MyKnowledgeMap launches online training academy for place managers

A nationwide bid to expand the successful adoption of UK town centre management to a wider range of places includes the implementation of an online training academy provided by knowledge systems specialist, MyKnowledgeMap (MKM).

Part of AGORA, a £2.7m project part-funded by the European Social Fund and led by Manchester Metropolitan University Business School and the Association of Town Centre Management, the Institute of Place Management (IPM) is a new professional institute tasked with developing and supporting the creation of sustainable formal structures of place management.

Administered by the Retail Enterprise Network (for whom MKM built its Retail Academy), the IPM is also responsible for establishing professional, internationally-recognised standards among all those involved in the management, development and marketing of places.

York-based MKM is building an online academy for the IPM. MKM is the UK's leading supplier of infrastructure systems for national skill academies that manage people needs, spanning day-to-day productivity to discovering and achieving relevant qualifications within both private and local government sector organisations.

In development for implementation on the IPM web site at www.placemanagement.org, the e-Academy supports the management of internal courses on centre management.

Its infrastructure is designed for use across any single, or over a number of, subject areas and its sophisticated group-ware environment provides collaborative training accessed by geographically dispersed users using only a web browser to enable simultaneous teamwork and share training resources.

The e-Academy integrates workshops, courses and libraries of e-learning, online books and podcasts seamlessly. It can be used to manage inductions, organise appraisals and deliver and document mandatory health and safety training. It includes a complete self-assessment and 360-degree assessment system and tracks user progress.

The IPM e-Academy will incorporate a version of MKM’s Empower system to allow its stakeholders to manage the product. Acting as a live virtual community, the system enables project players to communicate, find information (as in an actual library environment), and organise complex administrative and auditing tasks.

"Right now we are researching internationally the information required for building the competency framework for place management," says Director of Development, Cathy Parker.

"From our findings, we can develop training and support for attainment of an international professional qualification in a market that presently constitutes many niche associations without the mass, nor means, to assist its members in this way."

IPM UK membership launches in July 2007; in Australia in September, and globally in January 2008.

"We’ll have some online support available at the UK launch," says Cathy. "Member benefits will expand as we populate the site. Distance learning for the inaugural introduction to place management qualification will be available from September."

As director of the Retail Enterprise Network, Cathy worked with MKM on the creation of its own Retail Academy.

"The experience provided me with a clear view of MKM’s capabilities so that when the IPM was mooted, I could see quickly where they could play a useful role," she says.

"The Retail Academy is a qualified success and provides a clear and deliverable model that will similarly meet the needs of the IPM."
ends

Notes for Editors:
About Institute of Place Management (IPM)
The IPM is a new professional institute tasked with developing and supporting the creation of sustainable formal structures of place management. Place management is a coordinated, area-based, multi-stakeholder approach to improving locations, harnessing the skills, experience and resources of those in the public, private and voluntary sectors. Professions such as town centre management, city centre management, neighbourhood renewal, regeneration, tourism, community engagement, urban planning/design, location management (such as the management of shopping centres) and the marketing and branding of places all form strands of place management. For more information on IPM visit: http://www.placemanagement.org

About Association of Town Centre Management (ATCM)
ATCM is the leading organisation in Europe concerned with managing and improving town and city centres across Britain and Ireland. Its members include a wide-range of Government, regional agencies, local authorities and leading business interests. ATCM is dedicated to helping town and city centres realise their natural roles both as prosperous locations for business and investment, and as focal points for vibrant, inclusive communities. For more information visit: http://www.atcm.org

About Manchester Metropolitan University Business School (MMUBS)
MMUBS is one of the leading universities in the field of in-town retailing and place management. It is home to the Retail Enterprise Network, an academic enterprise unit which works to protect and promote diversity in the retail sector who were advisors to the All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group for the non-judicial inquiry ‘High Street Britain 2015’.
MMUBS is also home to a £2.7 million ESF project called AGORA which it co-ordinates in partnership with the ATCM. Funded under the EQUAL Community Programme, AGORA aims to reverse economic decline in neighbourhoods, towns and cities by piloting local community empowerment solutions. For more information visit: http://www.retail-network.org

About MyKnowledgeMap
Founded in 2000, MyKnowledgeMap (often known as MKM) is a dynamic company delivering web-based knowledge systems designed by individuals, for the individual.Operating in the corporate, public and education sectors, MKM's range of products and services includes:
• Academies: MKM is the UK's leading supplier of infrastructure systems for national skill academies, including those in the UK for food & drink manufacturing, sport & active leisure, care, and retail. MKM's e-academy infrastructure helps learners and people with a stake in a particular skill to progress from entry to degree level. Working with the UK's national Sector Skills Councils (MKM's clients include Skillsmart Retail, Improve and SkillsActive. MKM has pioneered online academies that can help people with everything from day-to-day productivity to discovering and achieving relevant qualifications. MKM also offers e-academies tailored to the needs of organisations in the private and local government sectors.
• Skills diagnostics: MKM's Skills Diagnostic suite allows clients to build their own system of skills diagnosis and training regimens. Its sophisticated software tools are designed to meet clients' specific needs, and to facilitate, not impose, the required solutions.
• Learning: MKM's e-learning solutions, including e-learning content, delivery systems and teaching aids, are used by a worldwide and growing range of organisations from Lloyds TSB to the RSPB; from manufacturing to retailing; from the police to local authorities; from the University of York to colleges in Delhi, Bahrain and Nairobi. MKM produces inventive and versatile applications that are can be shaped and contextualised by their users to meet the rapidly-changing needs of contemporary work and training, either for use within an e-Academy environment or as stand-alone products.
More information at www.myknowledgemap.com

Further Information from:
Rob Arntsen / Tom Holland, MyKnowledgeMap 00 44 (0) 1904 659465
Peter Muir / Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR 00 44 (0) 1727 860405/ (0) 1296 715228