KNET History

IPAR mooted the idea of setting up KNET way back in 2005 out of the realisation that there are many individuals and organizations dealing with research and policy analysis in Kenya. Various actors in the policy arena including Government, universities, NGOs, civil society, the private sector and the donor community produce very useful data and information. However, this information is not easily disseminated to policy makers due to the compartmentalized and fragmented nature of the dissemination systems in the country and the absence of well-structured advocacy and lobby groups. There is lack of a centrally located database of information on experts and expertise in the country. This makes it difficult for users to easily access information on who the practitioners in the research and policy analysis field are, where they are located, and what they produce. It also leads to the problem of duplication of research effort. IPAR felt that Kenya needed to establish a "knowledge economy" which will make it easier to access and use knowledge in all sectors of the economy. A network of knowledge would provide an opportunity for players in the policy arena to have access to databases and information on development issues with relative ease. It would provide a cohesive and logical framework for information sharing, as opposed to the current informal disjointed and hence inefficient networking system. Establishment of a knowledge networking system in Kenya would help tap most of the tacit knowledge that is unrecorded and unarticulated in addition to pre-empting duplication of effort.

The online information centre, which would be a component of the proposed knowledge network, would complement and augment the data available at the Kenyan Central Bureau of Statistics (now Kenya National Bureau of Statistics), thus reducing the costs (financial and time) of obtaining official data. This project aimed to convert informal personal contextualised knowledge to formal systematic and organized knowledge. This would be operationalised by creating databases of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) searchable by actors in the policy field, and compiling an inventory of Kenya's development history. KNET would provide a platform on which interested persons would debate, advocate and lobby important policy issues. An interactive forum is necessary to facilitate dialogue among policy researchers and analysts, from all over the world, on ideas that are crucial to Kenya's development. As an e-based linkage of policy centres, professionals, practitioners and academics, the hub would also provide a medium for Kenyans, including those in the Diaspora to exchange information on best practices and lessons of experience of other countries' development efforts.

Through evidence-based advocacy and lobbying by the collaborative bodies, several expected outcomes were envisaged. With the increasing trend of globalisation, regional cooperation and integration, a network of policy players within the region is of utmost necessity. A centralized database containing information on development policies and strategies of member countries can go a long way in fast tracking the harmonization of economic policies.

Within the East Africa Community and COMESA, there is evidence of increasing policy convergence and crosscutting development strategies' implementation, especially in the areas of trade and macroeconomic policies. Kenya, being the country with the most advanced telecommunications infrastructure in the region, is well positioned to host the first Eastern African policy and research network. KNET is envisaged as the first phase of this regional project. It is in this context that the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR), as the secretariat and in conjunction with a collaborative body that comprises; Association of Local Government Authorities of Kenya (ALGAK), Association of Professional Societies in East Africa (APSEA), Kenyan Economic Association (KEA), Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), Kenya Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (KIPPRA) and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology have pioneered this project. The collaboration of other policy research institutions including universities in the country has been solicited.