FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (Nov. 12, 2009) - More than 370 knowledge management practitioners gathered in Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 19-23 for the fifth annual Army Operational Knowledge Management Conference, sponsored by the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and hosted by the Battle Command Knowledge System.
Military and civilian personnel from the Army, Navy and Air Force joined with international officers, KM consultants, private sector leaders and educators for a week-long opportunity to share and exchange the latest KM industry information and military KM best practices, processes and lessons learned.
In kicking off the conference, Dale Ormond, deputy to the CAC commanding general, described how CAC, specifically the Combined Arms Center-Knowledge or CAC-K, employs the Knowledge Value Stream to drive change and adaptive learning across the Army. He also noted how CAC uses knowledge management techniques, tools and procedures to support the lines of operation of the Training and Doctrine Command and CAC's core competencies, especially leader development.
In his taped remarks to open the conference, Gen. Martin Dempsey, TRADOC commanding general, said a trend in the Army's current operational environment is the "certainty of uncertainty."
"Knowledge management is a tool that will enable us to more effectively deal with uncertainty and the rapid pace of change," Dempsey said. "Knowledge management will also enable us to prevail in the competitive learning environment and ultimately adapt more quickly than our adversaries."
The theme for this year's conference, "Winning the Current Fight," was driven by a sense of urgency to support the current fight. Program topics included warfighting KM, KM best practices and updates on cutting edge knowledge exploration initiatives. The conference incorporated blended face-to-face presentations and virtual Internet sessions, some with currently deployed leaders, throughout the three interlocking parts of the conference - plenum sessions, track sessions and training sessions.
Training sessions included: "KM in the Field: Boards, Bureaus, Centers, Cells and Working Groups," "Using Social Media to Communicate with the Force" and "KM in the Future."
During the track sessions, conference participants created six action plans addressing KM challenges and issues in: organizations and units above and below corps; technology; doctrine; Army schools and centers; and governance. Each action plan outlined the strategies and priorities, along with the challenges and opportunities for their respective topic. Action plan teams will continue to collaborate to review progress and adjust priorities for their respective areas.
A first-class mix of military and civilian speakers spearheaded the plenum and track sessions. Speaker highlights were:
Brig. Gen. Allen Batschelet, deputy chief of staff-G3, U.S. Army Europe, discussed numerous KM lessons learned and tools used during 4th Infantry Division's counterinsurgency operations in Iraq.
Brig. Gen. Nicolas Marten, deputy commanding general for operations, XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C., shared KM tools, techniques and procedures used while deployed in Iraq and the IT challenges using those same tools at home station.
Brig. Gen. Jeffery Marshall, director, J7, U.S. European Command, identified KM challenges for operating in the joint, interagency, intergovernmental and multinational environment because of security issues when operating behind Army Knowledge Online.
Brig. Gen. Edward Cardon, deputy commandant of the Command and General Staff College, responded to a question from one of the international officers who attended the conference by discussing challenges and opportunities while working with mission partner-units from other countries.
Dr. Mark Nissen, C2 chair and director of Center for Edge Power, Naval Postgraduate School, talked about knowledge dynamics in military learning organizations, noting that the performance of organizations is directly proportional to the speed of knowledge flow.
Col. Earl D. Noble, project manager, AKO/Defense Knowledge Online, discussed AKO and Web 2.0, highlighting AKO's recently unveiled mobile computing initiative.
Dr. Nancy M. Dixon, founder and president, Common Knowledge Associates, led a discussion about integrating Military Web 2.0 (milSuite) with lessons learned integration and warfighters' and professional forums to create and transfer common knowledge.
Jack Holt, senior strategist for emerging media, Department of Defense, discussed the challenges of implementing social media in a military environment. His remarks set the stage for the Social Media Panel, one of the best attended training sessions.
Lt. Gen. P.K. Keen, military deputy commander, U.S. Southern Command, delivered the keynote address, discussing EUCOM's efforts to increase collaboration among the members of Defense Cooperation Office teams operating in their area of operations. He elaborated on the Teams of Leaders initiative and the role CAC and BCKS played in developing the concept, which was successfully used during the Republic of Georgia crisis in 2008.
A highlight of the conference was a live, Internet collaborative session with Lt. Col. Stewart Liles in Baghdad, Iraq. Liles, the Multi-National Corps- Iraq and XVIII Airborne Corps knowledge management officer, used streaming live audio and the Web conference tool Adobe Connect to discuss how the headquarters is using SharePoint portals and other online information sharing tools on the battlefield.
The KM practitioners departed the conference and Kansas City with a better understanding of knowledge management efforts across the Army and a broader social network of experts with whom to share knowledge.
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