Sharing knowledge to communicate
more effectively: rethinking the UN’s
intranet
Linda Stoddart
Head, Dag Hammarskjöld Library,
Chair, UN Task Force on Knowledge Sharing
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Investing in the UN
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Creating “One UN”
Adapting to a new reality
Management reform
Innovation and change
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Moving from talking to doing:
peacekeeping
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Moving from talking to doing:
humanitarian relief
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
iSeek Strategy
• iSeek was developed to support the UN
Secretariat global knowledge sharing and
internal communications strategy.
• Knowledge sharing is about:
– Collaborating
– Communicating
– Connecting
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
The UN Secretariat Culture
• Hierarchy culture: decisions taken at senior
levels
• Junior staff often not part of the decision-making
channel – resulting in lack of a sense of
responsibility
• Staff often work in “silos”
• Little collaborative work
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Use of Information & Knowledge in
Decision-Making
• Considerations
– Low use of print publications
– Medium use of electronic data
– High use of news sources and direct contacts
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Blend of Internal and External
• Very high amount of public information on
iSeek – certain degree of overlap with
UN.org
• Low awareness of need for specific
internal approach
• High degree of external scrutiny
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Internal Communications Objectives
• Bring everyone on the same page
• Ensure that iSeek is the primary source of
information for UN Secretariat staff
• Involve and engage everyone
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
One intranet for one UN worldwide, with
consistent layout, standard technology,
providing relevant and consistent
messages to reach staff everywhere
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
A "glocal" start
page
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Internal Communications Objectives
• Bring everyone on the same page
• Ensure that iSeek is the primary source of
information for UN Secretariat staff
• Involve and engage everyone
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
April:
Global Contact Directory
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Internal Communications Objectives
• Bring everyone on the same page
• Ensure that iSeek is the primary source of
information for UN Secretariat staff
• Involve and engage everyone
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Content Strategy
• Focus on creating compelling content, stories of
interest to everyone, regardless of their duty
station
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Reform/Management
Staff issues/Policy Information
New Technology Tools
Interviews and Appointments
Morale Building stories
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Creating a community of content
providers:
Brought together content focal points at a
workshop in New York:
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duty stations
departments
staff representatives
individual staff members
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Assessing impact
– Feedback (focal points would like to use
blogs)
– Surveys and polls
– Usage statistics
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Average page requests per month
for each UN intranet generation
900000
800000
700000
600000
500000
400000
300000
200000
100000
0
pre-iSeek
iSeek 2005
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
iSeek 2006
Lessons learned: what works?
• Content
– Timeliness
– Clear, inviting, easy-to-use content
– Photographs
• Technology
– One platform for all locations
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Lessons learned: what doesn't
work?
• Overly complicated approval process
• Not global enough
• Not enough content contributions from
global partners
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Current challenges (human)
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A slow process
Learn to work together
Build trust
Cultural change
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Current challenges (technology)
• Limitations of current content editor:
– Inadequate search functionality
– Limited menu-creating/management capacity
– Hands-on training required
• Limitations of web analytics and
collaboration tools
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Next Steps
• Short-term
– Contributions from content focal points and
contributors
– Interim technical solutions for collaboration tools,
available now, including open source applications
• Mid-term
– Enterprise Information Portal
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
New Mind Set
• Need to understand the organizational
culture and work within it to find realistic,
pragmatic solutions to knowledge sharing
• Identify what this will mean for people’s
daily routine
Web4Dev, UN, 2006
Thank you!
Web4Dev, UN, 2006