In today’s transportation agency, employees and customers demand quick and on-demand access to accurate knowledge. This requirement for knowledge extends to projects, programs, infrastructure condition, organizational structure, research findings and process documentation, among others. It is not enough to depend on the chain of command or historical expertise to provide sufficient information. Knowledge management refers to a variety of techniques for building, leveraging and sustaining the agency’s body of knowledge and the experience of its employees and partners, which enables it to carry out its mission in an intelligent way. It includes both tacit “know-how” as well as access to explicit knowledge that has been codified.
Knowledge management includes mechanisms to capture and transfer knowledge, reuse existing knowledge, participate in communities of common practice and other opportunities for collaboration and knowledge sharing, and the use of IT and management systems for maintaining knowledge bases.