What’s a Resource Architect?

Beyond brokers, Resource Architects are individuals and organizations that intentionally design and mobilize knowledge.

Those involved in the iterative, highly collaborative, and contextually influenced work of knowledge mobilization often get reduced to the term “knowledge brokers.” But this traditional term is inadequate for describing the scope, complexity, and importance of those external to educational and policy systems who not only introduce knowledge into these systems, but also collaborate with practitioners and policymakers to revise or co-create insights and resources.

These actors are more aptly called “Resource Architects.”

More than simply producing and disseminating research, Resource Architects design carefully crafted resources to meet the specific needs of their audience. They create the right content with the right people at the right time.

Through this multi-directional work, Resource Architects:

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  Build trusting relationships
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  Develop a deep understanding of the contexts, culture, and structures that support and sustain their work
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  Identify missing elements and areas of support
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  Collaborate with other experts
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  Design exciting and engaging materials
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  Combine the tried-and-true with the unexpected and new
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  Influence clusters to interact in new ways

SOSNetLab uses social network science, natural language processing, and machine learning to help Resource Architects find and better understand their audience by uncovering social opportunity spaces (SOS).

What We Do