The Push and Pull of Knowledge Management in R&D

Knowledge Management in the pharmaceutical industry has been undergoing a transition over the past 5-10 years. With recent changes occurring in the industry, shifts in the research focus at both large pharmaceuticals and small-mid size pharmaceuticals and biotechs are becoming more common. The way we view the information food chain has had to change. We are in a world where we need to have greater flexibility and easier access to data than ever before. We are typically working with external as well as internal collaborators on our project teams.

On the 13 October 2008 at the InnovationWell Community of Practice Meeting at Bryn Mawr College, Philadelphia, we will run a workshop on the Push and Pull of Knowledge Management in R&D, which will be chaired by John Conway (Accelrys) and Frank Hollinger (Sphaera Pharma).

The objective of the workshop will be to discuss how Knowledge Management Systems are being developed in this new age, how they are being used and what changes we as a community should be pushing for in the next generation of systems. Keeping an eye toward doing things ‘right’ while remaining cost conscious, we are often presented with a challenge to put the ‘best’ system in place. Participants will discuss ways forward in solving this problem within organizations, collaborations and discovery teams.

User Perspectives will be used to seed discussions on current and future research needs in Knowledge Management in R&D support systems, which will be carried out using a wiki-supported Knowledge Cafe format.

Program & Schedule
09.00 Frank Brown (Accelrys), Data is only Valuable if you can Extract the Information
09.30 Chris Culberson (Merck Research Laboratories), WISK: What I Should Know – Mining Chemical Transformations to see What Really Works

10.00 Ralph T. Mosley (Pharmasset), Going Big to Small: What happens when you leave Big Pharma?
10.30 Coffee Break
11.00 Knowledge Cafe on Perspectives
12.30 Group Discussion
13.00 Lunch
14.00 Tim McIntyre (GlaxoSmithKline), Workflow Application Enhances Productivity
14.30 Chris Smith (Pfizer), Risk-based Decision Making based on Complex Physical Chemical, Environmental Fate and Toxicological Effect Data Sets for Pharmaceutical Products and their Intermediates
15.00 Barry Hardy (Douglas Connect), Knowledge-Oriented Collaboration in Virtual Organisation Structures
15.30 Coffee Break
16.00 Knowledge Cafe on Perspectives
17.30 Group Discussion
18.30 Knowledge-sharing Dinner

A description of the abstracts for the session perspectives follows:

The Push and Pull of Knowledge Management in R&D 

http://innovationwell.net/COMTY_kmworkshopbm08

(Please follow continuation here to read abstracts.  Comments can be made at the end.)