Knowledge broker

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A knowledge broker is an intermediary (an organization or a person), that aims to develop relationships and networks with, among, and between producers and users of knowledge by providing linkages, knowledge sources, and in some cases knowledge itself, (e.g. technical know-how, market insights, research evidence) to organizations in its network.

Contents

While the exact role and function of knowledge brokers are conceptualized and operationalized differently in various sectors and settings, a key feature appears to be the facilitation of knowledge exchange or sharing between and among various stakeholders, including researchers, practitioners, and policy makers.

A knowledge broker may operate in multiple markets and technology domains. [1] The concept of knowledge brokers is closely related to the concept of knowledge spillovers.

In the fields of public health, applied health services research, and social sciences, knowledge brokers are often referred to as bridges or intermediaries [2] [3] [4] [5] that link producers of research evidence to users of research evidence as a means of facilitating collaboration to identify issues, solve problems, [6] and promote evidence-informed decision making (EIDM), which is the process of critically appraising and incorporating the best available research evidence, along with evidence from multiple other sources into policy and practice decisions. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [ excessive citations ]

Using a knowledge broker to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and the adoption of insights is one strategy in the broader field of Knowledge Management.

Function

Knowledge brokers facilitate the transfer and exchange of knowledge from where it is abundant to where it is needed, thereby supporting co-development and improving the innovative capability of organizations in their network. In the field of public health, knowledge brokers facilitate the appropriate use of the best available research evidence in decision making processes, enhancing individual and organizational capacity to participate effectively in evidence-informed decision making. In this setting, knowledge brokers promote research use. [7] [14]

Knowledge brokers are typically involved in the following activities below: [1]

Expertise

Knowledge brokers provide a link between the producers and users of knowledge. To facilitate this knowledge exchange, knowledge brokers are required to build rapport with their target audiences and forge new connections across domains. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

Research into effective knowledge brokers, conducted by University of Oxford researchers, found that committed knowledge leadership is key to mobilizing research across organisational boundaries and embedding it in practice. In the longitudinal research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the study found three variations of knowledge leadership, of transposing, appropriating and contending academic research. [19]

A successful knowledge broker will possess:

Knowledge brokers possess a portfolio of intellectual capital or expertise typically spanning the "specialized jargon, knowledge, and form(s) of reasoning" of multiple disciplines. Assuming that expertise lends itself to interdisciplinary exchange, the adequacy of a knowledge broker's understanding of a field can also be understood in terms of their possession of varieties of intellectual autonomy concerning the field, as suggested by Nguyen (2018): [20]

Nguyen (2018) responds to Elijah Millgram's The Great Endarkenment, where Millgram proposes between-field translation to reduce the internal and mutual incomprehensibility (i.e., for experts in a discipline, and between respective disciplines) of hyperspecialized disciplines. The goal of translation is intellectual transparency, or making clear the models, values, defeaters, and trade-offs of arguments in and between disciplines.

Intellectual transparency is currently scarce due to both the above cited incomprehensibility problems, and the inevitability of mistakes (out of anyone's purview, due to resource constraints in personal and group knowledge management) accruing in "modern scientific practical arguments," draped across many fields" that are already individually difficult to keep tabs on. Nguyen argues that "intellectual transparency will help us achieve direct autonomy, but many intellectual circumstances require that we exercise delegational and management autonomy. However, these latter forms of autonomy require us to give up on transparency" (pp. 1).

Examples of knowledge brokers

Every individual or organization, which has access to knowledge from several, unconnected entities, can theoretically act as a knowledge broker. Certain types of organizations have been identified to be acting primarily as knowledge brokers:

(i.e. ESADE Creapolis, IMCG Archived 2013-11-13 at the Wayback Machine and Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação)

Climate change knowledge broker initiative

A project funded by the Climate & Development Knowledge Network is aiming to integrate sources of climate change information and tailor data into relevant information products. Access to reliable information and data, and the ability to share lessons and experience, are considered key ingredients in tackling climate change, particularly within developing countries. However, although numerous websites, portals and online platforms have been set up to provide such information, the ‘knowledge infrastructure’ within the climate and development sector is still weak. The project aims to fill some of the gaps and provide bridges between isolated initiatives. [29]

A study by IISD investigated the value of knowledge brokers within the climate change sphere. [30] Interviews and surveys were conducted with more than 200 online climate change information users to understand their needs, preferences and behaviours. The findings were published in the paper "A user-oriented analysis of online knowledge brokering platforms for climate change and development". This publication identifies potential areas for innovation in online knowledge brokering and highlights the need for taking climate knowledge brokering beyond its online functions.

