Institute of Development Studies

I-K-Mediary Network

The I-K-Mediary Network is an emerging global network of organisations that play a knowledge and information intermediary role in development. These organisations all aim to increase access to and use of research in development contexts by providing portals, gateways or reporting services.

The I-K-Mediary Network aims to enhance and enable the positive impacts of information and knowledge intermediary work by:

• increasing the effectiveness of I-K-Mediary Network members
• creating a more enabling environment for their work.

Our Vision

Our vision is a world where stakeholders in policy and practice processes are willing and able to utilise research based information in their work for development and social justice. We believe that information and knowledge intermediaries contribute to this vision by promoting demand for and supporting access to research based information, and by facilitating exchange and knowledge sharing between stakeholders in these change processes.

What the network does

The network aims to enable the members to:

• Learn and innovate together
• Support professional development within the sector 
• Collaborate with each other to maximise their efficiency 
• Build greater understanding of the role of knowledge and information intermediaries 
• Advocate for the value of information and knowledge in development processes 
• Develop capacity of other key stakeholders in the information environment

Current activities underway include: joint experimentation with web 2.0 tools, case study work to understand our influence in change processes in different contexts, joint work to identify Monitoring & Evaluation (M & E) frameworks, indicators, data collection methods and tools, and ongoing information sharing and learning between members, including virtual workshops on functional areas of work such as producing email newsletters.

Meet the members

The network is currently made up of over 70 individuals from 28 organisations in 23 countries that host a range of intermediary services. The group come from research institutes, networks, government and international organisations in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania.

See our I-K-Mediary Network - world map of member services (word doc)
See details of the I-K-Mediary Group Members and Services (word doc)

I-K-Mediary Network at the Between Ourselves workshop, South Africa

Want to get involved?

Membership is open to people directly involved in running an information knowledge service within development. For further details of membership criteria and how to get involved contact the I-K-Mediary Network Yaso Kunaratnam at the Institute of Development Studies at y.kunaratnam@ids.ac.uk or on +44 (0)1273 915823.

Governance and Funding 

The I-K-Mediary Network is being co-ordinated and supported by the IDS Knowledge Services as part of the DFID funded Mobilising Knowledge for Development programme. The MK4D programme has also funded the Brighton and Pretoria workshops and supported international participation. DFID's support is gratefully acknowledged in enabling the emergence of this network. The I-K-Mediary Network is overseen by a Core Group made up of I-K-Mediary Network Members from nine organisations worldwide. This group are currently looking into formalising the network and seeking funding for its activities.