Creating and Supporting a Community of Practice

Medicine 2.0

Aims: We have investigated the nature of a Community of Practice (CoP), particularly as applied to healthcare and health research teams. Our objectives are to define frameworks for collaboration and provide information systems support for collaborative teams. Although the "CoP" term is widely used, it appears to be minimally understood, as is how to realize and support CoPs. Methods: Our work has involved three thrusts: (1) to understand the literature on the CoP concept and experience with its application, (2) to convene a Ministry of Research and Innovation workshop featuring progenitors of the concept together with researchers and other parties, and (3) to analyze in depth the needs of a specific CoP - a team of cancer researchers. Results: A very successful workshop featuring Dr. Etienne Wenger exposed its participants to the nature and realities of CoPs and defined the requirements for facilitating the creation of CoPs. The video archive of this workshop has been made available on the Web. The study of the needs of cancer researchers resulted in two key reports, one on the nature of a researcher CoP and its required technological underpinnings, and one on the concept of operations of a CoP-support system. Conclusions: We all seem to realize the value of the CoP idea, but few have delivered practical, usable tools that help to assemble a CoP and support it. Our work provides this basis, and we will present what establishing a CoP requires and how it needs to be supported by information systems.