Nordfors Creative

Expert Network Fellowships

Initiated and run by the Foundation for Knowledge and Competence Development (KK-stiftelsen) 1998-99 Project Manager: David Nordfors. Managed by Nordfors Creative on assignment from KK-stiftelsen 2000.

The project resulted in the creation of a national swedish university expert network, ExpertSvar. The project connected Sweden intimately to the important international expert networks of today, such as Profnet (USA), IDW (Germany) and CVCPs Expertnet (UK), importing to Sweden the knowledge of how to build and run expert networks on the Internet, connecting journalists with academic expertise.

Knowledge networks connecting journalists with academic expertise are important tools for creating a new arena for knowledge competition in the public media. This is a necessary step for enabling the knowledge-driven democratic economy/society. Internet-enabled intermediaries and research tools between journalists and scientists create possibilities for society to empower democracy, boost technology transfer and convergence of technology, and help to catalyse cross-disciplinary science through public dissemination of science. 

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Press Release by Profnet:  'Expert-Network' Fellowships - Swedish information officers get first-hand look at services linking journalists to experts Thanks to fellowships offered by the Swedish Foundation for Knowledge and Competence (KK Foundation), nine Swedish public information officers and science Ph.Ds interested in public communications will get a first-hand look this fall at the operation of several online services that specialize in linking journalists to expert sources. The program is designed to encourage the development of a Swedish Internet-based expert network that may be connected with existing networks in the U.S. (i.e. ProfNet), U.K. (ExpertNet, operated by the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals) and Germany (Expertdienst Wissenschaft). Report by Michel Bajuk covering the expert networks on the Internet. 1 Dec 1999, 224 pages (Editor: David Nordfors):    Länkbibliotek med sammanfattning och analyser: INTERNATIONELLA EXPERTNÄTVERK mellan forskare och journalister, samt andra tjänster för förmedling av forskningsnyheter och kvalificerad vetenskaplig information till media "Våren 1998 uppdrogs jag av KKStiftelsen att på en internationell arena kartlägga expertnätverk och informationstjänster som syftar till att utöka kontaktytorna mellan forskare och journalister. Utredningens  primära syfte var att identifiera och knyta kontakter till KKS. Frukterna av arbetet skulle utgöra diskussions- och beslutsunderlag för pilotförsök rörande förmedling av kvalificerad forskningsinformation till media." "Expertkunskaper och forskningsinformation är hårdvaluta som säljs och förpackas i alla möjliga skepnader och former. Mitt uppdrag har varit att finna de mest kvalificerade och välfungerande  tjänsterna som är konstruerade för att främja informationsutbyte och kontakter journalister emellan" "Rapporten bygger på omfattande research på webben i kombination med intervjuer på plats i tre världsdelar: Washington D.C., Langley VA, New York City, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Heidelberg, Bryssel, Grahamstown, Johannesburg, London, Bradford och Baltimore, bland andra städer. Ett stort antal intervjuer har också genomförts över telefon och kompletterande frågor har i viss mån avhandlats  via e-post.  Jag har också fått hjälp från organisationer som National Institute of Computer Assisted Reporting, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Center for Public Integrity och International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (CPI/ICIJ)."

Conference in Hannover 6/7 2000, arranged by SAFARI: REPORTING AND COMMUNICATING FROM THE SCIENTIFIC FRONTIER - new interfaces between scientists and journalists: international expert networks and news services promoting public understanding of science. Arrangers: Malin Winbladh (Safari) and Michel Bajuk (Kairos Futures) Research Report Published in Science Communication, Vol21 No.23, March 2000,296-308: INFOPAC - Researchers Learn Research Dissemination by Doing by Thomas Tydén and David Nordfors In order to facilitate the interplay between researchers and practitioners, a creative experimental  interaction has been developed. An information package - INFOPAC – is atttached to each new  research project receiving financial support from two research funding organizations in Sweden. Project leaders are offered one day of training in both theories concerning research dissemination and practical application. The first task for the participants in the training is to write a press release and send it to chosen media. An information consultant attached to the projects then measures the outcome. The information consultant also follows up and helps the course participants during the  period of the project funding. The trial with INFOPAC has been in progress for three years and the  results achieved so far are reported in this paper and placed in their theoretical context.