Knowledge Plazathe place beyond search

Knowledge management

as a competitive advantage:

Euranova’s wager

USE CASE

Knowledge Plaza

has become the concrete

embodiment of the collaborative

spir it implemented within

Euranova. People within the

Euranova network have intuitively

perceived that their inputs to

the project were efficiently

tackled inside the plaza, and

that they were clearly invited to

take part in the action through

it.

After only six months, almost a

thousand knowledge elements

have been captured, tagged

a n d s t r u c t u r e d i n s i d e

Euranova's plaza. Thanks to

this, Euranova is able to

provide the relevant support

and added value promised to

its clients and collaborators.

Hervé Bath,

co-founder of Euranova

www.euranova.eu

“

“

About Euranova

Founded in September 2008, Euranova is a consultancy specialized in

technological innovation, and which now has 15 employees. Activity revolves

around two axes: advanced technology consultancy and research and

development.

Euranova pursues an innovative approach based on: diversification (training,

technology projects, and management of excellence), partnerships

(academic, open source and preferred private actors) and collaboration

(internal and external).

The context

Euranova’s business is all about knowledge, and its use in different

environments. This implies that its staff has an inquisitive nature and a

continuous desire to learn.

From the outset Euranova sought to differentiate itself from its competitors by

providing a work environment conducive to learning and interaction. The

objective: to have better trained, more efficient consultants, but above all, to

create a dynamic, innovative and creative culture.

This approach was intended not only to promote the development of its staff

but also to directly benefit clients also involved in the collaborative process.

This posed an immediate challenge due to the nature of Euranova’s activities,

and the geographical distribution of participants.

Knowledge Plaza™ is a Whatever solution

www.knowledgeplaza.be

info@whatever-company.com

+32 10 23 59 30

Stated requirements

The primary need was for Euranova to have a solution

for managing knowledge, collectively, interactively and

openly. A knowledge base providing more than the

sum of individual knowledge within it, and one that

everyone, in whatever location, could use.

Collective. To meet this need and to capitalise on

the development of information and knowledge,

Euranova wanted a single platform.

Interactive. Interactive functions such as comments

and assessments were essential.

Openness. Euranova wanted to interact with its

clients via this platform, so needed to maintain

perfect control of security, access and the degree of

information visibility.

The solution : Knowledge Plaza

Euranova chose to implement Knowledge Plaza as

the solution in support of its knowledge intensive

business.

Knowledge Plaza is a collaborative platform for

information and knowledge management, integrating

powerful search capabilities.

This solution allows the sharing, organisation and

enrichment of different types of information in varying

formats (files, emails, favourites, contacts).

Knowledge Plaza is a real documentary production

tool, always available through processing to

dissemination, combining the wealth of social

networks with the characteristics and features of

"Web 2.0".

Benefits associated withusing Knowledge Plaza

For individuals

• Knowledge base: increasing skills through access

to each other’s knowledge and stimulation of

everyone’s natural curiosity

• Invitation to participate in the discussions, which

increases the sense of mutual responsibility rather

than that of hierarchy

• Space for sharing personal information on interests

and hobbies, which also contributes to building

mutual trust

For the group

• Capitalization of knowledge

• Transparent internal communication

• Sense of belonging

For management

• Alert on changing internal information status, close

monitoring of all information produced

• Status alert on exchanges relating to a client’s

case: close monitoring of changes in missions

• Human resource management and personal

development: space sharing between each

consultant and their direct management

• External communication: feeding the Euranova web-

site with news and information through Knowledge

Plaza

For the client

• Added value: experience, collective skill set and not

purely individual

• Access to a reserved shared space in Knowledge

Plaza for better interaction