Related Research Articles

Industrial and organizational psychology "focuses the lens of psychological science on a key aspect of human life, namely, their work lives. In general, the goals of I-O psychology are to better understand and optimize the effectiveness, health, and well-being of both individuals and organizations." It is an applied discipline within psychology and is an international profession. I-O psychology is also known as occupational psychology in the United Kingdom, organisational psychology in Australia and New Zealand, and work and organizational (WO) psychology throughout Europe and Brazil. Industrial, work, and organizational (IWO) psychology is the broader, more global term for the science and profession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Informed consent</span> Process for obtaining subject approval prior to treatment or research

Informed consent is a principle in medical ethics and medical law and media studies, that a patient must have sufficient information and understanding before making decisions about their medical care. Pertinent information may include risks and benefits of treatments, alternative treatments, the patient's role in treatment, and their right to refuse treatment. In most systems, healthcare providers have a legal and ethical responsibility to ensure that a patient's consent is informed. This principle applies more broadly than healthcare intervention, for example to conduct research and to disclose a person's medical information.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knowledge management</span> Process of creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge and information of an organization

Knowledge management (KM) is the collection of methods relating to creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to achieve organizational objectives by making the best use of knowledge.

Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health, including those emerging from advances in biology, medicine, and technologies. It proposes the discussion about moral discernment in society and it is often related to medical policy and practice, but also to broader questions as environment, well-being and public health. Bioethics is concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, theology and philosophy. It includes the study of values relating to primary care, other branches of medicine, ethical education in science, animal, and environmental ethics, and public health.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knowledge transfer</span> Sharing knowledge for problem solving

Knowledge transfer is the sharing or disseminating of knowledge and the providing of inputs to problem solving. In organizational theory, knowledge transfer is the practical problem of transferring knowledge from one part of the organization to another. Like knowledge management, knowledge transfer seeks to organize, create, capture or distribute knowledge and ensure its availability for future users. It is considered to be more than just a communication problem. If it were merely that, then a memorandum, an e-mail or a meeting would accomplish the knowledge transfer. Knowledge transfer is more complex because:

Medical ethics is an applied branch of ethics which analyzes the practice of clinical medicine and related scientific research. Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer to in the case of any confusion or conflict. These values include the respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence, and justice. Such tenets may allow doctors, care providers, and families to create a treatment plan and work towards the same common goal. It is important to note that these four values are not ranked in order of importance or relevance and that they all encompass values pertaining to medical ethics. However, a conflict may arise leading to the need for hierarchy in an ethical system, such that some moral elements overrule others with the purpose of applying the best moral judgement to a difficult medical situation. Medical ethics is particularly relevant in decisions regarding involuntary treatment and involuntary commitment.

Work design is an area of research and practice within industrial and organizational psychology, and is concerned with the "content and organization of one's work tasks, activities, relationships, and responsibilities" (p. 662). Research has demonstrated that work design has important implications for individual employees, teams, organisations, and society.

Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform inventions and scientific outcomes into new products and services that benefit society. Technology transfer is closely related to knowledge transfer.

Participatory design is an approach to design attempting to actively involve all stakeholders in the design process to help ensure the result meets their needs and is usable. Participatory design is an approach which is focused on processes and procedures of design and is not a design style. The term is used in a variety of fields e.g. software design, urban design, architecture, landscape architecture, product design, sustainability, graphic design, planning, and health services development as a way of creating environments that are more responsive and appropriate to their inhabitants' and users' cultural, emotional, spiritual and practical needs. It is also one approach to placemaking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diffusion of innovations</span> Theory on how and why new ideas spread

Diffusion of innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. The theory was popularized by Everett Rogers in his book Diffusion of Innovations, first published in 1962. Rogers argues that diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated over time among the participants in a social system. The origins of the diffusion of innovations theory are varied and span multiple disciplines.

Adaptive management, also known as adaptive resource management or adaptive environmental assessment and management, is a structured, iterative process of robust decision making in the face of uncertainty, with an aim to reducing uncertainty over time via system monitoring. In this way, decision making simultaneously meets one or more resource management objectives and, either passively or actively, accrues information needed to improve future management. Adaptive management is a tool which should be used not only to change a system, but also to learn about the system. Because adaptive management is based on a learning process, it improves long-run management outcomes. The challenge in using the adaptive management approach lies in finding the correct balance between gaining knowledge to improve management in the future and achieving the best short-term outcome based on current knowledge. This approach has more recently been employed in implementing international development programs.

Evidence-based design (EBD) is the process of constructing a building or physical environment based on scientific research to achieve the best possible outcomes. Evidence-based design is especially important in evidence-based medicine, where research has shown that environment design can affect patient outcomes. It is also used in architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, facilities management, education, and urban planning. Evidence-based design is part of the larger movement towards evidence-based practices.

