Knowledge Management

Knowledge Management (KM) is the consistent ability to get the:

DEWA has been incorporating KM into its work practices since 2009.

Using international best practice as a guide, DEWA developed a KM Policy, KM Strategy and KM Approach that are aligned with the Dubai Government Strategic initiatives, the DEWA Corporate Strategic Plan and DEWA policies. The ultimate goal is for DEWA to be a sustainable learning organisation.

A KM Approach is an internationally-recognised way to prioritise investment in people and techniques used to capture, manage and share knowledge within an organisation, organisational units and stakeholders (Partners, Suppliers, Customers, Society, Government and Employees)

DEWA uses the KM Cycle (see below) to develop and implement Knowledge Management activities based on the KM Approach and related to the identification, capture, storage, sharing, use and creation of knowledge at DEWA.

The following activities support the identification of Knowledge at DEWA;

1. Expert Locator 
 
The Expert Locator is a tool to enable effective and efficient use and sharing of existing knowledge by connecting people who need particular knowledge to people who own the knowledge. The system helps in building new teams and projects by identifying the people who have the required expertise. 

Benefits: 

• Prevents DEWA from knowledge loss by supporting the implementation of succession planning and rotation plans
• Captures knowledge from an expert who is unlikely to be available in the future.
• Minimises the dependency on outsourcing.
• Increases the organisation’s knowledge memory.
• Helps in the generation of new ideas.

       2. Knowledge Assets identification 

A programme that identified the existing knowledge assets that DEWA owns. This included; databases, books, communication channels, memberships’ subscriptions, procedures, experts etc. This information was made available to all DEWA staff via the intranet. 

The following activities support the sharing of Knowledge at DEWA;

1. Post Training Knowledge Sharing Programme 

An initiative through which employees utilise the knowledge acquired through trainings or conferences by sharing it with colleagues, highlighting their understandings, and envisaging areas of use relevant to their jobs. 

There are five options for implementing this technique that employees can choose from. Employees should complete respective templates as per the options used. This technique seeks to maximize the benefits of learning and create a culture of knowledge-sharing. It is implemented across all DEWA divisions.

2. Share an Hour

An initiative aimed to increase readership among employees of DEWA where an employee would engage with fellow employees in a discussion for 60 minutes in an event that takes place twice a month where employee will discuss a book of his or her choice in one of DEWA Knowledge Centres.  

The following activities support the creation of new Knowledge at DEWA;

1. DEWA Video Capture 

Working with the technical divisions to create short films that document common technical processes. These films can be used with new joiners, existing employees and non-technical staff as an effective way to learn new skills.