http://www.impatientoptimists.org/en/Posts/2012/10/Connectivity-is-the-Key-to-Sustainability?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRogvavIZKXonjHpfsX54usuUaSg38431UFwdcjKPmjr1YAJTsZ0dvycMRAVFZl5nQhdDOWN October 03, 2012 Creating Networks to Make Changes in Global Health Gary Darmstadt , Wendy Prosser , Wolfgang Munar October 03, 2012 Knowledge networks are in the news again with the announcement from Jeffrey Sachs about the launch of a worldwide knowledge network to bring together global leaders and thinkers to find solutions to sustainable development. The network will create an organized space for information on technology, energy, agriculture or nutrition, in order to generate conversations and ideas about sustainability, innovation, and where technologies should evolve. At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we have also been thinking a lot about knowledge networks and how they can be leveraged to bring upstream technologies to downstream adoption in order to achieve impact at scale. One clear message comes out of looking at historical trends of the adoption of innovations: it’s not easy! There is a graveyard of pilots out there! It has taken more than 15 years for coverage of Hepatitis B vaccine to reach where it is today, and that reaches only a bit more than 50% of all children in the world. Kangaroo Mother Care is another example of a life-saving intervention – one that requires no product - but most care providers do not know about this behavior and so do not educate new moms about the benefits of holding her baby skin-to-skin. Sometimes we global health ‘experts’ seem to have taken advice from the movie, Field of Dreams, and base our scale up model on the theory, “If you build it, they will come.” That may have worked for Kevin Costner (a neighbor of mine as a kid), but it doesn’t work for Kangaroo Mother Care. Much more effort is required to make sure innovative solutions are in the hands of people who can and will use them. That is how knowledge networks can be so powerful. Knowledge networks link people across disciplines and sectors to keep members abreast of new ideas, data, evidence and practical applications. Usually these networks are grounded by a few key influential anchors who generate ideas and spread insight. These networks support trusted relationships that enable people to put themselves into a learning context safely. Learners and experts who may be spread out around the globe can connect and share insights, creating a space to explore new ideas. This space can bring together practitioners from completely different contexts and backgrounds, giving them the opportunity to make knowledge operational, shared and real. It’s creating a common ground for a diverse group of thinkers and leaders who can leverage the network to seed and spread ideas and influence. We are experimenting with this in Bihar, India with the Ananya Partners Network. Ananya links development organizations, government leaders, community health workers, and district level leaders. We are attempting to create pathways for the tools and ideas that are generated by each partner to get to other partners, either through personal interface, online knowledge sharing platforms, or by applying the network governance and management structures. And partners are monitoring the network dynamics and program performance. The hope is that this established network generates expertise and knowledge which is subsequently shared among all partners and adapted to their specific local challenges. And this should then inform policy and implementation decisions for scale up. These networks are instrumental in sharing knowledge, generating ideas, and bringing innovation like Kangaroo Mother Care, exclusive breastfeeding, and life-saving vaccines to spread to all those who need them. http://www.impatientoptimists.org Access CANCHID archives at: https://listserv.yorku.ca/archives/canchid.html plus CANCHID subscription management. CANCHID is a joint service of the Canadian Society for International Health < http:www.csih.org > and the Distributed Knowledge Project (York University). Queries to Sam Lanfranco <[log in to unmask]>