Interview with John Hudson, President and CEO Eedo Knowledgeware

As the company’s President and CEO, John Hudson has led Eedo from the start-up phase in 1999 to becoming one of the world’s most recognised and respected providers of e-learning and knowledge-management technology. John’s depth of knowledge of e-learning content development/deployment and vast experience in delivering performance-based enterprise learning solutions has been instrumental in forging Eedo’s strong product vision. John is responsible for setting the strategic direction at Eedo as well as managing day-to-day operations. John has been a leader in technology-based learning for over 15 years, having held leadership roles with organisations providing large-scale technology-based learning solutions to Global 2000 corporations. His industry experience includes financial services, telecommunications, high technology, aviation, military and manufacturing.

Is the learning function strategic within an organisation?

John Hudson: It’s more appropriate to use the word “knowledge”, as opposed to learning, and yes, it is absolutely strategic and critical. A key success factor for any organisation is the ability to rapidly capture, transfer and assure knowledge so that it can meet the demands of the current demographic shift, compliancy and the challenges of globalisation.

How has knowledge transfer/learning technology evolved over the years?

John Hudson: How we learn has evolved rapidly and most of the technology has changed to keep pace with the anticipated change. For instance, we have less time to learn and our needs are more urgent. We want bite-size information that we can use immediately in a given situation. Our learning is also more informal and takes place in the workflow. The use of browsers has been pivotal in helping the technology and tools to keep pace. Web-based tools make knowledge accessible to anyone, regardless of where they are. On the development side, browsers also facilitate collaboration so geographically disparate teams can work together to create content.

Search capabilities have also become more powerful and analytics more meaningful. To link back to your initial question, improved analytics allow users to measure the effectiveness of their programmes: how they are aligning with and impacting business performance.

What are the challenges facing learning organisations today?

John Hudson: We live in a dynamic business environment. The speed of change is unprecedented. Organisations need to continually update product information, procedures, policies, regulations, standards information, etc. However, the majority of tools available don’t allow them to address changes quickly or easily and consequently; business units choose alternate tools and the learning organisation loses control. Learning organisations need to think more broadly about knowledge transfer and bring in the tools to address these needs.

Can you elaborate on your point by providing examples?

John Hudson: Sure. At Eedo, we’re working with a large European public sector organisation that needs to address dramatic change; they are facing huge downsizing issues as a large numbers of public servants retire. They don’t want the knowledge to walk out the door with those retirees, so they are using our learning content management system (LCMS), ForceTen, to capture and disseminate that knowledge.

In another example, a large life insurance company uses our LCMS to generate revenue by focussing on customer service and sales skills, new-hire orientation, and in-depth product knowledge. They no longer just handle basic training needs. They needed a comprehensive solution that allowed easy and collaborative course development and content ingestion with extensive search and analytical capabilities.

By Eedo Knowledgeware

Eedo Knowledgeware in the programme:

Stefan Heil, Eedo Knowledgeware, Germany
"Setting Standards: E-Learning Quality Management Using LCMS-Technology"
Session: The Management of Quality in Technology Enhanced Learning (QUA18), Thursday, November 29, 14:00 - 16:00

Dr. Göran Kattenberg, Eedo Knowledgeware, The Netherlands and Danny de Vos, Kadaster, The Netherlands
"Kadaster Digital Perspective: Using E-Learning to Bridge the Knowledge Gap"
Session: Public and Professional E-Learning (PUB34), Thursday, November 29, 16:30 - 17:30

October 28, 2007

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