This keynote reflects on the value and potential of social networks, interlinked data, semantic web and data-mining. At the same time I would like to elicit new research directions, which are only enabled by the sheer mass of data, sensors, facts, reports, opinions and inter-linkage of people.
Never before in history data has been generated and collected in such high volumes as it is today. Keeping up to date with the flood of data, using standard tools for data analysis and exploration, is fraught with difficulty. Visual analytics seeks to provide people with better and more effective ways to understand and analyze large datasets, while also enabling them to act upon their findings immediately. The field integrates the analytic capabilities of the computer and the abilities of the human analyst, allowing novel discoveries and empowering individuals to take control of the analytical process. In this paper we present the challenges of visual analytics and exemplify them with a couple of application examples that illustrate the existing potential of current visual analysis techniques but also their limitations.
In the field of personal learning environment (PLE) research is focusing on the generation and provision of recommendations. Amongst others, approaches reach from decision making tools based on psycho-pedagogical principles over specialized social recommender functionality up to general community or context-aware recommendations. The variety of the solutions results from the fact that pure collaborative filtering (CF) techniques are not sufficient for PLE-based scenarios. In this paper we propose utilizing learner interaction recordings for generating PLE recommendations fitting the educational and social context of a learner. Besides pointing out how we have realized this approach as part of a research prototype, we evaluate and discuss such recommendations generated from data captured in former studies.
Reading comprehension is one of the main concerns for educational institutions, as it forges the students’ ability to comprehend and learn accurately a given information source (e.g. textbooks, articles, papers, etc.). However, there are few approaches that integrates digital sources of educational information with automated systems to detect whether an individual has comprehended a given reading task. This work main contribution is a text comprehension classification methodology for the detection of reading comprehension failures in educational institutions. The proposed approach relates situational model theories and latent semantic analysis from fields of psycholinguistics and natural language processing respectively. A numerical characterization of students’ documents using structural information, such as the usage of text connectors, and latent semantic features are used as input for traditional classification algorithms. Therefore, an automated classifier is built to determine whether a given student could or not comprehend the information in the given stimulus documents. For the evaluation of the proposed methodology, using a set of stimulus documents, a set of questions must be answered by an experimental group of students. We have performed experiments using first year students from Engineering and Linguistics undergraduate schools at the University of Chile with promising results.
The modular logistic transport of goods on streets, railroads, inland water and sea is a complex and versatile process. It requires exact knowledge of geographic information, available logistical service providers and communication channels. This application paper describes IMOTRIS, an automated Intermodal Transport Routing Information System which is developed as a state-aided collaborative project that benefits from practical experience by contributions from different ports and transport service providers. We present a novel approach which combines service-oriented multi-modal route planning with semantic web technologies for the selection and ranking of transport and turnover services to create suitable and optimized complex logistic service chains. We utilize committed semantic descriptions of logistic services and their relationships with regard to the application context.
In recent years, a number of approaches to improve the overall navigability of web-based information systems have been introduced – breadcrumbs and automatic linking algorithms represent two exemplary approaches. While evaluation of such approaches is a complex and multidimensional endeavor, involving cognitive, user-interface and other issues, the objective of this paper are more modest. In this paper, we aim to evaluate the effectiveness of differ-ent navigational aids for web information systems from a network-theoretic perspective. The main idea of this paper is to use decentralized search as a mechanism to evaluate navigational effectiveness. In our experiments on the largest Austrian online encyclopedia Austria-Forum, we compared the usefulness of two existing approaches to linking, i.e. breadcrumbs and automatic linking. Our results suggest that different navigational aids differ signifi-cantly with regard to their potential to support efficient navigation. The main contribution of this paper is a simulation-based frame-work that enriches the repertoire of tools for web engineers who are aiming to evaluate and improve navigability of web information systems. The framework allows engineers to assess a potential usefulness of various navigational tools even before expensive development or user studies are carried out.
The recent innovation literature has increasingly emphasized the efficient use of knowledge and information not only inside the company borders, but particularly the knowledge locating outside the company borders, such as the knowledge of customers and users. In addition, the co-creation of new knowledge has gained fast in importance. Various types of collaborative web tools and approaches, such as social media, can enable and significantly increase the collaboration, the collaborative knowledge creation and the use of the distributed knowledge both within and outside the company borders. In this paper, we have studied the role and possibilities of social media in the sharing and creation of customer information and knowledge especially from the perspective of business-to-business companies’ innovation with an extensive literature review. Business-to-business context was chosen because it is in many ways a very different environment for social media than business-to-consumer context, and is
currently very little academically studied.
Tagging introduces an intuitive and easy method to organize resources in information systems. Although tags exhibit useful prop-erties for e.g. personal organization of information, recent research has shown that the navigability of social tagging systems leaves much to be desired. When browsing social tagging systems users often have to navigate through huge lists of potential results be-fore arriving at the desired resource. Thus, from a user point of view tagging systems are typically hard to navigate. To overcome this issue, we present in this paper a novel approach to supporting navigation in social tagging systems. We introduce tag-resource taxonomies that aim to support efficient navigation of tagging systems. To that end, we introduce an algorithm for the generation of these hierarchical structures. We evaluate the proposed algorithm and hierarchies from a theoretical, semantic and empirical point of view. With these evaluations we are able to show the high performance and usefulness of the proposed hierarchies.
Accessing web-based information systems such as online encyclopedias is driven by user information needs. As soon as users satisfy their needs for certain information they live the site of such online encyclopedias. Hyperlinks comprised by an online encyclopedia play an important role on guiding users to corresponding articles which explain certain concepts within the system. Therefore, we believe that by providing high quality links within a corpus with insucient interconnections, its network connectivity is enhanced. Consequently, gaining of networked knowledge is supported. Further, users are more attracted to follow links and stay longer on such sites. In this paper, a linking framework for the most well known Austrian online encyclopedia called Austria-Forum is presented. This linking framework, enables interlinking of semantically related articles within our corpus. Moreover, it provides the possibility to evaluate the quality of linking before making expensive e orts on automatically generating links.
With the increased popularity of Web 2.0 services in the last years data privacy has become a major concern for users. The more personal data users reveal, the more difficult it becomes to control its disclosure in the web. However, for Web 2.0 service providers, the data provided by user is a valuable source for offering effective, personalised data mining services. One major application is the detection of spam in social bookmarking systems: in order to prevent a decrease of content quality, providers need to distinguish spammers and exclude them from the system. They thereby experience a conflict of interests: on the one hand, they need to identify spammers based on the information they collect about users, on the other hand, they need to respect privacy concerns and process as few personal data as possible. It would therefore be of tremendous help for system developers and users to know which personal data are needed for spam detection and which can be ignored. In this paper we address these questions by presenting a data privacy aware feature engineering approach. It consists of the deisgn of features for spam classification which are evaluated according to both, performance and privacy conditions. Experiments using data from the social bookmarking system BibSonomy show that both conditions must not exclude each other.
We present information extraction for a semantic personalised tourist recommender system. The main challenges in this setting are that information is spread across various information sources, it is usually stored in proprietary formats and is available in di erent languages in varying degrees of accuracy. We address the mentioned challenges and describe our realization and ideas how to deal with each of them. In our paper we describe scraping and extracting keywords from di erent web portals with di erent languages, how we deal with missing multi-lingual data, and how we identify the same objects from di erent sources.
For the canon of important works of art, lots of information is available on the Internet. Diff erent Web platforms exist that show artworks with additional information and an Art historical description. While this information is suitable for experts in Art history, users without this expert knowledge may nd this information hard to access because of a vocabulary mismatch between experts and laypersons. In order to allow users with di erent expertise to communicate and comprehend Art in their own vocabulary we have created the explorARTorium (www.explorARTorium.info), which visu-alises artworks in context and allows users to browse along diff erent narratives. The explorARTorium also o ers the possibility to annotate artworks. We have therefore collected a Folksonomy about artworks. Applying Data Mining algorithms on this Folksonomy, we show that the reproduction of Art historical facts is possible. Moreover, we are able to analyse the extent of Art historical knowledge among people of the 21st century.
It is widely agreed that information retrieval (IR) systems benefit enormously from considering not only the user’s query but also contextual data.
In enterprise IR systems corporate knowledge bases and additional manually triggered information about users are normally taken to obtain such contextual data. In this paper we propose a solution for role-specific search in enterprise environments without the need of manual administration of mappings between roles and documents. We include collaboratively constructed knowledge engineering systems for computing similarity measures between user role attributes and relevant information snippets in enterprise documents.
Our approach suggestsoptimizing such enterprise search systems by a role-sensitive ranking algorithm that relates contextually-derived information needs of users to unstructured (textual) data in documents. Hence we introduce a linguistic conceptfor generatingrole describing word vectorsbased on query (search) histories and corporate knowledge base generation.
The Introduction outlines some basic ideas concerning the major areas of enterprise search, some relevant differences between web search and enterprise search. Subsequently we sketch our optimized enterprise search model.
In Chapter 2some theoretical background and Related Work is briefly discussed.Chapter 3depicts some linguistically relevant details of our proposed model. We discuss our concept of User Roles, Role Term Vectors, some approaches for Role Term Extraction andTerm Extraction incorporating knowledge bases and query histories. In Chapter4 we describe our ranking mechanism, the re-ranking strategy and the method for Role Relevance Scoring. Chapter 5 gives a conclusion of the work as well as an outlook on future work.
The company, product and event (CoProE) ontology is an ontology that is being developed for use as a component of DAVID, a text mining system for business intelligence. The main design principle of the ontology, as well as the whole text miming system, is based on heavy reuse of existing freely available resources. This paper introduces the ontology and the domain knowledge component that utilizes it. In addition to describing the ontology and its design principles, we consider the ways in which the design process of the domain knowledge model and the CoProE ontology facilitated the design of our whole business intelligence text mining system.
Our objective is to support reasoning tasks in heritage architecture with graphics enabling analysts to visualise and share their understanding of how, from a given set of information, alternative scenarios or evolution can be inferred. The paper comments on the nature of the cognitive processes in historical sciences, and on factors that need to be weighed when interpreting sets of information. Visual solutions are proposed, and illustrated on real cases in Kraków Poland. They help spotting where alternative explanations should be considered in order to avoid unjustified assumptions and certitudes on the evolution of artefacts. The contribution expects to demonstrate that reasoning on uncertainties in historical sciences can be fruitfully backed up by concepts and practices from the infovis community.
Visual Analytics is successfully employed for an integrated data analysis by means of combining visual and analytical methods. The starting point for current Visual Analytics tools and workflows is usually the readily available data set. Rarely though, Visual Analytics goes beyond the data set and also incorporates the data generating processes that have led to the data in the rst place into the analysis. And indeed, in many use case scenarios, this is hardly possible, as these processes cannot be captured as data to be analyzed themselves. Yet for the applications, in which this is feasible, new opportunities and challenges open up. In this paper, we illustrate these opportunities and chal-lenges by our e orts to bring together Visual Analytics and stochastic simulation for cell biological applications. The integration of both is possible, as the data generating process runs in silico and can thus be captured and analyzed alongside the mere simulation result. For this, we present solutions and tools, which permit Visual Analytics on all stages of this particular data generating process – on the stages of the model, the experiment, the simulation runs, and a combination of all three.
Although inverse problems are well studied in engineering, physics and computer graphics this uncommon perspective has been less investigated in many other contexts where it also offers some potential interest. Basically an inverse problem (or inverse modeling) aims to find the parameter values of a model that can have produced a given result. This paper adopts this point of view in order to invert queries. Therefore the main objective becomes to find the query criteria that might have produced a known result set. In order to structure the field of investigation, a list of various inverse queries is proposed. Out of the five identified categories, the paper focuses on the simplest one: the inverse Boolean conjunctive queries composed of n criteria each involving one attribute taking orderable values. Some theoretical issues raised by this type of inverse query are discussed in detail. Next, the paper describes a solution to integrate such inverse queries in user interfaces. Finally a prototype implementing one of the possible solutions to materialize inverse queries is presented.
Assignment of sta to work tasks is a complex problem that involves a large number of factors and requires a lot of expertise. Long term as well as short term requirements need to be met which demands flexible solutions. Software tools can aid planners in reaching optimal dispatching plans but currently available solutions provide only incomplete support. This paper describes the design, development, and evaluation of a prototype for semi-automated assignment planning called A-Plan. We have carried out this work in the context of a gas device maintenance provider. In A-Plan, assignments of service technicians to customers are displayed visually and can be modi ed by direct manipulation. Smooth cooperative work is possible and an optimization algorithm has been integrated that facilitates semi-automatic planning. A qualitative evaluation with potential users and IT professionals provided encouraging feedback on the proposed integration of automated methods and interactive visual interfaces.
The visualization and analysis of dynamic networks have become increasingly important in several fields, for instance sociology or economics. The dynamic and multi-relational nature of this data poses the challenge of understanding both its topological structure and how it changes over time. In this paper we propose a visual analytics approach for analyzing dynamic networks that integrates: a dynamic layout with user-controlled trade-off between stability and consistency; three temporal views based on different combinations of node-link diagrams (layer superimposition, layer juxtaposition, and two-and-a-half-dimensional view); the visualization of social network analysis metrics; and specific interaction techniques for tracking node trajectories and node connectivity over time. This integration of visual, interactive, and automatic methods supports the multifaceted analysis of dynamically changing networks.
A Call for Papers (CfP) is a small, but well-structured and information-rich message with a relatively short lifespan. CfP plays an important role in academic life, not just as an advertisement format, but also as a trigger of and advance organiser for collaborative academic writing. This paper explores the possibilities to create a comprehensive ontology for CfP so that is would be relevant and useful in Research 2.0 context for two main target groups: authors involved in collaborative writing of academic papers, and conference organisers or journal editors. Our study is conducted in three phases. First, we identify existing ontologies and other representation frameworks, which could provide concepts relevant for CfP. Next, a sample of conference CfPs is analysed and compared, to find out the common structures and peculiarities, which could be used for extending the existing ontologies. Finally, we propose Call ontology together with two usage scenarios.
We propose a framework to address an important issue in the context of the ongoing adoption of the “Web 2.0” in science and research, often referred to as “Science 2.0” or “Research 2.0”. A growing number of people are linked via acquaintances and online social networks such as Twitter allows indirect access to a huge amount of ideas. These ideas are contained in a massive human information flow [35]. That users of these networks produce relevant data is being shown in many studies [1][2][28][36]. The problem however lies in discovering and verifying such a stream of unstructured data items. Another related problem is locating an expert that could provide an answer to a very specific research question. We are using semantic technologies (RDF,SPARQL), common vocabularies(SIOC, FOAF,SWRC) and Linked Data (DBpedia, GeoNames, CoLinDa) [3][4][5] to extract and mine the data about scientific events out of context of microblogs. Hereby we are identifying persons and organization related to them based on entities of time, place and topic. The framework provides an API that allows quick access to the information that is analyzed by our system. As a proof-of-concept we explain, implement and evaluate such a researcher profiling use case. It involves the development of a framework that focuses on the proposition of researches based on topics and conferences they have in common. This framework provides an API that allows quick access to the analyzed information. A demonstration application: “Researcher Affinity Browser” shows how the API supports developers to build rich internet applications for Research 2.0. This application also introduces the concept “affinity” that exposes the implicit proximity between entities and users based on the content users produced. The usability of a demonstration application and the usefulness of the framework itself are investigated with an explicit evaluation questionnaire. This user feedback led to important conclusions about successful achievements and opportunities to further improve this effort.
The management of scienti c events is a prestigious job that goes together with many tasks that have to be carried out in a timely and highly parallel fashion. Conference management systems (CMSs) have simpli ed the process and have given decision-support features to the organizers but still there is room for improvements. With the social media movement of the last decade, computer-mediated social interactions and professional networking have also gained importance for scholars. Those interactions take place outside of CMSs. Thus, a rich source of information is ceded to social networking services that could be used for a better quality of service and more awareness support for all stakeholders in CMSs. In this paper we introduce ginkgo as a novel approach to scienti c event management that brings together well-known features of classic CMSs with those of common features of social networking sites to make scienti c event management more social and awareness supporting.
The ROLE Showcase Platform is a kind of virtual showroom providing information about the software developed in the ROLE (Responsive Open Learning Environments) project. Aim of the ROLE project is to provide new methodologies and software supporting lifelong learning, namely individual constructing of personal learning environments according to users’ preferences and learning goals. This demo paper describes scope and goals of the ROLE project, and introduces the ROLE Showcase Platform, its main content types and software (learning widget bundles and learning tools) demonstrated.
In the area of Business Process Management (BPM), current tools for executing processes strongly focus on the handling of process instances and miss to create a user-centric environment to handle the tasks accruing due process execution. With the PROWIT Process Collaboration Service an integrated platform is created, which includes both process and user context to provide a collaborative environment for all participants of the process. In a web-based environment, the process handling is combined with collaboration, as well as knowledge transfer and knowledge persistence.
There are currently over 175 million Twitter accounts worldwide, making Twitter one of the most popular and most observed Social Media platform. But Twitter is not so much a social network where the exchange of personal information is facilitated – in fact, recent surveys state that it’s not very social at all with a large amount of inactive accounts and a low motivation of engaging in dialogues [1]. Twitter has rather evolved into a pool of constantly updating information streams consisting of links, short status updates, and eyewitness news. Among the millions of users, a small percentage is what is called the group of influencers or alpha users. They have a large, active audience that consumes and multiplies the content published by the influencer. Thus, an influencer’s content – whether it is plain text or links – is distributed in a number of micro-networks and receives attention from a large amount of users even though they might not even be direct followers of the influencer. The further the content is spread, the further the influence of the user reaches.
There are various tools that enable performance measurement on Social Media. Some only sum up numbers such as the amount of followers or mentions gained on Twitter; others interpret the numbers and rate the performance using a specific algorithm. An example for the latter is Klout, a popular service that will be looked at more closely, focusing on the question of how Klout calculates its scores which serve as a means of measuring success of Twitter usage.
The research purpose of this paper is to determine a grounded approach for measuring social networking potential of individual Twitter users
This paper is proposing a list of knowledge management instruments based on a thorough literature review considering English and German sources, a strict definition for km instruments and a new categorization scheme that allows identifying potential duplicates or missing pieces.
Communication and sharing of knowledge are important challenges for virtual organizations (VO) in the globalized economy. There are various tools available to virtually reduce geographical distances and to support collaboration. Also for the management of knowledge appropriate solutions are available. But VOs typically have limited time to setup the entire IT-nfrastructure for their collaboration. Therefore the trend to buy ready-to-use products exists. This paper characterizes requests of VOs for SaaS products, proposes functionalities to support team work and describes challenges with their solutions in the cloud.
Social Network Sites such as Facebook are being now used by many academics for learning purposes, taking into account studies that report that a majority of young students spend more time in socially related online activities when compared to time in classroom. In online education there are mature models for creating and conducting learning experiences, one of them is the 5 stage e-Moderation model. In this study we created an experience of doing e-Moderation of a learning process in Facebook. At the same time a comparison of interactions and learning between Facebook and traditional online discussion forums in a learning management system is performed. The participants of the course setting are university professors from diverse countries in Latin-America. Outlined are findings in organization of learning activities, new social motivation artifacts and intrinsic social behaviors, information exchange difficulties, enhanced and increased interaction, positive knowledge construction, critical thinking and reflection development, therefore leading the study results into creating effective e-Moderation learning activities in Social Network Sites.
With the industrial success of knowledge-based systems new requirements with respect to Knowledge Engineering pro-cesses arise. Besides advanced knowledge acquisition tools, novel techniques for the quality assurance need to be established in order to maintain a safe development process. In Software Engineering, the application of continuous integration as a collection of practices has proved to be suitable for this task. In this paper, we transfer the general ideas of continuous integration from Software Engineering to knowledge Engineering, and we demonstrate the implementation of a continuous integration tool into a state-of-the-art Knowl-edge Engineering workbench.
Search has een and will continue to be an important tool for users who need to locate information in an ever increasing mount of resources. Not all queries have a well defined information need that can easily be described by a keyword query Exploratory search is one such type of search where the user is not necessarily proficient in the domain or does not have a clear idea of what he is looking for. In such types of search navigation is beneficial to guide the user in his quest. In this paper we present an approach to contextual navigation search, based on a hierarchical structure constructed from folksonomy tags. The tags are associated with an extended semantic representation used to guide the navigation. Five semantic navigators are intro duced, which are navigation strategies the user can benefit from. We present a prototype which has been implemented to show the applicability of the approach to the problem at hand. The preliminary results are promising and demonstrate the ability to direct the user at interesting navigational suggestions and do cuments.
As traditional process elicitation methods are expensive and time consuming, a trend toward collaborative, user-centric, online business process modeling can be observed. A com-mon proposal in this area is the use of a semantic wiki-based light-weight knowledge capturing tool for collaborative pro-cess development. Although di erent frameworks have been proposed, nobody has compared the systems against existing requirements for collaborative maturing of processes. To address this issue we provide a comparison framework on the basis of these rewquierments, which we used to compare existing approaches.
The purpose of knowledge mapping is a better orientation in a given domain and accessing knowledge of the right people at the right time. Collaboration between students and academics is desired and knowing each other’s work or research objectives can signi cantly improve it. Our focus is to improve collaboration at University of Hradec Kralove by collaborative knowledge mapping. University’s knowl-edge mapping can be based on individual’s research objectives as well as sharing related documents. We propose a conceptual model for a platform that would allow students and academics to work with a complex set of relationships structured according to the Topic Map standard.
In this paper a software prototype called BrainDump is described. The approach is focusing on information gathering during web browsing sessions. While performing such a task, the structure and amount of needed data is not known in advance. The system provides the functionality to create and manipulate visual images of mental connections in a dynamic way. Therefore only one single step of interaction is needed. Furthermore the user can follow links back to the source of information, annotate content and hierarchically group collected items.
Benchmarking is an established way for evaluating automatic systems which tackle the same task. This paper presents the results of benchmarking the Anaphora Resolution Systems (ARS) developed at MIMOS against several similar systems, and the lessons learnt from it. The dataset used for this benchmarking effort consists of texts with Pronominal Anaphora, Definite Noun Phrase Anaphora, Pleonastic Anaphora and Reader/Writer Anaphora. The authors used the Recall, Precision and F-measure (F1 score) to measure the results of this evaluation.
In the last years, the vision of the Semantic Web has led to many approaches that aim to automatically derive know-ledge bases from Wikipedia. These approaches rely mostly on the English Wikipedia as it is the largest Wikipedia version and have lead to valuable knowledge bases. How-ever, each Wikipedia version contains socio-cultural knowl-edge, i.e. knowledge with speci c relevance for a culture or language. One diculty of the application of existing ap-proaches to multiple Wikipedia versions is the use of addi-tional corpora. In this paper, we describe the adaptation of existing heuristics that make the extraction of large sets of hyponymy relations from multiple Wikipedia versions with little information about each language possible. Further, we evaluate our approach with Wikipedia versions in four di erent languages and compare results with GermaNet for German and WordNet for English.
This document presents a new readability test designed to optimise the readability of package leaflets for drugs. It discusses the existing methods and the additional properties that the new method offers. A newly developed catalogue of criteria forms the foundation for the new method. In addition, the problems associated with current package leaflets are discussed.
Processing knowledge is a prominent field of research and – after the knowledge management hype a decade ago – also in business domain. We observe two main trends, although not explicitly distinguishable. First the knowledge engineering approaches focusing on machine interpretable knowledge and second the knowledge management approaches that center on human interpretable knowledge. It is proven that both approaches can be supported by models, for knowledge engineering more formalized knowledge expressions and for knowledge management also informal knowledge expressions. The Open Knowledge Model (OKM) project on Open Models aims to bring these two communities together by applying an open model-based approach for modeling knowledge. A first prototype has been developed in the project plugIT. This paper will introduce the approach, the findings and provide an outlook on OKM.
Knowledge economy is more and more collaborative and de-centralized, where knowledge is defined, used and shared across different groups and domains. Sharing this knowledge allows users to create knowledge-based commmunities but introduces security risks to organizations when confidential data is disclosed to competitors. This paper describes a semantic framework to define knowledge-based communities where users can share knowledge across organizations posing and enforcing access and privacy policies. In addition it also provides a graphical tool to represent and visualize those communities facilitating the understanding of their relations and the content within them. In addition, it presents the evaluation carried out by a group of triallists from two commercial departments.
In this paper, we conceptualize visual representations (e.g., sketches, CAD drawings, and prototypes) as „artifacts of knowing‟ serving the purposes to share, transform, and symbolize organizational knowledge. First, we propose a comprehensive definition of visual representations by integrating insights from the literature domains of knowledge management and organizational culture. Building on the reviewed literature, we then develop a conceptual framework that articulates the visualization process in terms of a cyclical pathway between the formats (e.g., from sketches to prototypes) and the functions (e.g., from knowledge sharing to knowledge symbolization) of visual representations. After suggesting managerial recommendations for the use of visual representations in organizational knowledge management, we conclude our paper by pointing out the limitations of the current literature, and by suggesting directions for future research on visual knowledge management.
In this paper, we review the benefits of sketching or ad-hoc, collaborative hand drawings for knowledge creation, knowledge sharing, and knowledge documentation. We have conducted a comprehensive literature review in the fields of design, psychology, and computer science that documents the multiple advantages of sketch-based approaches for managing knowledge in organizations, especially on the team-level. We argue for the complementary use of this „low-tech knowledge management‟ approach with existing digital infrastructures and tools. The article concludes with a set of propositions for practitioners regarding the use of sketching in different knowledge management contexts and with implications for future research in this area.
In the last years, knowledge management and technology en-hanced learning are confronting a lot of new challenges due to rapid changes in business environment and technological pro-gress. In a fast changing business environment, where jobs and roles never stand still, the slow processes of creating formal learn-ing materials and delivering vocational training across the whole organisation can create barriers to the adoption and use of learning technologies. In work-intensive environments, a formal way of knowledge acquisition and learning (from a classroom to classic eLearning) is often insufficient, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. Furthermore, mobile devices are becoming more and more powerful. They are increasingly used in parallel to PC or notebooks especially by people who spend a lot of time on business trips. They are becoming more important for knowledge acquisition and technology-enhanced learning. Therefore, knowl-edge management and eLearning tools should be available not only as web application integrated in widely-used Internet plat-forms, but also for mobile devices. To close these gaps, the EU projects “ROLE – Responsive Open Learning Environments” and “MIRROR – Reflective Learning at Work” aim to support self-regulated and reflective learning-on-the-job methodologically and technically. Based on a self-regulated learning process model and reflective learning artefacts, a multi-platform prototype for self-regulated learning including reflection on the learning progress is being developed. The prototype contains integrated tools for self-regulated vocabulary training and activity tracking tools support-ing reflection on the learning process. The tools are available as both web applications and mobile apps. Their application is dem-onstrated by a showcase scenario of mentored self-training includ-ing reflection on the learning process.
Designing information and communication technologies (ICT) for knowledge work is a primary challenge in research and practice of knowledge management. Knowledge workers supposedly organize and manage their workplaces, at least partly themselves, which needs to be considered when designing ICT for supporting their daily knowledge-intense activities. It is considered useful for designers of knowledge management systems (KMS) to look into the results of behavioral science in information systems concerning the adoption, acceptance and assimilation of ICT. Thus, this paper proposes a model that contributes to bridging the gap between design science and behavioral science in the domain of knowledge management. In this regard, widely recognized behavioral models that aim at explaining organizational and human behavior in conjunction with ICT are analyzed in order to extract important factors influencing the successful application of KMS with respect to the adoption by an organization or organizational unit, acceptance by individual knowledge workers, and assimilation into knowledge processes and practices. By combining, categorizing, and structuring these factors, we developed a comprehensive model to be taken into account in software design and evaluation processes from various perspectives. Moreover, we discuss a case example in which this model is applied to the design of a KMS.
Although the concept of knowledge work has been around for fifty years and many interventions have been made in order to support this type of work, information is scarce on the effects of such interventions. This paper presents the results of a multiple-case study consisting of seven cases related to six European organisations and one network of organisations on the topics performance, measures and plans concerning knowledge maturing. The paper lays out the design of the empirical study, the methods used, the results we gained and the interpretation that we performed on the basis of the results. We collected a number of reasons why organisations deem themselves as outperforming others with respect to knowledge maturing, measures that have proven successful when being employed in a certain constellation or are planned by the organisations. Out of those, we were able to elicit levers and clearly describe the effects those levers are per-ceived to create with respect to general handling of knowledge and their effects on knowledge maturing.
Expert profiling and identification are important to both knowledge workers and organizations. To this end, skills management and expert recommender systems facilitate the management of skills and competencies and help find appropriate experts to meet a particular need. In this paper, we present a technique for generating evolving expert profiles of individuals composed of their skills and competencies using heterogeneous data from divergent sources of information. We use self-declarations, completed learning activities, and previous work experience to generate the initial profile. Recommendations, “wisdom of the crowd”, direct observations of online and offline activities, and content generated by the individual both within the organization and on the Web are then used to enrich the profiles and to assess and validate skills and competencies over time.
Software engineering projects result in experiences that are valuable for continuous improvement. Experience and Knowl-edge Management (EKM) deals with the proper presenta-tion, engineering, and reuse of experiences, e.g. training newproject members or supporting future projects. In globally distributed projects proper EKM is even more important: Communication between project partners is more difficult than in co-located projects and may impair the awareness of knowledge residing at a project partner’s location. Project members might hesitate to share experience because of security considerations. We propose a hierarchical experience base with rights management aiming to positively influence their willingness to share. Our concept includes special sup-port for experience engineers to re ne local experiences into best practices in globally distributed software projects. In this paper we show how our approach can rise awareness of existing experiences by presenting relevant experiences according to roles. We also argue, how this improves the willingness to share experiences in a distributed environment.
In team collaboration we deal with collaboration among team members that may either belong to the same enterprise (intra-enterprise collaboration) or among team members belonging to different companies (e.g., in research projects). Social media provide an efficient and accessible means of encouraging and
supporting team members working together on shared objects, i.e., performing collaborative tasks within these teams. Due to ease of use and access, especially small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may profit a lot from social media in team collaboration. Based on a number of case studies on the application of social media in SMEs, we analyze the adoption and implementation, the motivation of team members and their benefit, and success factors of the utilization of social media for team collaboration. To provide a set of case studies that allow for detailed comparison and in-depth analysis of multiple case studies, a standardized case study structure is introduced.
In this study we look at an innovative approach to knowledge management, namely the use of graphical representations for conveying a specific type of knowledge. We focus on business strategy and investigate how this type of knowledge can best be communicated by comparing textual and visual representations. Through a controlled experiment we examine the effect of knowledge representation on understanding and recall of participants in Europe and East Asia. The results show that knowledge visualization is superior to text, independent of culture, and that culture does not have a negative mediating role on the reception of knowledge. However, we also find that subjects underestimate the benefits of visual representations of information for building up knowledge in both cultures. We believe that these findings reveal the hidden benefits of visualization for knowledge work. Communicating knowledge with visual formats or representations thus seems a promising, but undervalued practice for international, intercultural contexts.
System Engineering (SE) is becoming increasingly knowledge intensive. Knowledge Management is recognized as a crucial enabler for continuous process improvement in engineering projects. Particularly, capitalization and sharing, of knowledge resulting from experience feedback are valuable asset for SE companies. In this paper, we focus on the formalization of engineering experience aiming at transforming information or understanding gained by projects into explicit knowledge. A generic SE ontological framework acts as a semantic foundation for experience capitalization and reuse. This framework is operationalized with Conceptual Graphs formalism and applied to a transport system engineering use case.
In multifarious offices, where social interaction is necessary in order to share and locate essential information, awareness becomes a concurrent process that amplifies the exigency of easy routes for personnel to be able to access this information, deferred or decentralized, in a formalized and context-sensitive way. Although the subject of awareness has immensely grown in importance, there is extensive disagreement about how this transparency can be conceptually and technically implemented. This paper introduces an awareness model in order to visualize and navigate such information in multi-tiers using semantic networks, and Web3D. To support this concept we introduce two different algorithms. The first algorithm is able to guide individuals to relevant information and topics. The second one is able to infer hidden groups (clusters) in a large company network, representing various communication channels between individuals. Both algorithms produce very promising results.
Recommender systems have established mostly in e-commerce, whereas in companies or scientific institutions the recommendation of experts und possible colleagues has yet been discussed mostly theoretically. We propose a recommender system on the basis of Social Bookmarking Systems and Folksonomies, which may help to find communities of practice, where people share the same interests and support each other in their working or scientific field. The paper reports research in knowledge management and information retrieval, and therefore offers new insights and fields of studies in information science.
Industrial challenges in the automotive industry are more and more focused around the optimization of the development process which requires new integrated instruments of communication and collaboration. To face challenges of business communication and collaboration, the industrial multi-firm research project “FuturePLM” applies a series of methodologies in industrial and scientific environments. First, relevant topics were elaborated within an expert panel followed by qualitative interviews to gather the industrial as-is situation of product development. Afterwards, scenario planning was applied to create possible pictures of product development in the future. The key is seen in the analysis of the gap between the as-is situation and possible future scenarios. Some of these gaps include aspects such as the proposition to integrate Web 2.0 technologies in the daily business environment of product development (social networking, micro blogging, etc.), as well as the analysis of other upcoming topics with high relevance (e.g. complexity management, representation of data or implementation strategies). However, the major focus is the consideration of human behaviors. The goal is the identification of opportunities and threats, as well as the development of concepts and solution approaches to establish a sustainable strategy for future-oriented product development and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).
