Knowledge Mobilization - Brokers

Brokers

Sometimes it is necessary to have knowledge brokers who can act as a bridge between the users and producers of the knowledge. Such brokering is essential to ensure that the right information is available to right people, at the right time and in the right format. These ideas of quality research informed by needs of research users, accurate interpretation, open access and just-in-time service are the bases for good researcher-user interface, often provided by knowledge brokers who can synthesize a large body of research and look for policy and practice implications that facilitate use of research results.

The Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) has made extensive use of knowledge brokering and promoted evidence-informed decision making in the health services field. CHSRF has developed extensive tools and resources that are finding use outside the health field. Similarly, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) have developed the idea of knowledge translation as a means to make better use of research in the health field.

Potential users of research findings may not be obvious upfront at the start of the research process. The research endeavour may be theoretical or historic, and of interest to a few knowledge consumers. However, as the research process unfolds, implications and possible uses of research widen to increasingly broader audiences. It is being attentive to such possibilities that is the essence of knowledge mobilization. An awareness of potential and ever-changing uses of the information helps build a legacy for future generations.

Application of science to technological problems and innovations is in some ways simpler than the application of findings in social sciences in areas that are investigating long-term embedded societal problems, often intertwined at local, national and global levels. Social science research deals with the people side of quality of life issues and nation-building that are so crucial to the future progress of humanity. Human, technological and cultural developments are needed for economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, social harmony and cultural vitality.