- A community of practice is a group of individuals who:
- Informally share a similar preoccupation or concern
- Deal with a similar problem or issue
- Have a similar passion for a certain subject
- Can augment and strengthen their knowledge and expertise via the interaction with the other individuals in their community
- Communities of practice can:
- Amplify innovative ideas throughout their network benefiting from the collaborative expertise
- Convene different, distinct professionals, globally, across organizations
- Promote and sustain a professional network
- Enable members to access information and support
- Facilitate the identification, creation, storing and sharing of knowledge
- Enable faster problem solving and response time to needs and inquiries within the network
- Create an environment in which best practices can emerge
- Enable accelerated learning, connect learning to action, and improve organizational performance
The International Airport Professional (IAP) alumni (graduates of the Global ACI-ICAO Airport Management Professional Accreditation Programme) mandated the ASI Institute to provide their group with expert advice to establish a community of practice for its growing network. The Institute guided the IAPs through each detailed step, taking the group from its rudimentary state through to its incorporation with an IAP Community of Practice board and modus operandi. The ASI Institute was also (later) engaged to perform all administrator duties on behalf of the community.
The IAP Community of Practice (IAP CoP) is the meeting point for airport executives who are AMPAP alumni to share: common matters of interest or concepts; similar problems or issues; a passion for a certain subject and; a desire to augment and strengthen their knowledge and expertise via interaction their community peers. In other words, IAP CoP participants advance their own knowledge and networking capabilities while creating opportunities to enhance the practice and profession of airport management on a global level.
One of the ways that this sharing occurs is through Airport Labs, which is the sharing expertise on specific best practices in various functional areas of airport management in a face-to-face setting. These two-day highly interactive workshops offer small groups of IAPs the opportunity to discuss, collaborate, and learn from airport professionals that have demonstrated leadership in a specific airport subject.