Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Country Strategic Risk and Knowledge Management: A
Proposed Framework for Improvement
Eduardo Rodriguez 1 , John Edwards 2 and Angel Facundo 3
1
IQAnalytics, Canada
2
Aston Business School, UK
3
IQAnalytics, Colombia
eduardo.rodriguez@iqanalytics.com
j.s.edwards@aston.ac.uk
angel.facundo@gmail.com
Abstract: The world is in a period <strong>of</strong> reflection about social and economic models. In particular <strong>the</strong>re is a review
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> capacities that countries have for improving <strong>the</strong>ir competitiveness. The experiences in a society are part <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong> learning and knowledge development in that society: especially in <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong>
communities. Risks appear continually in <strong>the</strong> process <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> search for, analysis and implementation <strong>of</strong> solutions
to problems. This paper discusses <strong>the</strong> issues related to <strong>the</strong> improvement <strong>of</strong> productivity and knowledge in a
society, <strong>the</strong> risk that poor or even declining productivity brings to <strong>the</strong> communities and <strong>the</strong> need to develop
people that support <strong>the</strong> decision making process in communities.The approach to improve <strong>the</strong> communities’
development is through <strong>the</strong> design <strong>of</strong> a research programme in knowledge management based on distance
learning. The research programme implementation is designed to provide value added to <strong>the</strong> decisions in
communities in order to use collective intelligence, solve collective problems and to achieve goals that support
local solutions. This program is organized and focused on four intelligence areas, artificial, collective, sentient
and strategic. These areas are productivity related and seek to reduce <strong>the</strong> risk <strong>of</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> competitiveness through
formal and integrated problem analysis. In a country such as Colombia, where different regions face varying
problems to solve and <strong>the</strong>re is a low level <strong>of</strong> infrastructure, <strong>the</strong> factors <strong>of</strong> production such as knowledge, skilled
labour and “s<strong>of</strong>t” infrastructure can be a way to develop <strong>the</strong> society. This entails using <strong>the</strong> local physical
resources adequately for creating value with <strong>the</strong> support <strong>of</strong> people in <strong>the</strong> region to lead <strong>the</strong> analysis and search
for solutions in <strong>the</strong> communities. The paper will describe <strong>the</strong> framework and programme and suggest how it could
be applied in Colombia.
Keywords: Knowledge management, risk management, strategic risk
1. Introduction
Knowledge is a factor <strong>of</strong> development in <strong>the</strong> so-called information and knowledge society that has
acquired a key value for <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> individuals and society. During <strong>the</strong> last two decades a
rapid transformation <strong>of</strong> global institutional and productive structures has taken place, largely related to
knowledge and its technological applications.
The digital technologies <strong>of</strong> information and communication technology (ICT) <strong>of</strong>fer <strong>the</strong> possibilities <strong>of</strong>
accessing knowledge accumulated at <strong>the</strong> global level. They have permeated all institutional and
social areas, thus promoting changes in society’s functioning. These changes have generated
important impacts on <strong>the</strong> various institutions in society (Government, services, companies,
educational institutions, etc.), as well as in individuals and in communities (Zavadsks et al. 2010,
Christ<strong>of</strong>erson and Clark 2010, Auffret 2010, Jung-Hyup 2010).
Across <strong>the</strong> world, several universities <strong>of</strong>fer postgraduate qualifications (masters and doctorates),
providing centers <strong>of</strong> research in knowledge management (KM). Many magazines and journals also
specialize in <strong>the</strong> dissemination <strong>of</strong> research advances in this area, and <strong>the</strong>re are now even digital
portals promoting <strong>the</strong> KM discipline. The emphasis <strong>of</strong> most <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m is on KM as applied to business,
in <strong>the</strong> improvement <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> competitiveness <strong>of</strong> enterprises. However, o<strong>the</strong>r strands <strong>of</strong> research are
relevant to our discussion, such as <strong>the</strong> design <strong>of</strong> technological tools and expert systems for multiple
fields <strong>of</strong> activity (economic, educational, social and Government); and <strong>the</strong> design <strong>of</strong> strategies to
create knowledge sharing means, through networks and open systems and collective knowledge.
In Colombia, KM has been recognized by COLCIENCIAS (The Government Science and Technology
body) (Davila and Malaver 2004) as a new area <strong>of</strong> scientific research. KM has begun to be <strong>the</strong> subject
<strong>of</strong> research, courses, publications, seminars, conferences and experience sharing. Some Colombian
universities have courses in KM and some have set up specialized centers (e.g. Center <strong>of</strong> Knowledge
Management and Innovation, Rosario University), research projects and publications on <strong>the</strong> subject.
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