The similarity relation of a number of texts is important not only for congress organizers (who need to group the proposed contributions to meaningful sessions) but to everybody who wants to find certain information within a larger number of texts. Existing information retrieval methods compare texts according to their similarity. Because these methods mostly remain on the surface of the words, the resemblance is not primary a semantic one, but a stylistic and vocabulary dependent one. Based on psychological considerations we have developed an algorithm called Hofmethode, which compares the semantic ‘environment’ of key words. Using the example of the SGP congress we show in this paper how the Hofmethode can be used to help both congress organizers and participants to find the appropriate contributions.
In this paper we consider OntoBox, an implementation of a simple de-scription logic called the oo-projection, as a persistent knowledge storage. OntoBox is a mediator between the knowledge management systems and conventional information techniques (like OOP languages and data bases). The abstract interface of OntoBox and its basic implementation (OntoBox Storage) are considered. Some implementation issues are discussed, and the potential of the approach is overviewed.
Efficiency of semantic caching is based on reusing of already retrieved data. Reusing of already retrieved data depends on finding the containment of new queries with the older/stored queries. Advantages of semantic cache query processing (Satisfiablity and implication in database domain) have already been demonstrated in the published iterature. Description Logic (DL) has never been applied for checking relational query subsumption/containment. Sound and Complete subsumption algorithms exist for reasoning facts represented in Description Logic. DL is a formalism used to model knowledge of a domain in the form of concepts and a rich set of associations between these concepts. Reasoning on the knowledge base can be performed in order to discover implicit relations. The most important reasoning is the determination of a subsumption relation between the logical expressions. Relational queries are also a form of knowledge description. In this paper, we discuss Subsumption analysis of semantic cache query processing and its advantages in semantic cache query management by using tableau algorithms of DL. In particular, Subsumption algorithms are used to perform reasoning from the previously stored queries in the semantic cache. Query containment can be found by transforming relational queries into DL. Based upon this reasoning, a query can be divided into cache (probe) and erver (remainder) queries. This will not only contribute towards cache query processing but have a significant contribution in the cache management, too. Previously, the implication and satisfiablity techniques in database domain were handling only conjunctive queries. In our algorithms, we handle disjunctive queries, too.
Social Software shows a fascinating range of usage possibilities in enterprises. Such tools are very simple and provide individual users with high degrees of freedom. This implies the need for a negotiation process, where users develop a shared understanding of how to use the tools in order to work together towards a common goal. In several case studies on organisational usage of microblogging we found that these adoption processes can be described by using Tuckman-Jensen’s model of group development, proposing five generic stages: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. We apply this model to describe and interpret observations of microblogging adoption and argue that this process is mainly driven by social interactions rather than technical constraints.
The application of social software in higher education is often restricted to dedicated learning contexts, namely lectures or seminars. Thus their inherent potentials for fostering knowledge management and self-directed learning are usually chained to the narrow restrictions of Learning Management Systems based virtual classroom walls. This paper’s focus has a different perspective: The provision of social software as an information and communication infrastructure that goes beyond lectures and encompasses the whole institution and all members of the university, respectively. Thereby an online space is provided for self-expression, information access and knowledge exchange on manifold social levels. Following this prospect, the technical and organisational concept of CollabUni, a social information and communication infrastructure, is described. First results from the implementation of CollabUni that is currently underway, delivers a differentiated, overall encouraging picture. With respect to acceptance and use of this environment, the importance of an elaborate community building approach as well as the need for gaining information and communication literacy on part of the students are evident.
This article aims at providing better understanding of the applicability of Semantic Web tools and technologies in practice. It introduces a case study of the use of semantic technologies for extraction, integration and meaningful search and retrieval of expertise data, as an example of the new approaches to data integration and information management. In particular, the paper discusses the process of building expert profiles in a form of ontology database by integrating competences from structured and unstructured sources. The results of the case study show that emerging Semantic Web technologies such as the OWL 2, SPARQL, SPIN rule language, and public vocabularies such as FOAF, DOAC, bibTeX, Dublin Core and other can be used for building individual and enterprise competence models. The proposed approach extends the functionalities of existing enterprise information systems and offers possibilities for development of future Internet services. This allows organizations to express their core competences and talents in a standardized, machine processable and understandable format, and hence facilitates their integration in the European Research Area and beyond.
Responsive open learning environments (ROLEs) are characterized through their openness for new configurations, new contents and new users, and through their responsiveness to learners’ activities in respect to learning goals. Openness specifically encompasses the ability to include new learning material and new learning services. These can be combined either in a static fashion or dynamically, therefore allowing learners to create their own learning environments. Consequently, throughout the lifetime of a ROLE, new configurations will be created by learners, usually adapted to their needs, requirements and ideas. In this paper, we will describe first experiences using ROLEs for a course on foreign language learning at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China. Results of our trials are two-fold: on the one hand, widget, container and other enabling technologies are insufficiently mature to allow large-scale deployment. On the other hand, the results are encouraging as students which learn how to use ROLEs clearly benefit from their use.
In this paper we describe the Multimedia Documentation Lab (MDL1), a system which is capable of processing vast amounts of data typically gathered from open sources in instructured form and in diverse formats. A sequence of processing steps analyzing the audio, video and textual content of the input is carried out. The resulting output is made available for search and retrieval, analysis and visualization on a next generation media server. The system can serve as a search platform across open, closed or secured networks. MDL can be used as a tool for situational awareness, information sharing or risk assessment, allowing the integration of multimedia content into the analysis process of security relevant affairs.
Smart information retrieval systems are becoming increasingly prevalent due to the rate at which the amount of digitized raw data has increased, and continues to increase. This is especially true in the medical domain, as there is much data stored in unstructured formats which contain “hidden” information within them. By hidden, this means information that cannot ordinarily be found by performing a simple text search. To test the information retrieval systems that handle such data, a ground truth, or gold standard, is normally required in order to gain performance values according to an information need. In this paper we emphasize the lack of freely available, annotated medical data and wish to encourage the community of developers working in this area to make available whatever data they can. Also, the importance of such annotated medical data is raised, especially its importance and potential impact on teaching and training in medicine. As well as this, this paper will point out some of the advantages that access to a freely available pool of annotated medical objects would provide to several areas of medicine and informatics. The paper then discusses some of the considerations that would have to be made for any future systems developed that would provide a service to make the creating, sharing, and annotating of such data easy to perform (by using an online, web-based interface, for example). Finally, the paper discusses in detail the benefits of such a system to teaching and examining medical students.
In this paper we present an approach to improving navigability of a hierarchically structured Web encyclopedia. The approach is based on an integration of a tagging module and adoption of tag clouds as a navigational aid in such a system. The main idea of this approach is to apply tagging for the purpose of a better highlighting of cross-references between information items across the hierarchy. Although in principle tag clouds have the potential to support efficient navigation in tagging systems, recent research identi ed a number of limitations. In particular, applying tag clouds within pragmatic limits of a typical user interface leads to poor navigational performance as tag clouds are vulnerable to a so-called pagination e ect. In this paper, a possible solution to the pagination problem is discussed. In addition, the paper presents a first implementation prototype developed within an Austrian online encyclopedia called Austria-Forum.
Intention-Aware systems are introduced as a system class which enables user support based on intention detection. Thereby, intention-aware systems build on the user-centric support approach of attention-aware systems and the environment-centric support approach of context-aware systems. A framework for intention-aware systems is proposed, highlighting the importance of a task model. We review 16 context-aware and attention-aware systems as foundation for the work on a task model for intention-aware systems.
Collaborative Filtering(CF) is a well-known technique in recommender systems. CF exploits the relationships between users and recommends the items to the active user according to the ratings of his/her neighbors. CF suffers from the data sparsity problem, where users only rate a small set of items. That makes the computation of similarity between users imprecise and consequently reduces the accuracy of CF al-gorithms. In this paper, we propose to use clustering techniques on the social network of users to derive the recommendations. We study the application of this approach to academic venue recommendation. Our interest is to support researchers, especially young PhD students, to find the right venues or the right communities. Using the data from DBLP digital library, the evaluation shows that our clustering technique based CF performs better than the traditional CF algorithms.
Although most enterprises nowadays increasingly employ digital informa-tion management in all areas, there are still many organisations – e.g. in the Public Sector – where much of formal and informal information is documented on paper only. This work lays out the concept of a set of digital metaphors for entities in the “paper world” and argues that they will ease the adoption and acceptance of digital informa-tion and knowledge management solutions.
We furthermore describe how the metaphors are linked with each other. We place a special focus on the relationship between informal, unstructured information and formally structured one, as well as on collaboration and knowledge sharing enabled by the metaphors. These aspects have been combined into a prototype that is described and illustrated in some detail
By entering the knowledge age and the appearance of knowledge economy, organizations are more dependent on knowledge workers productivity. Productivity means doing the right things right. It shows how a knowledge worker makes use of resources to fulfill the goals of the organization. This definition makes productivity be the result of simultaneous existence of efficiency “doing the things right” and effectiveness “doing the right things “. Since factors influencing knowledge workers productivity cannot be definitely measured, uncertainty theory plays an important role in this area. So in this paper, first, dimensions of productivity will be introduced and then, by the use of linguistic fuzzy approach and DEA, efficiency and effectiveness of knowledge workers will be measured. Next, a model for measuring knowledge workers productivity will be presented on the basis of efficiency and effectiveness. Finally, values of knowledge workers productivities will be ranked. In the last section, the result of this five-step method is examined through a case study.
An industrialisation of knowledge intensive work can be observed when analysing the transformation of the information society. This means that knowledge work reached a maturity that it can be expressed in form of processes, semantics or rules. When applying a business process oriented view – where knowledge is required to perform certain tasks – such mechanism can be used to develop a so-called knowledge conveyer belt, where knowledge is provided to the knowledge worker in a similar way like material is provided on a production belt. This paper introduces a knowledge conveyer belt as a realisation framework for process-oriented knowledge provision. This approach enables a business and knowledge alignment modelling mechanisms that keeps the “human in the loop”. Samples of projects are mentioned to show the applicability of this knowledge conveyer belt approach.
Experts of specific domains form the fastest increasing workforce in the OECD countries. Since this fact has been realised by management researchers, they have focussed on the question of how to measure and enhance the productivity of said workforce. According to the author’s research, it is, however, not the measurement and enhancement of an expert’s productivity which is to be regarded as the crucial challenge in the management of experts. The author, moreover, has identified five success factors which impose specific challenges on the management of experts. This paper summarises the key arguments for aforementioned perspective, based on empirical research carried out by the author. It defines parameters that constitute expert performance and delineates the implications of this perspective for the theory of and the practice in managing experts.
Interactive video is increasingly becoming a more and more dominant feature of our media platforms. Especially due to the popular YouTube annotations framework, integrating graphical annotations in a video has become very fashionable these days. However, the current options are limited to a few graphical shapes for which the user can define as good as no dynamic behaviour. Despite the enormous demand for easy-creatable, interactive video there are no such advanced tools available.
In this article we describe an innovative approach, to realize dynamics and interactivity of video annotations. First we explain basic concepts of video-markup like the generic element model and visual descriptors. After that we introduce the event-tree model, which can be used to define event-handling in an interactive video formally as well as visually. By combining these basic concepts, we can give an effective tool to the video community for realizing interactive and dynamic video in a simple, intuitive and focused way.
One of the principles of managing structured knowledge of an application domain is to exploit the notion of an ontology. Generalization of knowledge entities using formal semantic metadata enables classi cation and structuring of knowledge for better metadata management. Classi cation serves to form conceptual hierarchy of ontologies to reflect relationships among entities in the domain semantically while structuring helps to position vertical domain generalizations in appropriate relation-ships horizontally. We present a novel approach for conceptualization of enterprise application information in such a hierarchy to structure knowledge in abstract and domain speci c ontologies in RDFS forming reusable knowledge bases. We overcome conceptualization complexities in ligree enterprise information models by focusing on essential aspects of data types and their semantics to align relationship for business objects, enterprise data types and semantic entities with pragmatic consideration on a lightweigt semantic information model to maximize flexibility and inferential efficiency service query answering as well as reuse of structured knowledge artifacts.
knowCube®, a novel multi criteria decision making tool, is introduced. Its user-friendly interface assists “intuitive surfing through decision spaces” by means which are also familiar to non-experts. Causes and effects of alternatives may be examined from different points of view, and several types of criteria – like quantitative or qualitative, dependent or independent, hard or soft, and all mixed together – can be handled at the same time. The tool’s broad applicability is illustrated by some application examples from absolutely different fields: Mixed Sandwiches of various materials are investigated in manufacturing, ideal Foams are produced due to optimal parameter settings, and personalized Drugs could be designed by balancing conflicting effects.
Knowledge, innovation and practice are interrelated, but the management of their relations is far from an easy and straightforward task. Facilitating knowledge services are needed. This paper explores the theory of converging knowledge, innovation, and practice, and the implications for its facilitation. A trialogical approach to knowledge creation is presented as a viable theoretical starting point. Theoretical considerations are complemented with two examples of novel knowledge services: Opasnet and Innovillage. Eventually, conclusions are drawn upon the main issues to address in future development of services to support convergence of knowledge, innovation, and practice.
This paper describes a framework for the design of performance evaluation systems in collaborative networks. This framework is composed by a performance information reference model and a multi-criteria decision support method. When used in combination by the members of a collaborative network, results in specific models that result from a collective and negotiated construction.
Collaborative analysis and reflection on knowledge practices is a central element of the Trialogical Learning Approach as it is supposed to be a driving force in processes of practice transformation and knowledge creation. The exploitation of historical logging data holds promise to provide a great deal of information about group activities without requiring additional efforts for recording of events by the users. Building on the Trialogical Learning Approach as well as related work in the fields of Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning, and Information Visualization, this paper suggests high-level requirements for analytic tools in support of practice transformation and introduces an application called Timeline-Based Analyzer (TLBA) that was designed and developed in response to these requirements. The usability of this solution has been tested through a first iteration of several practical experiments and case studies. One of them is described in this paper and illustrates how this tool can be used to support collaborative analysis and reflection. The results of these evaluations have been used for continued improvement of the TLBA in order to provide a stable and intuitive tool.
Based on many analyses at enterprises over the past years we see that the economy nowadays asks for efficient and sustainable solutions in knowledge management (KM). Thus, we propose to follow the principle of value orientation also in managing knowledge regarding that there are different types of business processes with different demand for KM. To confirm this fact and to deduce adequate procedures, we conducted a case study at a logistics service provider introducing the innovative method of knowledge-based value stream mapping.
This paper offers an overview of the emerging domain of mobile governance as an offspring of the broader landscape of e-governance. Mobile governance initiatives have been deployed everywhere in parallel to the development of crowdsourced, open source software applications that facilitate the collection, aggregation, and dissemination of both information and data coming from different sources: citizens, organizations, public bodies, etc. Ultimately, mobile governance can be seen as a tool to promote the rule of law from a decentralized, distributed, and bottom-up perspective.
The user experience of any software or website consists of elements from the conceptual to the concrete level. These elements of user experience assist in the design and development of user interfaces. On the other hand, Ontologies provide a framework for computable representation of user interface elements and underlying data. This paper discusses strategies of introducing ontologies at different user interface layers adapted from user experience elements. These layers range from abstract levels (e.g. User needs/Application Objectives) to concrete levels (e.g. Application User Interface) in term of data representation. The proposed ontological framework enables device independent, semi-automated GUI construction which we will demonstrate at a personal information management example.
The detection of redundant or reused passages in texts is an important basis for various tasks including tracking of information flow, plagiarism detection, origin detection, web search and information retrieval. Being able to track the evolution of a piece of information through different revisions or instances of documents can generally help to gain an impression of the document’s background. In this paper we propose an efficient algorithm for detection of textual overlap between documents as well as a tool for its visualisation, created in the course of the Holinshed Project at the University of Oxford. The Evaluation on an annotated corpus shows that the proposed algorithm performs better than state of the art approaches.
A graph is the most common method of visualizing a semantic web. However, when dealing with large and complex semantic webs, existing systems face challenges such as slow loading times and too much information being displayed on the screen. This paper introduces a Multimodal Semantic Browser (MMSB) that allows users to visualize and navigate through semantic webs with millions of triples. In addition, the Browser also recognizes the type of content that the user has selected and chooses the best modality and application to display that content in addition to a graph display.
Knowledge communication is an essential mechanism to facilitate intra- and inter-organizationalnowledge transfer. In order to improve the efficiency of knowledge communi-cation, organizations need to pay particular attention to the clarity of conveyed knowledge in order not to create confusion, misunderstandings, or misapplication of knowledge. In this con-tribution, we show where and how the concept of clarity matters for knowledge management in general, and for knowledge communication in particular. We review and operationalize the clarity concept so that it can become the object of a systematic management effort. Further-more, we show ways of how clarity can be pro-actively and systematically managed. We have tested our conception of clarity in a survey on clarity in knowledge-focused presentations, and we present the results in this paper. An outlook on future research on clarity in knowledge management concludes the article.
Personal learning environments (PLEs) comprise a new kind of learning technology which aims at putting learners into centre stage, i.e. by empowering them to design and use environments for their learning needs and purposes. Setting a PLE approach into practice, however, is not trivial at all, as the proposed end-users have varying attitudes and experiences in using ICT in general and PLE software in particular. Here, practice sharing could be an enabler for increasing the usefulness and usability of PLE solutions. In this paper we examine the relevant issues of capturing and sharing ‘good practices’ of PLE-based, collaborative activities. By good practices we refer to learning experiences provided by learners for a networked community. Moreover, we introduce the concept of a pattern repository as a back-end service for PLEs which should, in the sense of community approaches like Last.fm, support PLE users in applying learning tools for their activities. Finally, we present a preliminary prototype and argue for the advantages of such a practice sharing infrastructure with respect to community literature, experiences, and an internal evaluation study.
As pointed out by several scholars, inter-organizational collaboration is an important vehicle for knowledge creation. But the process of integrating knowledge across organizational boundaries entails great complexity. In this paper, we argue that visualizing knowledge in inter-organizational meetings is a conduit of knowledge sharing, and enables innovative re-combinations of organizational competences. We propose an experimental design to uncover the advantages and possible disadvantages of using visual techniques as a support for inter-organizational knowledge sharing. In particular, we compare the process and the outcome of knowledge sharing in inter-organizational teams supported with 1) software-based visualization, 2) poster-based visualization, and 3) text-based methods. The first results of our experiments suggest that software-supported teams outperform the control groups in knowledge-sharing tasks, and exhibit greater satisfaction with teamwork process and outcome. After discussing relevant implications for both researchers and practitioners, we point out limitations of our study and suggest directions for future research.
Technological change and high competitiveness are essential for organisations in today’s fast-paced society. Information and knowledge assets thus need to be current and easily accessible. With implementing core knowledge processes such as identification and accumulation, msg systems ag – a medium-sized IT and consulting company – introduced a knowledge management system with the aim to externalise implicit knowledge. Implicit knowledge is intuitive knowledge that is generally gained through personal experience [Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995]. In this regard Probst et al.’s (2006) knowledge process concept helped identify and adapt these processes. The core knowledge processes were then implemented by the Codebeamer system, an OpenSource collaboration platform based on wiki technology. The system’s development was continuously adopted and improved by using a prototype-specific approach since its productive start two years ago. This paper describes this implementation project for a knowledge management system (KMS) in an IT consulting and system integration company.
More than ever, the Web is a space of social interaction. Recent trends reveal that Internet users spend more time interacting within online communities than in checking and replying to e-mail. Online communities and institutions create new spaces for interaction, but also open new avenues for the emergence of grievances, claims, and disputes. Consequently, online dispute resolution (ODR) procedures are core to these new online worlds. But can ODR mechanisms provide sufficient levels of reputation, trust, and enforceability for it to become mainstream? This contribution introduces the new approaches to ODR with an emphasis on the Ontomedia Project, which is currently developing a web-based platform to facilitate online mediation in different domains
The paper explores the application of Web 2.0 technologies in the engineering product development domain. Growing on data collected from a number of industrial development projects, related to several different products in various industry segments, the paper analyses the dichotomy between the prevailing hierarchical structure of CAD/PLM/PDM systems and the emerging principles of the Social Web, e.g. the self-organization of its users. It introduces the concept of Engineering 2.0, intended as a more bottom up and lightweight knowledge sharing approach supporting early stage design decisions within cross-functional product development teams. A set of scenarios related, for instance, to the application of blogs, wikis, forums and tags in the engineering domain are eventually presented, highlighting opportunities, challenges and no-go areas.
Spatial Hypertext Wiki (ShyWiki) is a wiki which represents knowledge using notes that are spatially distributed in wiki pages and have some visual characteristics such as colour, size, or font type. Spatial and visual characteristics are important in a wiki to improve human comprehension, creation and organization of knowledge. Another important capability in wikis is to allow machines to process knowledge. Wikis that formally structure knowledge for this purpose are called semantic wikis. This paper describes the semantic wiki capabilities of ShyWiki. ShyWiki can represent knowledge at different levels of formality. Users of ShyWiki can annotate the content and represent semantic relations without being experts of semantic web data description languages. The spatial hypertext features make it suitable for users to represent unstructured knowledge and implicit graphic relations among concepts. In addition, semantic web and spatial hypertext features are combined to represent structured knowledge. The semantic web features of ShyWiki improve navigation and publish the wiki knowledge as RDF resources, including the implicit relations that are analyzed using a spatial parser.
One of the core challenges for current landscape of ontology based research is to develop efficient ontology merging algorithms which can resolve the mismatches with no or minimum human intervention, and generate automatic global merged ontology on-the-fly to fulfil the needs of automated enterprise business applications and mediation based data warehousing. This paper presents our approach of ontology merging in context of data warehousing by mediation that aims at building analysis contexts on-the-fly. Our methodology is based on the combination of the statistical aspect represented by the hierarchical clustering technique and the inference mechanism. It generates the global ontology automatically by four steps. First, it builds classes of equivalent entities of different categories (concepts, properties, instances) by applying a hierarchical clustering algorithm. Secondly, it makes inference on detected classes to find new axioms, and solves synonymy and homonymy conflicts. This step also consists of generating sets of concept pairs from ontology hierarchies, such as the first component subsumes the second one. Third, it merges different sets together, and uses classes of synonyms and sets of concept pairs to solve semantic conflicts in the global set of concept pairs. Finally, it transforms this set to a new hierarchy, which represents the global ontology.
Semantic web provides virtual communities that enable intelligent interaction between software agents and people due to availability of standard open ontologies. But, as the semantic web is gaining much popularity, there is a massive growth seen in the ontology development which poses new research challenges such as ontology classification, ranking, searching, retrieval, etc. This results many recent developments, like OntoKhoj, Swoogle, OntoSearch, that facilitate user for such tasks. These semantic web portals mainly treat ontologies as plain texts and use traditional classification algorithms of plain text for classifying ontologies in directories and assigning predefined labels rather than using semantic knowledge hidden within the ontologies. These approaches suffer with many types of classification problems and lack of accuracy, especially in the case of overlapping ontologies that share common vocabularies. In this paper, we define ontology classification problem and categorized it into many sub-problems. We present a new methodology for ontology classification that is based on ontology approach for ontology classification and retrieval. The proposed framework, ONTCLASSIFIRE, benefit construction, maintenance or expansion of ontologies directories on the semantic web, and helps in ontology management and retrieval for software agents and people. We conclude that the use of context specific knowledge hidden in ontologies gives more accurate results of ontology classification and retrieval.
Ontology evaluation is an integral part of the ontology development process. Errors in ontology create serious problems for the information system based on it. To our surprise, the existing systems are unable to identify most of the errors. We evaluate some well known ontologies against the published error taxonomy and describe our algorithms to evaluate ontologies. The target errors include circulatory errors in class and property hierarchy, common class and property in disjoint decomposition, redundancy of sub class and sub property, redundancy of disjoint relation and disjoint knowledge omission. For the implementation, ontologies are indexed using a variant of already proposed and published scheme Ontrel. In addition to the previous errors taxonomy, the algorithms also cover recently extended error taxonomy. We evaluate our algorithms for performance and report errors detected in well known ontologies including Gene Ontology (GO), WordNet Ontology, OntoSem Ontology.
Students and workers mobility in the European scenario represents today a big challenge. During the last years, several initiatives have been carried out to deal with the above picture, being the European Quali cation Framework (EQF), a common architecture for describing quali cations, one of the most signi cant. In parallel, several research activities were established with the aim of exploiting semantic technologies for quali cation comparison in the context of human resources acquisition. In this paper, the EQF speci cations are applied in a practical scenario to develop a ranking algorithm allowing for quali cation comparison on the basis of knowledge, skill and competence concepts, potentially aimed at supporting European employers during the recruitment phases.
RDF data can be analyzed with various query languages such as SPARQL or SeRQL. Due to their nature these query languages do not support fuzzy queries. In this paper we present a new method that transforms the information presented by subject-relation-object relations within RDF data into Activation Patterns. These patterns represent a common model that is the basis for a number of sophisticated analysis methods such as semantic relation analysis, semantic search queries, unsuper-vised clustering, supervised learning or anomaly detection. In this paper, we explain the Activation Patterns concept and apply it to an RDF representation of the well known CIA World Factbook.
Siemens is well known for ambitious efforts in knowledge management, providing a series of innovative tools and applications within the intranet. References@BT is such a web-based application aimed to support globally sharing knowledge, experiences and best-practices within the Building Technologies Division. As a reaction to the demand of employees, a new microblogging service, tightly integrated into References@BT, was implemented in March 2009. In this paper, we comprehensively describe motivation, experiences and advantages for the organization in providing an internal microblogging application. Because of the tight inte-gration, we also outline general facts of the knowledge management application.
This paper looks at the convergence of knowledge management and Enterprise 2.0 and describes the possibilities for an overarching exchange and transfer of knowledge in Enterprise 2.0. This will be underlined by the presentation of the concrete example of T-Systems Multimedia Solutions GmbH (MMS), which describes the establishment of a new portfolio element using a community approach “IG eHealth”. This is typified by the decentralised development of common ideas, collaboration and the assistance available to performing responsibilities as provided by Enterprise 2.0 tools. Regarding the collaboration of knowledge workers as the basis, a regulatory framework will be developed for knowledge management to serve as a template for the systemisation and definition of specific Enterprise 2.0 activities. The paper will conclude by stating enabling factors and supporting Enterprise 2.0 activities, which will facilitate the establishment of a expert knowledge management system for the optimisation of knowledge transfer.
Digitally supported knowledge work, using tags for content organization, creates inherent challenges. In this paper we show the design of a corporate tagging framework facing these challenges. We describe the implementation of a thesaurus approach as a lightweight alternative to a more sophisticated ontology design. An RDF based architecture with a Web 2.0 style editor enables average users to enrich social tagging data with semantic relations.
The expansion of the World Wide Web has led to a chaotic state where the users of the internet have to face and overcome the major problem of discovering information. For the solution of this problem, many mechanisms were created based on crawlers who are browsing the www and downloading pages. In this paper we describe “advaRSS” crawling mechanism which intends to be the base utility for systems offering collections of news in real time to internet user. In contrast to the common crawling mechanisms our system is focused on fetching the latest news from the major and minor portals worldwide by utilizing their RSS feeds. The news is produced in a random order any time of the day and thus the freshness of the offline collection can be measured even in minutes. This means that the system has to be updated with news every single time they occur. In order to achieve this we utilize the communication channels that exist on the modern architecture of the WWW and more specifically in the architecture of Web 2.0. As the RSS feeds are used by every major and minor portal it is possible to keep our crawler up to date and retain a high freshness of the “offline content” that is maintained in our system’s database.
Knowledge-intensive organizations that carry out many Knowledge-Intensive Business Processes (KIBP), seek to improve and enhance their KIBP for gaining competitive advantages. These organizations need to develop their Knowledge Management (KM) infrastructure of KIBP, starting from knowledge audit that is a necessary first step in any KM initiative. As KM infrastructure integrates social and technological disciplines, we developed a combined Socio-Engineering Knowledge Audit Methodology (SEKAM) for a systematic audit of the KM infrastructure in the context of KIBP. In this paper we present and discuss the conceptual framework of SEKAM and its instruments developed in this research.
We present iMapping, a diagrammatic zooming and nesting based approach for visually structuring information objects on the desktop with a special focus on personal knowledge management. It was designed based on a set of requirements gathered from the analysis of existing knowledge mapping techniques from a cognitive science point of view. We also briefly introduce a prototypical implementation.
We first describe the state of the art of organizational learning, mentioning the theories and types of it. The need of organizational learning, contributing processes and the main processes are further explained. Various methods of organizational learning are introduced. A template for a short description is proposed, which gives an overview about existing methods. The template then offers the possibility to indicate which method can be applied on Enterprise Knowledge Maturing.
Knowledge sharing between individuals has traditionally been conducted using faceto- face conversation. In the networked society – initially formed by telegraphs and the phone and nowadays powered by the Internet – many acts of knowledge sharing are carried out in a mediated fashion. While this typically introduces a number of problems in the knowledge sharing process, it also offers certain advantages. In this paper, we describe a framework for analyzing different modes of knowledge sharing. Furthermore, we line out the concept of “need-driven” knowledge sharing to address limitations in current mediated knowledge sharing approaches.
In industrial and educational practice, learning environments are designed and implemented by experts from many different fields, reaching from traditional software development and product management to pedagogy and didactics. Workplace and lifelong learning, however, implicate that learners are more self-motivated, capable, and self-confident in achieving their goals and, consequently, tempt to consider that certain development tasks can be shifted to end-users in order to facilitate a more flexible, open, and responsive learning environment. With respect to streams like end-user development and opportunistic design, this paper elaborates a methodology for user-driven environment design for action-based activities. Based on a former research approach named ‘Mash-Up Personal Learning Environments’ (MUPPLE) we demonstrate how workplace and lifelong learners can be empowered to develop their own environment for collaborating in learner networks and which prerequisites and support facilities are necessary for this methodology.
Bringing together knowledge bearers is a crucial factor for innovation in highperformance sports. Since the capabilities of a growing amount of nations are converging, every detail counts to win a competition. To harness the competence, experience and knowledge of various stakeholders, the Innovation Network Alpine Skiing has developed a custom-designed knowledge and idea management system. Having adapted Web 2.0 technologies to the requirements of innovation in the special environment of high-performance sports, the knowledge workers are enabled to easily contribute to the innovation process. The Wiki-based solution called “SkiBaserl”1 is successfully used in several development projects within the German Skiing Association. This article delivers an outline of the development process, the implementation and an evaluation of the tool.
This paper introduces a new process-oriented visualisation method for risk assessment in groups. Today, in corporate risk assessment there is a lack in visual facilitation methods for collaborative assessments of risks. Existing visualisation methods emphasize analytical purposes. However, they are not useful for the facilitation of risk assessments in a group, such as the board of management. The described risk visualization approach offers a visual dialogue oriented approach to improve the quality of organisational risk-assessment in groups and goes hand in hand with already established risk management processes and systems. Secondly, this paper introduces the “ETH Baugarten Value Lab”, where we tested the tool on touch displays.
30.000 advisory calls per year! How to analyze, rate and improve them interactively? For getting these goals a novel technique is introduced, which is based on a structure similar to a music score. Via a “duet”, guided by the advisor called, the main contents of the dialogue are extracted and stored automatically. At this, trained speech recognition is applied for the (known) advisor’s part for monitoring and controlling the call’s course, and keyword spotting is used for the (unknown) “customer” to pick out instances from sets of expected values. The results thereof fill an abstract score annotated to the call conducted. Then, because of the strong structure of such scores, the archive of all these dialogues is an ideal base for retrieval, exploration, comparison and clustering of calls, using e.g. graphical tools like knowCube®.
An important activity for the learner while learning is the reflection on the learning path and strategy. So far, not many tools provide an automatic support for the reflection on the learning activities. Here, we describe our approach to enable reflection with the help of usage and contextual metadata. We describe how we capture usage information and provide algorithms like the identification of similar users, contents and tools for reflection like a learner Zeitgeist application or the elicitation of learning paths.
An internally developed knowledge transfer methodology ensures at Credit Suisse that irreplaceable know-how (implicit and explicit) remains within the firm – even when keypersons leave, e.g. retirement, internal job mobility, extended absence or general leaving. The methodology tested in theory and in praxis was developed by supporting over 70 keypersons and became part of the organisation in 2008. By covering general aspects of knowledge transfer as well as enhancing the human capital development in the business, the methodology provides a basis for organisational development: Due to transparent tasks and functions efficient and sustainable changes are possible.
Evaluating success of knowledge management (KM) is a difficult undertaking, yet without a decent approach to show evidence about its value, KM initiatives might not be sustainable as already evident in many abandoned projects. Although there have been a number of theoretical approaches on evaluating success of KM, so far organizations find it difficult to design an evaluation effort and as a consequence many often only employ the most straightforward approaches such as adding some questions to a general user survey without much reflection as to e.g., who, what, how, why and when they measure and what consequences should be taken upon the results. This paper aids evaluation by providing an interrogative framework for designing evaluation initiatives. Its applicability is shown with the help of a real-world case study evaluating the KM system @sk!.
