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KNOWLEDGE HUBS Lessons from the Kiota Knowledge Hub

KNOWLEDGE HUBS Lessons from the Kiota Knowledge Hub. Ronald Nakaka – AIHA Tanzania/TESWEP Twinning Partnership Zambia LRC meeting 13-14 March 2012. KNOWLEDGE HUBS. What I wish to share with you. Tanzania Twinning Partnerships The Kiota The Process A look at the nest Resources

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KNOWLEDGE HUBS Lessons from the Kiota Knowledge Hub

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  1. KNOWLEDGE HUBS Lessons from the Kiota Knowledge Hub Ronald Nakaka – AIHA Tanzania/TESWEP Twinning Partnership Zambia LRC meeting 13-14 March 2012

  2. KNOWLEDGE HUBS What I wish to share with you.... • Tanzania Twinning Partnerships • The Kiota • The Process • A look at the nest • Resources • Collaboration Tools • Networking Tools • Technologies • User special considerations • Challenges • New Partnerships Data Ecosystem model • South-South Tech Partnerships

  3. TWINNING PARTNERSHIPS IN TANZANIA • HIV/AIDS social work partnership for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Tanzania: works to improve & develop quality of services for OVC and develop infrastructure and capacity for SW professionals and schools. • PALLIATIVE CARE Partnership: works to increase access to quality home based palliative care services. • Laboratory Twinning Partnership: works to improve HIV/AIDS related diagnostic services in the country’s regional hospital laboratories. • Substance Abuse Programme: to coordinate (establish, guide, support) the development and implementation the Recovery Oriented System of Care (ROSC) by improving Substance Abuse prevention and rehabilitation.

  4. Kiota Knowledge Hub www.kiota.or.tz • Internet based resource and social networking center for social work in Tanzania. • Dynamic web portal that facilitates access to: • updated information • learning resources on Social Work & practices • Networking, communication and collaboration tool.

  5. The Process • Development & Implementation Process involved the following set of activities: • Setting goals and terms of reference • Getting a consultant (developer) • Development of the modules & Interface Design • Hosting & Domain name • Porting of the web application to the server • Training • Launching • Utilization & Maintenance

  6. A look at the nest • Kiota knowledge hub comprises of the following components: • Resources • Collaboration Tools • Networking Tools

  7. RESOURCES • Numerous learning materials from different sources. • eLibraries • Articles • Journals • Reports • Feeds • Internet based resources

  8. COLLABORATION & NETWORKING TOOLS • Communication and Collaboration: • Using discussion forums, blogs and wikis to create productive interactions among members • For Curriculum Developers &Teachers: Sharing Curriculum, Online Resources, Teaching materials. • Networking: integration with user facebook/ twitter profiles and means to directly connect among members.

  9. TECHNOLOGY STACK • Server- computer which provides information or services to other computers on a network and hosts the application files. • Operating system- The software that runs the server. The server runs on Linux. • Database - stores most content and configuration settings for the site, some content such as media files are generally stored in the server's file system. • Web server- Apache is the software component responsible for serving web pages.

  10. TECHNOLOGY STACK • PHP - programming language that allows web developers to create dynamic content that interacts with databases. (Version 5.1+) • Drupal - A framework for building dynamic web sites offering a broad range of features and services including user administration, publishing workflow, discussion capabilities, news aggregation, metadata functionalities using controlled vocabularies and XML publishing for content sharing purposes. • Modules: custom code written to achieve some specific functionality such as emailing the discussions to the members email addresses, etc.

  11. User Special Considerations We took note of special considerations for some users such as: • Users with disabilities: • Provide descriptive web page titles, succinct alternative text, descriptive headings, captions for any picture/video content. • Users who can not speak English: • Using the Google Translator Tool. • Users using portable devices to access the web application: • Custom module written to auto detect the user device and accordingly give a version that best works for it.

  12. Challenges Even after successfully developing the knowledge hub, we are still working to overcome these issues: • Connectivity issues for some faculty members • “Old habits die hard”...some people still need time to get used to this way of working • Creation of local content

  13. Partnerships Data Ecosystem Models

  14. What we stand to gain The new data eco-system model for partnerships has its benefits..... • Replication vs. Duplication of work • Joint Marketing by local partners • More collaboration among local partners • Encourages older partnership associates To utilize up to date technology. • Search Engine Optimization • Standardization

  15. South-South Tech Partnerships • What are the possible areas of partnerships in technology among the partners in Africa?

  16. ASANTENI!

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