The Social Network as a Community of Knowledge

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The Social Network as a Community of Knowledge
Technical Secretariat Unit for Social Development
and Education OAS
2
What is the Social Network?

• Origins Tlaxcala, 1991
• 30 Countries
• Purpose Horizontal Cooperation/Poverty
• Structure
• Annual Conference
• Coordinating Committee
• Technical Secretariat

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Horizontal Cooperation Results

• 10 Annual Conferences
• 28 seminars
• 140 internships
• Publications
• Web Site

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What is a Community of Knowledge?

• A group of persons that share a set of issues and
  problems, and who deepen their knowledge and
  expertise in this area by interacting on an
  ongoing basis.
• Interaction allows joint learning, social
  relations, sense of belonging and collective
  committment
• Communities create value for their members, whose
  participation is voluntary

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Why a Community of Knowledge?

• The Network has all the components that define a
  COofKNO. Minor fine-tuning could optimize the
  attainment of its objectives
• The Network as a COofKNO could generate more
  value for its members

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Components of a COofKNO

• COofKNO components
• Domain
• Community
• Set of practices

• Social Network
• Social development and poverty
• Network of managers of 30 institutions
• Best practices, lessons learned, procedures

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Creation of Value

• Short-Term Value Solution of immediate problems
  
• Long-Term Value Formation and systematization
  of a knowledge base
• Intangible Value Social Capital
• Strategic Value As a community with its own
  identity it can pursue collective projects with
  high value for its members

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Creation of Value Measurement and Administration

• What problem was detected by the community and
  what action taken?
• What was the response in terms of available
  knowledge resources?
• How was the knowledge applied for the creation of
  value?

FOSIS Support for indigenous handcraft
production
SEDESOL (INI, FONART y FONAES) organizes
internship
We dont know
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Social Network A Complex Community

• It has members that belong to more than one
  organization
• High member turnover
• Geographically disperse and in different time
  zones
• Members belonging to various countries/cultures
• Members that speak different languages
• Not all have equal access to IT
• Complex boundaries

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From Tianguis to a Virtual Community
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Optimizing Connectivity

• Face-to-face meetings
• Video conferencing
• Telephone Conference calls
• Voicemail
• E-Mail
• Threaded online discussions
• Fax

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Subregional Groups or Thematic Groups?
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Functioning Thematic Groups

• Employment and income generating programs
• Vulnerable Groups
• Participation and community development
• Development, implementation and evaluation of
  social policy and programs

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Summary and Conclusion

• Optimize connectivity
• Strengthen thematic groups
• Broaden strategic alliances
• Knowledge Bank