With the advent of more light-weight technologies for connecting contents and functions provided by diverse application systems, called mashups, also individuals with their personal knowledge environments can benefit from arranging services flexibly to help them fulfil their knowledge needs. These personal, collaborative initiatives are often associated with trial-and-error, grass-roots level approaches which need an organizational and technical infrastructure to guide them without loosing the momentum created in these fragmented knowledge management activities performed by individuals, communities or in projects in an organization. Based on a discussion of these issues, this paper outlines the foundations for a knowledge service governance model to guide these activities.
Although receiving significant attention in management research, the organizational competence concept still remains difficult to apply, due to the vagueness of the theoretical construct, and due to the lack of pragmatic procedures to make it actionable. According to recent research, knowledge visualization may mitigate the elusiveness of the competence concept by assisting the identification, management, and communication of competences. In this paper, we thus review the academic literature in search for conceptual representations designed to support organizational competence mapping at the intra-, and inter-organizational level. By taking a synoptic overview of the collected representations, we single out the building blocks of competence visualization, and develop a corresponding classification. Drawing on this classification, we position twelve existing competence representation methods in an integrative framework to assist practitioners in selecting the right representation method and to inform scholars about future research and development needs.
Classifying phenomena is a key step to building new knowledge, especially in the early stages of a research process. It can bring about multiple advantages and insights, such as overview and comparison. Yet it also poses several risks and constraints. Thankfully, challenges can be over-come by re-classifying items in a domain with alternative classification principles, which lead to new insights or perspectives, as well as highlight previously neglected considerations. This process can be supported by graphic representations. Visualizing the drawn (and redrawn) distinctions can make a classification accessible and versatile, which makes it easier to compare with other classifications. Visualizing classifications can augment the entire research process, including hypothesis formation, testing, interpretation and result reporting. There is no systematic overview of methods to represent (especially qualitative) classifications graphically. This paper fills that gap in the literature. We distinguish between four types of visual classifications, based on their differing ability to emphasize hierarchies or group relations. We label these four types as compilations, configurations, layers, and trees. We analyze their benefits for the research process and point out potential risks to consider when using visualization for classifications purposes in social science research.
According to recent neurobiological and psychological research by A. Damasio respectively G. Gigerenzer it is the aim of this paper to point out the limits of plainly cognitive approaches to decision-making and problem-solving (in economy) and – by showing the significance of emotions and (gut) feelings in decision respectively problem-solving processes to contribute to an essential improvement of Knowledge Management leading to a decisive competitive advantage of enterprises.
With the accelerated growth of the blogosphere, automatically analyzing blogs (specifically extracting information) becomes increasingly important. Here, we focus on the fundamental task of automatically detecting blog topics in order to support users to explore a collection of blogs by focusing on different particular topics according to their interests. We show that topic exploration can be significantly improved (by up to 33%) by using a novel approach to
Extreme Programming focuses on spreading knowledge through many collaborative practices like pair programming, planning game, and retrospectives. The basic idea behind these practices is to share the work specific knowledge across the development teams as well as the management quarters. This knowledge sharing is said to have an accelerated effect when it is combined with the retrospectives analysis of the knowledge gained and the process performed. This inherent property of Knowledge Management (KM) facilitated by retrospective analysis is being used to teach Extreme Programming (XP) methodology as a graduate level Software Engineering (SE) course and is showing a notable effect on the learning process. The paper describes the KM issues in XP practices and how these issues are being managed for the students to present them with a profound learning experience.
This paper proposes an approach for automatically extracting symptoms associated to a given disease from semantic-based descriptions of health records of patients affected by an investigated pathology. The proposal implements non-standard reasoning services developed in Description Logics for the individuation of informative commonalities in concept collections and can make significantly easier the diagnosis process of rare and unknown diseases.
Maturity models are popular instruments used, e.g., to rate capabilities of maturing elements and select appropriate actions to take the elements to a higher level of maturity. Their application areas are wide spread and range from cognitive science to business applications and engineering. Although there are many maturity models reported in scientific and non-scientific literature, the act of how to develop a maturity model is for the most part unexplored. Many maturity models simply – and vaguely – build on their, often well-known, predecessors without critical discourse about how appropriate the assumptions are that form the basis of these models. This research sheds some light on the construction of maturity models by analysing 16 representative maturity models with the help of a structured content analysis. The results are transformed into a set of questions which can be used for the (re-)creation of maturity models and are answered with the help of the case example of a knowledge maturity model. Furthermore, a definition of the term maturity model is developed from the study’s results.
Pattern based task management has been proposed as a promising approach to work experience reuse in knowledge intensive work environments. While initial work has focused on the conceptualization and development of a generic framework, the process and user interaction of the task pattern lifecycle has not been addressed. In this paper, we introduce task copy augmented by Abstraction Services as a novel approach to facilitate task pattern creation and maintenance in a semi-automatic fashion. Also, we develop the architecture to demonstrate the underlying ideas by leveraging the advantage of semantic technologies.
Professional translation services are often perceived as quite expensive and people tend to go for the lowest price possible when commissioning a translation. To stay capable of competing with lay translators, professional translators have to continuously increase the efficiency of their work process. Researching information consumes a considerable part of the time needed for producing a high-quality translation. This work evaluates whether Web 2.0 applications with their social and collaborative characteristics have the potential to support the professional translator in his daily work. Here the main focus of attention is on a possible increase in efficiency of search and knowledge management processes. In phase one of the study we conducted a survey to determine the translator’s preferred search tactics, knowledge resources, and communication channels. Secondly, we conducted user tests on a Web 2.0 social media sharing platform followed by open interviews to find further evidence for the potential of Web 2.0-based collaborative applications in the professional translator’s business.
The concept of knowledge worker has been around for fifty years and many information and communication technologies have been implemented in order to support this type of work. Workplaces have changed substantially, but information is scarce about how actual knowledge workers handle knowledge in their workplaces. This paper presents the results of a joint study of knowledge workers’ workplaces in five organisations representing a diverse sample in terms of size, sector and technology intensity. The results suggest that a number of person types with predominant ways of handling knowledge can be favourably used for designing supportive tools and infrastructures.
Common graph visualizations tend to produce edge crossings and overlaps when used to display resource collections that are highly interrelated via shared properties. This hampers visual exploration and understanding of relationships between resources and can negatively affect information and knowledge management. In this paper, we present a new approach that visualizes resources and their shared properties in chains to prevent dense graphs and to better support the exploration of relationships. We explain the basic idea, describe an appropriate algorithm and discuss optimization issues. Furthermore, we report on a comparative evaluation showing that this kind of graph visualization supports particularly the visual tracking of relationships and the identification of commonalities between resources.
In this paper we present a novel, semantic-based approach for supporting the software development process in a distributed environment. The approach is based on collecting and preserving knowledge used in the software development process in order to support its usage in similar cases later on. One of the main advantages of this approach is possibility to collect required knowledge automatically by observing the behaviour of a software engineer. The approach has been implemented in the TEAM software system and evaluated in three real-world use cases.
The paper makes an attempt to develop a business classification scheme for organizing information assets in an international organization. It proposes a conceptual model, to explain and enhance the understanding of complex issues involved in the organization of information in international knowledge-based organizations. Eight different international organizations were studied, including the European Union (EU), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and were classified according to their functional orientation. Over 40 interviews were conducted, with organizational leaders, knowledge managers, IT managers and human resources managers. The project also reviewed the current literature on managing knowledge, identifying aspects relevant to the international organization context. Organizational leaders, knowledge managers, IT managers and consultants involved in creating and implementing knowledge management initiatives aimed at process improvements in international organizations context could benefit from the reflections and learning insights from this paper. This paper does not address efficiency matters from the political or governing sphere, nor does it propose specific programmatic changes to work of international organizations; rather it presents a pragmatic “bottom-up” approach, based on case studies and interviews conducted.
A fundamental problem in processing 3D shapes is insufficient knowledge engineering. On the one hand there are numerous methods to design and manufacture 3D shapes in the real world. On the other hand, numerous digital methods for representing and processing shape have been developed in computer graphics. Most of these methods make certain assumptions about the kind of 3D objects that they will be used for: A surface smoothing algorithm, for instance, is not well suited for assemblies of rectangular blocks or for pipe networks. However, it is currently not possible to formulate the properties of a given shape explicitly in an commonly agreed way. This paper is a first step towards classifying structural descriptions of man-made shape. By listing construction principles and principles for their combination it follows a phenomenological approach. The purpose is to illustrate the inherent complexity of the domain, and to lay out the foundation for subsequent thorough knowledge engineering.
An increasing amount of companies are interested in using the innovative potential of Web 2.0 technologies. This paper describes the main results of a comparative analysis of several quantitative empirical studies on the use of Web 2.0 in enterprises. This includes findings about diffusion, possibilities of application, benefits, barriers, and factors of success for the use of Web 2.0 in enterprises. The findings of this comparative study show effective and reasonable ways of using Web 2.0 in enterprises.
Nowadays Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) are described as the use of different social software tools for learning and teaching. The use of common web browsers often is a precondition to fulfil the requirements of social software tools. In this publication a new perspective as well as a couple of prototypes is presented to allow a more independent solution in this context. Using the new JavaFX technology so called widgets are implemented which can be used on different devices as well as different operating systems. Furthermore also the web browser can be replaced by a browser instance. It can be summarized that through the use of widgets the learning environment of the future can be more individualized and personalized.
We introduce the concept of organizational knowledge maturing based on the idea of developing knowledge assets. We explain the dimensions that have to be considered and introduce the Knowledge Maturing Dimension Framework to measure the maturity level. Finally we describe service classes as the building blocks of a future organizational learning and maturing environment (OLME).
This paper reports on a meta-analysis of two qualitative studies that use visualisations of user interactions in Web2.0 systems in order to support self-directed and incidental learning. This analysis focuses on the identification of design principles for supporting learning beyond the well structured conditions of educational institutions. The studies applied a reference architecture for context-aware systems together with a contextual framework that is based on the theory of situated learning. Although combining these concepts lead to satisfactory results, it appeared that the design of visualisations for supporting selfdirected learning requires further constraints. The given meta analysis identified the two design principles “perspective” and “contrast”. This paper discusses how these principles were present in both prior studies.
Search queries are typically interpreted as specification of information need of a user. Typically the search query is either interpreted as is or based on the context of a user, being for instance a user profile, his/her previously undertaken searches or any other background information. The actual intent of the user – the goal s/he wants to achieve with information retrieval – is an important part of a user’s context. In this paper we present the results of an exploratory study on the interplay between the goals of users and their search behavior in multimedia retrieval.
There are plenty of projects aimed at incorporating semantic information into present day document processing. The main problem is their real-world usability. E-learning is one of the areas which can take advantage of the semantically described documents. In this paper we would like to introduce a framework of cooperating tools which can help extract, store, visualize semantics in this area.
Small-world networks represent a decentralised network topology in which several actors are strongly connected with each other. A high clustering coefficient and a high number of short paths within a social network characterise such a network. Particularly in the context of inter-organisational knowledge transfer among R&D organisations, the structure of small-world networks appears significant for effective knowledge transfer. This paper reports on an investigation into the nature of inter-organisational knowledge transfer among R&D organisations. The topology of a social network is explored using UCINET social network analysis software. From these findings, implications are drawn for ICT support at an interorganisational level.
This contribution introduces a placement web-service which has been developed in the context of the TENCompetence Integrated Project. The web-service uses Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) to calculate similarity between documents in learner portfolios and content in the current learning network of the learner. In the first part of the paper the placement problem in learning networks is introduced. Next we discuss the architecture of the current web-service prototype and describe our evaluation approach. Several limitations and future developments are discussed at the end of the paper.
Semantic Desktops hold provide intelligent information-management environments that respond to users’ needs. An important requirement for developing such environments is that the underlying ontology reflects the users’ work context. For specialized work domains, where people deal with rich information sources in a context-specific manner, there may be a significant amount of domain-specific information available in text documents, emails and other domain-dependent data sources. Our goal is to support knowledge management by to using this information in a Semantic Desktop. We have extended an existing semantic desktop by introducing contentand structure-based information extraction, domain-specific ontological extensions as well as visualization of semantic entities. These extensions address needs in strategic decision making, where domain-specific, well-structured knowledge is available but scattered in documents and communications. The goal for this type of domain-aware semantic desktop is to assist decision makers, such as military commanders, in sense making.
There are several reports, analysis and comments on online communities but just a few meta analyses about successful initiating of online communities. This study focuses on concrete, practical hints and suggestions for practitioners building on literature, analysis of existing online communities and additional expert interviews. Besides a general process description, it gives a more elaborated orientation and decision support for six different application fields.
Motivational aspects in knowledge management have so far largely been considered from the perspective of designing and implementing incentives that influence the extrinsic motivation of employees to participate, contribute, share etc. This is increasingly considered problematic so that this contribution takes a more holistic viewpoint by analyzing and systematizing barriers that have an impact on the motivation to engage in knowledge maturing activities. Based on a collaborative ethnographically informed study and targeted semistructured interviews, a model is presented that decomposes the motivational aspects. Furthermore, it is presented how motivational aspect can be incorporated into the design of learning support systems.
In resource based learning settings learners have to cope with a multitude of resources. One big challenge for learners is managing the knowledge contained in these resources appropriately. We discuss some existing knowledge modeling methods and related tools with regard to learning scenarios. This paper focuses on presenting a knowledge modeling approach based on personal knowledge networks. Aggregation and mapping of these personal networks can form a community network supporting exchange of knowledge. Furthermore a proof-of-concept is described.
We introduce a framework for a new idea tool Note, which gathers, fosters and manages innovative ideas. Note supports the development of organizational memory and is connected to the practices of organizational innovativeness. The tool utilizes text mining methods in idea processing, management and visualization and is thus a new approach in idea management software. The tool is under development.
In order to reach the semantic Web, approaches to automatically extract semantic annotations from textual documents have been proposed. In this paper we propose an approach to automatically extract annotations by taking into account context in order to obtain a better representation of the document content. Our context is modelled by contextual relations built up from both the structure and the semantics of the text. Our approach requires text documents and a domain ontology as input. It automatically generates a set of contextual semantic annotations represented in RDF.
Based on an analysis of existing tools and approaches and literature from the areas of design and cognitive science, we identify a set of functional requirements to be met by diagrammatic knowledge mapping techniques and tools in order to be cognitively adequate for extensive personal knowledge management. This collection of requirements can be used to evaluate existing tools or as a guideline for the design of novel knowledge mapping approaches and tools.
In this paper a modular authoring system for interactive videos is introduced. The system enables the author to edit the video and add annotations like images, text, hyperlinks to defined scenes or the whole video. It provides a video cutting tool to define scenes, a scene graph to realize non-linear flow of the video and a HTML editor to create text and link annotations. A project can be exported to a XML formatted file with a specific schema and Flash video format (flv) files, which can be interpreted by the project’s player. The system is designed to be used intuitively.
With the emerging trend ofWeb 3.0 and the resulting huge amount of usergenerated semantically-enriched data, improved ways of knowledge visualization and human computer interaction are needed. We present several techniques of visualizing particularly spatial knowledge in largely scalable, clear structured ontology trees on the web. In addition, we describe the representation of search results with a combined approach consisting of Ajax-based grids and Google Maps.
This paper presents extensions that have been programmed by the Department Social Learning (DSL) at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) for a blogosphere used at TU Graz called TU Graz LearnLand (TUGLL) on base of the open source software ELGG. These extensions are useful upgrades to the system following the demands of the pedagogical strategy of the TU Graz. A description of the extensions and didactical considerations are discussed.
Unforeseen Experiences from a Balanced Scorecard Project in the Healthcare Sector
In the context of the Balanced Scorecard development in the Upper Austrian Gesundheits- und Spitals AG (gespag) the methodology of strategy maps was applied in order to build a base for the definition of relevant areas of strategic measures. When applying the methodology it turned out that it is very supportive also from the knowledge management perspective (especially 2nd Generation KM), e.g. for the explication of knowledge, cognitive mapping, the creation of a common-mindset (organisational learning), the storage of information and individual learning about strategy and systemic thinking. Furthermore, it allows organisational knowledge integration meaning that people can integrate both the explicated knowledge in their system or their work, and the appropriate “sense” of the further information provided. The intention of the article is to show that methods of strategic management, and possibly from many other fields, can also be very beneficial in a knowledge management context.
Thematic portals are sites where subject matter experts select and organize information and, consequently, they can be described as top-bottom structures. While challenging this schema, implementing social information retrieval systems and social network representation features can improve user experience and the dissemination impact of the portal. We analyse the characteristics of social software and review examples of utilisation of these technologies that can be applied in an educational technology thematic portal.
Recently, the information community has seen the emergence of user-centric media applications, which are characterized by the central position given to the user. To fulfill the user-centric promise, it is necessary to understand and model the actions of the users of the system. This position paper presents a methodology for modeling the behavior of multimedia database users. To this end, we propose to analyze the query logs to derive the classes of behaviors of a user. The presented method bases on the characteristics of user queries and on taxonomies. The behaviors are established using a query classification algorithm.
Finding expertise is an important task required in all organisations and institutions. In looking for expertise, one typically relies on the compilation of information from multiple sources such as organisational directories and social networks. This approach has been applied to enhance the Journal of Universal Computer Science to enable it to become a still more valuable scholarly resource. This paper describes a multi-faceted representation of expertise, by consolidating human specified expert profile with systemic assessment of expertise. The multifaceted approach is an important in the consolidation of information from multiple sources, in an effort to expand on the characterisation of expertise. The strength of this approach is drawn from the incorporation of intangible metrics for expertise assessment. This paper has revealed interesting directions for the automatic discovery of expertise in scholarly communities.
This paper proposes a conceptual definition that can used as a starting point to contextualize knowledge initiatives in international organizations and other types of non-profit organizations interested in knowledge management.
Organizational leaders, knowledge managers and consultants involved in creating and implementing knowledge management initiatives aimed at process improvements in international organizations context could benefit from the reflections and learning insights from this paper.
This paper does not address efficiency matters from the political or governing sphere, nor does it propose specific programmatic changes to work of international organizations; rather it presents a pragmatic “bottom-up” approach, based on case studies and interviews conducted at eight different international organizations, including the European Union (EU), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and were classified according to their functional orientation. Over 40 interviews have been conducted, with organizational leaders, knowledge managers, IT managers and human resources managers.
The grounded theory methodology as described by Strauss and Corbin [Strauss and Corbin, 1990, Strauss and Corbin, 1994], using interviews and document studies for data collection, combined with findings from literature, helped identify processes involved in managing knowledge in international organizations.
The quality of the current tagging services can be greatly improved if the service is able to cluster tags by their meaning. Tag clouds clustered by higher level topics enable the users to explore their tag space, which is especially needed when tag clouds become large. We demonstrate TagCluster – a tool for automated tag clustering that harnesses knowledge from Wikipedia about semantic relatedness between tags and names of categories to achieve smart clustering. Our approach shows much better quality of clusters compared to the existing techniques that rely on tag co-occurrence analysis in the tagging service.
Social media sharing sites such as Flickr or YouTube have become immensely popular. Besides sharing actual content, users also share annotations describing or classifying the contents they publish. Although tagging is easy, annotation still is a laborious task that can be made easier by suggesting meaningful additional tags to the user automatically. In this position paper we propose a system architecture and process for supporting annotation by tag suggestion to increase the quality and quantity of social annotations. The goal is not to tag previously untagged images in a completely automatic way, but instead to extend the amount and completeness of annotations by supporting the user in the process of adding further tags.
In this position paper we present a vision of how the stories that people tell in Internet weblogs can be used directly for automated commonsense reasoning, specifically to support the core envisionment functions of event prediction, explanation, and imagination.
In this contribution Wikis are interpreted as social information spaces. These information spaces can be decomposed in different networks. Here, one network is introduced – the collaboration network. This network type exemplifies how dynamics in social information spaces can be analyzed. For this, different approaches of visualizing networks are explained. The chosen approach is applied in an descriptive study. The open community project Wikiversity is examined to introduce one possible analysis in SONIVIS:Tool – an open source ntwork mining software.
A mining method for egocentric and polycentric queries in multi-dimensional networks is proposed. The method allows fast search for objects in sufficient proximity of other object(s) where the proximity is defined in terms of multiple relationships between objects. The method uses spreading activation technique. Other potential uses of spreading activation technique are also outlined and, in particular, include applications to collaborative filtering (community detection based on tag recommendations, expertise location, etc). Moreover, the spreading activation technique is combined with so-called ambient navigation. The advantages of such approach are high performance and high scalability in terms of size of multidimensional network. The proposed method is very practical and is implemented in IBM LanguageWare software products.
BREIN is an FP6 EC-Project dealing with the development of an intelligent grid infrastructure. A key knowledge management challenge to be addressed within the project is the distribution of the results from the project to the software development community, in order to foster the usage of the BREIN middleware. Therefore this project introduces the BREIN Roadmap. The Roadmap is realized applying the knowledge management approach PROMOTE that enables the knowledge transformation and distribution.
Despite the growing importance of knowledge work in today’s organizations, its support by means of ICT tools is still rather limited. Recent trends in semantic technologies provide novel approaches for an effective solution to these challenges in terms of semanticbased task management. However, task management involves the complex interplay of information and work activities. Thus a semantic task management framework is needed which supports an adaptable semantic foundation, to meet the challenges of knowledge work, via a set of task services on the desktop. To this end, we propose the Nepomuk Semantic Task Management Framework (STMF) as platform for a task-oriented ecosystem for desktop applications.
Many enterprises loose work time because they lack of global search solutions or their solutions are not able to satisfy the needs in a reasonable time. This results in costs for lost work time as well as increased response time. We present a novel approach to federated search engines that use case based reasoning to rerank results according to the searchers needs and therefore leads to a higher quality of search results and faster information retrieval.
The knowledge maturing model views learning activities as embedded into, interwoven with, and even indistinguishable from everyday work processes. Learning is understood as an inherently social and collaborative activity. The Knowledge Maturing Process Model structures this process into five phases: expressing ideas, distributing in communities, formalizing, ad-hoc learning and standardization. It is applicable not only for content but also to process knowledge and semantics. In the MATURE IP two toolsets will be develop that support the maturing process: a personal learning environment and an organisation learning environment integrating the levels of individuals, communities and organisation. The development is guided by the SER theory of seeding, evolutionary growth and reseeding and is based on generally applicable maturing services.
One of the most popular and trend-setting Internet applications is People Search on the World Wide Web. In its most general form, information extraction for persons from unstructured data is extremely challenging, and, we are pretty far away from satisfying solutions. However, current retrieval technology is able to cope with restricted variants of the problem, and this paper deals with such a variant, the so-called multi document person resolution. Given is a set of Web documents, and the task is to state for each document pair whether the two documents are talking about the same person or not.
For this problem Spock Inc., Silicon Valley, launched in 2007 a competition offering a grand prize of $50 000. Task was the person-specific classification of 100 000 Web pages within 4 hours on a standard PC, striving for a maximum F-Measure. The paper in hand describes the challenge and introduces the technology of the winning team from the Bauhaus University Weimar [see 1].
When studying heritage artefacts, and trying to represent what we know of them, it is important to portray not only key moments in their evolution, but also processes of transformation. In this contribution, we introduce a methodological framework of description of architectural changes, and investigate diagrammatic representations as means to visualize the above mentioned framework. We introduce two types of diagrams (diachrograms that distribute along a time axis transitions and states, variograms that detail the nature of the changes) that should help better understanding, how changes over time affect architecture. The paper also underlines key aspects of data in “historical sciences”: uncertainties, incompleteness, long ranges of time, unevenly distributed physical and temporal stratifications.
Companies are faced with managing as well as integrating large collections of distributed data today. Here, the challenging task is not to store these volumes of structured and interlinked data but to understand and analyze its explicit or implicit relationships. However, up to date there is virtually no support in navigating, visualizing or even analyzing structured data sets of this size appropriately. This paper describes novel rendering techniques enabling a new level of visual analytics combined with interactive exploration principles. The underlying visualization rationale is driven by the principle of providing detail information with respect to qualitative as well as quantitative aspects on user demand while offering an overview at any time. By means of our prototypical implementation and a real-world data set we show how to answer several data specific tasks by interactive visual exploration.
In the economic and financial analysis domain a quick access to the right information plays a major role. Using current systems, the search for and presentation of data is very cumbersome. The data, mostly in form of time-series, is stored in various databases. In order to retrieve the searched data, the analysts need to know where to search and sometimes even the structure of the database and its coding. Then it is required to export the data, process the data and create a chart to view the data. This might take time from tens of minutes to hours.
In our work we present a first prototype of an integrated search engine that takes as input a natural language query and offers graphic and text output depending on the user task. The system automatically identifies the time-series answers, types of graphical data presentation and shows the results in a web browser and in Excel. The knowledge-based expert system uses domain ontologies for extraction of economic terms in the search queries and specially built data type taxonomy with user task and chart type ontologies for identification of graphic output.
An increasing amount of valuable information is stored in RDF. In order to let humans access this information, providing an appropriate visualization of RDF data is an important challenge. In this paper, we present a new approach, combining list and a graph visualization to counterbalance the respective disadvantages of both representation paradigms to better handle the complexity of both the size and the
structure of RDF data.
In recent years the visualization of knowledge has been gaining wider attention: visualization is said to enhance human capabilities for knowledge intense activities such as decision making and strategic thinking. However, this is a recent field and still widely unexplored. Thus far, the advantages of knowledge visualization have been investigated mainly through anecdotal evidence and qualitative studies. In this paper, we propose an experimental approach to further comprehend the role of visualization in fostering knowledge sharing. We plan to compare the elicitation and evaluation processes of groups who are provided (1) with an optimal visual support, (2) with a sub-optimal visual support, and (3) without any visualization. The goal of our research is to apply the experimental approach – widely used in studying GSS (Group Support System) but seldom used in knowledge management – to shed light on the role of visualization for knowledge-intensive tasks in groups. We report first preliminary results of an experiment with 56 MBA students and also outline the limitations of our approach.
The importance of comprehensive annotations for learning resources is widely recognized. However, it is often unclear how these annotations should be created. A promising solution might be that learners annotate learning resources during execution of learning processes. This paper examines tagging as a learner-driven approach that can be used to get annotations on a collaborative level. The characteristics of learner-generated annotations in learning scenarios and the applicability of these annotations to describe learning resources are investigated. As empirical grounding, the results of three independent experiments are presented in order to inform decisions concerning the establishment of stitutionalized settings deploying tagging approaches.
The stories told among members of an organization are an effective instrument for knowledge socialization, the sharing of experiences through social mechanisms. However, the utility of stories for organizational learning is limited due to the difficulties in acquiring stories that are relevant to the practices of an organization, identifying the learning goals that these stories serve, and delivering these stories to the right people and the right time in a manner that best facilitates learning. In this paper we outline a vision for story-based organizational learning in the future, and describe three areas where intelligent technologies can be applied to automate story management practices in support of organizational learning. First, we describe automated story capture technologies that identify narratives of people’s experiences within the context of a larger discourse. Second, we describe automated retrieval technologies that identify stories that are relevant to specific educational needs. Third, we describe how stories can be transformed into effective story-based learning environments with minimal development costs.
In this paper an approach is presented how self-regulated learning can be supported and stimulated by visualising knowledge and competence structures in order to provide visual guidance in the learning process. In the field of adaptive systems and related research techniques of intelligent guidance have been developed, which, however, may have the disadvantage of limiting the learner. On the other hand, self-regulated learning gives greater control and responsibility to the learner, however, especially weak learner may have difficulties without provision of guidance. The presented approach combines both offering guidance and granting control over the own learning process. A set of learning tools have been developed which implement and demonstrate the proposed approach. Since knowledge structuring and knowledge visualisation are well established in the field of knowledge management, this approach can be exploited to bridge the research fields of e-learning and knowledge
management.
Complex products and services require both the sophisticated knowledge of individuals on the one hand and collective collaboration between various disciplines and teams on the other. Work-related individual and organizational learning processes in organizations appear to provide the foundations for such individual and organizational knowledge and capabilities. These interconnected learning processes would also seem to be situated in both a social and a physical environment. This paper proposes a methodology for managing situated individual and organizational learning. Empirical results from a questionnaire and two test bed organizations are presented and conclusions drawn from the assessment results on recommended measures for the use of e-learning.
In this paper we analyze the meanings and relations of frequently used terms in knowledge management (KM). We start with an overview of the terms data, information, and knowledge, which are mostly seen to be in a hierarchical relation with either knowledge or data on top of the hierarchy. Afterwards, we present the concepts that underlie tacit knowledge, implicit knowledge, and explicit knowledge. Since the meaning of all of these terms varies depending on the author, we give working definitions of the terms and integrate them in a coherent framework, which clarifies and visualizes the relations between data, information, and
different types of knowledge. The framework allows researchers to build on a clear terminology concerning frequently used terms in KM, and helps readers of KM literature to gain a better understanding of their meanings and relations.
Determining fields of excellence in the know-how of knowledge intensive companies is often a crucial decisional process, aimed e.g., at identifying the competence to be strengthened or to invest on in a long term strategy. In this paper we propose a semantic-based approach for automatic extraction of such a specializing knowledge, usually called Core Competence in knowledge management literature. The proposed approach exploits Description Logics as formalism for the representation of knowledge sources and implements novel reasoning services, in particular informative common subsumers specifically devised for Core Competence evaluation.
Several data quality management (DQM) tasks like duplicate detection or consistency checking depend on domain specific knowledge. Many DQM approaches have potential for bringing together domain knowledge and DQM metadata. We provide an approach which uses this knowledge modeled in ontologies instead of aquiring that knowledge by cost-intensive interviews with domain-experts. These ontologies can directly be annotated with DQM specific metadata. With our approach a synergy effect can be achieved when modeling a domain ontology, e.g. for defining a shared vocabulary for improved interoperability, and performing DQM. We present three DQM applications which directly use knowledge provided by domain ontologies. These applications use the ontology structure itself to provide correction suggestions for invalid data, identify duplicates, and to store data quality annotations at schema and instance level.
Despite the obvious business value of visualizing similarities between elements of evolving information spaces and mapping these similarities e.g. onto geospatial reference systems, analysts are often more interested in how the semantic orientation (sentiment) towards an organization, a product or a particular technology is changing over time. Unfortunately, popular methods that process unstructured textual material to detect semantic orientation automatically based on tagged dictionaries [Scharl et al. 2003] are not capable of fulfilling this task, even when coupled with part-of-speech tagging, a standard component of most text processing toolkits thatdistinguishes grammatical categories such as article (AT), noun (NN), verb (VB), and adverb (RB). Small corpus size, ambiguity and subtle incremental change of tonal expressions between different versions of a document complicate the detection of semantic orientation and often prevent promising algorithms from being incorporated into commercial applications. Parsing grammatical structures, by contrast, outperforms dictionary-based approaches in terms of reliability, but usually suffers from poor scalability due to their computational complexity. This paper addresses this predicament by presenting an alternative approach based on automatically building Tagged Linguistic Unit (TLU) databases to overcome the restrictions of dictionaries with a limited set of tagged tokens.
2D barcodes are capable of storing different kind of data. A significant number of new mobile phones come with a built-in camera. These technologies together with the fact that mobile phones are next to the owner most of the time are the foundation of a variety of interesting applications. In Japan more than 75% of all mobile phones do have already a preinstalled barcode reader, that allows the user to decode the incorporated information of a barcode. This procedure can be used to improve the user experience while simplifying the input of data into the mobile device. These 2D barcodes can be used to exchange information
between mobile phones and to connect to the mobile web. These days the Western World is gaining interest in this technology. In this paper the most important applications are introduced. The relevance to print media and the advertising industry is shown.
In today’s information environments, tagging is widely used to provide informationabout arbitrary types of digital resources. This information is created by end users with different motivations and for different kinds of purposes. When aiming to support users in the tagging process, these differences play an important role. This paper discusses several approaches to generate tag recommendations, and a prototypical recommender system for the social resource sharing platform ALOE will be presented.
This interactive system allows users to control the generation of the recommendations by selecting the sources to be used as well as their impact. The component was introduced at DFKI, and a first evaluation showed that the recommender component was considered as helpful by a majority of users.
Story-telling has been a means of bequeathing knowledge since aeons. Whereas the idea of the story-telling remains unaltered, the world around undertakes continuous changes. New media, new technologies and devices, new ways of communication define a new format of the story-telling. This paper proposes a new non-linear version of mobile story-telling in the emerging ubiquity of knowledge sharing. To support our concept we provide a description of multimedia services based on the MPEG-7 metadata standard used for our non-linear mobile story-telling environment.
Our goal is increasing the users’ value and experience and decreasing the implementation time for web portals. To achieve this goal we adopt a subject-centric perspective on information architecture. The fundament of this approach is that portals should be driven by subject-centric models of the portals’ domains. Out of these domain models, the interaction and interface design of the portals is self-evident. Amongst others, the international industry standard Topic Maps is a portal technology and an implementation of the subjectcentric modelling paradigm. With ActiveTM we introduce a technology, which implements a Model-driven approach to automatically create domain-customised, subject-centric portal engines, based on Topic Maps. ActiveTM has proved as technique for reducing the implementation cost of portals enormously and the implied subject-centricness increases the users’ value and experience significantly.
A user-centric architecture of infotainment content adaptation to the context is presented. The architecture uses component technologies in term of business logic and functionalities offered by social web (OpenID, FOAF) and semantic descriptions of MPEG-7 and MPEG-21. Technological alternatives are discussed and adapted to the specificity of vehicle applications in terms of scalability and platform mobility. The requirements of the architecture are motivated by the presentation of a scenario.
