NILS™ is a web-based platform that facilitates the disciplined initiation and development of networked improvement communities working on shared problems of practice in education. It enables individuals to collaborate and share across time and space, moving much of what we currently do face-to-face in improvement practice into a virtual learning environment.

This technological solution supports the launch of networks, the prototyping and testing of change ideas, the swift and asynchronous dissemination of tacit and explicit knowledge, and efforts to consolidate and spread a NIC’s learning. To ensure that this learning is grounded analytically and tested empirically, NILS™ includes features for data tracking and analytics to derive knowledge from a community’s data collection cycles. The platform’s virtual learning environment also facilitates the mental shift required as improvers move from thinking of themselves as receiving and acting on information, to seeing themselves as improvement leaders producing knowledge in the field.

The Carnegie Foundation is no longer supporting networks on the NILS platform. NILS will be available under a new host starting in late summer 2025. For updates on availability, please contact support@carnegienetworks.org.