A Dialogue-based System for Sharing Development Knowledge

Lessons-learned systems as a technology to capture and disseminate an organization’s know-how have recently been receiving considerable attention. What his means in the case of the World Bank is to capture and transfer the lessons of best and worst practices gained through economic and social development projects in developing countries. But Knowledge that increases the developing countries capability to reduce poverty cannot be passively transferred to them. Rather, they must actively acquire and absorb it within the context of their prior experience and problems. This paper describes the design and implementation of a case-based lessons-learned system that creates a dialogue-based environment in which policy makers and experts construct knowledge for themselves by examining cases and examples that are relevant to their situation and have direct impact on their projects and activities.