The Web 2.0 philosophy has brought new ways of using the web as a content repository and a sharing platform. Non-computer skilled people can now publish their own text, images, videos and/or sounds and take part in communities created around topics they like. It has also brought an opportunity to propose resources to a potentially huge audience. Indeed, a promotional video posted on YouTube can be watched by millions of users. That is why we wanted to know if it was possible to take advantage of this possibility to recruit testers for our music learning tool: our development is user centred, so it is important for us to have it evaluated by lots of testers. Until now, they were recruited in a geographically limited area, i.e Réunion Island. Therefore, we have set up an experiment called “E-guitar Sonar Edition” to gather information about this recruiting opportunity. The idea is thus to design a free downloadable version of our system (originally, it was a DVD), put it on a dedicated web site and have it promoted thanks to video sequences posted on YouTube and Dailymotion, the two majors video Web 2.0 sharing sites, the most appropriate services. This article presents the conditions and the process used. It also deals with the assessment part, the way we gather feedback and finally shows the firsts results. The experiment itself has no limit in time, so it is still currently running.
This paper presents findings from the development process of a general innovation framework for an ongoing Nordic R&D project on e-business and media. It focuses on the current state of the Danish news media sector and the conclusions we can draw from the “Web 2.0 activity” of the Danish newspapers. The paper concludes that the Web 2.0 offers the opportunity for fundamental re-thinking of the business models of the news media sector and for developing a new framework for business modelling for this sector.
The need for Knowledge Management (KM) in Human Services is growing. New “Social Software”-solutions which came along with the so-called “Web 2.0” enable advanced possibilities of implementing KM-strategies in smaller agencies in the domain of Social Work. In the field of of human service-oriented knowledge sharing one case out of three projects showing the use of a wiki will be presented. The project deal with the introduction of a wiki in the area of Case Management in a job center.
Web 2.0 platforms such as media sharing and social network sites (SNS) concern people in everyday life to a great extent. People are enabled to reach out to various media and up to now, it is nearly impossible to use digital identities ex ante or to recreate users’ identities ex post across different platforms. In this paper, we explore important methodologies in Web 2.0 such as cross-media analysis and social pattern based analysis based on a survey in this area, aiming at cross-platform information diffusion across social network sites. Open issues are discussed to explore the challenges and solutions in this new research area.
Wikis have their seeds in the easy collaborative editing and maintenance of web pages. This was picked up by tremendously successful public projects such as the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Creating, modifying and maintaining of wiki articles implies social structures and dependencies between wiki authors and wiki articles themselves. The general challenge of this work is to consider these structures as dynamic evolving networks and to point out prominent behaviors in large wiki-based networks. We present an environment capable of handling data management, measurement and visualization issues for the dynamic network analysis of publicly available wiki data.
Today Online Social Networks (OSN) are very popular Web sites which show remarkable user growth and attention on the Internet. One reason of the extraordinary success of these social software sites are the enhanced Web 2.0 technologies and concepts, but they do not really explain why a OSN in particular produce explosive growth while another similar Web site is drying out. We belief that these socio-technical mass phenomena can be better understood by introducing self-organization theory (SOT) and crowd behavior. These concepts can explain why spontaneous collective- and herd behaviors may emerge and how the development of these processes could look like. However OSN should not only grow fast, they also want to stay sustainable and get profitable. Hence an important question of these potential “overshoot and collapse” Web sites on the Internet is how to get it stabilized and turned into a long lasting and successful service. Therefore we present some considerations about growth and sustainability in the dynamic and competitive online world.
Although collaboration is widely accepted as the most efficient method for creating value some important barriers of knowledge sharing arise leading to the creation of noncollaborative environments. Especially in developing countries, universities have to face new challenges that rise from shifts in the knowledge production paradigms and from frequent changes in policies. Considering these particularities, we believe that some measures have to be taken to ensure a leap to knowledge sharing, a leap over usual knowledge sharing barriers that arise on traditional approaches to knowledge management implementations.
In this paper we propose a classification and systematic description structure based on the pattern paradigm for interaction scripts in Second Life that aim at facilitating knowledge sharing and knowledge integration in groups. We present eight examples of such interactions, a description structure to formalize them, and classify them into four classes according to their design scope and added value. Based on this classification we distinguish among sophisticated 3D collaboration patterns, seamless patterns, decorative patterns, and pseudo patterns.
This paper introduces the LIR-Schema, a framework to model knowledge flows within a company based on model-theory. Competence management is integrated in this framework as a tool for modelling the contexts of sender and receiver of expertise. The main target of this framework is to reduce the knowledge gap between experts and laymen within the company.
Providing context-aware personalized desktop assistance that is related to the work task of the knowledge worker is a recent research topic. Our approach focuses on task detection by work context observation. A sum of steps towards this goal are addressed by our work, including (1) accessing the desktop computers event stream of user interaction and system status, (2) context reasoning and prediction of the user’s working task and (3) recommending relevant resources based on the predicted work goal. Here, we present an algorithmic approach for automated context aggregation by using mapping functions. This instance of context inference combines lower-level context features to new aggregated features which represent a higher-level context. While related work uses manually defined domain-specific rules for combining features, we automate this approach and in addition show that by means of that the prediction accuracy of the user’s work task increases significantly.
This contribution promotes the application of an adaptive collaborative management (ACM) approach for social learning in the context of Nepal’s community forestry program. We highlight the principles of the ACM process, the problems, potentials and limitations of the approach especially to demonstrate social and collaborative learning for sustainable community forest management. Researchers and local facilitators were involved in a deliberative planning process and community forest users groups developed a common understanding of how to apply the ACM approach. In a joint learning process the users tested assumptions built upon their experiences and knowledge which allowed them to achieve the goals of the local community in a sustainable manner. Evidence of the combined application of the ACM process and social learning are presented from six case studies on community forestry in Nepal using a broader range of the knowledge management activities. Community forest management provides a participatory environment to achieve conservation and poverty reduction. In particular, the current status, challenges, and opportunities for future improvement as seen from the perspective of social learning are highlighted. Conclusions and policy suggestions are made as contribution for the development of a common understanding in which an ACM approach can be practiced to transform a knowledge management organization towards a learning environment.
By storing Personality Traits in User Profiles we enable Recommender Systems to deduce more interesting recommendations for users acting pro-actively in order to offer them products/services as a consequence of a prediction of their future needs and behavior. This paper is proposed to improve the robustness of recommendations by using psychological aspects such as Personality Traits. This paper is a part of a PhD ongoing work.
In the paper the new possibilities of eLearning 2.0 management systems for knowledge production, experience sharing and communication are presented. The Web 2.0 effects and mechanisms for knowledge capturing and construction are discussed. Reviews of seven new generation learning systems are done with aim one of them to be selected for knowledge building and competence development during the university education as well as after degree receiving. The analysis of eLearning 2.0 management systems is performed in context of the IEEE LTSA (Learning Technology Systems Architecture) component architecture.
There is a significant gap between the services provided by dedicated information systems and general desktop systems for document communication and preparation. This situation is a serious knowledge-management problem, which often results in information loss, poor communication, and confusion among users. Semantic desktops promise to bring knowledge-based services to common desktop applications and, ultimately, to support knowledge management by adding advanced functionality to familiar computing environments. By custom tailoring these systems to different application domains, it is possible to provide dedicated services that assist users in combining document handling and communication with structured workflow processes and the services provided by dedicated systems. This paper presents a model for developing custom-tailored document processing for semantic-desktop systems. Our approach has been applied to the domain of military command and control, which as based on highly-structured document-driven processes.
A Report on a Systems Theory Based Approach to Identify Options for Higher Knowledge Work Productivity and its Applications in Business and Public Management
The established methods used for measuring labour productivity originally designed for the manufacturing sector do not fit the specific characteristics of knowledge work. We therefore propose a more appropriate understanding of the driving forces behind knowledge work productivity, focussing on process quality instead of result quantity. In a three step potential analysis, we assess (1) the knowledge intensity and then (2) current levels of knowledge work productivity with regard to typical intellectual activities such as information processing, communication, decision making, and learning, as well as organizational adaptability. The quality of knowledge work can be increased if the handling of information, communication and knowledge during these activities occurs in a systematically organised way instead of arbitrarily. Results of the analysis are then used to (3) propose both short and medium term action plans for more productive knowledge work.
The advent of information and communication technology (ICT) provides opportunities for employees with offices in geographically dispersed locations to communicate, share and collaborate on projects to achieve common business goals. This paper describes the experiences of two Romanian telecom companies, one of them have adopted distance working as a key part of its organizational strategy.
Project organizations make particular demands on the management of knowledge both within projects and across projects. In this contribution we present a method kit for the improvement of knowledge management in a project organization in the German Federal Armed Forces. The kit was developed in an interdisciplinary cooperation with the Bundeswehr University Munich. The project team approached two goals: The method kit firstly should serve as an instrument for a target-oriented identification and for removing project specific knowledge barriers. Secondly, the kit should create awareness for measures to further support knowledge work. We describe the basic elements of the method kit and present a process model for its application.
Developing successful knowledge management (KM) processes is extremely difficult. In general, a large number of all KM projects end unsuccessfully. The aim of this paper is to summarize and study the attempts to take advantage of Lessons Learned in the Swedish Armed Forces (SwAF), focusing on international missions. Relevant reports, articles and literature have been studied. With the purpose of understanding the reasons for failure and the failure factors in SwAF’s attempts at KM, Chua and Lams’ model for unsuccessful KM implementation has been applied to four cases from the organization. The results show that SwAF are aware of the importance of knowledge and have attempted to implement KM on several occasions. In most cases, however, the KM projects do not achieve widespread use and eventually end unsuccessfully. Furthermore, many of the KM tools that have been developed are no longer in use. The Swedish Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Demining Centre (SWEDEC) and the Swedish Air Force are notable exceptions.
Due to increasing professionalization and specialization in the development of computer and video games new challenges regarding the support of knowledgeintensive activities emerge. This paper aims at sensitizing and systematizing the needs and potentials for continuous integration of knowledge management into game development. It describes the interplay of development activities and involved parties with the knowledge creation process and provides insight into a tool-based approach that aims to support knowledge management in game development on three distinct levels.
In this paper, we analyze the relation of private and public information spaces in organizations and its implication for organizational knowledge management. By private information spaces, we mean all (electronic) information, which is only accessible by a single person in an organization (e.g. local files or personal E-Mails). The organizational information space in turn, consists of all electronic information, which can be accessed by all or most members of an organization. Based on this distinction, we develop a notion of information gaps between the organizational and the individual worker’s information space. We derive four basic situations and discuss the implications for organizational knowledge management in each one. We support our claims by describing results from initial evaluation studies.
Despite intensive research within the field of knowledge management and its components, the issue of knowledge valuation and its organisational integration presents a big challenge. Existing research papers about knowledge valuation have remained on very abstract levels and therefore cannot be very easily adapted to the needs of a specific company. Often only scarce information is provided for specific practical implementation. This interferes considerably with the application of existing methods of knowledge valuation. In addition, support by information technology seems only seldom to be found nowadays, which also complicates the application of existing methods in organisations. The aim of this research paper is to compare selected established approaches of knowledge valuation on the basis of certain criteria. Furthermore, an analysis and identification of possibilities for improvement are given.
Creating Profound Change and Radically New Knowledge as Core Challenges in Knowledge Management
This paper introduces an alternative approach to innovation: Emergent Innovation. As opposed to radical innovation Emergent Innovation finds a balance and integrates the demand both for radically new knowledge and at the same time for an organic development from within the organization. From a knowledge management perspective one can boil down this problem to the question of how to cope with the new and with profound change in knowledge. This question will be dealt with in the first part of the paper. As an implication the alternative approach of Emergent Innovation will be presented in the second part: this approach looks at innovation as a socio-epistemological process of “learning from the future”.
Nowadays, on the basis of a common standard for metadata representation and interchange mechanism in data warehouse environments, Common Warehouse Metamodel (CWM) – based ETL processes still has to face significant challenges in semantically and systematically integrating heterogeneous sources to data warehouse. In this context, we focus on proposing an ontology-based ETL framework for covering schema integration as well as semantic integration. In our approach, beside the schema-based semantics in CWM-compliant metamodels, semantic interoperability in ETL processes can be improved by means of an ontology-based foundation to better representation, and management of the underlying domain semantics. Furthermore, within the scope of this paper, a set of CWM-based modelling constructs driven by ontology for the definition of metadata required for ETL processes is defined, facilitating the extraction, transformation and loading of useful data from distributed and heterogeneous sources. Thus, the role of interconnecting CWM and semantic technologies in populating data warehousing systems with quality data and providing data warehouse an integrated and reconciled view of data is highlighted.
Tagging is an extremely popular mechanism in many Web 2.0 applications to create metadata supporting search and retrieval of arbitrary multimedia information like digital images, video or audio. However, compared to the syndicated multimedia information itself, the metadata are still “sticky”. They cannot be accessed across several Web 2.0 applications, their semantic enrichment is not possible and they cannot be embedded in the local practices of communities of practice. Here, we present a multimedia tagging mechanism based on the international standard MPEG-7 for community-aware, standard compliant tagging of semantically enriched metadata implemented in the M7MT proof-of-concept application.
Knowledge necessary for the creation of business process models is distributed, consists of different types, and expresses different levels of abstraction. Its acquisition and collection into a common knowledge base, which implies integration into a single model, is the goal of the approach we are proposing. In this paper a framework for the integration of business process knowledge is proposed. It is shown how semantic technologies can contribute to the integration of different models, which represent different aspects of an organization, in order to create a more expressive model of business process knowledge.
Ubiquitous computing and the pervasive Internet have enabled service access in every situation. However, adaptation to the user needs is purely handled, and service specific security implementations are only found for specific services. This paper presents an approach to combine the I-centric and service centric world based on a semantic description of user relations enabling service access. A prototype using over-the-air key distribution demonstrates the capabilities of the suggested approach.
Multimedia creation, annotation and sharing are challenging tasks especially of interdisciplinary, intercultural and intergenerational communities. We present the mobile social software Virtual Campfire to provide cross-media and cross-community support for de- and recontextualization of multimedia content, employing Web Services, the MPEG-7 standard and Web 2.0 technologies etc. Virtual Campfire can enable communities to set up and maintain multimedia community information systems quickly and easily.
We present the Publication Platform, a component of the PrestoSpace1 project, which provides retrieval and browsing functionalities of enriched audio-visual material. The Prestospace Factory is a system for enriching audio-visual documents in order to provide automated content and semantic analysis.The Publication Platform provides a user interface for semantic queries and produces a Web page with the results of the AV analysis and additional information about related external documents.
This paper presents a video annotation system which enables efficiently to annotate video footage. It provides automatic feature extraction methods which support the user in navigation through and structuring of the video content. An annotation at image region level is supported by object redetection and tracking functionalities. The result content description of the footage is saved in MPEG-7.
Manual quality control of audiovisual content in the different steps of the media production, delivery and archiving process causes significant costs. Semi-automatic quality control requires automatisation of quality analysis, quality metadata interoperability and efficient visualisation tools. In this paper we propose the use of MPEG-7 for standard compliant description of media quality metadata and a quality summary visualisation tool which facilitates efficient exploration of visually impaired content by the user.
The task of creating specific references rests on specifications that qualify how parts of resources can be addressed. The lack of standards for fragment identifiers has lead to the problem that links, metadata and references merely point to whole resources. Although it is suggested that fragment identification is specified with a media type’s MIME type registration, there are few formats that provide a fragment identification scheme. Furthermore formats that specify fragment identification schemes have not agreed on a common set of requirements. In this paper we present an overview of the current status of interoperable fragment definitions, point out promising activities that promote interoperable fragment definitions and suggest strategies to promote uniform fragment identifiers. Additionally a set of requirements is defined and described to ease the development of fragment identification standards.
We present an innovative approach that treats the right management metadata as metric objects, enabling similarity search on IPR attributes between digital items. We show how the content base similarity search can help both the user to deal with a huge amount of similar items with different licenses and the content providers to detect fake copies or illegal uses. Our aim is the management of the metadata related to the Digital Rights in centralized systems or networks with indexing capabilities for both text and similarity searches, providing the basic infrastructure enabling the private use and the commercial exploitation as well.
Along with the rapid increase of available multimedia data, comes the proliferation of objectionable content such as violence and pornography. We need efficient tools for automatically identifying, classifying and filtering out harmful or undesirable video content for the protection of sensitive user groups (e.g. children). In this paper we present a multimodal approach towards the identification and semantic analysis of violent content in video data. We propose a layered architecture and focus on ontological and knowledge engineering aspects of video analysis. We demonstrate the development
of two ontologies defining violent hints hierarchy that low level analysis, in visual and audio modality, respectively should identify. A violence domain ontology, as a reality representation, defines higher-level semantics. Taking under consideration extracted violent hints, spatio-temporal relations and behaviour patterns higher-level semantics automatic inference is possible.
This paper introduces a new model of personalized usage of the internet that is based on technologies of user representation, artificial intelligence and semantic augmentation of the content. By taking advantage of internet’s unprecedented dynamics, compared to traditional media, this user representation model incorporates cognitive, mainly, psychology theories, combined with parameters that constitute more traditional approaches in user profiling (such as demographics, expertise, etc). The purpose of this research is to alleviate difficulties that massive approaches impose on areas such as education and information processing, by integrating intelligent adaptive characteristics into web applications; this can lead to a highly adapted to each user’s needs content and more effective, in our case, learning.
New media applications like E-Learning or Computer supported collaborative learning are becoming more and more popular and the internet plays a key role in this development. These applications open up new ways in education, which were not thinkable only some years ago. Nowadays the progress in technology like broadband internet access, video on demand, streaming media, etc. allow to realize such applications. But as first approaches show, to realize a good E-Learning application is not only a matter of technology it is also a matter of good interface and system design. Often a good interface/system design, which puts the user and his needs into the focus, is as important for a successful application as the realized functionality.
This papers presents a study investigating the learner perspective on the use of learning management systems by conducting focus groups. Based on the statements we derived requirements and propose design improvements in order to support and facilitate collaborative learning applications.
The Web 2.0 philosophy has brought new ways of using the web as a content repository and a sharing platform. Non-computer skilled people can now publish their own text, images, videos and/or sounds and take part in communities created around topics they like. Our idea is thus to use this new communication mechanism to assist skill learning. Skill is indeed a difficult knowledge to learn on a text form as it is hard to describe movements, gestures or procedures in this way: sometime, a picture or a video is better than a thousand of words.
As a popular field of experience, we have focused our attention on music learning, and more particularly on guitar pieces learning. Music is very representative of skill learning, it is both a physical and an intellectual activity. The “Gloss2U” service we describe in this article takes into account the specificities of this learning process, especially as events are time-related.
To achieve this, we rely on new equipment conditions that are nowadays gathered. Userfriendly multimedia tools opened new horizons and broadband networks (ADSL, cable, …) are becoming more and more common. Almost everybody is a potential content producer with just a webcam or a cell phone. Our system is therefore audio and video based and users interact with each others by submitting contributions, called glosses, in the context of the piece they are learning. A dialogue starts between student users (learners) and experimented ones (professors), to discuss encountered problems and the way to solve them. The other strength of this system is that it can act as a knowledge repository for forthcoming practitioners.
Due to a shift in the marketing focus from mass to micro markets, the importance of one-to-one communication in advertising has increased. Interactive media provide possible answers to this shift. However, missing standards in payment models for interactive media are a hurdle in the further development. The paper reviews interactive advertising payment models. Furthermore, it adapts the popular FCB grid as a tool for both advertisers and publishers or broadcasters to examine effective interactive payment models.
The concept of co-production was originally introduced by political science to explain citizen participation in the provision of public goods. The concept was quickly adopted in business research targeting the question how users could be voluntarily integrated into industrial production settings to improve the development of goods and services on an honorary basis. With the emergence of Social Software and web-based collaborative infrastructures the concept of co-production gains importance as a theoretical framework for the collaborative production of web content and services. Current research in human computation has adopted the concept for the semantic enrichment of web content by collaborative tagging. This article argues that co-production is a powerful concept, which helps to explain the emergence of user generated content and the partial transformation of orthodox business models in the content industries.
There is plenty of hype around the term Web 2.0. While the change of the web has gathered increased attention from the Web 2.0 community itself, it seems that the corporate world feels unconfident how to apply the principles of the Web 2.0 to their businesses. Due to the ambiguity and fuzziness of the concepts describing Web 2.0 there is a lot of uncertainness. Highly affected industry branches like the media industry show interest but their fears of loosing their competitiveness because of not knowing how to handle the phenomenon Web 2.0 are evenly strong. Nevertheless, little academic work has been conducted on the implication of Web 2.0 to the business domain. This paper bridges the gap in having a deeper look into the phenomena of Web 2.0 leading to the development of a more graspable model for corporate use of Web 2.0 encapsulating a business focus and hence defining the term Corporate Web 2.0. By showing how the introduced model is applied, it helps companies including the media and other businesses to derive a business value from the new Internet.
Allowing users to publish and share photos on the Internet makes Flickr one of the most popular tagging services currently available. The organisation of images in Flickr is based on Folksonomies, where users attach loose metadata—instead of well-defined terms from a controlled vocabulary—to their images. Although this lowers the barrier to participation it has a number of negative effects and can make searching, for instance, more difficult.
This paper offers a solution to a particular issue that can be encountered in Flickr—the Vocabulary Problem. The suggested approach is based on the use of a semantic lexical database for expanding Flickr queries. WordFlickr, a prototype implementation of this concept, is presented together with FlickrClustr, a related tool for clustering Flickr search results. Results of informal tests with these tools are provided, and characteristics of tag usage are derived.
Abstract: In this paper a novel form of online users, the “Online Crowds”, is described. “Online Crowds” gather virtually, behave and act collectively and produce effects and phenomena which would not be possible without the Internet [Hof 05]. A remarkable example is “The Million Dollar Homepage”1 where a clever student made more than £ 100.000 only by offering a simple but unique online idea. He used the dynamics between online users and companies to make money with almost no effort. To understand these “social contagion” processes, an interdisciplinary conceptual and psychological model of “Online Crowds” is introduced. The model is based on the principles of “Other directedness”, “Critical mass”, “Positive feedback loops” and the accelerating impact of network effects on the Internet. Some recommendations are sketched how such “Online Crowds” can be actively formed for promising online business models. If the behavior and the characteristics of “Online Crowds” are better understood, decision makers and providers will be better capable to predict and promote successful online communities and services.
Moreover a look at the positive and negative effects of these phenomena is taken and their challenges, as well as the implications for the affected society are analyzed. Especially the domain of New Media Technology (NMT) and the particular area of online recommender- and personalization technology are facing a potential for exploiting these Internet phenomena. Finally, a list of related work in the field and an outlook on further improvements in
the discussed approach are given.
Abstract: User generated content published via weblogs (also known as blogs) has gained importance in the last years, and the number of globally available weblogs increases. However, a large fraction of these show low publishing activity and are rarely read. This paper is a quantitative analysis of success factors in a community of over 15.000 weblogs, hosted by a local Austrian newspaper. We looked at publishing activity by content type, community activity and writing style. Also, the interconnectedness of the community was analyzed.
The digital media and games industry is one of the biggest IT based industries worldwide. Recent observations therein showed that current production workflows may be potentially improved as multimedia objects are mostly created from scratch due to insufficient reusability capacities of existing tools. In this paper we provide reasons for that, provide a potential solution based on semantic technologies, show the potential of ontologies, and provide scenarios for the application of semantic technologies in the digital media and games industry.
With the advent of Web 2.0 technologies a new attitude towards processing contents in the Internet has emerged. Nowadays it is a lot easier to create, share and retrieve multimedia contents on the Web. However, with the increasing amount in contents the retrieval process becomes more complex and often leads to inadequate search results. One main reason is summarized easily: Approaches to image clustering and retrieval usually either stick solely to the images’ low-level features or their semantic tags. However, this is frequently inappropriate since the “real” semantics of an image can only be derived from the combination of low-level features and semantic tags. Consequently, we investigated a more holistic view on semantics based on a system called Imagesemantics that tries to close the gap between both approaches by combining them.
In this work we propose how to deal with the Semantic Gap in closed domains. That is, we propose to bridge the Semantic Gap by means of mapping wellknown low-level feature patterns found in MPEG-7 descriptions to formal concepts. The key contributions of the proposed approach are (i) the utilisation of ontologies, and rules to enhance the retrieval capabilities (effectiveness), and (ii) the realisation of the feature matching process being carried out on the structural level through indexed MPEG-7 descriptions (efficiency). We discuss advantages and shortcomings of our approach, and illustrate its application in the realm of non-linear, interactive movie productions.
Today the availability of digital media content is well established and widespread. Not only commercial content distribution is a big market, but also user driven digital multimedia content is produced and shared in big communities. There is an increasing need to automatically categorize media such as music or pictures and more general to provide intelligent mechanisms for easier navigation, search and retrieval within huge distributed content repositories. One of the metadata standards that has been established to describe multimedia content via metadata is MPEG-7.
This international standard facilitates many application domains and is probably the richest multimedia metadata set available today. However, one of the key issues is to provide an almost automatic annotation of multimedia data in respect to low-level (e.g., color, shape, audio signature, etc.) as well as high-level (e.g., object recognition, event recognition, etc.) features. This work investigates and analyzes currently available MPEG-7 annotation tools and summarizes their applicability and limitations.
Interactive digital TV is becoming a reality throughout the globe. The most important part of the picture is new services for the user, in terms of audio-video quality, but mostly in terms of entirely new content and interacting experience. To this end, we explore the potential of introduction of semantics in the distribution, processing and usage of the media content. We propose a smart iTV receiver framework capable of collecting, extending and processing (reasoning) semantic metadata related to the broadcast multimedia content. System architecture is presented along with an example service to illustrate the combination of semantic metadata, user preferences and external data sources.
This exploratory study aims to discuss issues on media measurement in relation to concurrent media consumption of digital media news services. A survey was conducted using a sample consisting of students from the Media Technology program at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden. The data was mainly analyzed qualitatively as the majority of the survey questions were open-ended. The respondents stated that a combination of the computer with the Internet where the media most common to consume simultaneously with other media such as TV or the mobile phone. The phone was the media most mentioned as prioritized when consuming media simultaneously. The findings thus indicate that simultaneous consumption is common among the media aware technology students in the sample.
Simultaneous media consumption might imply for the media companies that competition for the audience attention takes on new forms. This consumption might then affect media companies as their advertisers are becoming more and more aware of the phenomenon. Measures for media consumption have to be adapted to this behavior and previous research suggests that observation methods might be used to detect simultaneous media consumption.
Many organizations are in front of most competitive economic environments, where, in order to survive, they must reduce costs all the time and adopt the most intelligent business strategy. We decided to design an expert system for choosing the most adequate accountancy program for an enterprise and that will serve as an effective tool for knowledge management. The purpose of this paper is to highlight that an Expert System is an innovative tool for managing knowledge in any domain.
Knowledge Management is meanwhile generally recognized as a discipline established in many organisations and no longer needs a special justification. It is certainly not unrestrictedly positively seen and even some of its supporters saw a hype in the development of the last few years, which is fading and is being replaced by a realist view of what is feasible. In the attempt to gain a proof of success, one bumps into further difficulties since the effects of KM activities are often not easily or explicitly measurable. It is not clear if this would not have developed as positively when not measures would have been taken for the development of knowledge management. The goal of this paper is the attempt of a comprehensive explanation of a new theme which is incorporated in Tacit Knowledge Management (TKM), as well as a proposal for the integration of TKM in the traditional understanding of knowledge management.
Classical knowledge representation methods traditionally work with established relations such as synonymy, hierarchy and unspecified associations. Recent developments like ontologies and folksonomies show new forms of collaboration, indexing and knowledge representation and encourage the reconsideration of standard knowledge relationships. In a summarizing overview we show which relations are currently utilized in elaborated knowledge representation methods and which may be inherently hidden in folksonomies and ontologies.
Knowledge Management literature suggests that failure is a non trivial issue. Crucial to researchers’ understanding of this phenomenon are: definition, causality, and predictability. These issues are addressed in this paper, as it aims to propose a methodology to examine Knowledge Management Systems Failure. The position advocated here is that Knowledge Management Systems are descendents of Information Systems; thus, we take up the Systems Failure Approach from the Soft Systems school of thought, as a potentially fruitful methodology to be implemented in Knowledge Management Systems failures studies.
This paper evaluates methods that can be used for effectively generating und utilizing intellectual capital reports (ICRs) for external and internal reporting as well as for internal knowledge-sensitive management decisions. Research is accompanied by a case study in a high-tech enterprise (Infineon Technologies Austria AG). An intellectual capital report controlling process has been developed. The findings of this research will be of use to all knowledge-based companies and institutions as they demonstrate how and why to measure intellectual capital. The paper discusses the proposed controlling system and the most important findings. An ICR is a multi-indicator system used to depict the development of intangible assets. As there are currently only unsatisfactory accounting guidelines for the reporting of intellectual capital available, an emphasis on techniques for selecting indicators for the report has been made. As a result, convincing reports for external addressees can be generated. Furthermore, methods for using this information as a foundation for knowledge-sensitive management decisions are drafted. The ideas presented in this paper are based on a master’s thesis written at Infineon Technologies Austria AG.
There are many technologies calling themselves knowledge management systems in the market but most of them deal only with information management. The main difference between them is that knowledge management systems are oriented into people and participated in tacit knowledge capturing. The paper describes set of information technologies which could take part in all process of knowledge management and especially in collecting tacit knowledge.
Service oriented architectures (SOAs) are a new paradigm in IT-management. This paper presents an SOA-implementation in the intranet portal of a 520-employee research institute, which was launched to accompany parallel knowledge-management (KM) activities. Furthermore it explains the benefits of an SOA-based IT-landscape for KM-activities.
The search for professional knowledge is affected by an endemic ambiguity in the definition of required and provided competences. Ontologies represent a mean for disambiguation, by providing a shared vocabulary for job market knowledge domain. In this paper we propose an ontology based search engine for curricula, which exploits the semantic annotation of available curricula to rank them with respect to a knowledge request and implements novel technologies for dynamic and interactive web applications development.
In this paper we describe novel ideas and their prototypical implementation for the visualization of rule bases. In the creation of the visualization our approach considers not only the structure of a rule base but also records of its usage. We also discuss methods to address the challenges for visualization tools posed by rule bases that are large, created with high level knowledge acquisition tools or that contain low level rules that should remain hidden from the users.
Analysing and understanding the evolution of historic artefacts requires the crossexamination of indications ranging from specific pieces of data (remains of the edifice, archival materials, etc.), to generic pieces of knowledge (historical context, comparable cases, theory of architecture, etc.). This research is based on the premise that the artefact’s acts as a media allowing the integration of the above-mentioned heterogeneous indications. Consequently, they may enable information visualisation and retrieval through 2D/3D dynamic graphics. In this contribution, we discuss four SVG-based graphic tools aiming at exploiting visually the relations between an artefact and the above-mentioned indications, i.e. its documentation.
This research aims at innovative IT support for competence management (CM) integrating organizational, group and individual perspectives. Our method is action case research resulting in a design model. This paper addresses our overall approach towards an integrative CM system, which is usage-oriented. Based on in-depth analysis of seven business companies’ CM activities, we present a new interactive visualization model for CM. The model is suitable for explorative analysis and for communicating competence situations at individual, group or organizational levels. It provides support for constructing competence information incrementally. We view competence descriptions as negotiable estimations with varying verification levels, and use a competence representation which deals with uncertainties of estimations. Our view on competence is novel, and has far reaching consequences. Future work includes a running prototype and planned pilot studies.
This paper suggests a powerful yet so far not used way to assist knowledge workers: while they are working on a problem, a system in the background is continuously checking to determine if similar or helpful material has not been published before, elsewhere. The technique described aims to reduce effort and time required to search relevant data on the World Wide Web by moving from a “pull” paradigm, where the user has to become active, to a “push” paradigm, where the user is notified if something relevant is found. We claim that the approach facilitates work by providing context aware passive web search, result analysis, extraction and organization of information according to the tasks at hand. Instead of conventional information retrieval enhancements we suggest a model where relevant information automatically moves into the attention field of the knowledge worker.
For investment decisions the development of market trends is very important. In this contribution we present our results concerning the influence of news on market trends. We processed the stock news delivered by the Wall Street Journal with two methods of text mining – Bayes classification and grammar-driven classification. We found some potentialities of Dow Jones trend prediction and present promising results.
Diagrams are often conceived as static representations. In this paper, by contrast, we explore how conceptual graphic representations can be used as communicative devices for knowledge-intense activities in groups. We do so by reviewing and extending existing cognitive and communicative dimensions and criteria. The aim of our research is to formalize the description of diagrams used in management discussions, analyzing their communicative and collaborative functions in order to better use them in knowledge creation and sharing in teams. We start with reviewing and merging the literature on cognitive and communicative dimensions and the literature on boundary objects, as well as information visualization, in order to compile the most relevant dimensions for knowledge creation and sharing in team. Thus, we cluster those dimensions obtaining eight macro-dimensions. We propose a formal analysis of diagrams which can be used as a tool for selecting and modifying appropriate visualizations fordifferent knowledge-intensive activities in teams. An application example illustrates this approach.
