A Knowledge Strategy

1.4.2 Products and services
• Market knowledge – knowledge of the characteristics, dynamics and needs of
the target markets (as per the market segmentation model) is needed if the
Bank is to identify market opportunities and design innovative products and
services tailored to the needs of different segments of its market.
• Technical knowledge for the design of products and services – includes
technical knowledge for developing lending and financial instruments, assetbacked
project finance, grant funding and technical assistance in different
fields, knowledge and skills transfer and training, policy advice and advocacy,
project design and management, and procurement, amongst others.
1.4.3 Internal systems to support delivery
• Product and service delivery – knowledge and internal systems for the design,
delivery and operation of products and services. These include funding,
marketing, project appraisal (including the operations cycle and modules),
project selection, monitoring and evaluation, and the management of risk.
These systems help to ensure that products and services are delivered
effectively, meet market needs and are aligned with strategy and operating
principles of the DBSA.
• Design and operationalisation of the general support infrastructure –
knowledge needed for establishing and maintaining the facilities and physical
infrastructure of the DBSA.
1.4.4 Knowledge resource management
• Staff selection – targets and recruits staff with the appropriate skills necessary
to create, apply and manage knowledge.
• Skills transfer and development – designs and conducts training, including
skills transfer and development programmes that augment the creation,
application and management of knowledge.
• Knowledge capture and archiving systems – designs, implements and operates
systems to capture and archive knowledge, ensuring that it remains relevant to
the functional activities of the DBSA.
• Knowledge access and dissemination systems – designs and operates systems
and processes to access and disseminate knowledge for the various functional
activities of the Bank.
1.5 Critical mechanisms of a knowledge management strategy
Building and expanding its knowledge base is central to the DBSA achieving its
objectives in the region and becoming a centre of excellence in development
knowledge. To ensure efficiency and effectiveness, the knowledge management
strategy is to be implemented in an incremental manner, beginning with the
priority areas. Current initiatives planned and underway will be revisited to
determine relevance. The strategy is based on several ‘pillars’.
4 Development Bank of Southern Africa