Insight Thursday: Beyond the Headlines

Tacit knowledge resides in the minds of individuals but knowledge development thrives in a rich web of social contact among individuals, groups, and organizations. Insight Thursday provides such a context.

Insight Thursday is a weekly, 30-minute seminar open to all ADB staff. Stimulating discussions are par for the course. The events bring together different groups of people and promote understanding of, organization, and management of information worth paying attention to—from global or regional debates to institutional challenges and more.

At the Asian Development Bank (ADB), conferences, workshops, and brown bag events generally target peers in a particular field. This approach can build staff’s capacity in their respective fields but fails to provide them with knowledge that cuts across sector or thematic silos to add impetus to their development work.

In 2010, ADB launched a quick, nonintrusive approach to capacity building and knowledge sharing. The idea of a weekly seminar was fleshed out in consultation with diverse audiences, and speakers would focus on key messages and participants would comment on content. Thus was born Insight Thursday.

Insight Thursday continues to seek ways to further improve the series and ensure that it remains a platform to quickly and easily showcase out-of-the box knowledge and expertise.