This paper is on the aesthetic layout of n-ary trees with nodes of variable size, also referred to as generalized box-drawing. For this layout problem a few algorithms have been proposed, which differ in their runtime performance and the attained aesthetic criteria. We introduce a new approach to this layout problem, which is interesting because of both its simplicity and elegance, and which employs the following piggy-back metaphor: The original box-drawing problem, Π, is topologically reformulated as a layout problem with uniform node size, resulting in a new drawing problem Π, which then is handled by the best tree layout algorithm for uniform node size developed so far. The reformulation step can be done in linear time in the number of nodes of the original tree, resulting in overall linear time complexity. Compared to the existing approaches our approach fulfills more aesthetic criteria; experiments have also shown its efficiency in complex layout settings.
Self-Organising Maps are utilised in many data mining and knowledge management applications. Although various visualisations have been proposed for SOM, these techniques lack in distinguishing between the items mapped to the same unit. Here we present a novel technique for the visualisation of Self-Organising Maps that displays inputs not in the centre of the map units, but shifts them towards the closest neighbours, the degree of the movement depending on the similarity to the neighbours. The night-sky visualisation facilitates better understanding of the underlying data. We report results from applying our method on two synthetic and a real-life data set.
In this paper, we present GlobeMash, a mashup web application that uses standardized data formats like XML, JSON, LOM, SVG, CAM and protocols like SOAP, HTTP, to enable users to access the repositories of the Global Learning Objects Brokered Exchange (GLOBE) consortium. GlobeMash uses the Google Maps API to display the repositories and results on a geographical map, the Timeline API of the SIMILE project and the federated search layer of the GLOBE infrastructure. It enables users to query all the repositories in GLOBE and to get an insight in their search history by visualizing the latter as a combination of an extended tag-cloud and a synchronized timeline.
In this paper, we introduce a so-called DyVT tool (Dynamic social network Visualization Tool) to support spatiotemporal knowledge visualization and discovery in dynamic social networks. The dynamic aspects of social networks refer to contextualized information such as spatial, temporal as well as users’ personalized information. We also define an XML-based target language incorporating emerging formats like DyNetML, KML, and GraphML. It also provides means to express, store and interchange the dynamic aspects of complex dynamic social network data. Based on this language, users can animate and personalize spatiotemporal knowledge extracted from social network data like email threads or blogs. In addition, a Java based graphical user interface is also available to enable nonexperienced users to customize knowledge visualization easily. A mashup with Google maps for spatiotemporal visualization is provided. With this tool spatiotemporal knowledge on an IBM DB2 Mailing list database containing 69 mailing lists and 56389 mails altogether is well explored.
The visualization of temporal information should not be seen as a special case. A lot of applications take advantage of the time factor (e.g. capturing user events). In general recorded activities on a workstation can be seen as a temporal database and so can profit from a time-based visual output system too. We introduce a model which classifies the time as a ”first class citizen” in today’s operating systems. Such an invention would not only improve and standardize the capturing of temporal events but it would be of benefit for a temporal visualization system too. Within a 3D visualization space and a global time axis we introduce a printf4D() method. With this method it is possible to display images, videos, text strings or any other kinds of information in an automatically animated way. As a first proposal we demonstrate this function in a ”flow of information” metaphor where information-objects are not displayed all at once but in a flowing manner over a certain period of time. Additionally we will show that printf4D() is not limited to temporal data. It can be extended automatically to any kind of static information.
Explicit knowledge is often stored in various repositories within a company. As APOSDLE aims at considering the whole intellectual capital of companies, we are coping with the task to integrate the content of several and different repositories within the APOSDLE platform. Further, other modules in the APOSDLE system also require functionality to semantically enrich knowledge artefacts like documents or multimedia objects. In this paper, we present our approach to these challenges, namely the “Multimedia, Multi-source, Metadatabased Knowledge Artefact Repository”. After presenting the basic idea and critical issues of this solution, we point out related technological approaches as well as their limitations. Finally, we report about a first prototype realising this idea and our experiences gained so far.
Currently, social bookmarking systems provide intuitive support for browsing locally their content. A global view is usually presented by the tag cloud of the system, but it does not allow a conceptual drill-down, e. g., along a conceptual hierarchy. In this paper, we present a clustering approach for computing such a conceptual hierarchy for a given folksonomy. The hierarchy is complemented with ranked lists of users and resources most related to each cluster. The rankings are computed using our FolkRank algorithm. We have evaluated our approach on large scale data from the del.icio.us bookmarking system.
The Palette project dedicated to lerning in Communities of Practice (CoPs) aims to offer several services for communities of practice, in particular Knowledge Management (KM) services based on an ontology dedicated to CoPs, the so-called O’CoP. Built from information sources about the Palette CoPs, O’CoP aims both at modelling the members of the CoP and at annotating the CoP’s knowledge resources. The paper describes the structure of O’CoP, its main concepts and relations, and it reports some lessons learnt from the cooperative community building of this ontology.
Although ontologies promise an effective technology for information integration, it is often the case that two or more information providers do not share the same ontology. Several (semi)-automated ontology mapping methods have been developed towards solving this problem. This paper presents AUTOMS-F, a framework implemented as a Java API, which aims to facilitate the rapid development of tools for automatic mapping of ontologies by synthesizing several individual ontology mapping methods. Towards this goal, AUTOMS-F provides a highly extensible and customizable application programming interface. AUTOMS is a case study ontology mapping tool that has been implemented using the AUTOMS-F framework, and has been successfully evaluated in the international OAEI 2006 contest.
Explanations of modeling errors in ontologies are of crucial importance both when creating and maintaining the ontology. This work presents two novel incremental methods for error explanations in semantic web ontologies and shows that they have significantly better performance than the state of the art black-box techniques. Both promising techniques together with our implementation of a tableau reasoner for an important OWL-DL subset SHIN are used in our semantic annotation tool prototype to explain modeling errors.
The knowledge maturing theory opens an important macro perspective within the new paradigm of work-integrated learning. Especially wikis are interesting socio-technical systems to foster maturing activities by overcoming typical barriers. But so far, the theory has been mainly based on anecdotal evidence collected from various projects and observations. In this paper, we want to present the results of a qualitative and quantitative study of Wikipedia with respect to maturing phenomena, identifying instruments and measures indicating maturity. The findings, generalized to enterprise wikis, open the perspective on what promotes maturing on a method level and what can be used to spot maturing processes on a technology level.
In knowledge intensive companies intellectual capital assumes a crucial role in the organizational strategy and, as any other strategical asset, it needs to be scheduled to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. When the required knowledge is a resource available inside the company, its assignment represents a key success factor, which many research efforts are devoted to. On the other side, when the needed competence is unavailable within the company, training programs may be seen as methods to strengthen such a strategic asset. In this paper we show a semantic-based integrated system aimed at supporting both the assignment of available intellectual resources in three different multiplicity scenarios and the search for training programs ad-hoc composed to fill possible knowledge gaps.
Performance in a task is influenced not only by the experience obtained in doing this task, but by how recent it is and by the experience obtained in doing similar tasks. Competence-Performance Approach is used as the theoretical framework. A modified version of Nembhard and Uzumeri learning and forgetting function is proposed to forecast performance by including the experience derived from other similar tasks. An experiment with voluntary students of telecommunication engineering was carried out. The tasks require assembly of electronic circuits. The results fitted well with the proposed model.
The requirements on learning support from knowledge work differ compared to traditional work. Based on those observations an approach for supporting learning in knowledge work is proposed considering requirements from e-learning as well as from knowledge management. In addition to traditional e-learning, on-demand e-learning takes the current situation of the knowledge worker into consideration to ensure learning support of knowledge work is proposed. For using a broad variety of resources in on demand e-learning a single metadata schema for describing seems not sufficient for every organisation. Therefore, application profiles appear adequate for describing resources used in the proposed approach for arranging knowledge elements. Identifying the knowledge workers current situation a learning need should be derived and to use it afterwards for selecting and delivering knowledge elements.
Standard based management systems (as ISO9001 quality, ISO14001 environmental, ISO27001 information security, ISO 22000 hygiene management systems and others) are widely implemented and based on common principles: objectives and strategies, business processes, resource management and continuously optimization. These systems must also be documented, communicated, implemented and continuously improved. Therefore they represent an optimal basis for an integrated learning organization, if the requirements of management systems are completely implemented. This documentation contains the explicit organizational knowledge, but it is almost felt as additional workload with a little or no advantage and it is not totally corresponding with the lived processes. Therefore it is hardly used as reference book for workplace need-oriented process integrated learning to improve the organization. Based on this situation we prepared the system documentation according to media-pedagogical and didactical principles and published it on organizational learning and knowledge system based on constructivist theory. In the case study the documentation support a confidence-based, open and fault-tolerant corporate and learning culture by promoting a need-oriented workplace process integrated learning, shorter initial training periods for new collaborators and a continuous optimization of the organization for securing a sustainable success for the organization.
All organizations need knowledge, and international organizations are no different. Intellectual capital in international organizations needs to be nurtured to optimize their performance; and understanding the challenges of managing knowledge, and aligning technology solutions are crucial to achieve that end. This paper explores the knowledge in international organizations and the dynamic interactions between stakeholders. It also proposes tools to classify the various knowledge products and to contextualize knowledge initiatives in international organizations and other types of non-profit organizations interested in knowledge management. Organizational leaders, knowledge managers and consultants involved in creating and implementing knowledge management initiatives aimed at process improvements in international organizations context could benefit from the reflections and learning insights from this paper. This paper does not address efficiency matters from the political or governing sphere, nor does it propose specific programmatic changes to work of international organizations; rather it presents a pragmatic “bottom-up” approach, based on case studies and interviews conducted at eight different international organizations, including the European Union (EU), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and were classified according to their functional orientation. Over 30 interviews were conducted, with organizational leaders, knowledge managers, IT managers and human resources managers. Emphasis was on UNIDO and IAEA, as these two had developed independent knowledge management programs.
The grounded theory methodology as described by Strauss and Corbin [Strauss and Corbin, 1990, Strauss and Corbin, 1994], using interviews and document studies for data collection, combined with findings from literature, helped identify processes involved in managing knowledge in international organizations. The KM processes discovered suggests that managing knowledge in international organizations is a complex cyclical activity that leads
an international organization to become more knowledge focused.
In today’s digital economy, knowledge manegment is critical to the success of many organizations. This paper is based on a research which examined the practices of knowledge management in Turkish large companies. The research sample was 214 Turkish organizations. Data were obtained by questionnaires and analyzed by SPSS. The main findings revealed that the majority of respondents believed that their knowledge management system was very important to the development of their organizations, and that the most important sources of ideas come from customers. The most important method used by Turkish organizations to facilitate the sharing of knowledge between employees was internet. This research produces some useful insights and leaving a number of issues for future research.
Radical innovation becomes a more important capability of today’s companies. It involves high resource commitment, a long range perspective and the acceptance of risk and uncertainty. As this paper will show, this is not only a question of resources but about organizational system architecture and individual characteristics. We focus the Front End of the innovation process and the individual behaviour of the initiator, who is the key person in this phase. He first recognizes the radical opportunity in terms of a potential product-market combination which is new to the world. The information processing behaviour differs from the usual bottom up initiatives driven by suggestion systems, continuous improvement processes or kaizen. The information resp. knowledge about radical opportunities is not visible for anybody else in the organization until the initiator starts its transition at the organizational level.
Otherwise it stays hidden inside the initiator. The transition needs high personal initiative and overcoming internal and external barriers. The tasks include predevelopment activities and issue selling. Radical innovations comprehend risk in respect of uncertain feasibility, costs and customer acceptance. Besides this organisational perspective the initiator has additional personal risks, concerning career, and as a consequence payment level and even job security. That is why prior revealing his information he has to take all potential consequences of the initiative into account. In this paper we focus this specific decision and determinants of the opportunity recognizer’s behaviour to take charge of the radical opportunity – an essential question not addressed in innovation research so far.
Unlike entrepreneurs, initiators act inside an existing organizational context with specific strategies, procedures, rules and norms. Moreover, every initiator has certain characteristics like traits, experiences and knowledge. We suggest that the personal characteristics and organizational environment influence the individual risk perception of the radical opportunity and the following decision in a specific way. The organizational variables can be configured as such that risk perception decreases and a higher motivation and target level are set. Hence, the top management will soon get guidelines of organizational design to indirectly influence this individual decision and to get to know about more radical opportunities. Then they can evaluate them which is especially important for building a balances innovation portfolio. The article helps getting a deeper understanding of the information processing behaviour of initiators in front end innovation processes and therefore has practical relevance for all organisations which try to intensify their innovation activities.
Data Mining describes a technology that discovers non-trivial hidden patterns in a large collection of data. Although this technology has a tremendous impact on our lives, the invaluable contributions of this invisible technology often go unnoticed. This paper addresses the various forms of data mining while providing insights into its expanding role in enriching our life. Emerging forms of data mining are able to perform multidimensional mining on a wide variety of heterogeneous data sources, providing solutions to many problems. This paper highlights the advantages and disadvantages arising from the ever-expanding scope of data mining. Data Mining augments human intelligence by equipping us with a wealth of knowledge and by empowering us to perform our daily task better. As the mining scope and capacity increases, users and organisations become more willing to compromise privacy. The huge data stores of the ‘master miners’ allow them to gain deep insights into individual lifestyles and their social and behavioural patterns. The data on business and financial trends together with the ability to deterministically track market changes will allow an unprecedented manipulation of the stock market. Is it then possible to constrain the scope of mining while delivering the promise of better life?
The ancient Chinese kind of thinking, as best known from TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) is very different from the modern western approach of scientific medicine. But there is powerful knowledge in both systems and the knowledge is complementary. It is obvious that our methods and techniques of knowledge management do not support the foreign kind of thinking. Though many of our trends have striking similarity to this ancient Chinese behaviour. Holistic approaches, synthesis versus analysis, networking, social web, empathy, mirror neurons, memetics, graphical versus textual communication. Many of the things we cannot understand are complex systems and for these systems our analytic behaviour in thinking does not seem to work. The straight rule of cause and effect does not work for complex systems, so our western philosophy based on causality fails. Our attempt in managing knowledge using analytical models based on causality will probably fail too. To break up information into sentences of words and looking for grammar (taxonomy), syntax and relations (ontology) cannot work. Because it is the wrong way of asking questions compared to the ancient Chinese philosophy. So what could be a useful approach in managing complex systems like knowledge in organisations from the ancient Chinese point of view?
Leading researchers in the fields of business strategy, organizational theory, institutional economics and economic development routinely emphasize the growth of the knowledge economy and by implication, there is a vital need for organizations to manage, share and leverage knowledge assets. Yet, it has been increasing clear from previous research that the field of knowledge management (KM) has not in general met its goals of transforming information sharing and collaborations in organisations. Lucier and Torsilera [97] claim that 84 percent of KM programs fail to have any real impact. Despite these problems, KM addresses a clearly perceived need for innovation, whether expressed in terms of the knowledge economy, knowledge workers, or intellectual capital management. This paper points to some gaps in the current body of knowledge about KM, and suggests areas of investigation that build on its strength. We propose a simple framework for what we term Knowledge Fusion to provide rigor and relevance to KM.
Knowledge assets are recognized as primary sources of competitive advantage. Knowledge management typically aims at increasing visibility of knowledge, codifying it and enhancing knowledge sharing in order to improve (re-)use of knowledge assets. However, the often open-minded and decentral approach to knowledge management also bears risks that knowledge assets are negatively affected and competitive advantages potentially diluted. These risks are not considered systematically so far. This paper defines the concept of knowledge risks, discusses knowledge risk management issues and presents a model of hypotheses in relation to their governance. This model builds the basis for the design of an empirical study. Finally, the results of this study on the current state-of-practice of governing knowledge risks are reported based on a stratified random sample comprising 129 German companies.
Classical approaches to document management do not cope with the demands knowledge documents make. Knowledge documents or so-called “living documents” have a far more complex lifecycle than general documents. They are usually used, edited und utilized by several people and many different versions, revisions and variants exist. Today the multitude of information that these processes generate are not captured or used to provide a better management or retrieval for this kind of documents. Our approach shows that the capturing of this lifecycle information can help in the retrieval as well as usage and management of those documents.
The evolution of our society to the knowledge based society has raised new challenges for most of the scientific domains that exist. The higher importance given to knowledge extraction instead of getting just information (i.e. data included in a context) hast led to the development of several intelligent techniques for knowledge discovery. This paper shows some examples of using the techniques of case-based reasoning and data-mining for knowledge discovery in the knowledge management system of an university. We have taken as example, the educational domain with the particular case of universities as they represent good examples of organizations that acquire, generate, store and use knowledge for various purposes, teaching, learning and research.
The main idea of this paper is the combination of the following two declarations: (1) There is a variety of different models, tools and techniques in the area of knowledge management, but there is no framework for finding the right tool in combination of the strategic alignment of the company and the technical/cultural infrastructure. (2) A lot of research in the field of knowledge management is done for large companies or international concerns. A very interesting and important kind of business is neglected: the small and medium-sized enterprises. This paper shows a model for describing the flexible process finding the right tools and techniques with the adequate focus on IT support for a SME to efficient implement knowledge management cost-efficient.
Straightforward expertise localization is crucial for personal and organizational efficiency and productivity. Common issues with existing approaches are the amount of effort required to build up the database and keeping it up-to-date, and the difficulty of establishing a complete coverage of the organization. The ExpertFinder system employs the concepts of referral chaining, social networks and user-generated data to enable a fast, low-effort and thereby low-cost approach to building an expertise localization database. At the same time, ExpertFinder provides a number of views on this database. We describe the design of the system and discuss in detail two pilots conducted at Océ-Technologies and the Telematica Instituut, the findings of which show high user participation and a good coverage of individual employee expertise and overall organizational expertise.
The paper starts with the wish list for a “perfect” information exploration tool, where the topics of that list are collected from the work of some pioneers and experts in this field, as e.g. from C. Ahlberg, C. Williamson and B. Shneiderman. After that, a novel multi criteria knowledge management technique is introduced, that comes fairly close to the wish list given. This will be demonstrated by looking on some general aspects of information exploration, and how knowCube, a user-friendly software tool supporting graphical decision making, masters such tasks, where user interaction happens via standard drawing tools, like pen, brush or text marker. The paper ends with an outlook on FilmFinder – Version knowCube.
The innovation process is a rhythm of search and selection, exploration and exploitation, cycles of perspectives encountering which allow people to analyze problems from new points of view. In order to enable innovation, a lot of instruments have been developed connecting heterogeneous individuals thinking (e.g. social networks, web portals, wiki systems, organizational yellow-pages, etc.). In this paper we focus on web portals, and how these tools assist the users connections and the innovation processes among them. In particular, we analyze some services implemented in the Innovation Portal of the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology geared to stimulating the establishment of strategic partnerships and cooperation projects involving national firms and science institutions. These services are mainly based on social network analysis in order to manage connections (i.e. coordination) and innovation processes among users.
Requirements Engineering is recognized as a crucial part of project and software development processes. This is due to the fact that the different stakeholders involved in a development project have to establish common terminologies as well as goals, scenarios and requirements expressed using these terminologies. Within the Semantic Web initiative various standards emerged for the creation and use of terminologies, expressed in the shape of semantic networks, taxonomies and ontologies. We develop an approach for semantic based Requirements Engineering. We present an ontology for capturing requirements relevant information. Furthermore, we report about a tool for semantic based Requirements Engineering and its application in a real-world development project scenario from the E-Government domain.
Within a series of practical projects to introduce knowledge management systems in small or medium-sized enterprises (SME), we realized the need to reconsider current guidelines such as the European Guide to good Practice in Knowledge Management. Our basic assumptions leading to this reconsideration are firstly that the introduction of knowledge management is a wicked problem, secondly that a strong relationship to the employees’ actual work process has to be established as well as a dense integration of technical and organizational structures, thirdly that it needs at least a series of workshops to develop an understanding of the usage of KM in the workplace, and finally that the introduction is more often triggered by opportunities than by strategic planning. On this basis, we re-orientate the phases of introducing knowledge management.
This paper describes our work on developing an ontology-based software infrastructure for retaining and maintaining theoretical Knowledge Management (KM) Maturity Models (ONTOKNOM) by using a KM Maturity Model Ontology. Moreover ONTOKNOM provides technical means for designing a web-based system that supports the form-based selfevaluation of an organization with regard to its current maturity level, as well as for providing concrete organizational recommendations and measures in order to achieve a higher one. A description of including the existing KPQM model into the system is also provided.
Even though knowledge management has been around for more than a decade, so far concrete instruments that can be systematically deployed are still rare. This paper presents an optimization solution targeted at flexible management of office space considering knowledge management criteria in order to enhance knowledge work productivity. The paper presents the Flexible Office conceptual model and optimization solution and discusses the theoretical foundation, assumptions and reasoning. A corresponding prototype was field-tested, successfully introduced, evaluated with the help of a series of interviews with users and improved according to their requirements. The paper also reflects on the organisational impact and lessons learned from field test and practical experience.
Biobanks store alive cell samples to provide them for a later use in many biomedical applications. Amongst many others, cord blood samples are cryopreserved (longterm stored between -130°C and -196°C) today for future stem cell therapy or tissue engineering. Different cell types need to be treated differently. Therefore, biomedical laboratories and biobanks have to cope with a variety of specialized knowledge for sample preparation, analysis or storage while they may lack appropriate techniques for reliably managing this specific knowledge or for executing preparations reproducibly. Especially in scenarios which require sample exchange or comparing of results (as for example collaborative vaccine studies do), problems can arise. This paper outlines the evolution of a local infrastructure for long-term management of sample preparation knowledge to a system for globally managing preparation protocols and their reproducible execution within a network of collaborating laboratories and biobanks, aiming at the collective process of knowledgebuilding. The system enhancements are inspired by the requirements of collaborative research and complex sample preparation protocols, derived from the exemplary needs of the GHRC biobank (Global HIV Vaccine Research Cryorepository), being part of the Collaboration for
AIDS Vaccine Discovery.
Increasingly Wikis are used to support existing corporate knowledge processes. Wikis are an appropriate software solution to support these processes because of their specific design principles. However, it is not yet proven whether Wikis are an adequate knowledge management tool. This paper presents a new approach to analyze existing networks in Wikis. Four perspectives on Wiki networks are introduced to investigate all dynamic processes and their interrelationships in a Wiki information space. The Social Network Analysis (SNA) is used to uncover existing structures and temporal changes. Additionally, a data set of a corporate Wiki is used to present an analysis which has been carried out. Results of analyzes work can be utilized to improve the existing knowledge processes in a company.
Information and communication technology (ICT) skills/ competence frameworks are an important prerequisite for ICT competence development and related quality assurance for recognition and transferability of qualifications. In this paper it is argued the importance of interoperability through common or explicit semantics of ICT competence profiles. This requires modelling on basis of shared frameworks. Thus, existing frameworks have been analysed. The paper presents underlying structure and data models of some prominent systems that have achieved status of proprietary standards. Moreover, a conceptual model is derived on basis of a comprehensive analysis of respective meta data of skill/ competence grids. Presented work provides the theoretical foundation for further development of information systems for the management of knowledge, skills, competences and qualification. Applications are skill/competence catalogues and repositories, as well as web services for data exchange between human resource information systems.
Today, Web Based Training (WBT) starts to be widely used as a new way of teaching. Unfortunately, this mode of teaching imposes new requirements and constraints. It has made the creation of learning materials a complex and demanding task for the instructors because it takes much time and demands a multitude of skills, in particular technical skills that must be developed and continuously updated. Hence, we propose a collaborative authoring methodology based on division of labor as a way to produce WBTs where the processes of production are clearly separated to meet the existing and needed skills of persons involved in WBT production. This paper presents an efficient method to support instructor’s guidance during the first phase of the WBT production called the Macro Design using the Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) and taxonomies we developed.
Adapting E-Learning material allows re-using existing material even in changed usage scenarios. But this adaptation is a complex task. To achieve a perfect result expert knowledge is needed. Often adaptations have to be performed by persons who are not experts in performing these tasks. To enable those persons to achieve a satisfying result they need to be supported. Patterns are one possibility to make expert knowledge on certain tasks available to other persons. In this paper an approach is presented how expert knowledge of performing adaptations of existing E-Learning material can be collected and made available with patterns. This approach can also be used to collect knowledge of other processes, e.g. in companies.
In many respects Web 2.0 and Knowledge Management (KM) are strongly related to each other. From a KM perspective the Web 2.0 evolution can serve as a pool of ideas for new ways of knowledge sharing, knowledge organisation and for the development of new architectures of measurable knowledge management systems. KM projects are usually developed in a process-oriented, goal-driven environment, embedded in complex organisational structures, whereas typical Web 2.0 applications like del.icio.us, flickr or friendster are building “their own context”. This paper will examine Tim O´Reilly’s eight generic Web 2.0 design patterns in terms of their applicability for a measurable KM System in an Enterprise 2.0. Two use cases will be presented and it will be discussed which of the design patterns could be enriched by technologies from the semantic web which will be summarized as a concept named “Enterprise n+1”.
The knowledge is defined as combination and organization of data and information in given context and Knowledge Management (KM) provides capturing, storing and reusing of knowledge objects. In Web 2.0 world the knowledge is represented in form of microcontent object and KM 2.0 proposes creation, sharing and leveraging the microknowledge in a collaborative way. The microknowledge in Web 2.0 network can be controlled through designing the instructional strategies that will provide user learning paths and activities and that will give possibilities for sharing of those same learning activities and microknowledge with others. The present paper is aimed to reflect of the research needs and the new challenges in the mentioned above three areas: KM, Web 2.0 technologies and Learning Design (LD). It is focused on designing of personalized learning using IMS LD elements. The paper analyzes the possibilities of applying Web 2.0 technologies for defining a broaden set of activities and creating the rich environments with microknowledge objects and web services in one successful scenario.
Distributed cooperative contexts provide a challenge for successful Knowledge Management. Users in different places around the globe need to interact with one another in goal-oriented projects. In classical Computer Supported Cooperative Work applications this interactive component is often neglected. In contrast Web 2.0 offers a strong author-recipient interaction that may be translated successfully into cooperative work contexts. An integrated approach based on virtual knowledge spaces using semantic positioning to communicate meaning efficiently between project members enhanced with Web 2.0 functionality is introduced in this paper.
The goal of this paper is to identify and analyze Web 2.0 services and usage models appropriate for assisting the realization of Inclusive Universal Access (introduced by Derntl and Motschnig-Pitrik as an extension to Universal Access) particularly in cooperative learning and knowledge sharing environments. The analysis is backed by previous research and experience either at the authors’ or other educational institutions. It can serve as a brief reference of a broad spectrum of Inclusive Universal Access scenarios which have proven to be successful together with their Web 2.0 support. It will hopefully also help Web 2.0 service developers to get deeper insight into the different aspects and effects of the new web services in terms of their applications in cooperative learning and knowledge sharing. Furthermore, the paper aims to reveal the gaps and future topics for research, development, and practice.
This paper discusses the requirements of a framework for sharing digital resources and metadata to meet the needs of open, flexible Knowledge Management solutions. The changing nature of the Web and its users as observed in recent years clearly establishes the need for new approaches and technologies to fully exploit the potential for working with existing digital resources. Formal metadata about the resources can be combined with information created in lightweight and user-centric approachesin order to significantly enhance resource descriptions and enable more efficient access to existing knowledge. The ALOE system, currently in development at DFKI, is one such solution and it is used here as the basis for a sample realization of an appropriate framework.
Although co-located project teams from within one organisation can have difficulties to work together effectively and efficiently, the challenges are significantly increased in a team that consists of people from different organisations that work from different physical locations. In this paper we share our experiences of introducing new software tools (a project wiki and Skype) to support distributed project work and describe good practices, tips and tricks for the use of the new tools, also in relation to the existing toolset.
Semantic Technology is well established and mature enabling challenging and novel applications, but is rarely brought into real business applications. The EU-Project AsIsKnown (FP6-2005-028044) implements a show case of semantic flow systems in European home textile industry to solve two major challenges: (a) enable a homogeneous knowledge flow and (b) provide trend analysis. State of the art Semantic Web Technology is used for context, semantic and syntax transformation. One major challenge is the transformation from human knowledge into Ontologies. The PROMOTE approach has been selected for the transformation from the expert knowledge into Ontologies. This paper introduces the project AsIsKnown and discusses the PROMOTE approach to transform expert knowledge into Ontologies.
Process management is an important task in many companies. However, most of the literature on process management focuses on aspects like execution and monitoring and does neither deal with knowledge management support for the maintenance and contextualization of process models nor with the integration of such tasks into work procedures and corresponding tools. An effective knowledge management for business processes needs meta-data describing not only the processes but also their parts and details. This paper proposes a knowledge infrastructure for process modelling, usage and maintenance, which is based on a social tagging approach derived from popular social bookmarking tools. The concept of a tag-based prototype is described, which enables knowledge management support for complex sets of processes.
Abstract: In many companies search solutions span departments and functional operations, independent of individual working processes in particular departments. The efficient access to the required information in relevant sub-processes is a key factor for the performance of the enterprise. Optimizing the searching and finding of necessary information enables a better workflow, and thus reduces costs. Based on well known process modelling methods we present a guideline and methods to analyse and document relevant characteristics of information intensive processes. In a next step these observations will serve as a basis for a mapping between identified requirements and suitable methods and tools for an optimal support of the process.
There is surprisingly little literature specifically concerned with theorising and conceptualising of the transfer and sharing of complex information and/or knowledge, despite the fact that its significance is widely and without restriction acknowledged throughout the [mostly Anglo-American] literature on knowledge management and organisational learning. It is the aim of this paper to provide a brief review that allows an eclectic snapshot of the state of the – predominantly continental European – literature on this subject. After an introductory definition and limitation of the concepts involved the theoretical constructs are illustrated with the use of a set of models – selected predominantly for their link to empirical research and the capability to delimit the field. The empirical grounding of the models makes it possible to view them as partial investigations contributing individual elements of a more overarching research framework into which future studies may be integrated. In conclusion, a systemic approach of knowledge exchange in the form of a dynamic factorial model is proposed, the contributing frameworks are further categorised as to the type of knowledge for which they would be of maximum utility and the influence of external issue and problem spaces is shown.
Rapid improvements in the domain of mobile devices have enabled the processing of multimedia data on mobile camera phones. In this context, new applications and scenarios for these devices have been developed. This paper introduces Moides as a system for mobile camera phones which enables a user to take a picture, use some feature extraction algorithms (e.g., an object recognition algorithm and/or an edge detection algorithm) and send the extracted meta-data in form of a MPEG-7 document to a server which returns semantic information about the content of the image (e.g., a specific building has been detected, etc.).
The success of multimedia enabled community engines depends on a careful design of the digital media and the related communication/collaboration tools. However, the semantics of the multimedia contents in community communication and collaboration is hard to capture and complex to compute. With the opportunities given by the combination of metadata descriptions standards like MPEG-7 and server-side content-based computations, the manageability of multimedia semantics in community engines becomes more feasible. As a proof of concept, we introduce a Lightweight Application Server for MPEG-7 Services (LAS) which is deployed for a web-based high-level semantic annotation tool for arbitrary images.
The POLYMNIA project aims to develop an intelligent cross-media platform for personalized leisure and entertainment in theme parks or recreation venues. The visitors of the theme park are – on request – identified, tracked and recorded individually in order to create personalised photos and videos documenting the visit. One specific problem in this system is the identification of humans across different cameras and under varying environmental conditions. We use the MPEG-7 Colour Structure Descriptor (CSD) for this purpose which has been reported to perform well for this application. We propose a new distance function for the CSD, the weighted city block distance. Evaluation shows that the new matching function yields better results than the distance proposed in the standard.
As the annotation of media resources becomes increasingly viable with intuitive tools and semi-automatic extraction of information, the need for a common annotation vocabulary becomes ever stronger. Such a vocabulary needs to be able to provide enough information to a computer system to allow for media retrieval, adaptation and presentation. On the other hand, complexity will inhibit uptake on the Semantic Web, where simplicity seems to be the key to success. I present my research in building an automated multimedia presentation system and from this experience I outline a vocabulary which covers the needs of retrieval, adaptation and presentation of media by intelligent systems.
Digitalisation of TV broadcast (Digital Terrestrial Television, DTT) is going to modify the way of work of many local televisions and content providers. In Catalonia (northeast of Spain) this will certainly happen since many current channels will not get a DTT license to broadcast. In this context, they need to get facilities for content selling and interchange in order to cover more audience and be able to use new different distribution channels, like second generation Internet. The “Xarxa IP Audiovisual de Catalunya” (XAC, Audiovisual IP Network of Catalonia) project aims to develop a marketplace for television content providers, defining mechanisms for searching, cataloguing and selling television programs in a secure way, also considering Digital Rights Management (DRM) issues. It must be noted that the project also considers other audiovisual content providers, such as the educational ones. In order to be able to perform searches over heterogeneous environments, a metadata set (XAC-MS) has been defined. Alignment of XAC-MS with standards like MPEG-7, MPEG-21 and TV-Anytime has been done to promote future standardisation of the metadata set.
