Recipient Institution:
Galing Pook Foundation, Inc.

Suite 1604 Jollibee Plaza, Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Metro Manila
Philippines

Tel/Fax: 0632-687-1347 ro 48

Project Leader:
Luz Lopex Rodriguez
luz.rodriguez@galingpook.org

URL:
http://www.galingpook.org

Amount and Duration: US$ 30,000 / 24 months

Commencement Date:
1 December 2003

Project Proposal
Introduction

A wealth of knowledge has been accumulating in various Philippine government and non-government (NGO) institutions useful for local governance and local development planning and management. A mix of databases and knowledge bases has been started by these institutions at various levels of conversion to electronic format, for various purposes and at various stages of web readiness. Among them are:

• The Galing Pook Foundation
• The Local Government Academy of the Department of Interior and Local Government (LGA-DILG)
• The Development Academy of the Philippines
• DevWatch in Mindanao Island
• The Philippine Sustainable Development Network Foundation.

Meanwhile, the Philippine e-Commerce Law of 2000 had mandated all government agencies to develop e-governance capabilities. Although slowly, an increasing number of local government units (or LGUs, such as municipalities, cities and provinces) had launched first-stage websites, sending their staff to ICT (information and communication technologies) training and learning from each other and from those LGUs who are ahead.

Knowledge sharing is happening through traditional methods of distribution of printed materials, training and occasional meetings and conferences. Through the World Bank, an association of the few biggest cities was organized, the City Development Strategies Executive Association or CDSEA. CDSEA facilitates the sharing of development knowledge among those cities, through its website and by publications and meetings.

However, there are 1,610 municipalities or towns in the Philippines, an increasing number of which are getting connected to the Internet.

Rationale

The time is ripe to take these developments one stage further: to pilot test a mechanism for connecting all LGUs and other institutions possessing and/or needing knowledge in local governance and development, into an ICT-enabled network for mutually beneficial knowledge sharing and knowledge innovation. Knowledge of itself has no value, but each time it is shared and re-used then value and benefit is created. An ICT-enabled knowledge network that is user-driven, responsive and participatory has the potential to multiply this benefit.

This is the central idea behind LOGOSHARE.

Proponents

Galing Pook Foundation is a well-known non-stock non-profit NGO that has been conducting during the last decade yearly multi-stage screening and awarding of LGUs who are best practitioners in various categories of LGU performance. In the Tagalog language, "Galing" connotes "best practice" and "Pook" means "locality". It is one of the institutions that have accumulated a wealth of useful knowledge in local governance and local development.

Galing Pook Foundation, the main proponent, will be assisted by two other non-stock non-profit NGOs, namely the Philippine Sustainable Development Network Foundation (an Internet Service Provider and ICT training institution) and the Center for Conscious Living Foundation (a provider of services in personal and organizational learning and change, and in knowledge management and innovation).

Specific R&D (Research and Development) Objectives

The proposed project will test an ICT-mediated mechanism for knowledge sharing and knowledge innovation among LGUs in the Philippines, particularly among municipal, city and provincial planning and development officers/coordinators.

The project is basically a learning project, to uncover what works and what does not work. The project will have six components corresponding to six R&D questions:

1. Inventory of existing knowledge bases in best practices, tools, templates and know-how in local governance and local development
R&D question: WHERE ARE THE BEST PRACTICES?

2. Inventory, design of a taxonomy or classification system and development of an e-Directory of existing expertise in local governance and local development
R&D question: WHICH BEST PRACTITIONER KNOWS WHAT BEST PRACTICE?

3. Action research and piloting of an e-group among local (municipal, city and provincial) planning and development officers/coordinators (LPDOs) to develop a knowledge sharing culture and to uncover what are their priority knowledge needs for local governance and development at the local level
R&D question: HOW CAN AN ICT-ENABLED NETWORK CREATE KNOWLEDGE PULL FROM USERS?

4. Developing a bottom-up system where LPDOs themselves will design and maintain a knowledgebase for their priority needs (combining 1 and 3)
R&D question: WHAT WORKS IN A USER-DRIVEN KNOWLEDGEBASE?

