The Horizon Columbus 2020 project, funded by the EU, addressed knowledge transfer (KT) issues related to marine and maritime research. Columbus was aimed at using KT to unlock the potential of coastlines and seas in Europe.

(Credit: Mikhail Varentsov, Shutterstock)

Specifically, the following two results of the project are hugely interesting and confirm key findings of the AFRD-Framework® which I published a little while ago:

• Within Columbus, complex knowledge (i.e. huge amounts of data and information) from research studies were broken into “knowledge units” to manage them in a more efficient way – this is like breaking a big problem into small ones to tackle those one by one in a coordinated manner. The underlying assumption within AFRD is that knowledge can be managed like a project: complex knowledge should be broken into its components (data and information) first; then those can be prioritised and knowledge can be transferred in iterations, step by step. Here, Columbus and AFRD reveal some interesting similarities;

• Building a cohort of KT specialists was key to achieving KT within Columbus. This confirms the underlying assumption of the AFRD-Framework® which is about focussed teamwork to accelerate knowledge sharing as a first step – and then initiating iterations of prioritised KT sessions.

Columbus is a good study and certainly worth a read. [poet-badge]