Evidence-based policy is a concept in public policy that advocates for policy decisions to be grounded on, or influenced by, rigorously established objective evidence. This concept presents a stark contrast to policymaking predicated on ideology, 'common sense,' anecdotes, or personal intuitions. The methodology employed in evidence-based policy often includes comprehensive research methods such as randomized controlled trials (RCT). Good data, analytical skills, and political support to the use of scientific information are typically seen as the crucial elements of an evidence-based approach.

Participatory management is the practice of empowering members of a group, such as employees of a company or citizens of a community, to participate in organizational decision making. It is used as an alternative to traditional vertical management structures, which has shown to be less effective as participants are growing less interested in their leader's expectations due to a lack of recognition of the participant's effort or opinion.

Evidence-based management (EBMgt) is an emerging movement to explicitly use the current, best evidence in management and decision-making. It is part of the larger movement towards evidence-based practices.

Patient participation is a trend that arose in answer to medical paternalism. Informed consent is a process where patients make decisions informed by the advice of medical professionals.

Shared decision-making in medicine (SDM) is a process in which both the patient and physician contribute to the medical decision-making process and agree on treatment decisions. Health care providers explain treatments and alternatives to patients and help them choose the treatment option that best aligns with their preferences as well as their unique cultural and personal beliefs.

Co-production is an approach in the development and delivery of public services and technology in which citizens and other key stakeholders and concepts in human society are implicitly involved in the process. In co-productive approaches, citizens are not only consulted, but are part of the conception, design, steering, and ongoing management of services. The concept has a long history, arising out of radical theories of knowledge in the 1970s, and can be applied in a range of sectors across society including health research, and science more broadly.

Workplace Strategy is the dynamic alignment of an organization's work patterns with the work environment to enable peak performance and reduce costs.

Digital health is a discipline that includes digital care programs, technologies with health, healthcare, living, and society to enhance the efficiency of healthcare delivery and to make medicine more personalized and precise. It uses information and communication technologies to facilitate understanding of health problems and challenges faced by people receiving medical treatment and social prescribing in more personalised and precise ways. The definitions of digital health and its remits overlap in many ways with those of health and medical informatics.