We believe there is great learning potential in education involving shared, studentgenerated knowledge bases. However, it is not yet clear what architectures are most appropriate for such shared knowledge bases in order to facilitate an effective exchange, collection, organization, and sharing of knowledge. In this paper, we discuss the concepts of “liquid ontologies,” to describe novel, dynamic structures for organizing, sharing and browsing knowledge. Liquid ontologies are flexible knowledge structures that are created by, evolve around and adapt to the learners’ interests and allow for a tighter coupling between the learners’ interests and the viewing and browsing structure of a knowledge sharing system. We present the key ideas behind liquid ontologies, and discuss these characteristics within the context of OpenD, a knowledge sharing environment we developed and its application in graduate courses at a design school.
This article deals with a special type of ePortfolio, the Learning and Personal Development Planning Portfolio (PDP). It explores the technical challenges deriving from pedagogical requirements of PDP processes and discusses how semantic web technologies can contribute to an integrated “ePortfolio-PDP System”.
With the current shift in web technology called Web 2.0, many e-learning experts compare the traditional view of e-learning with the expected level of e-learning services and find common problems with present LMS platforms. Primarily, we will identify the most important properties of an E-learning 2.0 platform. Secondly, a prototype, Java-based opensource E-learning 2.0 platform L2 will be introduced and evaluated.
European mobility initiatives encourage students to study abroad, but experiences of intercultural and professional learning during the stay abroad do not flow back and the direct exchange between these students is not supported. In this article we want to present our concept and experiences with the tool weblog supporting students of Social Work during their placements abroad.
Wikipedia [Wikipedia06] is a well known and very successful online-encyclopaedia. It is free, available in different languages and everybody is permitted to contribute. This result in a worldwide collaboration aiming at one target: Anybody can provide information for everybody. However, one interesting question would be whether this successful principle can be transferred to learning communities in higher education and how it could be achieved. This paper presents some experiences gained during the use of a Wiki-System during lectures on structural concrete at both the University of Applied Sciences FH Joanneum and Graz University of Technology. Our approach included a technical and didactical concept as well as accepted investigation methods. Presenting a full analysis of the implementation, this paper shows its general potential, the weakness of the principle and further future approaches.
This contribution describes the Online-Community INPUD. The authors´ point of view is to explain the online community as an approach to cultivate knowledge transfer. The case study gives insights into the relations of informal structures, social proximity and trust. On this basis the success factors for knowledge transfer are described with a theoretical approach, which emphasizes the relevance of social roles and derives design aspects for socio-technical knowledge systems in general.
The European University Reform and its restructuring of the course system as well as the reinforcing of international student and professor mobility has as a natural result the extension of obligatory language requests for students of most of the University Faculties. At the same time Universities have to drastically cut back expenses for their language teaching staff. This dilemma has been resolved in different ways by employing freelance teachers, by outsourcing language teaching or by lowering the professional status of University lecturers. The new challenge following the European University reform process compels the Universities to offer qualified language classes and tests to University students in an extended measure. Many Universities created or adopted computer programs for autonomous e-learning activities. The experience of the Bologna University, one of the first in Italy to install computer laboratories with interactive language courses and testing programs, has been a successful way to respond to the urgent demand of guaranteeing qualified language instruction and reliable level exams to University students within the bounds of restricted financial possibilities
When facing partial evidence on how architectural objects evolved through time (often due to uncompleted information), it is important to provide the researcher with tools for a cross-examination of cases that may help him better delineate possible values for lacking information. In the case of architecture, we deal with data that can be attached to a given location (distribution in time and space) and to a given generic typology. This opens an opportunity to use pseudo cartographic representations in order to visually distribute objects that share a common typology. Unlike with geographical maps, we should however include visual signs that tell the user about the architectural composition of each object in the data set, as well as about its level of documentation. In this paper we try to demonstrate, using a data set concerning antique theatres, that visual comparative evaluations of the data can provide a major
methodological breakthrough for cross-examination of information on architectural objects.
In this paper we discuss an interactive visualization application that aims to visualize a large repository of small reusable content components that were created by disaggregating legacy content. The purpose of this decomposition is to produce content that can be automatically reused in on-the-fly assemblies of new learning objects. The purpose of the visualization application is to offer insight in the structure of the contents of the repository and to enable access to them in an effective and efficient way.
The interaction between a knowledge management systems and the users requires well-adapted visualization tools with graphical formalization of knowledge. The formalization is often theoretically based on graph-models. Yet, the best associated visual representations use trees but may be more limited than those with graphs. This paper gives an introduction to Atanor, a knowledge management system, whose graphical model for visualizing knowledge is tree-based. However this approach entails vertex redundancies. Consequently, we develop a new approach based on a layered digraph to solve this problem. Finally, we draw a comparison on an industrial example showing the advantages of the new model.
Daily work with information spread across multiple data sources is still a time consuming task when it comes to managing, searching and securely distributing to dedicated recipients. The paper describes the generation of a homogeneous knowledge representation extracted from heterogeneous personal data sources. Used for unified navigation through personal knowledge it assists the user in retrieving any information even with limited devices such as smartphones through a single interface.
Information Realisation is the process of presenting data as Textual, Graphical or Audial information to a human user. In this paper, we discuss the importance of this concept with respect to the accessibility of Semantic Web data to a diverse target audience. We provide an ontological point of view, defining the expressive characteristics and application domain of representation formats, thus presenting a system which produces representations customised to the user environment and the nature of the source data. Our approach considers the semantics of the data, not just the structure, and aims to present the information in the most semantically appropriate manner for the given target environment. We provide examples of a simple data set being realised as popular target representation formats: textual (XHTML, RSS); graphical (SVG, X3D); and audial (SoundML, VoiceXML).
Digital media are used to facilitate social structures thus building digital social networks. Disturbances in such networks occur on different levels (egocentric level, subgroup level, network) and have to be analyzed in the multidimensional context of reference disciplines like sociology and knowledge management. This paper presents a first repository of disturbance patterns for the analysis of digital social networks. Based on the Actor-Network Theory and the Social Network Analysis, new socio-theoretical models for handling complex media settings were developed. On these models a pattern language is defined to describe multidimensional disturbance patterns and to store them in a newly developed pattern repository. The core of the pattern language is the formal expression language for pattern (FELP) which used to specify the structural and the content-specific properties of digital social networks. Results can be visualized with open source graph visualization software. To evaluate the approach a case study has been performed in a repository containing 118 mailing lists and 17.359 individuals. Patterns like troll, spammer and burst have been applied successfully.
This paper contributes to a facet from the area of Web Information Retrieval that has recently received much attention: The satisfaction of a user’s personal information need with respect to text type, presentation type, or information quality. We imply that such properties can be quantified for all kinds ofWeb documents, and we subsume them under the term “Web genre” or “genre”.
Recent surveys show that there is, to a certain degree, a common understanding of Web genre. However, the strictness by which genre and non-genre aspects of a document are experienced is an individual matter. To get a better understanding of the challenges of Web genre identification and its possible limits we investigate in this paper a very interesting question, which has not been posed by now: Given a categorization C of documents (or bookmarks, links, document identifiers), can we provide a reliable assessment whether C is governed by topic or by genre considerations? We present instruments to answer this question as well as to make a distinct statement about the homogeneity of a categorization.
Today, reuse-oriented software engineering covers the process of the development and evolution of software systems by reusing existing experience (i.e., products, processes, and knowledge). One of the major problems of software reuse is the lack of knowledge and skills for understanding reusable experience. This paper explains how the reuse process can be used to support individual learning on the one hand, and how learning can improve the selection of reuse experience and their application on the other hand. The paper emphasizes the importance
of context in the domain of reuse and how context information can be used to compose socalled Learning Spaces from Learning Components. Learning Spaces didactically enrich reusable experience and enhance experiential learning. The approach uses Wikis as a base technology for presenting and structuring learning content.
Verbal inter-human exchange forms an important part of informal learning, especially for workplace learning. But informal learning of an employee within inter-human communication implies informal teaching of another employee on the other side. And in the same way we try to integrate the learning process into the surrounding work processes, we also need to integrate the teaching process into the work processes on the teacher side. As a method for matching interests on both sides, we present in this paper the context-aware mediation of communication between the learner and the informal teacher.
Ontologies have already been created in different scientific areas, including knowledge and competency management, however few ontological applications are available at the moment. In this paper we present an ontology based application that we have developed for competency management and learning paths. Specifically, we provide an overview of competency management and related work in this area, a description of the competency ontology and a functional and architectural analysis. This system is being currently deployed for research purposes in a national subsidiary of Microsoft, the IT services multinational firm, with a Microsoft .NET implementation communicating with the competency ontology.
The paper outlines how attention metadata enables a tight integration between organisational knowledge stores and human resource management on the one hand and learning management system in corporate contexts on the other hand. The approach relies on an extension of AttentionXML, a metadata standard to capture the attention a user spends on digital content. We suggest relying on attention metadata to unobtrusively capture the attention of employees at the workplace (e.g. through workflow systems, knowledge management systems, human resource management systems, etc.) and use the captured information to enable a targeted steering of learning process of the employee in companies in accordance with company’s and employee’s aims and goals.
Workflow- or task- embedded e-learning is an actual trend in enterprise and office environments. Having been integrated into enterprise workflow or task management systems, e-learning turns into a powerful tool for enterprise knowledge management: the seamless integration into the working environment allows getting actual information about potential learning goals of the user; using up-to-date e-learning technologies enables just-in-time delivery of goal-oriented, user-tailored learning curricula, helping employees to solve problems autonomously and competently. This paper reports about the results of the project TEAL (Task-embedded adaptive e-Learning) taking place at German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). The aim of the project was to prove the concepts and feasibility of task-embedded e-learning by designing a reference architecture and realizing prototypical implementation based on the existing components built at DFKI: WFMS Taskman, LCMS DaMiT and ActiveMath.
This paper focuses on two technological aspects. Firstly, the MISTRAL system is briefly introduced in order to give some insights into one possible way of gaining and managing multi-modal information that is extracted from a meeting corpus and semantically enriched. And secondly, a multi-model approach is analysed and explained for the purpose of enabling different personalised and context-dependent views on the gained information spaces. As the system consists of several specialised sub-systems, the focus is set on the Semantic Applications Unit (SemAU), which represents the front-end sub-system to external clients. The SemAU is responsible for the main user-centred functions of MISTRAL: Search & Retrieval, Modelling & Adaptation, and Multiple Visualisations.
Being confronted with rising requirements by automobile manufacturers, for enterprises from automotive supplier industry efficient support of knowledge-intensive core business processes along the product life cycle (PLC) gains in importance. Since in a product’s development phase its cost is mainly determined, efficient (re-)use of knowledge about a product and it’s manufacturing process is crucial. In this paper an approach is presented to support the knowledge-intensive business process “offer engineering”. Support is provided by analyzing product- and process-related data to find parts similar to a newly requested product. A tool is presented which allows a search process with arbitrary attributes. First results validate the usefulness of this approach for conceptual planners in automotive industry.
Software documentation is often a neglected aspect of software development although high quality end user documentation is an important competitive instrument. The process of creating such documentation is knowledge-intensive. In this contribution an end user documentation refers to a collection of knowledge which is compiled by various distinct knowledge sources within a company. To meet the highly specialised needs of such documentation a wiki is implemented. The background, the implementation procedure, and the characteristics of a corporate wiki are introduced.
Effectively managing organizational knowledge is a key in today’s knowledge intensive businesses to evolve a company’s future development. This essential task is supported by software systems, providing means to share, structure and work on knowledge items. In a case study at the Innovation Center Hamburg of Philips Semiconductors, different views on organizational knowledge determined by functional working contexts are elaborated. Considering these contexts, providing dynamic but also concise and recognizable structures to knowledge items as well as enabling cooperative work on them describe the main challenges of a supporting infrastructure. As a promising concept, the metaphor of virtual knowledge rooms is introduced. Based on a technical framework supporting this metaphor natively, a knowledge management system was developed, meeting all requirements and providing an extremely flexible and easy to maintain solution to the initial problem.
Many of today’s biomedical applications and those which are likely to arise in the future require the long-term-storage of irreplaceable living cell samples by means of cryopreservation. Besides storing cell samples, managing a large amount of sample information and executing a high number of different preparation protocols are business processes of cryobanks and cryo-biomedical labs, as well as exchanging samples, their data and preparation protocols between different such institutions. All those processes need to be highly reliable and compatible to the potentially long storage time of cell samples which might be up to centuries. Wrong knowledge about samples or about preparation protocols may be lethal. This paper describes a method which is the fundament for a reliable knowledge management of biological cell samples and of preparation protocols. Moreover, it is the fundament for the ChameleonLab® infrastructure which is a workflow management system (WfMs) matching the particular needs of cryobanks and biomedical labs. Principles and prototypic implementation of ChameleonLab® are described and the integration into the “Eurocryo” demonstration and research cell bank is shown. After discussing a first system evaluation, additional requirements are identified.
Abstract: Pattern-based Task Management (PBTM) has been recently suggested as a paradigm to support knowledge-intensive work due to its flexibility regarding process changes. In the present paper we discuss how a PBTM can be implemented using Web Services (WS). The approach reverts to structural similarities between PBTM and WS. It will be discussed how the PBTM can be realized in a service-oriented architecture. Such an approach can be seen as basis for task handling in an inter-organizational frame, supporting outsourcing and virtualization.
On the one hand models can be used as navigational tools respecting mental processing capabilities of persons. On the other hand models can be analyzed automatically by information systems to deduce relevant content for knowledge management IT-components as E-Learning-Applications, KM-Portals, document management systems, etc. Therefore models of knowledge intensive business processes are a natural integration layer for persons and information systems providing the relevant context to interpret and handle information the right way. It has only to be solved how to interface these models efficiently from a person as well as from an information system point of view.
Akogrimo is an FP6 EC-Project that implements a mobile Grid middleware. Beside the grid and mobile related challenges there are also interesting knowledge management questions to be addressed. The first knowledge management challenge is to coordinate the distributed software development of 13 partner organisations in Europe in a highly sophisticated domain. The second challenge is to support developers that want to use the open source Akogrimo middleware to build their own services on top. Both challenges are approached applying Process-Oriented Knowledge Management with PROMOTE® requiring integration with the so-called “Roadmap to Akogrimo Convergence”. This roadmap has to guide developers in moving from traditional development infrastructures to the innovative Akogrimo platform. A modelling framework supports the developers in using, adapting of integrating the Akogrimo middleware and links the above knowledge management approach. The following article introduces the modelling framework and focuses on the knowledge modelling approach. Sample models making the expert knowledge explicit are discussed and the procedure of knowledge acquisition is introduced. In this scenario, PROMOTE® is used as an index to navigate within the Akogrimo knowledge.
The GPO-WM-Method combines the template-based GPO-WM-Process Analysis with the GPO-WM-Solution Base to support process teams with the integration of knowledge management activities into daily business processes. The template-based, participative approach is easy to learn, fosters awareness about the handling of knowledge, identifies strengths, weaknesses and needs for action and uses improvement ideas made by the process owner and employees for the joint work out of solutions. The GPO-WM-Solution Database with around 100 KM methods and tools supports the search for solutions. Design principles are supporting the implementation and integration of KM into the business process.
Private users are usually overcharged with the task of managing and maintaining their personal multimedia collections. Even if the complexity of multimedia objects necessitates certain machine-assistance, it is also evident that full-automated organization would not satisfy the requirements of home users as multimedia content contains much more: individual experiences, memories and world concepts. Therefore we propose an approach based on an extensible ontology model to provide appropriate assistance for personal media management, taking advantage of as much existing information resources as possible to apply automatisms. Starting with an investigation of application context and conditions, we present our designed ontology model and the according system architecture for its employment.
Documents and document repositories are important for knowledge management. By using semantic documents with additional metadata, it is possible to link ontologies and documents to achieve efficient document management. Ontologies can then model both the domain vocabulary and the document structure and relate them to documents and document parts. The advantage of this ontology-based document structure is that it can support several services for document repositories, such as advanced semantic search.
Today, most computer users work with traditional hierarchical file systems for organizing large amounts of personal files. Recently, tagging has grown popular as
an alternative means of organizing information resources. We argue that tagging is a powerful paradigm for efficient information access which overcomes many deficiencies of hierarchical file systems, especially in the context of the organization of large quantities of personal files. In this paper we present TagFS, a filesystem with tagging support which aims at a seamless integration of the tagging paradigm with local applications. While retaining the notions of directories and files and providing all standard filesystem operations, the semantics of these primitives are changed to modifications of the tag annotations.
Experts from different research fields are of the same opinion about personalisation in e-learning environments: the tenet of modern teaching and learning paradigms is that different learning goals require different didactical approaches. Thus, technological challenges and didactical expectations must be differentiated from and adapted to learners’ opportunities and objectives. Based on the utilisation of Dynamic Background Libraries (DBLs) in adaptive e-learning systems, this paper gives one example where the predictability of a learning need does not function, because learner expectations arise after the personalisation procedure. The focus is set on a new DBL implementation that considers some lessons learned from evaluation results and goes a step beyond semantics (“meaning”), i.e. pragmatics (“intension”). For this purpose, the enhanced DBL version (called Concept-based Context Modelling System) uses Concept Molecules, which allow not only static semantic descriptions and relations, but also pragmatic linkages on single concepts in order to enable multiple on-purpose semantic views.
Because of the costly production of Learning Resources the Re-Use of existing Learning Resources becomes more and more important. But reusing Learning Resources in a new context makes it necessary to adapt them. We have developed a framework as base of a Re-Purposing Tool to support users to perform adaptations of Learning Resources in different dimensions which are crucial when using existing Learning Resources in a new context. The adaptation of Learning Resources is not easy to perform and comprises challenges like to deal with multiple files in multiple formats. To hide this from the user there is need for an abstraction of the underlying details. With a model which is including only the information the user needs and which is abstracting from the obstacles an adaptation of Learning Resources becomes a possible task even for novice users. This paper points out the content representation which is used in the framework to abstract from the given Learning Resources as well as the content ontology which the content representation is based on.
This paper describes practical lessons learned in the project Knowledge Nets which examines the technological feasibility of the upcoming Semantic Web and the business implications of using these technologies in specific market sectors. In developing a Human Resource ontology to inject semantics-awareness to current job portals, we investigated the potential of reusing the huge amount of domain knowledge already available in ontology-like form in the eRecruitment domain as an input for the domain conceptualization. According to our experiences we confirm previous findings in the knowledge acquisition literature and in recent surveys of the state of the art in the ontology engineering area: 1) building ontology-based applications is still a tedious process mainly due to the lack of mature tools and methods which can handle the requirements of real-world applications; and 2) using existing ontologies in new application contexts is currently related to considerable efforts which should not be neglected by the engineering team. We use the insights gained during this project to derive a set of guidelines for developing Semantic Web applications in similar domains.
This paper describes an ontology supported software prototype that combines the advantages of existing Internet search engines with modern text analysis functionalities and an intelligent storage system for documents and knowledge items. The ontology assists the user in query definition and structures the storage of documents as well as knowledge items. The system is implemented and tested for the business case of SMEs that want to internationalise. It can easily be transferred to other domains just by changing the ontology.
The existing semantic gaps in ontologies are the reason why the challenges in interoperability and integrations tasks within the Semantic Web are often missed. It is due to the fact, that each ontology inherently implies a set of different model types. We argue that an ontology has to disclose the modelling method which intentionally defines the model type used in an application. This paper proposes a solution based on a generic, workflow-based description of the modelling method: the Modelling Workflow Patterns (MWP). Based on Petri nets as information model, MWPs can be processed by generic interpreters to create valid instances of the specified model type. This paper presents an implemented architecture consuming workflow modelling patterns for Topic Maps and OWL ontologies.
We explored how the intended purpose of a knowledge model can influence the modelling process and in particular, how it impacts on the choice points of the underlying modelling methodology. We introduce a classification of knowledge models according to their intended scope, expressiveness and degree of acceptance. As a result, we aim to define critical success factors of methodologies for ontologies that are built by domain experts and that can be used as a basis for knowledge enabled (software) systems
Organizational procurement is a process of information exchanges and price bargaining between buyer and seller. The process and its outcome are both influenced by the professional experience of the relevant agents, the cognition of the agents concerning market risk, the analysis of contingency in the bargaining process, etc. Decisions of an enterprise are composed by the individuals in the company. How to congregate and motivate the individuals to make good decisions for running the business in a company, are challenging issues today. A consulting model for the evolution of an organizational market is built, based on literature review of inter-organizational negotiations, and in-depth interviews with top-level executives in a few leading Taiwanese companies engaged in organizational procurement. An experimental study is conducted based on the proposed model, and the empirical data is collected to gain knowledge of organizational procurement decision making. TOVE and Protégé are applied in designing the ontology for creating valuable information for marketplace administrators building appropriate strategies for their businesses.
In this paper we will present a complete solution of SOA designed for knowledge computation encapsulation. SOA brings a lot of advantages to the whole ICT process when a difficult on-demand task is computed. On the other hand SOA overhead is nowadays unacceptable for this kind of computation tasks. We have used a semantic approach to describe SOA. Some contributing ideas have appeared – for example a possible approach to cache web services ontologically. This can help in knowledge computing.
One of the crucial steps in new service development is the creation of a service concept: a description of a future service system in terms of its objects, their attributes, and possible values for these attributes. Our knowledge framework encompasses a five-level taxonomy of service objects: major class, main class, minor class, attribute and value. We apply this taxonomy to the conceptual design of a new service, drawing upon model-based reasoning and case-based reasoning.
Defining e-services with the help of a Co-Design Platform (CDP) offers the possibility for designers to co-construct services with users that better respond to their real needs. A physical or virtual agora, the CDP offers a way to guide the analysis and conception of new services by taking advantage of the convergence between content production, editing and distribution on the Internet. By anticipating the expectations of users, we describe a methodology that aims to correlate designers’ models, consisting of domain objects, and users’ conceptual models, composed of usage objects.
Knowledge sharing has been over simplistcally treated as a knowledge and information exchange process. In observing knowledge sharing in the context of Internet service development, we detected that knowledge sharing is an iterative negotiation game between an Inventor and his employing (Telecom) Firm, following the logic of a Centipede game. The negotiations result in certain levels of mutual knowledge sharing by the Inventor and the Firm, organizational assets supply by the Firm to establish the new Internet firm, and an agreement on sharing the profits of the new firm. The actual profit payout, though, is uncertainly related to Inventor and Firm efforts, because of the difficulties of defining an optimum production function, the market’s behavior (nature), and a strong discount factor common for the Internet industry. It is concluded that Internet service development requires fast negotiations, but that career perspectives of Telecom firm managers may result in noncooperative behavior of the Firm, which in its turn results in less optimal use of the Inventor’s knowledge.
The paper presents a new approach to developing a roadmap for technologyenhanced professional training. The new methodology views roadmapping as a knowledge creation process and involves the key phases of foresight analysis (identification of prevalent visions) and gap analysis. A conceptual model of the roadmapping process as a knowledge creation exercise is introduced and discussed.
The paper presents a new interpretation of the existing (basic) approaches of CKM (Customer Knowledge Management) and SKM (Supplier Knowledge Management). Actually SMEs cooperate with these two stakeholder groups in wide areas but don’t really exchange knowledge which is an unused potential. In the national funded research project KuLt Profactor investigates how to develop a methodology for customer and supplier integration, focused on SMEs. The planned methodology goes further than simple one side integration of partners and will be an overall integration of external knowledge within the business process. Theoretical background and the results of a Delphi study are presented in this paper as a first contribution to the scientific community, which shows the potentials and key criteria of partner integration.
Currently, it is a common understanding that most chances for growth of the economy lie in the area where new knowledge and the enlargement of the knowledge base are focused on the creation of new products and services. Hence, knowledge stands out as the basis for the creation of new and innovative products that result in added value in the economy. This paper discusses aspects of knowledge management within innovation processes and presents a software program to support innovation management. The innovation software described provides support with a process model that is structured according to the requirements of companies, by a systematic storage and management of accurate information for innovation processes and by the integration of already well-known innovation methods for the support of each phase of the innovation process.
Ontology development is a time-consuming and error-prone process; the need for an embedded mechanism that evaluates quality and acceptance of the resultant collaborative ontology is apparent. Existing tools and methodologies lack consensus building mechanisms that must be employed in order for a team to agree on a collaborative ontology. In this paper we describe a collaborative methodology for ontology development that supports a team to reach consensus through iterative evaluations and improvements. In every cycle of the iterative process, the structure of the collaborative ontology is revised and evolved. The process terminates when the participants have no more critiques and objections.
This paper addresses the problem of how different agents may find consensus on a particular ontology. Mainstream literature on this argument has traditionally described such problem as rooted in the realm of abstract and logical reasoning. On the other hand, a socioeconomic perspective suggests that consensus dynamics might be read as pragmatic processes driven by the interests of those who are concretely affected by the ontology and its change. Assuming a constructivist perspective, we derive from existing literature that the notion of interest might be properly defined as the retrospective need to interpret (and create) a world in which past investments can be reused. From this perspective, an ontology can be intended as a “view of the world” that legitimates the existence of a set of sunk investments made by its users. A tentative framework is proposed where these concepts are applied to describe the process of semantic consensus. The paper concludes with major implications and future work.
The intranet portal of a company is often used as supporting tool for Knowledge Management (KM), e.g. in conjunction with yellow pages, knowledge maps, document storage systems and information retrieval. But although KM generally is considered to be important, it often does not get off the ground. One of the reasons is a lack of steady marketing. This paper points out the fundamental importance of the intranet entry page to permanently market internal KM-activities in order to make them part of the staff’s thinking and daily work by presenting results of a case study made in the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS.
Many IT-based Knowledge Management Systems rely on the use of conceptual structures of various kinds, such as Topic Maps or Ontologies to organise and guide the information supply in knowledge intensive tasks. Generally, these structures try to implement some semantics on top of the mostly textual information sources. The appropriateness of such structures is crucial for the success of KM-Systems of this type, but currently no measures exist to estimate how well a conceptual structure fits to the needs of the user or how well it covers the key concepts in the information sources. This paper introduces the general concepts of coherence and coupling of conceptual structures that should provide indicators on the suitability of such structures to the user and the information sources respectively.
With the increased pressure towards economic efficiency, hospitals and other healthcare institutions need to reengineer their internal organization and processes. This challenges human resources development with increased efficiency of training in general. We have developed a competence management concept for training planning at a big German hospital with a special focus on critically analyzing the suitability of state-of-the-art ontologybased approaches and their operationalization into management processes for the area of nursery. Experiences from the case study show the general feasibility, but also crucial issues summarized in this paper.
This paper presents results of an empirical study on the use of knowledge management in logistics companies from Germany and Portugal. This study run in early 2006 aimed at understanding how important knowledge in those companies is, what and how strong the investments in knowledge were in 2004, what needs (defined as the difference between priorities and investments) did exist, and what the impacts of the investments in knowledge on the companies’ evolution between 2003 and 2005 were. The results achieved so far show clear differences, but also surprising similarities between the two countries. Furthermore, the impact of KM on the logistics performance is still hardly to be grasped.
Nowadays, two issues have been paid more and more attention in enterprises: one is enterprise human resource development, and the other one is enterprise knowledge management. What is the relationship between the two issues? Through researching, it is discovered that an enterprise is analogous to a human body, and knowledge to enterprise human resources is like what trophic substance is to human body cells. Enterprise human resource development is to transport knowledge to the enterprise human resource. In a human body, trophic substance is originally obtained from food, and through digestion, absorption, and blood circulation, and finally transported to each cell. This process forms a perfect trophic substance supply chain. By imitating the mechanism of trophic substance transporting process and employing the principal of bionics and the method of analogy, this paper advances a bionic model of knowledge supply chain in an enterprise, in favor of enterprise knowledge management and its human resource development.
The paper proposes a way of characterizing the Next-Generation Web in terms of some ‘social middleware’, composed of social software technology supporting its emergence and some process ‘fabric’ that permeates from the individual’s interaction and innovative usage patterns. We will be especially interested in its impact on the educational environment, briefly presenting a converging approach for adult learning in both corporate and institutional environments extracted from the initial stages of iCamp project. It is intended to show you how the key elements under this new stage in Web evolution impact the educational environment, not only in higher education but in adult learning and professional training. It is intended to be useful in managing the changes we are putting up with in educational institutions and all kind of organisations.
The knowledge engineering offers a rational framework allowing a representation of knowledge obtained through the experiences. This technique found a great application in knowledge management and especially to capitalize knowledge. In fact, the rational representation of knowledge allows their exploitation and their re-use. It is a necessary condition to allow a re-use and a knowledge appropriation. The knowledge management must take into account this dimension, since its first concern is to make knowledge persistent, ready to be re-used. In this paper, we study the traces classifications of the design project achievements in order to have a knowledge aggregation and to thus provide a representation of handled knowledge, directives and competences organization as well as negotiation strategies and cooperative problems solving.
In the last 20 years, various Knowledge Management (KM) approaches and solutions have been developed, although companies use them only to make corporate knowledge explicit, collected, and organized into large and homogeneous knowledge repositories, groupware or wiki systems, knowledge portals, etc. According to this milieu, practitioners believe that the introduction of such solutions will “mechanically” conduct innovation within the company. In fact, they do not consider the interdependencies among human actions, institutional roles, and technology architecture of KM systems applied within companies. These aspects are taken into account in the two new models proposed in this paper for Project Based Organizations (PBO): (i) a model for the typical process of project life cycle, (ii) a model that allows practitioners to develop successful KM solutions. These tend to integrate organizational strategies and culture, business processes, and technological solutions.
Knowledge sharing, exchange and communication are critical tasks in any knowledge management or e-commerce initiative. In order to solve these tasks ontologies can be used. But there are certain communication problems with ontologybased knowledge sharing and exchange connected with context. The paper describes these communication problems, defines two contexts types and suggests methodical basis of solution for communication problems. This methodical basis is considered and factored in the following case study using consecutive mapping between different of context types and content ontology. This case study describes Knowledge Navigator – a map that relates contents of Formalized Management methodology with the corresponding context in order to reach effective knowledge communication to end users.
This paper sheds light on the communicative process through which experts and decision makers integrate their domain specific knowledge in decision making situations and argues for the benefit of knowledge visualization. We present a second order model for knowledge integration that reflects the main communicative challenges of such interactions. These are: unequal participation, a lack of common ground, a lack of big picture, and an unconstructive handling of conflict. Presenting results from an experimental study, we show that supporting conversations with an interactive visualization tool moderates the relationships of these communicative challenges and knowledge integration. We find that in the supported condition, conversers rely more on the establishment of common ground and big picture and deal more constructively with conflict.
Organizations are increasingly dependent on knowledge assets as primary sources of competitive advantage. Knowledge management typically aims at increasing transparency of knowledge, codifying it and enhancing knowledge sharing in order to improve (re-)use of knowledge assets. However, this also bears the risk that knowledge-based competitive advantages are diluted. This paper defines the concept of knowledge risk, identifies and structures factors influencing intended and unintended knowledge transfer with a special focus on inter-organizational knowledge transfer because here potentials and risks are comparably high. Finally, the paper discusses the consequences for setting governance rules for knowledge risks.
This paper discusses cultural constraints in transferring knowledge. In international companies or cooperation at least two different organisational cultures face each other. Organisational cultures are often driven by the national context, in which the company operates basically. In order to gain and sustain competitive advantages in a globalised competition, companies aim at transferring market knowledge and expertise in the presence of organisational and national cultural barriers. In doing so, managers have to consider the political-legal, the economical and the socio-cultural framework (cp. Welge/Holtbrügge 2003). Recent studies indicate that companies do not consider cultural constraints in an appropriate manner, while doing international business (cp. Elenkov et al. 2005, Demorgon 2004, Poech 2002, Schmid 1996, Schmidt-Dorrenbach 1991, Stadler 2004, Welge/Holtbrügge 2003). This paper discusses the transfer of knowledge and explores its affection by organisational culture. Finally, methods and recommended actions for improving the transfer of knowledge through cultural boundaries will be given.
This paper is going to introduce a hybrid problem solving algorithm developed for presenting and promoting the Costumer Knowledge Management (CKM). The algorithm consists of three main phases: at the first phase, the existing status of the CKM as well as its maturity level will be determined with consideration of the Just in Time (JIT) factor. Recognition of the problems pertaining to Knowledge Management Process (KMP) and JIT will be also addressed in this phase. In the second phase, the causes that have led to existing situation with regard to the three aspects namely human, Process and technology will be determined. The third phase of the algorithm includes the causes, conditions and proper strategies that are required for CKM promotion.
A novel approach for improving current practices of Knowledge Management within
an organization is introduced. This methodology is inspired upon the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) and the Ibero-American Foundation for Quality Management (FUNDIBEQ) excellence models and Carnegie Mellon Capability Maturity Model (CMM) for software processes. The major contribution of this approach is to define a roadmap to reach further levels of maturity along five dimension of analysis, by stressing different areas for improvement. A survey instrument was developed to gather the subjective assessment of the members of the organization. This tool is supplemented by individual interviews and a workshop held with the key players to evaluate further evidence of maturity in each dimension.
In this article the focus lies on the modelling of knowledge processes for small and medium-sized enterprises. In the first part of this paper an empirical study conducted at the Department of Information Systems (University of Innsbruck) illustrates the key knowledge processes (knowledge acquisition, knowledge allocation, knowledge conservation, knowledge disposal) for SME. The result of this survey was a knowledge process model which links efficient methods of knowledge management to SME.
