 Knowledge Management
Managing the tacit knowledge within an organisation is not a simple exercise. Many of the organisations which CeCC works with are either attempting to better manage information internally or to disseminate it more widely to stakeholders and the general public. CeCC has extensive experience in helping organisations to better utilise web-based technologies and in changing work practices to make use of them. It does this by first understanding the organisation, its workflows and information requirements. Secondly, key stakeholders are consulted and appropriate solutions are mapped out based on existing CeCC products and client applications. Often this process is quite valuable as the client is able to see applications in use and apply the concepts to their own organisational issues.
 Once a solution has been mapped out, CeCC usually implements a prototype system for initial testing and feedback from users. This step has historically been important in refining the application in line with user needs. New features and extensions are often identified at the stage when clients had a chance to use the prototype system. CeCC is usually quite receptive to new ideas and extensions given that they fit with the initial problem and do not extend the project parameters too greatly. This process helps to ensure that the vast majority of CeCC solutions are used and useful.
The development process does not finish with the launch of the application. CeCC understands that organisational change takes time and an ongoing support arrangement ensures that all services are backed up with comprehensive technical assistance, training and documentation. Extensions and enhancements are also available upon request.
Shared Solutions
One of the key goals of CeCC and the University of Ballarat is knowledge transfer. Part of the CeCC philosophy has always been that the solutions developed for one client are able to be transferred to existing and new clients in different ways. This benefits all clients and our annual client forum has been the catalyst for many new projects and product enhancements. Our diverse clients come from across the country to present and share ideas and the forum has always been well received.
Example
The BCG "Virtual Agronomy"
The Birchip Cropping Group (BCG)is a farmer-driven agricultural organisation operating as a not-for-profit incorporated association, conducting applied research and extension on all the major crops grown in the region. One of the key requirements of the BCG is to distribute the information it develops to its membership. To this end the BCG produces an annual production manual containing crop and pasture information based on trials and extension projects. This manual has historically been distributed in paper for during January of the following year and PDF versions available in the members’ area of the BCG website.
The purpose of the Virtual Agronomy project was to extend the website functionality to provide a continuous stream of critical information to its members during the current season. In addition the BCG wished to extend the substance of the information to include video footage, audio data and other interactive elements. For members without computers or Internet a CD ROM version of the application could be produced and distributed to members. The BCG ‘Virtual Agronomy’ application was to be intuitive, easily searchable and allow BCG to provide a more detailed, current and interactive service to its members.
The BCG ‘Virtual Agronomy’ application is integrated into the existing BCG website and available within the member only area. The application supports the BCG in providing members with access to research trial data from sowing through to harvest. This information may improve farmer decisions at all critical stages and thus optimise chances of a successful crop.
Staff within BCG and other key stakeholders are able to take full ownership of and actively manage the content in the system. This includes complex MS word based data, charts, diagrams, imagery and audio/video files.
Key Requirements
- Provides a system for rapid and flexible entry of trial data. It meets the critical requirement of being easy to use for staff with limited IT knowledge.
- Incorporates the ability to conduct simple and complex searches of virtual agronomy information using criteria provided by the BCG (crop type, soil type, region, rainfall, year etc).
- Contains discussion forum capabilities to support threads of member discussion under relevant trial data.
- Allow the inclusion of multimedia information such as video, audio, and 3D virtual tours which members will be able to view or save. This information is structured in such a way as not to impede the browsing experience of low-bandwidth users.
- Ability to product an annual CD ROM based version of the application.
Example of Virtual Agronomy in use
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