References

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  2. ↑ Jonathan Lomas (January 2007). "The in-between world of knowledge brokering". BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.) . 334 (7585): 129–132. doi:10.1136/bmj.39038.593380.AE. PMC   1779881 . PMID   17235094.
  3. ↑ Verona, G.; Prandelli, E.; Sawhney, M. (2006), "Innovation and virtual environments: Towards virtual knowledge brokers", Organization Studies, 27 (6): 765–788, doi:10.1177/0170840606061073, S2CID   59947630
  4. ↑ John N. Lavis (Winter 2006). "Research, public policymaking, and knowledge-translation processes: Canadian efforts to build bridges". The Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions . 26 (1): 37–45. doi:10.1002/chp.49. PMID   16557509. S2CID   42527734.
  5. ↑ Lyons, R.; Warner, G; Langille, L; Phillips, SJ (2006). "Piloting knowledge brokers to promote integrated stroke vare in Atlantic Canada.". Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute for Population and Public Health, editor. Moving population and public health knowledge into action: A casebook of knowledge translation stories. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute for Population and Public Health.
  6. ↑ A. Kitson, G. Harvey & B. McCormack (September 1998). "Enabling the implementation of evidence based practice: a conceptual framework". Quality in Health Care . 7 (3): 149–158. doi:10.1136/qshc.7.3.149. PMC   2483604 . PMID   10185141.
  7. 1 2 3 Robeson, Paula; M. Dobbins; K. Decorby (2008). "Life as a knowledge broker in public health". Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association. 29 (3): 78–82. doi: 10.5596/c08-025 .
  8. ↑ R. C. Brownson, J. G. Gurney & G. H. Land (September 1999). "Evidence-based decision making in public health". Journal of Public Health Management and Practice . 5 (5): 86–97. doi:10.1097/00124784-199909000-00012. PMID   10558389.
  9. ↑ Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (2003). The theory and practice of knowledge brokering in Canada's health systemThe theory and practice of knowledge brokering in Canada's health system. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Health Services Research Foundation.
  10. ↑ Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (2004). Knowledge brokering demonstration site competition. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Health Services Research Foundation.
  11. ↑ Jessika van Kammen, Don de Savigny & Nelson Sewankambo (August 2006). "Using knowledge brokering to promote evidence-based policy-making: The need for support structures". Bulletin of the World Health Organization . 84 (8): 608–612. doi:10.2471/blt.05.028308. PMC   2627440 . PMID   16917647.
  12. ↑ Hartwich, F; von Oppen, M (2000). "Knowledge brokers in agricultural research and extension". In Graef, F.; Lawrence, P.; von Oppen, M. (eds.). Adapted Farming in West Africa: Issues, Potentials, and Perspectives. Stuttgart, Germany: Verlag Ulrich E. Grauer. pp. 445–453.
  13. ↑ Jackson-Bowers, E.M.; Kalucy, E.C.; McIntyre, E.L. (2006). Focus on...Knowledge brokering. Adelaide, AU: Primary Health Care Research and Information Service.
  14. 1 2 3 Maureen Dobbins; Paula Robeson; Donna Ciliska; Steve Hanna; Roy Cameron; Linda O'Mara; Kara DeCorby; Shawna Mercer (2009). "A description of a knowledge broker role implemented as part of a randomized controlled trial evaluating three knowledge translation strategies". Implementation Science . 4: 23. doi: 10.1186/1748-5908-4-23 . PMC   2680804 . PMID   19397820.
  15. ↑ Cillo, P. (2005), "Fostering market knowledge use in innovation: The role of internal brokers", European Management Journal, 23 (4): 404–412, doi:10.1016/j.emj.2005.06.008
  16. ↑ Hargadon, A.B. (2002), "Brokering knowledge: Linking learning and innovation", Research in Organizational Behavior, 24: 41–85, doi:10.1016/s0191-3085(02)24003-4, ISBN   978-0762308781
  17. ↑ F. (2004), "Networking for knowledge transfer: towards an understanding of local authority roles in regional industrial ecosystem management", Business Strategy and the Environment, 13 (5): 334–345, doi:10.1002/bse.419
  18. ↑ Lyons, R.; G. Warner (2005-02-03). "Demystifying knowledge translation for stroke research: A primer on theory and praxis" (PDF). Canadian Stroke Network. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-27. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
  19. ↑ Fischer M.D. Dopson, S. Fitzgerald, L. Bennett, C. Ferlie, E. Ledger, J. & McGivern, G. (2015) "Knowledge leadership: Mobilizing management research by becoming the knowledge object" Human Relations, doi:10.1177/0018726715619686
  20. ↑ Nguyen, C. Thi. "Expertise and the Fragmentation of Intellectual Autonomy." Philosophical Inquiries. vol. 6, no. 2: 2018. Retrieved from pre-print draft (https://philpapers.org/go.pl?id=NGUEAT&aid=NGUEATv1), directing to original: https://philinq.it/index.php/philinq/article/view/224
  21. ↑ Sousa, Milton (2008), "Open innovation models and the role of knowledge brokers" (PDF), Inside Knowledge Magazine, archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-24, retrieved 2008-11-27
  22. ↑ Zook, Mathew A. (2004), "The knowledge brokers: venture capitalists, tacit knowledge and regional development", International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 28 (3): 621–641, CiteSeerX   10.1.1.569.4211 , doi:10.1111/j.0309-1317.2004.00540.x
  23. ↑ , health-evidence.ca
  24. ↑ Decorby, K.; P. Robeson; M. Dobbins; M. Varia; S. Fernane; A. Lane (June 2011), "Results of a knowledge brokering intervention to promote evidence informed public health decision making" (PowerPoint slides), Paper presented at the Canadian Public Health Association Centenary Conference, Toronto, ON., retrieved 2011-10-17{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  25. ↑ Dobbins, M.; L. Greco; K. Decorby; M. Ward; B. Bryant (June 2011), "A case story: Evidence-informed decision making in public health in Canada" (PowerPoint slides), Paper presented at FUSE 2011, Durham City, UK., retrieved 2011-10-17{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  26. ↑ Ward, M.; B. Bryant; L. Greco; J. McGowan (June 2011), "An EIDM Journey: Help is out there!" (PowerPoint slides), Paper presented at the Canadian Public Health Association 2011 Conference, Montreal, QC., retrieved 2011-10-17{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  27. ↑ Maureen Dobbins; Paula Robeson; Donna Ciliska; Steve Hanna; Roy Cameron; Linda O'Mara; Kara DeCorby; Shawna Mercer (2009). "A description of a knowledge broker role implemented as part of a randomized controlled trial evaluating three knowledge translation strategies". Implementation Science . 4: 23. doi: 10.1186/1748-5908-4-23 . PMC   2680804 . PMID   19397820.
  28. ↑ , National Collaborating Centre for Methods and Tools
  29. ↑ Knowledge brokers collaboration: linking stakeholders to integrated climate change data Downloaded 31 July 2013
  30. ↑ How important are climate knowledge brokers? Archived 2013-07-31 at archive.today Downloaded 31 July 2013
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