Document Version Control:
VERSION: / NAME: / DATE: / DESCRIPTION:0.1 / Samir Prabasi / 16th August 2010 / Initial Document Draft and Outline
0.2 / Samir Prabasi / 16th August 2010 / Created team wiki site to work online (http://fit3099.wikispaces.com) & created relevant pages for various types of content such as Project Plans and Research. Uploaded relevant content from research conducted & allocated activities. Advised team of access to site & created accounts for all members.
0.2.1 / Samir Prabasi / 16th August 2010 / Uploaded Initial Report Draft document with proposed structure outline & example incorporating Document Version Control to team wiki site for review by all members
0.3 / Mark Tan / 22nd August 2010 / Edited Report Draft and added sections addressing Objectives, Functions, Tasks & CMS Platform Selection; uploaded to team wiki site for review by members
0.3.1 / Samir Prabasi / 23rd August 2010 / Updated and edited Mark’s initial Functions doc and uploaded to wiki. Edited Revised Project Plan and put up an example for team to view
0.4 / Samir Prabasi / 24th August 2010 / Created page ‘Marking Guide & other docs’ on team wiki site containing extra material given by Henry regarding assignment
0.5 / Samir Prabasi / 26th August 2010 / Installed chosen CMS Drupal on personal server, created sub-domain http://km.prabasi.com for system prototype and created admin accounts for all team members
0.6 / Andre Hioe / 29th August 2010 / Edited Revised Project Plan & added Work Breakdown Structure to initial document
0.7 / Mark Tan / 1st September 2010 / Uploaded content relevant for project from Week 7 Tutorial to team wiki site
0.7.1 / Mark Tan / 6th September 2010 / Uploaded content and Info Sources relevant to project from Week 8 Tutorial
0.7.2 / Ian Fung / 6th September 2010 / Started working on Functions doc to justify choice of our CMS in relation to required functions of proposed KMS and uploaded to team wiki site
0.7.3 / Samir Prabasi / 6th September 2010 / Conducted research and started working on “Climate Change Issues in South Asia” doc to outline the structure of our KMS and the core categories we will be using in preparation of Week 9 Tutorial; created ‘Timesheets’ page on wiki site for individual team member’s contributions to be documented & put up template.
0.8 / Samir Prabasi
Ian Fung
Mark Tan
Andre Hioe / 8th September 2010 / Project Team Meeting conducted; Feasibility Report allocations adjusted & clarified; what work has been done & what needs to be done confirmed
0.8.1 / Ian Fung / 8th September 2010 / Conducted research & uploaded relevant content discovered to team wiki site for team review
0.8.1 / Samir Prabasi / 8th September 2010 / Conducted research regarding core countries of South Asia and various impacts of Climate Change; uploaded maps & resources to team wiki site; updated “Climate Change Issues in South Asia” doc to reflect changes/new information obtained & put on wiki
0.8.2 / Ian Fung / 9th September 2010 / Updated & added various other functions of relevance to existing Functions doc to justify choice of our CMS & elaborated on required functions of proposed KMS; uploaded to team wiki site for team review
0.9 / Samir Prabasi / 10th September 2010 / Worked on Finalized Structure of Feasibility Report including specific sections/headings of document & added relevant content gathered
0.9.1 / Samir Prabasi / 11th September 2010 / Created Project Team Logo and Name; added cover sheet with Abstract section of report; included TOC, headers & footers
0.9.2 / Samir Prabasi / 12th September 2010 / Created version of Feasibility Report document containing Finalized Components/Sections & altered TOC to reflect changes; added content to ‘Introduction’ & ‘Project Background’ sections; uploaded to team wiki site for other members to review & contribute content to other specific sections
0.9.3 / Mark Tan / 12th September 2010 / Drafted ‘Collaborative platform’ and ‘Knowledge Repository’ (partially) Sections of the Feasibility Report
0.9.4 / Mark Tan / 13th September 2010 / Drafted ‘Knowledge Repository’, ‘feasibility assessment’ introduction, ‘legal feasibility’, ‘schedule feasibility’ and part of ‘economic feasibility’
0.9.5 / Mark Tan / 13th September 2010 / Drafted ‘political feasibility’ and completed ‘economic feasibility’
0.9.6 / Mark Tan / 15th September 2010 / Completed ‘feasibility’ section, including ‘economic’ and ‘technical feasibility’.
