DON KM Strategy

DON CIO Memo - Publish Date: 03/07/14

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The purpose of this memo is to update and reissue the Knowledge Management (KM) strategy for the Department of the Navy. This strategy identifies goals and objectives for continued KM implementation in the DON.

Subj: DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

Ref: (a) DON CIO Memorandum, Department of the Navy Knowledge Management Strategy, of 20 October 2005

1. Purpose. To update and reissue the Knowledge Management (KM) strategy for the Department of the Navy (DON), originally promulgated by reference (a). This strategy identifies goals and objectives for continued KM implementation in the DON.

2. Background. At the DON departmental level, KM is defined as the integration of people and processes, enabled by technology, to facilitate the exchange of operationally relevant information and expertise to increase organizational performance.

Though Navy and Marine Corps personnel have shared information and collaborated since the Services began, KM as a recognized discipline with explicit processes has been pursued only for the past 15 years in the DON. Numerous DON commands have benefitted from the implementation of KM processes, procedures, and programs. An updated KM strategy is necessary to keep up the momentum.

Most KM efforts can be grouped into two overlapping categories: Command Support and Commander Support. Command Support links people to who they need to know and what they need to know to do their jobs better. It seeks to stop “reinventing the wheel” and to take advantage of the DON’s tremendous experience and intellectual capital. Commander support includes efforts to ensure that there is a:

• Common understanding of the Commander’s intent from headquarters to the tactical edge or furthest echelon
• Shared situational awareness with all concerned
• Process to provide the information and knowledge requisite for timely, high quality decisions

The tenets of KM are a significant complement to the Next Generation Enterprise Network, the Joint Information Environment, and every other environment that connects people and information.

3. Vision. The DON vision for KM is to create, capture, share, and reuse knowledge to enable effective and agile decision-making, increase the efficiency of task accomplishment, and improve mission effectiveness.

To achieve this vision, the DON KM community will continue to share and leverage the significant KM experience and resources existing within the Department. Currently, DON KM is a centralized vision executed through decentralized implementation.

4. Goals and Objectives. Updated goals and objectives for DON KM are:

Goal 1: Continue to expand Departmental awareness that KM applied to operational and business processes will enable significant improvements in mission accomplishment.

Goal 2: Instill KM principles and methodologies into the DON culture.
Objectives:

2.1 Expand and support the DON KM Community of Practice and other KM stakeholders.
2.2 Share experiences, lessons learned, and results to foster collaboration, enable shortened learning cycles, and assist other efforts.
2.3 Provide KM training and education across the Department.
2.4 Include KM material in appropriate Navy and Marine Corps training courses.
2.5 Assist those new to KM to expeditiously locate the support and resources needed to gain an understanding of KM.

Goal 3: Maximize the utility of existing DON KM experience and resources.
Objectives:

3.1 Assist commands in building upon the KM experiences and resources of others.
3.2 Collect, catalogue, and advertise existing plans, documents, topical guides, and other resources to assist command KM programs and projects.
3.3 Maximize utility of existing technology resources (those already paid for) to support KM implementation.

Goal 4: Drive towards a more centrally supported universally available and executed DON KM program.

4. Actions. To effect continued implementation of DON KM:

• Commanders and Commanding Officers should, where appropriate, utilize KM concepts and tools to continue to improve business and warfighting effectiveness/efficiency.
• Commands with KM experience should continue to share their best practices and resources with the DON KM community.

5. Conclusion. The DON continues to support the use of KM principles and methodologies as an enabler to improve warfighting and business processes. Though KM is driven by the specific mission requirements and needs of individual commands, it is important to continue to share KM know-how and lessons learned across the Department. In the current fiscally challenging environment, commands should recognize the benefits of KM as an enabler to facilitate mission accomplishment.

6. Point of Contact. My point of contact for this effort is Mr. Jim Knox, DON CIO Knowledge Management Team Lead, 703.695.1901, jim.knox@navy.mil.

Signed by:
Terry A. Halvorsen
Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer

TAGS: KM