Giving Compass' Take:

· While knowledge is widely related to power, information alone cannot lead to change. Feedback Labs addresses this common misconception and concludes that context and strategic thinking is needed to inspire action. 

· What factors influence the power of knowledge? When does knowledge matter?

· Here's some guidance on learning in this age of information overload.

Since recently moving to the DC area, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting several people who work out of the OpenGov Hub. Described to me as the place “where all the cool kids hang out”, the OpenGov Hub is a co-working space that hosts over 40 organizations dedicated to empowering citizens and making their governments more accountable and open. Last week I decided to brave DC’s July heat for the short trek past the White House and up Vermont Avenue to visit the OpenGov Hub. The draw that tempted me outdoors on a muggy Wednesday was an event entitled “Under what conditions is information empowering?”.

As the Program Lead for the Global Delivery Initiative (GDI), I found this question intriguing because information and knowledge are central to GDI’s theory of change. GDI aims to improve the delivery of development projects by creating a common language to facilitate dialogue on delivery, building a collective evidence-base of implementation know-how, and connecting practitioners. However, fulfilling this mandate means more than bringing information and knowledge together; it also requires inspiring and empowering development practitioners to translate that information into action. I hoped to find out if there is more we could be doing to strengthen this process.

Read the full article about knowledge by Debra Ladner at Feedback Labs.