5. Developing a top-down Help Desk where experts on various technical areas/subareas of local governance and local development volunteer to give freely their expertise through on-line consultation for those who need information and knowledge in the local level (combining 2 and 3)
R&D question: HOW CAN UTILITY OF A DEMAND-DRIVEN HELP DESK BE ENHANCED?

6. Launching LOGOSHARE, the initial combination of the above components.

Behind these research questions are basic methodological issues:

What is a simple and workable mix of ICT and human/organizational interventions to facilitate effective knowledge sharing?

What is a good mix of top-down or "knowledge push" and bottom-up or "knowledge pull" approaches?

How can tacit or difficult-to-document knowledge be effectively managed?

Methodology

The six substantive project components correspond to the six R&D questions. Two additional components are administrative: project mobilization at the start and a seventh component on preparation of final evaluation report. The subcomponents of each are detailed below.

Component 0: Project administration (lead responsibility: Galing Pook)
01. Leveling-off meeting among the project proponents (Galing Pook, CCL and PSDN) and LGA-DILG officials on project objectives, activities and institutional responsibilities
02. Organizational meeting of network members: institutions involved in local governance and local development which agree to participate in the co-creation of LOGOSHARE
03. Hiring of research assistant pool for the project

Component 1: e-Kaban Galing ("kaban" means storage chest): a pooled knowledgebase of best practices in local governance and local development (lead responsibility: Galing Pook)

11. Meeting among network members to arrive at a consensus on what constitutes "best practice", on the basic elements in the design of the best practice template and on who is responsible for updating templates and maintaining the central registry, maintaining mirror sites, and answering any follow-up queries.
12. Design of a web-ready best practice template
13. Encoding of best practices template by all participating network members
14. Launching of e-Kaban Galing online
15. Preparation of a learning-oriented evaluation report

Component 2: LG e-Directory of expertise in local governance and local development (lead responsibility: PSDN)
21. Meeting of key stakeholders from reputable institutions such as LGA-DILG, Development Academy of the Philippines and UP-National Center for Public Administration and Governance to draw up criteria on who qualifies to be included in the e-Directory
22. Draw up emailing list of LG experts
23. Design of online form for uploading, storing, revising, searching and accessing CV of LG experts
24. Send email invitation to LG experts to join e-Directory by answering online form
25. Launching the LG e-Directory online
26. Preparation of a learning-oriented evaluation report

Component 3: Piloting an e-group among LPDOs (lead responsibility: CCL)
31. Identification of local champions and advocates
32. Training course for local champions and advocates in organizational learning and knowledge management
33. Planning with local champions and advocates of e-group modalities, thematic groups, activities and rules, assignment of roles and responsibilities
34. Launching of e-group in the pre-agreed host website (or in a free-hosting website such as Yahoo)
35. Test running of various e-group activities such as Q&A with an expert, topical discussions, and Help Desk (from Component 6)
36. Preparation of a learning-oriented evaluation report

Component 4: Setup of a bottom-up portal (lead responsibility: CCL)
41. Training course for LPDO e-group leaders, advocates and champions in information management
42. Conduct of a knowledge taxonomy survey among LPDOs to surface priority needs in knowledge content and functionalities
43. Acquisition of open-source or low-cost software for the portal
44. Design of the portal geared specifically to knowledge needs of LPDOs
45. Launching of the portal
46. Preparation of a learning-oriented evaluation report

Component 5: Design and testing of an LGU Help Desk (lead responsibility: Galing Pook)
51. FGD among key stakeholders to design the Help Desk: define the process, roles and responsibilities, rules and guidelines, other terms and conditions of participation
52. Drawing up of a short list of LG experts based on willingness to volunteer services for the Help Desk and on priority areas identified from Component 4
53. Launching of the Help Desk facility in participating websites
54. Preparation of a learning-oriented evaluation report

Component 6: LOGOSHARE (lead responsibility: Galing Pook)
61. Launching of LOGOSHARE
62. Preparation of Final Learning-Oriented Report

Timetable

The proposed project will last 24 months or 8 quarters. The schedule of subcomponents is shown in the Gantt chart.