Epic powers collaborative learning in government

Platinum, an online collaborative learning resource developed for Senior Civil Servants and Heads of Industry by Epic Group plc, Europe's leading e-learning company, has achieved high levels of usage in its opening week.

Platinum was developed for the Centre for Management and Policy Studies (CMPS) - a part of the Cabinet Office that provides training and development, intellectual resources, consultancy and networking opportunities for public servants. It is intended for past and present participants of CMPS's corporate development programmes for senior managers, providing a secure online environment in which they can network, solve problems, discuss issues and share knowledge. Tremendous interest has been generated within the Civil Service and beyond, with more than 250 users logging on in the first week. Current members include Chief Executives, permanent secretaries and key staff across government, private and wider public sectors.

Margaret Saner, Deputy Director, Corporate Development Division, Centre for Management and Policy Studies, said: 'The interest already generated bodes well for the future of this innovative advancement in learning. Platinum has successfully created an environment in which senior civil servants feel comfortable learning collaboratively and sharing ideas - helping us to equip the Civil Service for the challenges of 21st century government.'

Donald Clark, Epic Group's CEO, said: 'Nobody is as smart as everybody and joined-up government has to mean a sharing of knowledge. This is a top class example of how senior civil servants can share knowledge and learn from each other to improve value.'

Aged generally over 35 and often with limited web experience, Senior Civil Servants might be thought to represent a challenging target audience for an e-learning project. However, networking and informal knowledge sharing opportunities have always been valued components of the corporate development programmes offered by CMPS, and Platinum aims to extend this type of activity online. In the physical world, so-called 'communities of practice' are an increasingly important feature of corporate activity. The Internet offers an ideal medium through which such knowledge networks can be sustained and supported.

The Platinum website has been designed and developed to facilitate networking and continued learning. As well as encouraging communication between members, it will also provide CMPS with a communication channel to publish news articles and a diary of events. A secure member-exclusive facility allows members to send and receive messages individually or to a group. Discussion forums enable threaded 'asynchronous' discussions. A member database can be searched by sector, knowledge area, interest, or by a particular development programme. In addition, members can receive expert advice and technical support through the site.

Collaboration in e-learning is a white paper by Donald Clark, CEO of Epic Group plc. Click here for a summary.