Consulting
Executive Summary
Table of Contents
1. Introduction 6
1.1. Purpose 6
1.2. Scope 6
1.3. Audience 6
1.4. Limitations and Constraints 7
1.5. Methodology 7
2. Project Profile 8
2.1. Client Background 8
2.2. Project Background 8
3 The Knowledge Management System 16
3.1 Scope and Objectives of Design 16
3.2 Design Approach 16
3.3 Core Functions Supported and their Justification 16
3.4 Design Rationale 16
3.5 Techniques to Sustain Knowledge Management Components 17
4. Prototype overview 17
4.1 Collaborative Platform 17
4.2 Knowledge Repository 17
5. Feasibility Assessment 18
5.1. Schedule Feasibility 18
5.2. Technical Feasibility 18
5.3. Operational Feasibility 18
5.4. Economic Feasibility 18
5.5. Legal Feasibility 18
5.6. Political Feasibility 18
6. Recommendations 19
7. Appendices 19
7.1 Appendix A: Blogs 19
7.2 Appendix B: Forums 19
7.3 Appendix C: Pages (Knowledge Repository) 19
7.4 Appendix D: Project Team Members Timesheets 20
1. Introduction
This Feasibility Report contains an outline of various aspects regarding the proposal of a project to be undertaken by iT@lent Consulting, in response to the Monash Sustainability Institute (MSI) initiative to utilize Knowledge Management (KM) with a view to create and maintain ongoing collaborations and initiatives amongst the institutions and participants of the AusAID Australian Leadership Awards Fellowship (ALAF) program; which has been developed and designed by MSI for the ALAF projects to improve knowledge and understanding of Climate Change issues. Specifically, this program supports up to twenty five senior Fellows from South Asian Institutions to participate in collaborative workshops and discussion forums at Monash University for an initial duration of six weeks. Hence, one of the focal anticipated outcomes of this program is to build strong working relationships in to the future by maintaining co-ordination between all participating institutions, with the objective of establishing a network of South Asian Institutions, including Monash University; to facilitate on-going collaborations and initiatives between the institutions that will be established during the course of the ALAF Program, and to continue after the ALAF Program has concluded.
This report identifies the requirements and addresses numerous facets of the proposed deliverable system, from a technological to a business perspective, and details the implementation of the proposed system. The report aims to illustrate and reinforce the potential benefits which are viable to obtain from a Knowledge Management System, as the one proposed in this report, which far outweigh the cost and potential risks associated with the entire project. The various sections of the document are divided as follows:
1.1. Purpose
The purpose of the project is to facilitate learning and improve the current state of the weather network around the region, as well as improving knowledge and understanding of climate change issues between South Asian Institution. The other purpose are improving the communication and understanding among the parties involved, where we as the expertise will be able to provide answers to certain areas in regards to climate change.
1.2. Scope
1.3. Audience
1.4. Limitations and Constraints
Unable to speak to the users of the system to identify their specific needs and requirements (i.e. to conduct a needs analysis)
We are also unable to determine the user’s level of computer literacy and the level of access to infrastructure required to use the system, i.e. the Internet.
Language barriers could be a potential constraint; hence we could implement a controlled vocabulary and a thesaurus to minimize the risks.
Additional constraints include budget and time.
1.4. Methodology
The system will be build based on the portal approach, more specifically it will be build in the World Wide Web (WWW) and the system can be accessed easily at anytime and anywhere throughout the globe. The system is used to allow an open discussion, where other users could help solve questions raised by the entity, and also the system will strengthen resource allocation because of the mutual collaboration among different parties, as well as generate reports for users when required. The portal-based approach is well known for its un-biasness due to the fact that key terms or meanings do not contradict. Overall the entire system facilitates knowledge work which includes thinking, interacting, and doing with others in environment that promotes learning, capture, and redistributing knowledge for key stakeholders.
2. Project Profile
2.1. Client Background
The Monash Sustainability Institute (MSI) successfully applied for funding for a project under the AusAID Australian Leadership Awards Fellowship (ALAF) program. The successful project supports up to 25 senior Fellows from South Asia institutions to come to Monash University for up to 6 weeks to participate in collaborative workshops and discussion forums addressing the theme of “Developing proactive policy and practices for land and water management responsive to climate change”.
2.2. Project Background
The program developed by MSI for the ALAF projects has been designed to improve knowledge and understanding of climate change issues. These issues include population growth, increased resource demand, disaster management, community development, water resource allocation, and cross border issues. A primary goal of the project is to strengthen the capacity of various institutions in terms of education and research for climate change and to encourage multi-disciplinary approach to climate change issues, as well as to co-ordinate policy development and application on a regional basis.