This paper describes our work on identifying relevant indicators for the characterization of Best Practice Cases (BPCs) for Knowledge Management (KM) introduction projects and for the assessment of their portability to other organisations. We scanned relevant KM literature and web pages for generating a basic set of indicators and verified these indicators through an open internet survey (n=103). For that purpose, we developed a web-based questionnaire where the respondents could prioritize the proposed indicators and assign them to one or more predefined classification schemes. We distinguished between indicators for the general description of an organisation, critical KM success factors, and indicators for the transferability of KM BPCs to other organisations. The evaluated results of the survey were used as an input for the development of an ontology-based reference model (description schema) for KM BPCs.
The htmlButler project was started 2005/2 and aims at enhancing the usability of visual wrapper technology without restraining flexibility. htmlButler will allow an untrained user, to visually specify simple and, a more tech-savvy user, more complex wrappers. What is new in htmlButler is that (a) the application is entirely server based, the user accessing it through a standard browser, (b) because of the centralization the knowledge of already created wrappers can be reused, and (c) users can contribute narrow and precise semantic concepts that help the system in recognizing potential meaning in web pages, thereby alleviating the complexity of future wrapper configurations
Digital non-linear story-telling is an ideal approach to share knowledge in large distributed communities and networks. Story-telling combines semantic knowledge and episodic knowledge by explicit problem solving strategies. To facilitate knowledge sharing authoring environments based on multimedia repositories as well as advanced story players are needed. Interoperability with existing information systems can be enhanced by relying on multimedia description standards like MPEG-7 and the use of W3C standard conform community hosting engines. We present an environment for sharing entrepreneurial knowledge by high quality video taped interview sequences from well-known high-tech entrepreneurs.
To obtain competitive advantage in Europe, it is crucial for small and medium sized enterprises (SME) to utilise knowledge efficiently and to enhance their innovation potential. Several national approaches of managing Intellectual Capital exist, but there is no European wide consensus or any empirical validity regarding managing Intellectual Capital. The different approaches have to be brought together and a suitable method for SME with minimum standards on the European level has to be developed. This paper shows existing approaches on measuring Intellectual Capital as well as the necessity of a European approach and the potential impact of an Intellectual Capital Statement (ICS) on the European level.
Since the mid 1990s various concepts of intellectual capital reports have been elaborated and their descriptions can be found in both scientific and management literature. Their major task is the attempt to cover intangible assets within an organization or firm and to illustrate the immense resources, which may be used to attain competitive advantages. A major drawback of all presented intellectual capital reports is their non-comparability due to the diversity of conceptions. Thus it is not possible to compare and evaluate the results of different firms within an industry using diverse concepts of intellectual capital reports. This paper presents an approach, which allows the creation of comparable intellectual capital reports based on so called meta-indicators (or benchmarks). By using the meta-modelling approach the intellectual capital reporting (ICR) benchmark framework and a top-down procedure model (the intellectual capital reporting (ICR) step model) are outlined and discussed in detail.
In this paper we describe first experiences with AdeLE prototype, a framework for adaptive e-learning utilising both eye tracking and content tracking technology. We outline features of the first prototype and their relevance for the user. We report more in detail about current research challenges where we observe users’ learning behaviour in real time by monitoring characteristics such as objects and areas of focus, time spent on objects, frequency of visits, and sequences in which content is consumed. This research is focused on analysing eye-movement patters during learning and linking these patterns with cognitive processes. Possible areas of application are described, such as using the information about the position of the eye for providing additional context specific information to the learner. The framework ensures not only adaptivity to the users’ preferences, knowledge level and the real-time tracking of their behaviour, but also the relevance, accuracy and reliability of the knowledge provided.
Formats and Technologies in the Digital Mathematics Library Project
The main obstacle to easy accessing the vast amount of knowledge is the fact that they are not available in well-designed, standard, fully indexed electronic form, together with detailed metadata and full-text search capabilities. This paper is a case study of design issues in a subproject of WDML (World Digital Mathematics Library) aimed at digitizing valuable mathematical journals and books published in the Czech and Slovak Republics, to make them publicly available in digital form. We discuss here the design of the work-flow aiming at having mathematical knowledge stored in digital library. The key concept is a gradual enhancement of the digital material by ‘knowledge enhancing’ filters applied to the markup-rich XML data.
Thesis reviewing is considered as a knowledge task that can be supported by computer-based techniques. The knowledge that underlies the reviewing is represented in a database where it can be shared between all concerned actors such as reviewers, thesis authors, and prospective thesis writers.
The ELA-LogNet is an educational network of persons and institutions involved in logistics education and training and interested in supporting it by use of multimedia and information technologies. It focuses on enabling logistics educators and trainers to introduce any kinds of educational multimedia and technologies to their educational processes as knowledgeable consumers or well acquainted supervisors or even to become enthusiastic multimedia developers. For this, not only an appropriate technological infrastructure is required, but also an organizational basis and culture encouraging collaboration and exchange to the benefit of all of the network’s members. The paper will discuss these aspects on the basis of experience gained within the ELA-LogNet to help educational networks to encourage knowledge sharing and overcome knowledge hiding despite competitive situations.
Technology-enhanced support for knowledge sharing and transfer in higher education has attracted increasing attention over the past years. Within this context, this paper presents a case study on knowledge sharing conducted with more than 160 students at Graz University of Technology in the winter term 04/05. During the course of the study, the students were provided with a working environment consisting of different knowledge management instruments. The paper motivates the use of these instruments, compiles lessons learned with applying these tools and makes recommendations for future developments in the area of hybrid forms of knowledge sharing.
Scientific research centres and universities are knowledge-intensive institutions, where knowledge creation and distribution are constant – and this knowledge should be managed. In spite of this, scientific work has been known for being solitary work, in which human interaction takes place only in small groups within a research domain. Currently, due to technology improvements, scientific data from different sources is available, communication between researchers is facilitated and scientific information creation and exchange are faster than in the past. However, the focus on information exchange is too limited to create systems that enable true cooperation and knowledge management in scientific environments. To facilitate more expressive exchanging, sharing and dissemination of knowledge and its
management, we have created a scientific knowledge management environment in which researchers may share their data, experiences, ideas, process definition and execution, and obtain all the necessary information to perform their tasks, make decisions, learn and disseminate knowledge.
This contribution describes results of an empirical study based on interviews with experts in “course guidance” at three European Universities. Sharing of knowledge about course guidance at the Universities happens merely fragmentally and not systematically. This is a problem, especially for new students and beginners. The study’s goal was to shed light on existing roles in organizations and look at their impact on designing knowledge sharing. What are the role-based principles that have to be taken into consideration when designing sociotechnical systems?
This work proposes a type of information architecture for document description, based on automatic text segmentation and concept extraction within each segment; this is labelled “thematization” of the document structure. With limited semantic resources, the method allows the representation of useful semantic links between concepts, allowing knowledge extraction for information retrieval or for text browsing. A comparison is made with previous work on automatic and human segmentation of a common text.
Knowledge discovery in data sources available on Computational Grids is a challenging research and development issue. Several Grid research activities addressing some facets of this process have already been reported. The GridMiner project (a joint work between the University of Vienna and Vienna University of Technology) aims, as the first Grid research effort, to cover all aspects of the knowledge discovery process and integrate them into an advanced service-oriented Grid application. The innovative architecture provides (1) a robust and reliable high performance data mining and OLAP environment (2) seamless access to intermediate data and results of the discovery process for further reuse in a standardized way (3) a persistant workspace for continuous and evolving data mining tasks supported via a flexible GUI. The interactive cooperation of different services – for data integration, data selection, data transformation, data mining, pattern evaluation, knowledge presentation and finally its storage – within the GridMiner architecture is the key to high performance knowledge discovery in large datasets.
In text-based information retrieval, which is the predominant retrieval task at present, several document models have been proposed, such as boolean, probabilistic, or (extended) vector models [Baeza-Yates and Ribeiro-Neto 1999]. Interestingly, the suffix tree document model is usually not discussed in the literature on the subject though it comes along with a property that sets it apart from the other models: It encodes information about word order. The suffix tree document model owes much of its popularity from the Vivísimo search engine, which operationalizes on-the-fly categorization of Internet search results. While the classical document models can be considered as vectors of words, the suffix tree document model as well as the related similarity measures are graph-based. Both types of document models provide an efficient means to compute document similarities, and, according to various publications, both types of document models work well in practice. However, there is no comparison between both paradigms that explains the concepts of one in terms of the other, or that contrasts their advantages and disadvantages with respect to certain retrieval tasks. In this paper we start to tackle this gap by shading light on the following questions: (1) How does similarity computation work in the suffix tree document model? (2) Based on the insights of Question 1, is it possible to combine concepts of both document model types within classification or categorization tasks? (3) Which of the document model types is more powerful with respect to unsupervised document classification?
In this paper we investigate the contribution of text mining techniques to a methodology of terminology construction from natural language corpora. The application area of our experiment is accidentology. In this context, the results of text mining techniques are used in order to guide the construction of a terminology of road accidents from a collection of accident reports. A model of our field, ontology of accidentology, is used that allows us to carry out the text mining process. The Terminae methodology and the tool supporting it offer the general frame for the resource construction. Further on we shall present our employed text mining techniques and the integration of the results we obtained into different phases of the construction process. Suggestions for further research to improve our techniques are also presented in this study.
This paper presents some experiments in clustering homogeneous XML documents to validate an existing classification or more generally an organisational structure. Our approach integrates techniques for extracting knowledge from documents with unsupervised classification (clustering) of documents. We focus on the feature selection used for representing documents and its impact on the emerging classification. We mix the selection of structured features with fine textual selection based on syntactic characteristics. We illustrate and evaluate this approach with a collection of Inria activity reports for the year 2003. The objective is to cluster projects into larger groups (Themes), based on the keywords or different chapters of these activity reports. We then compare the results of clustering using different feature selections, with the official theme structure used by Inria.
This paper introduces a particular form of fuzzy-fingerprints—their construction, their interpretation, and their use in the field of information retrieval. Though the concept of fingerprinting in general is not new, the way of using them within a similarity search as described here is: Instead of computing the similarity between two fingerprints in order to access the similarity between the associated objects, simply the event of a fingerprint collision is used for a similarity assessment. The main impact of this approach is the small number of comparisons necessary to conduct a similarity search.
This paper describes the process followed for visualizing, using DynMap, the student’s evolution through the learning process of a Computer Security course at the University. DynMap is a system based on Concept Maps developed with the aim of providing the education community with a tool that facilitates the inspection of student data. After a brief introduction, the paper describes the problem we face. Then, the main characteristics, functionality and components of DynMap are described. Next, the results of two studies conducted to validate DynMap are presented. Finally, some conclusions and the future perspective are presented.
This paper presents an applocation called Visual Browser that is able to visualize RDF data. It explains the advantage of the RDF/RDFS as well as the way RDF triples are displayed in the visualisation process. One of the most importand features of the programm comprises a two level visualization – the data and the so-called perspective of view. The scope of this architecture is shown on examples. Two very different domains are visualized: WordNet and a Universal information Robot’s knowldege base.
Investigating the evolution of patrimonial architecture requires gathering and analysing a mass of documentary sources, the interpretation of which may authorise researchers to produce graphical simulations of the morphological evolutions of edifices. We have demonstrated that such representations can be used as graphic interfaces in which architectural objects are located in time and space. However in the field of the architectural heritage, due to the lack or incompleteness of the documentation, at the beginning of an investigation objects are often known to researchers only by their toponimical reference: their contextual names. In the early phases of an investigation process, it is most often impossible to state with any reasonable accuracy what morphology an object had. Moreover, other clues to the understanding of the edifice and its evolution, such as terminology/ontology or analogies, can be gathered by the researchers before someone actually states what morphology the object could have. Aiming at improving the comprehension of the complex and discontinuous process of knowledge acquisition we introduce a generic formalism of information integration that lets the researchers to gather indications little by little, and allows them to follow up visually the knowledge acquisition process. This paper introduces the use of toponymy as a start point for the analysis of the edifice, and
describes the formalism we have developed in order to generalise this approach.
The successful and efficient querying of information in electronic information pools is becoming increasingly important in today’s information society. At the same time the quantity of existing information is continually growing. Querying scientific literature and selecting relevant hits are typical examples for this. [Börner and Chen 02] present possibilities to display structured information pools visually in order to simplify querying and selection processes. However, current interaction possibilities are limited to the manipulation of hit images (cutting out, zooming, rotating). The structure features of the underlying information pool remain unconsidered. Our JADE interface uses this structure information additionally to support the refinement task as well as the navigation within the space of query hits. It is based on mathematical procedures known as formal concept analysis. We carried out an evaluation study in order to determine the efficiency of the interactive visualisation techniques provided by JADE. Psychology students were made to perform various query tasks with a literature database. One group worked with a common web interface. The other group worked with JADE. The query results articulate a clear advantage for utilising interactive visualisation techniques in regard to the common parameters of query tasks, precision and recall.
This paper introduces the new focus Strategy Visualization in the larger context of knowledge visualization and a case study. Strategy Visualization is defined as the systematic use of complementary visual representations to improve the analysis, development, formulation, communication, and implementation of strategies in organizations. Strategy Visualization is thus more than a mapping of measurements, because it aims to engage and activate employees. To do so, the strategy needs to be communicated to the stakeholder’s context where we can learn from knowledge visualization. That’s why Strategy Visualization can be integrated into the established Knowledge Visualization Framework. To do so the paper secondly presents the application of the framework in one case study at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) where the strategy of the project Science City needed to be communicated to various stakeholders. A small evaluation indicates that the strategy to use complementary visualizations was the key for the successful communication of the strategy. That’s why the new research focus Strategy Visualization, the Knowledge Visualization Framework, and the case study are important for researchers in the fields of knowledge management, knowledge visualization, information visualization, strategic management, communication sciences and for practitioners as journalists, or managers.
The efficient, collaborative creation and transfer of knowledge is still a major challenge in many organizations, particularly among different professional groups, such as experts and managers. This paper presents a visual knowledge communication suite that aims at improving the quality of collaborative knowledge communication in face-to-face meetings and in on-line workshops, primarily for synchronous interactions, but also for asynchronous
communication. The paper presents the framework for the developed software and screenshot of its five modules (called ruler, positioner, ideaquarium, tracker and timeliner).
Two fields of research are heavily interested in developing visualizations for helping users coping with complex tasks and ill-structured subject matter resources: knowledge visualization and information visualization. The goal of knowledge visualization is to assist students in learning and problem solving by providing tools for fostering externalized cognition. The goal of information visualization is to provide knowledge-based access to information resources and help users in making sense of the resources they are looking for in information retrieval. The contribution draws attention to digital concept maps as cognitive tools which may provide a basis for the development of synergistic approaches that may help visualizing, accessing, and managing both knowledge and information and foster resourcebased learning.
Self-Organizing Maps are a prominent tool for exploratory analysis and visualization of high-dimensional data. We propose a novel method for visualizing the cluster structure and coherent regions of the Self-Organizing Map that can be displayed as a vector field on top of the map lattice. Concepts of neighborhood and proximity on the map is exploited to obtain a representation where arrows point to the most similar region. The method is especially useful for large maps with a high number of map nodes. In our experiments, we visualize a data set that stems from applications in the petroleum industry, and show how to use our method to maximize the gas output.
The visual senses for humans have a unique status, offering a very broadband channel for information flow. Visual approaches to analysis and mining attempt to take advantage of our abilities to perceive pattern and structure in visual form and to make sense of, or interpret, what we see. Visual Data Mining techniques have proven to be of high value in exploratory data analysis and they also have a high potential for mining large databases. In this work, we try to investigate and expand the area of visual data mining by proposing a new 3-Dimensional visual data mining technique for the representation and mining of classifiaction outcomes and association rules.
Many companies have found that knowledge transfer between their projects does not function optimally and that significant chunks of knowledge are lost after the completion of projects. Final project reports, intended to transfer and save the experience acquired, typically contain only a fraction of the effectively accumulated knowledge. Subsequent projects therefore rarely profit from this empirical knowledge and frequently the result is duplicated work, repeated mistakes and, more seriously, project delays. Knowledge management within project management not only requires database solutions but also face-to-face exchange. This paper presents the “Inno-how” approach, a model of hypertext organization and related methods, that provides a framework for effective knowledge management.
The paper discusses differences between views on knowledge management that focus more on strategic or technical questions and those that focus on the question of the integration of working and learning. The core idea is that an understanding of knowledge management which focuses on learning-in-organizing [Gherardi, Nicolini 01] or situated learning [Lave, Wenger 91] leads to a paradigm shift in knowledge management. Furthermore the paper presents recent findings about the functioning of the brain that give us a better understanding of how knowledge is created and how it can be shared. Drawing on this, I will define some crucial consequences for the feedback-based dialogue, which ideas and essential components are described as a method that enables the integration of working and learning.
In recent years, both practitioners and scholars alike have emphasized the importance of organizational knowledge and learning as a source of competitive advantage. In this connexion, the integration of information technologies to foster these organizational sources has gained considerable attention. However, especially due to the innate characteristics of tacit knowledge, its handling is deemed to be extraordinarily difficult. This results primarily from the fact that tacit knowledge can only be disseminated via intricate interpersonal processes. Socialization is viewed as an appropriate approach but to date this is regarded as incommensurate with most existing information technologies. In this paper we argue that corporate weblogs – i.e. personalized and informal Internet publications referring to corporate concerns – constitute a viable option to deal with this dilemma while incorporating the possibility to codify as well as personalize tacit knowledge. By illuminating how to transcend the traditional impasse, we intend to contribute to knowledge management research and practitioners alike.
Reflective practice is now seen as an essential technique of continuing professional development (CPD) for health care professionals in the UK. It sits alongside more formal educational activities as a means by which those staff may explore and enhance their practice. However, despite its widespread acceptance, there is no cohesive clarity as to the definition of this technique. Similarly, there are myriad opinions as to how it might usefully be undertaken. Perhaps most importantly, there is no clarity as to how the learning derived from reflection can be captured in a meaningful, deployed in a systematic fashion and measured in respect of its impact on workplace performance and organisational learning. In light of this, a model of reflection is proposed here, based on experience of working with health care practitioners in the UK, which aims to give structure to individual reflective activity whilst embedding it very firmly in the wider context of knowledge management and organisational development.
Information management and IT are often called the backbone of an organisation. Yet in practice, IT does not play the most important role in managing information: That much can be learned from experience with ‚dead‘ (hardly ever used) knowledge bases. While there are many technical solutions to so called repositories or FAQ collections hardly any attention is paid to the problem of transfer: how stored, „sedimented“ know how from the knowledge bases can be transformed into professional knowledge empowering people to act competently. Neither practice nor knowledge management research is really concerned with this issue. Referring to discussions about organisational learning and organisational memory concepts, our case study deals with informal learning processes in specialised professional communication. The SEM®THEK case study will show a possible solution to the transfer problem: knowledge, collected and stored in knowledge bases, is processed to fit the needs of users by applying models of instruction which were originally developed in media didactics, technical documentation and transfer research.
The management of knowledge and know-how becomes more and more important in organizations. Building corporate memories for conserving and sharing knowledge has become a rather common practice. However, we often forget that the efficiency of these activities is strictly connected to the appropriation capacities and learning of the organizational actors. It is through this learning that new skills can be acquired. In this paper, we propose general guidelines facilitating the process of creation and appropriation of professions memories built by means of methods from knowledge engineering and from educational engineering techniques.
This paper presents results from a survey of experts. The survey concerns the importance of creativity, learning, and knowledge management in the process of service development in companies as well as possibilities for supporting them. To emphasize the significance of the concepts creativity, learning, and knowledge management we describe a process model for the development of new services; this model follows current approaches in the field of service engineering and takes the three factors creativity, learning and knowledge management into account. Besides the methodological approach and the main findings of the survey of experts, the paper also shows the need for action regarding the support of service development processes in general and the three parts creativity, learning and knowledge management.
Although both e-learning and knowledge management are about facilitating learning in organization, the major obstacle to bring both of them together can be traced back to different paradigms of learning, resulting from the different nature of the knowledge they are dealing with. In this paper, a knowledge maturing process is presented to illustrate the change of nature and the discontinuities. This lays the foundation for a better understanding. In order to overcome the discontinuities, the consideration of context is proposed, which offers the required continuity.
Knowledge management approaches for weakly-structured, ad-hoc knowledge work processes need to be lightweight, i.e., they cannot rely on high upfront modeling effort. This paper presents a novel prototype for supporting weakly-structured processes by integrating a standard to-do list application with a state-of-the-art document classification system. The resulting system allows for a task-oriented view on an office worker’s personal knowledge space in order to realize a proactive and contextsensitive information support during her daily, knowledge-intensive tasks.
Knowledge-intensive work goes beyond classical workflow with respect to flexibility and integration into the personal task management. The necessity of such integration is demonstrated considering the example of Engineering Change Requests (ECR), handled by an integrated workflow as provided by SAP’s Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). This solution is discussed with respect to additional requirements that occur in ECR processes. This is compared to current approaches as provided by projects at the DFKI and others. An approach is presented that carries on the existing ideas on a more flexible basis, making more extensive use of knowledge management methods.
Efficient project planning from a human resource point of view requires projectoriented organization forms to take into account the permanent change of requirements and framework conditions during the duration of a project correctly. Skill management systems are an excellent management tool for this challenge, if in addition to default skill profiles the employees’ competence and experience room is defined. This paper describes a best practice skill management model that takes into account compared with other approaches the attributes time and duration and builds up an experience tree of the employees by link technique. Further the factors are represented, which play a role during the conversion of the model in practice.
This paper compares the effectiveness of the Project Tube Map and the Gantt Chart for inter-functional communication in large projects where different stakeholders are involved. Today, Gantt Charts are well known in project management. However, the use of Gantt Charts has limitations: It fails in motivational aspects, it has difficulties to illustrate who is collaborating with whom, and it badly supports recall. The Project Tube Map has been introduced earlier as an approach to overcome these limitations. This paper compares the effectiveness of both visualization methods. Our findings from the evaluation of 44 interviews indicate that the Project Tube Map is more effective for (1) drawing attention and keeping interest, (2) presenting overview and detail, (3) visualizing who is collaborating with whom, (4) motivating people to participate in the project, and (5) increasing recall. The findings indicate that both formats complement each other. We further present an algorithm that allows the automatic creation of Project Tube Maps. The results presented in this paper are important for researchers and practitioners in the fields of Knowledge Visualization, Project Management, Visual Communication Sciences, and Information Visualization.
Providing the right knowledge within business processes is a key challenge for companies in our today’s information / knowledge society to be able to do business in an effective and efficient manner. This article shows a pragmatic model for analyzing knowledge flows within business processes followed by a further investigation of the different knowledge providers with the goal of deriving improvements for shaping a best fitting information architecture (knowledge infrastructure) for an optimal knowledge support in business processes. This model was created and executed at AVL List GmbH, an innovative company/supplier to the automotive industry – where knowledge can be seen as key success factor.
Formalised service innovation is a central tenet of enterprise systems lifecycle phases. Event driven process models extended with knowledge objects are found to be not useful in early lifecycle phases. When an upgrade is required, a map of the knowledge infrastructure is needed to better design further service innovation because functional maps no longer adequately describe the context adequately. By looking at formal changes to business processes as service innovations, and recognising the knowledge infrastructure inherent in services generally, changes driven through technology such as ES can be better understood with the application of frameworks such as B-KIDE.
Process oriented knowledge management focuses on knowledge intensive business processes. For modelling and analysis of these processes the modelling technique KMDL (Knowledge Modeling and Description Language) has been developed. KMDL is a method to describe knowledge flows and conversions along and between business processes. Thereby KMDL identifies existing and utilized information as well as knowledge of individual participants and of the entire company. This research-in-progress contribution introduces a practical example in the field of software engineering, in which KMDL models are evaluated to identify process improvements, e.g. by adding knowledge management activities. Therefore three individual views focussing on selected aspects of interest are introduced.
In this paper we investigate the capabilities of Genetic Algorithms applied to the domain of Knowledge Intensive Process Improvement (Knowiπ). Knowledge intensive processes (KnowiP) can be seen as sequences of activities based on knowledge intensive acquisition and handling. Such knowledge intensive processes can be implemented in enterprises of different kind regardless of which type, production or service company. In order to measure the performance of knowledge intensive processes, performance indexes are necessary. The processes are evaluated according to these indexes. Two particular Genetic Algorithms (GAs) are applied to improve a special class of knowledge intensive processes. In a single-objective algorithm we aim at improving the duration of the process execution. Moreover, we address the presence of multiple evaluation criteria by a Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA) to find acceptable Pareto solutions as ‘Trade-offs’. For our case, we investigate the Multi-Sexual GA (MSGA) considering the criteria service time, costs of acquisition and usage of knowledge sources simultaneously.
The development of new ontologies does not tap the full potential of existing knowledge sources and ongoing ontology engineering methodologies do not address ontology reuse to a satisfactory extent yet. In this paper we analyze the challenges related to the reuse process on the basis of two scenarios in the domains of eRecruitment and medicine, which aim at building domain ontologies by reusing existing knowledge sources.
Besides typical challenges related to knowledge management (KM), EADS Military Aircraft is facing some specific challenges resulting from the company’s history as well as from its position in the military environment. This descriptive case study reports on the specific challenges and state-of-the-art of KM within a military company and presents some KM initiatives related to these challenges. Furthermore, challenges are related to corresponding concepts and criteria for selecting specific methodologies to tackle upcoming challenges. Finally, the authors are concluding this paper with several key success factors for KM within this environment and give an overview of the next steps.
From the emergence of Knowledge Management (KM) systems until today, the vast majority of the implemented systems have concentrated on a centralised architecture, which utilizes knowledge within a single organizational domain. Lately, there is much focus on alternative, distributed approaches, which attempt to overcome the single organization’s KM paradigm, and develop inter-organizational knowledge exchange infrastructures. Effective management from a security perspective is always a serious and difficult to achieve challenge, especially when it comes to managing resources from cooperating autonomous domains. Security issues in Information Systems coalition enabling environments are treated in this paper and a secure distributed KM architecture is being presented.
Distributed Knowledge Management Systems (DKMS) are often faced to heterogeneous environments associated with the absence of shared vocabularies. DKMSs realise Knowledge Flows between autonomous Knowledge Nodes as parts of social networks. Schwotzer models the KNs’ individual policies for input relevance and output strategy as Knowledge Ports. Topic Map Technologies are well suited for the semantic integration of distributed, heterogeneous knowledge. But current implementations base on pure naming approaches to Subject Identity in connection with the use of shared vocabularies. Maicher’s SIM Approach helps to use Topic Map Technologies for the semantic integration of distributed, heterogeneous knowledge in the absence of shared vocabularies. To detect Subject similarity it exploits the Topics’ usage in the current context. Our contribution is the liaison of the Knowledge Port Approach and the SIM Approach. This leads to DKMSs which significantly better deal with the absence of shared vocabularies.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) is a decentralized networking paradigm where autonomous parties have equivalent capabilities in providing other parties with data and/or services. On the other hand, Knowledge Management (KM) is viewed as a core capacity in order to compete in the modern social and economic environment. In the view of the emerging semantic web technologies, P2P is looking for knowledge-driven domains to better exploit its technological potential. At the same time, driven by economical and social trends, KM is questioning its centralized nature assumption and is looking for a technological paradigm in order to benefit from exploiting its distributed dimension. In this paper we discuss the state of the art and trends in both the P2P and KM fields, discuss what possible synergies can benefit integrated P2P KM solutions, and present an implemented P2P KM system.
Extracting knowledge from audio recordings is frequently necessary in usability studies. At present, recordings are usually transferred to text before analysis begins. This is a long, tedious process, during which some information is lost. When analysing information, analysts work in text analysis tools that encourage them to organise ideas linearly. This is not always convenient to do. In this paper, we describe a tool that will allow users to organise audio recordings in a spatial environment without the need for full transcriptions.
Knowledge Management software is software that integrates. Existing Data sources, process flows, application features from office appliances have to be brought together. There are different standards, consisting of data formats and communication protocols, that address this issue. The WWW and Semantic Web are designed to work on a worldwide scale and define those standards. We transfer the web standards to the desktop szenario, a vision we call Semantic Desktop – a Semantic Web enhanced desktop environment. Central is the idea of taking know-how from the SemanticWeb to tackle personal information management. Existing desktop applications (email client, browser, office applications) are integrated, the semantic glue between them expressed using ontologies. We also present the www.gnowsis.org open source project by the DFKI that realizes parts of this vision. It is based on a Semantic Web Server running as desktop service. It was used in experiments and research projects and allows others to experiment. Knowledge management applications can be built on top of it, reducing the implementation cost.
In general, metainformation plays an important role in knowledge management for finding information. However, adding metainformation usually takes additional time. We work on WildDocs, a spatial-based knowledge management system. One of its main tasks is providing implicit metainformation that was added automatically during the structuring process without requiring a high cognitive load. This is supported by a detailed and less abstract structure model as well as by real world-based simulation of behavior. In this paper, we focus on emerging rotation, fixed sized documents, and binding mechanisms. We conclude that spatial structure techniques that consider physical limits and emerging structures may add important metainformation without significantly increased cognitive load on the user. We further point to our current and future implementation and the development of a special input device that supports efficient navigation on WildDocs’s space.
Knowledge sharing in communities has attracted much attention in the field of knowledge management in research and practice. In this paper we outline a view where the community lifecycle is supported at different stages. The central component of our framework is the community ontology SWRC+COIN that describes the typical structure of communities. We exemplarily show how communities in the academic domain can be detected automatically by means of analyzing information flow in a bibliographic Peer-to-Peer system and how the instantiated community knowledge base can be exploited to support cooperative work in the communities.
Several of the Communities of Practices (CoP) Alterra/Wing manages have reached their mid-life. Designed CoPs have come to life and have achieved alignment, from which we can learn. A growing interest can be signalised in using CoPs as management instruments and in governance. Governments are seeking new ways in policy making and new steering instruments. Using the case of agrologistics we describe how the Dutch government has used a CoP for complex planning and organizational problems. The social design, planning and management of a new CoP have linked together a wide range of stakeholders to establish a operational CoP. Alignment is a key factor in this transition to self-steering; the value of belonging is very powerful. Masters play an important role in setting up and in steering the CoP. CoPs can be developed as new instruments of governance, based on the theoretical concept of CoP.
Various studies focus on general networks within and between organizations, but strongly focused studies on knowledge sharing through social networks and communities within specific domains that are of critical relevance to the R&D organization are hard to find. Therefore, the argument presented here is explored through an empirical case study on inter-organizational knowledge community building between different research institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, a large German organization for contract research in all fields of the applied engineering sciences. Expert knowledge communication and networking processes are evaluated by a multi-level approach. Institutionalization of knowledge transfer is studied with regard to the development of the informal contacts between the community members and the inter-organizational linkages on an aggregated level. The main focus is put on the relationships of knowledge exchange between the formal organizational boundaries and the informal interorganizational network structures. Finally, this case study aims at further supporting the adaptation of methods from social network analysis for purposes of organization and management practice.
Procedural knowledge is one of the most valuable assets of individuals as well as academic institutions and commercial companies. The ability to satisfy an order relies on the knowledge how similar tasks have been performed in the past. Thus the preservation of this knowledge is critical. Procedural knowledge takes many different forms, which makes it very hard to reason about it. We propose a method to reduce it to its very essence. This method is very simple, and as such it is not new. But we argue that it is worthwhile to take a fresh look on an existing technology from a new point of view, because it may solve the problem of knowledge preservation that has become apparent in this form only recently. Although the technique is known for a long time, it appears that its potential for the management of procedural knowledge has not been realized so far. It is a also very elegant method since we can show that it serves both as a theoretical device to better understand the nature of processes, but it can also be directly operationalized to derive a new generation of user-friendly tools that support the preservation of procedural knowledge.
This paper concentrates on merging knowledge repositories representing different viewpoints, with all of them subject to updates and revisions. A set of criteria of interest is defined. On the basis, different approaches are reviewed, which are assessed with respect to these criteria.
A logic-based approach to the semantic-based composition of task oriented teams using candidates profiles and task description is presented, in the framework of a skill management system. The selection process exploits Concept Covering, carried out using non-standard inference services in Description Logics. The approach is motivated and compared with other semantic-oriented proposals.
Innovation and the management of innovation in companies is seen as a very complex, collective and interactive process that often implies a change in the way of working in a company. Therefore, strategic management to properly handle the innovation and the whole process is essential. In that case appropriate software can provide support in the management of the complexities and the procedures that arise during the innovation process. However, an extensive investigation of software systems to support innovation processes shows that nearly no comprehensive software system exists, that can help with structuring and planning the process or that is able support all phases of the innovation process or similarly provide solutions to methodical questions. This paper gives an evaluation of present software systems and furthermore presents the project INNOWARE. The concept and development of the software system INNOWARE is pioneered as a tool to overcome barriers within the innovation process and to provide support particularly relevant for small and medium sized companies.
DIVergence Awareness (DIVA) is a technological framework for management of divergence occurrence in knowledge communities, which is a precursor to the creation of new knowledge in these communities. The DIVA workspace system is aware of the members’ profiles (skills, interests, etc) and their evolution; and as a result, it can deliver custom-made contributions to the members in an attempt to manage divergence within the community. In this paper we introduce process awareness formalism as an addition to the existing formalism of DIVA in order to enhance knowledge creation and knowledge sharing processes within the DIVA process. The added formalism achieves these objectives by facilitating identification of the process awareness requirements of the actors based on both the roles they play as well as the tasks they perform within the DIVA process.
