CASE STUDY

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS CASE STUDY

Client: US Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center
Area of Focus: Knowledge Management Solutions
Contract Vehicle: Sub-Contract through QinetiQ North America

Abstract

The U.S. Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center administers safety and occupational health training programs and provides tools and materials to help commanders, leaders and soldiers mitigate risks both on- and off-duty. The Center produces a wide array of safety-related videos, PowerPoint briefings, flyers, posters, and checklists in support of its mission. To help commanders navigate the vast stores of material at their disposal, the prime contractor, QinetiQ North America, engaged Carney to create a single comprehensive interface commanders could use when accessing safety materials from the Center’s website.

Background

The US Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center is charged with helping soldiers integrate safety practices and procedures into every facet of their lives, both on and off the battlefield. One way the Center supports that mission is by providing safety-related publications and presentations—including safety-related videos, PowerPoint briefings, flyers, posters, and checklists—on a wide range of safety-related topics.

However, because so much material is available, it was often difficult for users to know that a publication or presentation relevant to their situation existed. Likewise, if they did know the material existed, it was often difficult to find the specific material they wanted.

Carney was asked to design a “Commander’s Toolbox,” defined as a single comprehensive interface for commanders to use when they were looking for safety-related publications and presentations that they could use in briefings for the soldiers under their command.

Challenge

The US Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center was looking for a solution that would make it easier and less time-consuming to find specific safety-related materials, provide a way to search for specific topics or types of materials, and identify and track materials that had been updated.

Carney Solution

Carney developed an application that commanders are able to download and use in conjunction with the Center’s website. The application provides the following features:

  • Metadata-appended files – enables users to search for materials by title, subject, type (flyer, PowerPoint presentation, video, etc.), or keyword
  • Automatic updating of materials – automatically refreshes files whenever a user connects to the secure network, thus ensuring that users always have the most recent versions of files they frequently use
  • File preview – enables users to review files online before downloading them to their local hard drives

Results

The Commander’s Toolkit enables commanders to quickly and easily access the materials they need, know that they can always be sure they have the most current version of any resource they have downloaded to their own computers, and quickly review documents to determine their relevance and suitability.

Delivering Remarkable Client Experience

Through the development of the Commander’s Toolkit, Carney enabled the Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center to better realize the value of the many resources they had already made available to soldiers. Using the application, commanders are able to quickly and easily find and use the available resources. The application provides a practical cost-effective solution for an identified need, and enables the QinetiQ Carney Team to further support the Center’s goal to serve as a DoD Center of Excellence for Safety, Occupation Health, and Composite Risk Management Training and Education.

Carney – A trusted partner

Carney, founded in 1994, provides government and military clients with innovative knowledge management solutions that accelerate workforce performance.  Carney’s products and services help agencies accomplish mission-critical objectives and improve readiness.

Through best practices and a thorough examination of the challenges facing military and government leaders, Team Carney identifies new ways to capture, control, and transform knowledge through competency analyses, knowledge transfer strategies, and assessment evaluations.

Carney strives to provide remarkable client experiences by delivering quality performance solutions at the speed of need.