Project Structure
Project Managers: / Samir PrabasiMark Tan
Project Team Members: / Samir Prabasi
Mark Tan
Andre Hioe
Fung Chi Yan (Ian)
Client: / Monash Sustainability Institute (MSI);
Monash University, Caulfield School of Information Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Sponsor: / AusAID
Australian Leadership Awards Fellowship (ALAF)
Project Director & Supervisor: / Dr. Henry Linger
Roles Hierarchy Diagram
Roles and Responsibilities
Name: / Main Role: / Additional Role: / Description:Samir Prabasi / Project Manager and Editor in Chief / Prototype System Programmer and assist with Documentation of Prototype / Liaison with Project Team Members to ensure regular contact
Resolve/prevent/avoid conflicts
Allocate activities/tasks
Supervise tasks
Research and Documentation
Work with Project Team Members to Define Scope and Identify constraints/limitations
Project content development
Edit components of work conducted for final Report by Project Team Members
Mark Tan / Chief Information Analyst and Assistant Project Manager / Documenter and Presentation related roles / Document Project content & progress
Aid in Allocation of Activities/Tasks and Supervise Tasks
Record meetings minutes
Assist team to Conduct Presentations
Define Scope and Identify constraints/
limitations
Andre Hioe / Chief Researcher and Documenter / Assistant Information Analyst / Research and Documentation
Relate research to Project
Define Scope and Identify constraints/
limitations
Project content development
Aid with liaison
Fung Chi Yan (Ian) / Chief Programmer (System Prototype) and System Prototype Documenter / Assistant Researcher / Coding
System development
Technical analysis
Technical support
Technical documentation
Assist with Project Content Development
Project Facilities and Resources
Project Facilities / ResourcesComputers / Laptops / Projectors for
Client Meetings / Web hosting provider and Domain name have been finalized (RapidVPS webhosting package and domain of http://KM.prabasi.com
Computer Labs, Conference Room / Drupal.org including relevant additional modules (and other Web Content Management Systems – options if further functionality required)
Internet Access / Microsoft Office Suite of Products, Team’s Wiki Spaces Website
Work breakdown
Work Breakdown Structure
Project Name:
Department:
Focus Area:
Product/Process:
Prepared By
Document Owner(s) / Project/Organization RoleProject Closure Report Version Control
Version / Date / Author / Change DescriptionCreated document.
Work Breakdown Structure Purpose and Limitations
[Replace this text with a statement of the purpose and limitations of this worksheet, or use the following sample.]
The purpose of this worksheet is to:
· Identify the work to be done.· Identify the types of resources required for the work.
· Develop estimates for each work element.
· Identify storage locations.
This worksheet does not address:
· Who will perform the work.
· When the work will be completed.
3 The Knowledge Management System
Our team decided to use the packaged software “Drupal” as the knowledge management system.
3.1 Scope and Objectives of Design
Purpose of our knowledge management system aims to collaboration and sharing with an organized, accumulated and embedded context. We helps ALAF participant for creation, construction, identification, capturing, acquisition, selection, valuation, organization, linking, structuring and retrieval.
3.2 Design Approach
Our Design Approach depends on the needs from the 25 senior fellows from South Asian Institutions. Based on the information we have, they need to do research and collaborate among the members. We then seek for the technology from some packaged software which suits their needs as we do not have the ability and resource to build a new system ourselves which suits them perfectly.
3.3 Core Functions Supported and their Justification
The Login function gives different user different power on editing the content and controlling the website settings. User without logging in could only view the publication publishes by the administrator. For the internal function for example forums and blogs could only be viewed after login and content could only be edited by the creator or administrator that could helps the version control.
The Reporting System generates reports for decision making. For the research side, change log could show which member is making a contribution and which is not. Meanwhile for the publication side, hits count could keep track of what type of information is in high demand and administrator may consider researching for more related information.
The poll function is good for ALAF participants help deciding thing along other participants. They could ask a question, provide possible answer and let other members to vote. It would be useful especially when we gather information from the user about how they wanted the system to work and what kind of changes they wanted to make with the system in order to do their work.
The Version control function keeps track the details of content updates including who is changing it and what was changed, the date and time of changes made to the content. It enables participants to roll-back at anytime back to an earlier version. Since it can keep track all the changes, it reduces the risk of member delete all the information intentionally or unintentionally. It minimizes multiple versions of the same knowledge