demand for knowledge materials. In measuring activities, the indicators of
success will be in such things as how often people are accessing, contributing to,
and using the knowledge materials that have been made available. In measuring
outcome, the indicators of success will be in such things as the extent a users
project or activity has achieved its objectives because of his use of a particular
knowledge product. While a direct link between use of the knowledge material
and the success of a users project or activity cannot be definitely established, an
indirect relationship can be inferred.

Some of the measures will be quantitative as follows:

Number and frequency of hits/visitors

Number of downloads
Number of registered Users
Number of days server is up
Number of uploaded files

See Annex I and J for the functionality indicators of the KEC, KM Portal and RLRC.

The demand for new knowledge products will also be determined as part of the
continuing effort of the Department to make available new experiences, lessons
learned and good practices to its employees and stakeholders and foster
innovation in the work they are doing.

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 The first tool to measure utilization of knowledge products is incorporated into
the KEC process. The access to and contribution of knowledge products will be
properly noted during the operation of the KEC.

The second tool for measurement will be the Survey Questionnaire for the
utilization of knowledge products which can be found in Annex E. It will be
administered quarterly (preferably online) to a sample of respondents from
Central Office, Regional Offices and Attached Agencies, Beneficiaries,
Intermediaries, Academic Institutions, and Partners.

IV. Institutional Arrangements

1. The Capacity Building Bureau (CBB) shall be the office-in-charge to manage the
Knowledge Exchange Center. As such, it shall perform the following
responsibilities:
a. Catalyze the development of knowledge products, their use and integration in
the day-to-day operations of the Department.
b. Propagate collaboration in the Department by supporting the creation and
sustainability of formal and informal groups of practitioners that will address
issues and concerns in social welfare and social protection
c. Develop and maintain the dynamic and extensive database for knowledge
products and other important knowledge materials in the Department.

2. The Information Communication and Technology Management Service (ICTMS)

shall provide technical assistance in terms of software and hardware
maintenance of the Knowledge Management Information Systems, KM Portal and
eLib.

3. All other OBS in the Department shall serve as producers and users of
knowledge. As such, they will contribute knowledge products and other
knowledge content to the KEC. They will also provide feedback on their use of
knowledge.

4. Stakeholders, partners and intermediaries can also serve as producers and users
of knowledge. They can submit knowledge products to DSWD thru CBB or their
partner OBS that will review and endorse eligible KPs for uploading to the KM
Portal.

5. KM Champion/s is/are responsible to provide directions and support and assist the
CBB in advocating KM in the Department more particularly in the ExeCom.

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