Research Uptake: Improving Knowledge Management in Biosecurity Agencies

For agencies managing biosecurity risks, failure to find, obtain, and exploit relevant research findings can result in negative impacts, such as exotic pests and diseases entering a country and significantly damaging the environment, economy, and social amenities. Repeated failures to take up relevant research outcomes represent missed opportunities for innovation, as benefits from improved efficiency in decision making do not accrue over time. Impediments to the smooth flow of knowledge include a culture that doesn't value knowledge and learning (e.g. where organisational silos develop or where decision making is driven by political agendas). Tools are available to assess an organisation's ‘knowledge culture’ and many solutions are available to improve the flow of knowledge within systems. In this chapter, we discuss managing and communicating knowledge in the context of agencies that are charged with managing biosecurity risk, so that opportunities provided by a healthy knowledge culture can be fully exploited. We provide a knowledge audit framework and an example of its use in the biosecurity context to show how a biosecurity agency might assess and improve its culture around the use and uptake of knowledge.