Knowledge management and its features should be considered as crucial assets in knowledge-critical organizations, such as innovative manufacturing firms, research centres, universities, service companies, etc. Traditional knowledge management approaches are often aimed at unveiling, distributing and sharing knowledge as a stable and standardized result of meaning negotiation and coordination processes. In this article we want to underline the fact that standardization is only one of the most important coordination processes within organizations, and two other processes are needed: coordination by plan and coordination by mutual adaptation. All these three coordination processes should be seriously taken into account within a knowledge management systems, allowing different strategies of meaning coordination processes. In particular, we propose an approach to meaning coordination that is based upon the adoption of a formal ontology as a means for managing the coordination itself. In practice, the approach requires that a centralised formal ontology have to sustain three different processes that reflect the organizational coordination processes: (i) guaranteeing reference to unique definitions (standardization of concepts), (ii) leaving the individuals of the organization free to use their own terms, with specific meanings (coordination by plan), (iii) allowing the individuals to continuously negotiate meanings and create their own ontology from scratch (mutual adaptation that takes place when the coordination between two or more subjects attempt at sharing the meaning of a single term). Finally, the paper underlines how a particular meaning negotiation process is correlated to the organizational coordination processes, which depend on the type of production, processes and technologies that are used
within the firm.
Knowledge is a very key in nearly every business process. The flow of knowledge in process is supported by various so called knowledge assets which embody either implicit knowledge which is bound to persons or explicit knowledge which is incorporated in organizational documents, handbooks or code artifacts. A large store of knowledge assets, however, is worthless, if these assets stay unused. Thus, the hot-spots of creation and distribution of knowledge have to be identified and assigned to the respective assets. As a consequence, the techniques used to store knowledge assets and to make them available has to go hand in hand with the support for the organizational distribution of knowledge assets in business processes.
In the paper, the emerging mobile knowledge portals are analysed both from the technological and knowledge management points of view. To this end, a description schema for mobile knowledge portals is introduced. In the framework of this schema, both knowledge management and mobile technology aspects and their impacts both on the user behaviour and on the internal structure and functionalities of the portals are taken into consideration. The potentials of mobile technology to leverage the knowledge portals functionalities are discussed in detail. In conclusion, potentials and future trends in development of mobile knowledge portals are discussed.
Contents of a website can be constructed by two means. Conventional websites usually have a sitemap initially. Using this map as a blueprint, the website designers develop the pages of the content and add links to the content of a website, such as the I-Know’05 homepage. For the website known as a knowledge portal, a sitemap cannot be prepared to outline the contents in advance. A knowledge portal site allows its members to create their own knowledge objects. The website therefore grows itself unlimitedly and unexpectedly just like a coral. Interestingly, these knowledge objects are not only represented in webpages but also associated with conceptual elements defined within the ontology of the knowledge portal. In this regard, we develop a visualization tool to display the sitemap of a knowledge portal and observe the concept map of group knowledge. As a practice platform of our visualization tool, we chose a locally developed knowledge portal, called Open Computational Problem Solving (OpenCPS) Knowledge Portal.
This paper describes a system to semi-automatically extend and refine ontologies by mining textual data from the Web sites of international online media. Expanding a seed ontology creates a semantic network through co-occurrence analysis, trigger phrase analysis, and disambiguation based on the WordNet lexical dictionary. Spreading activation then processes this semantic network to find the most probable candidates for inclusion in an extended ontology. Approaches to identifying hierarchical relationships such as subsumption, head noun analysis and WordNet consultation are used to confirm and classify the found relationships. Using a seed ontology on “climate change” as an example, this paper demonstrates how spreading activation improves the result by naturally integrating the mentioned methods.
In this paper we address and discuss the approach of learning employee skills from data based on XML structured profiles and their representation as a Bayesian network. For extracting new information we use a dependency analysis approach. Many enterprise resource management systems (ERP) come along with integrated modules for Human Resource Management (HRM). One main task of HRM is to manage, improve and deploy the right skills at the right time. These processes are well known as skill management. Furthermore the problem of finding hidden or implicit dependencies between employee skills is considered. Using an information theoretical approach to construct a powerful skill representation as graphical model is recommendable. To demonstrate the achievement of the learned network structure, a test scenario is given, where historical reference project data is used.
The paper at hand presents a new competence focused management approach which is called competence based business development (CbBD). CbBD should support organizations of all kinds in the effective identification, measurement, combination and integration of organizational competences, which can be seen as a bundle of human competencies, tools and material. The creation of new business fields, products and services or the competence based organizational development can be named as fields of application. The theoretical background and the general framework for this methodology are presented in this paper as a first contribution to the scientific community, which manages the matching of human competence with organizational resources to build organizational competencies.
In companies, competence management involves several heavy processes that we have categorised in four classes: competence identification, competence assessment, competence acquisition, competence usage. Competence management, being the management of knowledge about competence, can also take advantage from the knowledge engineering techniques to support the mentioned processes. The paper classifies the knowledge engineering techniques proposed in the existing literature to support the competence management according to its processes. According to the performed classification and based on the authors’ previous work on competence management information systems (CRAI approach), the paper provides a critical discussion of the mentioned knowledge engineering techniques: their strengths and benefits in the context of the processes carried out.
Knowledge creation processes in the cultural sciences have a discursive nature. The cultural scientists participating in these discourses build a community of practice. Reifications in information systems should support four concepts: (1) Content description by metadata, (2) coverage within standards, (3) repository technologies, and (4) platform independence of applications. By the combination of these concepts information systems support cultural scientists to extract and manage knowledge about high-level semantics of multimedia artifacts in open repositories with metadata annotations. Basic support for the latter can be achieved by a loose classification scheme as in Dublin Core, but with more sophisticated MPEG-7 description elements for time based media. We present a system called MEDINA for semi-automatic Dublin Core to MPEG-7 conversion to maintain media already annotated in Dublin Core.
An integrated semantic dissemination system based on dynamic taxonomies is presented. The system supports conceptual information pull through an easily understood visual interface. A similar interface is used to express user interests at a conceptual level so that precise push strategies can be implemented. This system is currently used to manage the announcements coming from DBWorld, one of the best-known computer science research mailing lists, but it can be easily adapted to the dissemination needs of very diverse application areas ranging from e-government, to e-commerce, personalized news, etc.
In this paper, a terminological and pragmatic paradigm shift is proposed and undertaken from the field of Personalisation Systems towards the field of Adaptive Systems. A new conceptual framework for both topics is developed in order to enable a deeper insight into the challenges and benefits of merging the fields. The aim of this paper is to define a generic and component-based Personalisation Model (PM), which is derived from an analytical perspective on systems that are pertinent to adaptation. Furthermore, validity and applicability of the PM are demonstrated for the field of adaptive e-learning. Thus, practical experiences within the AdeLE (Adaptive e-Learning with Eye-Tracking) research project are discussed.
A number of recent studies have contributed to Knowledge Management (KM) and E-learning integration. They are mainly based on organizational learning analysis. In this paper, KM is discussed from the viewpoint of adaptation in e-learning systems. The main components of adaptive e-learning system are discussed with respect to the KM processes. We analyze users and developers of adaptive e-learning systems and the knowledge, with which they operate. We present our view of knowledge and meta-knowledge concepts in the context of adaptive elearning systems. The role of meta-knowledge as a contextual knowledge is emphasized for adaptation in e-learning. The paper discusses the challenges of KM in adaptive e-learning systems and analyses the main KM processes that should be introduced in adaptive e-learning systems.
Bibster is a semantics-based Peer-to-Peer system for exchanging bibliographic data among researchers. Bibster exploits ontologies in data storage, query formulation, query routing and answer presentation. While the original Bibster system assumed a globally shared domain ontology, we here describe extensions to the Bibster system, that allow to learn personalized ontologies from the local bibliographic metadata. These personal ontologies can not only be used for subsequently classifying the bibliographic metadata, but also for supporting an improved query refinement process.
In recent years the possibility of applying knowledge management to logistics and to logistics planning has been put forward in literature. Despite of these discussions knowledge management has not been implemented in logistics in large scale. To draw a clear picture of the current state-of-implementation and understand the impact knowledge management activities have on a company’s logistics performance a comparative study is run with German and Portuguese logistics companies. The paper explains the theoretical background and practical implementation of this study and discusses a strategy to measure the investments in KM, access the needs of KM, and evaluate the impact of KM investments in the logistics sector. Although the study is still in progress, results are expected to be available for presentation at the conference.
This paper surveys knowledge management (KM) development using a literature review and classification of articles from 1995 to 2004 with a keyword index and article abstract in order to explore how KM performance evaluation has developed during this period. Based on the scope of 76 articles from 78 academic journals of KM, this paper surveys and classifies KM measurements using the following eight categories: qualitative analysis, quantitative analysis, financial indicator analysis, non-financial indicator analysis, internal performance analysis, external performance analysis, project-oriented analysis, and organizational-oriented analysis together with their measurement matrices for different research and problem domains. Discussion is presented, indicating the followings future development directions for KM performance evaluation: (1) KM performance evaluation is getting more important. (2) The quantitative analysis is the primary methodology in KM performance evaluation. (3) Firms are now highlighting the KM performance of competitors, through benchmarking or best practices, rather than internally auditing KM performance via balanced scorecard. (4) Firms may begin to focus more on project management measurement, than on the entire organization.
Organizations can be defined as knowledge-based systems with the objective to influence all knowledge processes. Defining and measuring the knowledge value of the company are key strategic concerns in contemporary companies. First, this paper discusses the basic knowledge measurement approaches. During the process of knowledge identification the interviewing method is a commonly used tool. The paper portrays the impact of the interviewer bias to the quality of knowledge measurement processes. The refection theory is the basic framework to measure interviewer bias associated with the knowledge measurement processes. Six case studies conducted by the author form the data bases for presenting improvement implications of the interviewer bias to knowledge measurement.
This paper describes an ontology-based organizational knowledge representation framework focused on the specification of a two kinds of ontologies: the top level ontology containing concepts characterizing the typical organizational background and COKE ontologies representing so called core organizational knowledge entities. The framework constitutes an abstract representation of organizational knowledge providing a semantic support for designing knowledge management infrastructure able to interoperate with systems already existing in an organization. Moreover, the annotation of COKE w.r.t. the top level ontology allowed by the framework facilitates their semi-automatic handling, retrieval and evolution monitoring.
In the digital planning process of a manufacturing plant, several partners like OEM, prime contractor and its subcontractors are involved. Since the partners have partially overlapping views (electricity, mechanical structure, plant controlling) on the plant to be designed, they have to exchange data during their collaboration. Due to syntactical, structural and semantical differences, data integration is necessary but also complicated. Our method of resolution comprises an ontology-based reference model, which all partners map to as well as an underlying technical infrastructure. This paper focuses on the methodology for constructing an ontology-based reference model in digital production engineering.
Although mobile knowledge management is being perceived as an emerging R&D field, its concepts and approaches are not well-settled, as opposed to the general field of knowledge management. In this paper, we try to fill this gap by establishing a definition for mKM, specifying the abstract use cases of mKM systems, and introducing a reference model as a basis for verifying and comparing concepts and system architectures.
Intellectual capital reports usually consist of descriptions of various non-financial capital forms, such as for example “relational capital”. Considering relational capital as knowledge networks we explain the creation, transformation and re-use of knowledge with the help of the theory of social systems where knowledge is seen as a cooperative social construction. As a method for visualizing and analyzing relational capital based on co-authorships and co-content, respectively, we present BibTechMonTM and conclude with suggestions how the results of the knowledge network analysis may be utilized in organizations.
The term knowledge management (KM) has lost most of its magic during the past few years: While knowledge has been identified as an important resource and key factor for productivity gains and innovation in organizations, there seems to be no generally applicable way to utilize this resource. One central problem is that knowledge – in contrast to information – must be seen as an internal resource that is often implicit and bound to human actors. This makes it hard to identify, localize and evaluate knowledge, and even harder to share or transfer it. Another problem is the question of willingness: Are actors in organizations willing to share their knowledge? And why should they? In this paper we present results of a field study that was conducted within a major national industrial association. The study focused on knowledge intense processes among the association and its member companies.
This paper focuses on a framework for supporting knowledge sharing in organizations through computer support. Results from three ethnographic field studies of organizational knowledge in three kinds of settings show that sharing of knowledge, or finding things out, is a highly contingent matter. There is no single solution to support this. Instead, a combination of communication tools, awareness applications and information management solutions provide a suitable framework for knowledge sharing. One of the field studies also included an evaluation of a number of lightweight prototypes developed based on the three areas focused on in the framework. The results from the evaluation indicate that the framework is suitable for the purpose of supporting knowledge sharing.
Destinations are at the heart of travel decisions, and destination image has a significant influence on tourists’ decision-making. Many travelers acquire information via the Internet, which offers abundant information and an increasing number of tourism-related services. The impact of media coverage on destination image has attracted research attention and became particularly evident during the 2003 outbreak of SARS, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. Building upon previous research, this paper analyzes the prevalence of tourism destinations among 162 international media sites. Measuring term frequency investigates the attention a destination receives – from a general and, after contextual filtering, from a tourism perspective. Calculating the semantic orientation estimates positive or negative media influences on destination image at a given point in time. By detecting associations with country names, keyword analysis reveals the countries’ public profile, and the impact of events on media coverage.
Over some forty years, Stafford Beer (1926 – 2002) has published a steady stream of seminal books and papers in which he has applied cybernetic science to organizational problems. In all of these he has explained underlying principles and developed new theories and recorded a great variety of practical applications. In his last book, published in 1994 (Beer, 1994) he presents a cybernetic approach to knowledge management within large groups of about 30 people, called Syntegration. Syntegration is a structured, non-hierarchical process for highly effective and efficient dialogue that leads to much faster, much more informed outcomes and aligns people behind the resulting decisions, messages and action plans with a high chance for implementation. Since its invention this powerful method has been very successfully applied more then 200 times in the organization of normative, directional, and strategic planning, and other creative decision processes. The underlying model is a regular icosahedron. This has 30 struts, each of which represents a person. Each of the 12 edges represents a topic that is being discussed. An internal network of interactions is created by a set of iterative protocols. A group organized like this is an ultimate statement of participatory democracy, since each role is indistinguishable from any other. There is no hierarchy, no top, no bottom, no sideways. Beer illustrates how continued dynamic interaction between persons causes ideas and resolutions to hum around the sphere, which reverberates into a kind of group consciousness. Mathematical analysis of the structure shows how the process is determined by the even spread of synergy. The aim of this article is to present to managers and their advisors a new planning method that captures the native genius of the organization in a non-political and non-hierarchical way. That produces the best possible results in the shortest possible time from the largest possible number of people, by making optimized use of the knowledge these people have. Knowledge management at its best.
Strategy development is a rational decision making process, carried out by a group of managers aiming to match the organization’s resources to the opportunities arising from its competitive environment. We argue that, in order to develop successful strategic plans, contemporary business organizations should exploit features from diverse disciplines to attain a synthesis of the strategists’ highly specialized state-of-the-art knowledge. In this paper, we present a collaborative framework where Decision Support Systems and Knowledge Management Systems features are integrated for the appropriate handling of strategic management issues. Based on a well-defined ontology model that interweaves concepts from the Knowledge Management, Argumentation Theory, Decision Making and Multicriteria Decision Aid disciplines, our framework enables strategists to collaborate and accomplish a common understanding of different user perspectives. Furthermore, it assists them in reaching a decision by exploiting the organization’s knowledge resources.
We are specifying and developing a flexible Web Service based framework that allows us to interactively combine components in order to meet the situationdependent dynamically changing requirements of blended learning. Our goal is to support instructors and students with customisable e-learning templates that are particularly close to their users and directly meet their needs in effective blended learning scenarios. Since the framework we develop is open source, everybody is welcome to share initial experiences.
In this paper we introduce AdELE, a framework for adaptive e-learning utilising both eye tracking and content tracking technology. The framework is based upon the combination of fine-grained real-time eye tracking with synchronous content tracking, a user profiler, an adaptive multimedia learning environment, and a dynamic background library. The framework ensures not only adaptivity to the users’ preferences, knowledge level and the realtime tracking of their behaviour, but also ensures the relevance, accuracy and reliability of the knowledge provided.
This paper presents a tool to assist in the development of study material for hybrid learning. With the Adaptive XML Inclusion, one can simply reuse existing learning material for both in-class training (as slides) and self-study (as printable or browsable pages). The main idea of the solution is based on adaptive XML transformations which in turn are based on automatic document type detection.
Learning processes using New Media tend to be extremely complex. It is not too surprising then that current research appears rather scattered and dominated by the more tangible issues such as content and learning platform design in a bottom-up approach. While initially this appears practical, we are convinced that advanced learning platforms need to be designed to optimally support the underlying educational process based on learning theories (top-down approach). This paper proposes the Blended Learning Systems Structure (BLESS) model that introduces a layered architecture for decomposing the complexity inherent in the transition from courses to their effective support by learning technologies. In particular, BLESS is intended to act as a reusable framework for decomposing complex blended learning processes into smaller, more tangible and reusable learning activity patterns that may subsequently be used to guide blended course design and effective use of learning technology.
When designing a hybrid or a blended learning concept many choices are to be made. Different eLearning arrangements can be combined with different ftf learning arrangements. The blend of learning comprises more than just combining web-based with ftf arrangements. Among other decisions designers of eLearning and blended learning arrangements have to decide how the collaboration of learners is supported in a course. Possibilities for collaboration can be offered by web-based facilities or by ftf meetings. In the present paper different online facilities for collaboration and ftf communication were compared to each other. It was investigated how efficient learners collaborate in these settings and how satisfied they are. The results show that designers of online courses have to keep in mind how suitable certain communication settings are for a specific didactic approach. Whether a learning arrangement was suitable, was dependent on the type of task which groups of learners had to solve together.
An important condition for efficient learning with multimedia is that the student actively participates in using the material to be learned. Unfortunately, most students lack the media literacy or ability for self-regulated learning, which are essential prerequisites for this. In order to support active knowledge construction and the acquisition of media literacy, a hybrid course was developed in which students were engaged in using authoring tools to develop multimedia learning material and media. At the end of the course, the created multimedia materials were integrated in a web-based learning environment made accessible to the course members and other students via the Internet. In this paper we describe the theoretical foundation and the realisation of the hybrid course. We show how the authoring tools of the project “study2000” were used to support students in preparing multimedia learning material and media which are integrated into one web-based learning environment. As expected, results of the evaluations show that such hybrid courses not only increase content knowledge, but also increase media literacy. Implications of these results will be discussed with regard to the restrictions and benefits of such courses.
In this paper we provide a record of relevant factors for the reasonable selection of learning settings. Our work aims to help teachers, instructors, facilitators, etc. in creating a convenient blend of learning settings for their specific and unique hybrid learning environments. Research is in progress, for which this paper’s work forms the basis in order to create a matrix framework for systematically balancing learning environments.
PRO-TEACH-NET is a German e-learning project that aims to construct an internetbased learning environment for five partner universities based upon common teaching contents in product development for mechanical engineering. Existing courses are redesigned, transformed into multimedia format and made accessible over the internet. In order to prepare students for working conditions similar to engineering cooperation of international companies, the concept offers project work in virtual teams, geographically distributed among the partner universities. For example, an engineering design project is realised by a virtual team of five local teams at each of the partner universities. The concept offers a combination of traditional team working exercise in engineering design with internet based collaboration techniques. The students experience teamwork with local peers as well as in virtual teams with students from other universities. The tasks are shared and the students develop the product using technologies like internet-based collaboration and communication.
Despite all technological progress there are still handicaps that need to be taken into consideration when thinking of introducing and using e-learning scenarios: On one hand, not yet everybody is equipped with technology enabling high-speed internet connections and acceptable data transfer rates. In such cases long response times and slow download processes do not motivate the e-learner. On the other hand, not everybody really wants to learn anywhere and at anytime, but wishes to meet people and have personal contacts instead. Therefore, a hybrid delivery of learning combining remote components with face-to-face settings seems to be an appropriate way of making use of educational technology according to individual possibilities and needs. It allows (i) to be as flexible as different technological standards, personal attitudes and pedagogical scenarios require, and also (ii) to continuously adapt learning environments to changing needs from the content, technological and pedagogical points of view. The challenge consists in deciding what to deliver best in which way. This paper presents an e-learning environment tailor-made to the specific needs of education and training in logistics and discusses how this became part of a hybrid learning experience.
Higher education is supposed to prepare its graduates to enter the workplace and apply and adapt their knowledge to the specific requirements of the setting. However, by adhering to traditional instructional models and to a view of learning that is very different from that required within the workplace, higher education fails to adequately prepare students to deal with rapid changes and emergent demands that require individuals to learn and adapt in situ and on the job. The advent of hybrid learning has allowed one mechanism for changing existing practices. Although hybrid environments can offer additional support for traditional instructional and learning methods, we think its potential lies in supporting new forms of learning and facilitation—specifically those related to self-organized learning and critical reflection—by using new types of technologies and tools. We would like to address the use of a specific kind of technology—personal Webpublishing systems (PWS)—to support this type of learning. In this paper, we present the reasoning behind the use of such technologies and describe the organization of a learning environment and identify the roles and structure of the face-to-face component and the online toolkits for supporting self-organized learning. We will also describe the new roles that facilitators and learners must adopt within these hybrid environments.
Organisations are searching for efficient training methods that fit to their specific demands. This paper presents the various training and knowledge sharing initiatives applied at Hewlett Packard Services Consulting and Integration (HPS C&I) for its Knowledge Management (KM) program. It outlines the usage of e-learning for our KM program but gives at the same time an idea how e-learning can be put on top of collaborative workspaces and be tied into the KM program.
This paper describes a knowledge platform that is designed to support drug discovery researchers in pharmaceutical companies. The core of this platform is a knowledge model that provides a semantically integrated knowledge space for the researchers to easily learn and explore various aspects of biological data that originate from multiple disparate sources. By using domain-specific functional rules, the platform can assist researchers in exposing valuable hidden or unobvious linkages across multiple repositories. The rules can also be used to find collaboration opportunities among its users by monitoring the users’ navigation and interaction patterns. The results from collaboration can be further annotated and shared with other users. When combined with group shared spaces, this platform can be used as a key component to support cooperative learning.
E-learning at the workplace might be accompanied by synchronous cooperative learning episodes of small groups using net-based communication. In a field study carried out in a large software company an interaction of factors determining the quality of such cooperative learning was observed. In this study, a software tool was used which supported a specific instructional design by phase-specific delivering of instructions and learning materials as well as by means of process control (including turn-taking, role assignment, and coordination of task flow). There was no tutor or instructor present in the learning sessions. The learning processes of six small groups were evaluated on the basis of a content analysis. Results demonstrate a high amount of topic-oriented contributions and the realization of the expected learning activities. It was concluded that the learning processes were successful because of the fine-grained implementation of the instructional design in the software tool. However, feedback data indicated a low acceptance of the software tool. Participants evaluated the process control as being restrictive. It was assumed that there was a non-optimal interaction between the factors technology and target group / context in the study.
Experience-based Information Systems (EbIS) become more and more sophisticated from a technical point of view. However, there are several shortcomings that seem to limit the input and usage of these systems. The problems identified in this paper are related to knowledge acquisition, to learning issues, as well as to the users’ motivation and trust. We introduce an approach to both enhance the content of the experience base (EB) and to improve learning from experiences at the same time: weblogs maintained during daily work can serve as input for experience bases and learning element bases (LEB). Retrieved experiences are then enriched with additional learning elements in micro-didactical learning arrangements. An empirical study explores the suitability of using weblogs for such an approach.
In a corporate environment one would like to enable employees to learn from each other not only when co-located, but also in distributed settings: ideally access to experiences of others should be available from any location (e.g. another part of the globe) and at any time (e.g. after the expert retires). In these settings traditional apprenticeship models do not scale. In this paper we describe a case where the application of personal webpublishing technology seems to provide a “window” onto practice, creating an environment where people can observe and “steal” practices of each other. We explore how these apprenticeship-like relations between weblog authors are supported by processes of articulating, “stealing” and refining practices within the public weblog networks on the Internet. Finally, we also discuss possibilities of replicating these patterns and experiences in corporate settings.
This article deals with the potential of knowledge communities for process-oriented learning and working. Linear structures are often inappropriate for knowledge intensive tasks requiring non-linear, dynamic, social interaction, but community work mostly lacks the guiding thread needed by learners. We ask how the benefits of knowledge management can be brought to process-oriented learning. Requirements for an IT-support are developed and the prototype of a concept using the Wiki-approach is presented.
Corporate training increasingly takes place within the framework of a company’s strategic orientation. A holistic view of learning and training processes as well as a focus on a comprehensive management of corporate training (“training management”) emerges. The paper presents and analyses results from an international survey conducted by the EU-funded research project ELENA.
This paper discusses the information technologies that support the knowledge management processes in enterprises. Knowledge processes are differentiated from operational business processes and their role in enterprise management is identified. Commercial software tools are surveyed based on their roles in the process of creating, sharing and using knowledge. The role of knowledge management systems in customer processes in modern organizations is discussed.
Current trends in collaborative knowledge management emphasize the importance of inter- and intra-organizational business process support. Enactment of business processes has primarily been a domain of workflow management systems. In this paper we propose a hybrid architecture for reconciliation of knowledge management and workflow management systems in order to support process participants in organizations, who are increasingly distributed and need to share and distribute knowledge artifacts. Today one pressing challenge is to utilize software as to create, share, and exchange (knowledge) work in collaborative knowledge activities across locations, while still being business process aware. This paper develops a conceptual framework, discusses a software architecture, and presents examples of a software system implementation for activity-based knowledge management for global project teams.
This paper introduces and evaluates the effectiveness of a new visualization method that helps to communicate a complex business process in an organization. A quality development process needed to be established in an education centre for health care professions. Traditional project plans, flyers and mails did not manage to get the attention, present an overview and details and motivate the employees for action. Because visual metaphors are effective for knowledge communication, we developed a customized tube map visualization that illustrates the whole process: Each tube line represents a target group, each station a milestone. The visualization was printed as a poster and located at prominent locations in the organization. The evaluation showed that the tube map visualization is a powerful metaphor to communicate a complex project to different target groups and build up a mutual story. The employees considered it useful because it provides an overview and detailed information in one image and initiates discussions.
This paper explores a process view of call centres and the knowledge infrastructures that support these processes. As Call centres grow and become more complex in their function and organisation so do the knowledge infrastructures required to support their size and complexity. This study suggests a knowledge-based hierarchy of ‘advice-type’ call centres and discusses associated knowledge management strategies for different sized centres. It introduces a Knowledge Infrastructure Hierarchy model, with which it is possible to analyze and classify call centre knowledge infrastructures. The model also demonstrates different types of interventions supporting knowledge management in call centres. Finally the paper discusses the possibilities of applying traditional maturity model approaches in this context.
A well-functioning Knowledge Management (KM) is a competitive advantage for enterprises that act in co-operative and distributed networks with knowledge intensive production processes. A KM approach for distributed and dynamic entrepreneurial networks is currently missing. This paper presents a description model that comprises the relevant entities for an approach to KM in networks that integrates both new Information and Communication Technology driven organisational concepts and human-oriented approaches with KM methodologies and instruments.
Business processes can be modelled and analysed extensively with well known and established methods. The simple signs of static knowledge do not fulfil the requirements of a comprehensive and integrated approach of process-oriented knowledge management. The Knowledge Modelling Description Language KMDL is able to represent the creation, use and necessity of knowledge along common business processes. Therefore KMDL can be used to formalise knowledge-intensive processes with a focus on certain knowledge-specific characteristics and to identify weak points in these processes. The tool K-Modeller is introduced for a computer-aided modelling and analysing.
PreBIS is a research-project1 that develops five core functions of context-aware collaborative information provision, based on user requirements in weakly structured and information intensive business processes. An innovative software architecture will be proposed, that adapts and combines processes, ontologies and document chunks. PreBIS realises four forms of “pre-building” an information space: at the document or information level, in systems integration, at the process level, and in learning routines. The discussions in the project allow some suggestions on how to characterise and handle the challenges in knowledge process modelling, as they were addressed by the aims of the conference.
This paper introduces a new viewpoint in knowledge management by introducing KM-Services as a basic concept for Knowledge Management. This text discusses the vision of service oriented knowledge management (KM) as a realisation approach of process oriented knowledge management. In the following process oriented knowledge management as it was defined in the EU-project PROMOTE (IST-1999-11658) is presented and the KM-Service approach to realise process oriented knowledge management is explained. The last part is concerned with an implementation scenario that uses Web-technology to realise a service framework for a KM-system.
In many areas of the medical domain, the decision process i.e. reasoning, involving health care professionals is distributed, cooperative and complex. Computer based decision support systems has usually been focusing on the outcome of the decision making and treated it as a single task. In this paper a framework for a Clinical Reasoning Knowledge Warehouse (CRKW) is presented, intended to support the reasoning process, by providing the decision participants with an analysis platform that captures and enhances information and knowledge. The CRKW mixes theories and models from Artificial Intelligence, Knowledge Management Systems and Business Intelligence to make context sensitive, patient case specific analysis and knowledge management. The knowledge base consists of patient health records, reasoning process information and clinical guidelines. Patient specific information and knowledge is continually enhanced by adding results of analysis. Context sensitive analysis is done by retrieving similar patient cases and guidelines from the knowledge base in a case based fashion.
We present an architectural design which provides several services in an integrated environment, such as: query/inference capabilities over both data and knowledge, dynamic annotation of web pages, maintaining consistence for repositories and annotated pages, crawling services and automatic matching between schemas. It is a very practical and feasible solution that improves design, maintenance of consistence, integration and development of applications within concrete domains in the Semantic Web.
Information quality is an important aspect in decision-making processes. Since high quality information enables possessors to make effective and more efficient decisions, each decision maker should be able to access high quality information. Accordingly, the aims of this paper are twofold. First, we suggest a definition of information quality tailored to the context of decision-making. The definition of information quality is derived from the semiotic concept of information and results in eight information quality criteria. Second, this paper illustrates the technological implementation of quality criteria with a special focus on the relevance of information as one important criterion of information quality. An approach will be described to search automatically for relevant documents using any document that describes the research context to set off the search process instead of a simple search string.
Knowledge-based organizations such as universities have realized that effective development and management of their organizational knowledge base is critical to survival in today’s competitive business environment. The knowledge and expertise of a university’ staff who teach and research in different areas is the major asset that a university holds. In order to make use of this asset, there is a need to share expertise between staff as well as transfer expertise to industry. The need to be able to quickly locate experts with the specific expertise has been recognized by many universities. Traditional approach is to build an expertise database. However this approach heavily depends on individual expert and has problems in maintaining the up-to-date information. In this paper we discuss the development of an RDFbased Expertise Matcher suitable for use within an academic research environment. A key feature of this work is that the expertise profile is created based on the integration of multiple expertise indications stored in an organizational memory. In addition our approach combines the advantage of flexibility of keyword search and accuracy of concept search. An evaluation of the RDF-based Expertise Matcher has been conducted through an experiment and the key results are presented.
The discovery of relevant knowledge resources is a remaining problem in large enterprises, where the same problems are often addressed in different locations. In this paper, we propose an enabling infrastructure, which can succcessfully help in discovering personally relevant learning resources (e. g. electronic documents, colleagues, seminars). By using our mobile gotchi framework (MGF), matching between learning requirements and learning resources is improved. The basic idea is autonomous information exchange between agents acting on behalf of their users to proactively find appropriate resources to support daily problem-solving and learning. By sharing personal profiles in an enterprise-specific ontology network, which is autonomously updated, corporate knowledge flows are more transparently represented.
This paper is on topic identification, i. e., the construction of useful labels for sets of documents. Topic identification is essential in connection within categorizing search applications, where several sets of documents are delivered and an expressive description for each category must be constructed on the fly. The contributions of this paper are threefold. (1) It presents a framework to formally specify the topic identification problem along with its desired properties, (2) it introduces a classification scheme for topic identification algorithms and outlines the respective algorithm of the AIsearch meta search engine, (3) it proposes a hybrid approach to topic identification, which relies on classification knowledge of existing ontologies.
In this paper we present an infrastructure for publishing and managing knowledge in the Semantic Web. The infrastructure is based on a resource directory, called Semantic Directory, which contains information about web resources. In our approach, the semantics introduced in the Semantic Directories allows users to make more expressive queries, namely semantic queries. In order to show the advantages of our architecture, a prototype for querying digital libraries is described. Information inferred from the ontology-explicit knowledge is used to make more complex queries, that is, queries that cannot be solved by traditional digital library systems.
Knowledge creation in the cultural sciences is very often of discursive nature. The individuals participating in these discussions can be regarded as a part of a community. In our collaborative research center on “Media and Cultural Communication” we are analyzing the impact of ”Networked Multimedia Information Systems in Cultural Science Cornmunities” on organization and creation of knowledge. In this aspect, we are researching on discourse visualization strategies for a comprehensive medial analysis of cultural science communities. Subject of the present investigation are discourses in about 40 discussion forums with an amount of more than 25.000 emails from more than 2500 individuals collected so far. Research aspects focus on the detection of emergent phenomena by the concatenation of discussion maps originated in the area of data mining, and by classifying meta data for the analyzed documents. Interesting phenomena in cultural science discourses are the sudden emergence and disappearance of terms (burstiness) in a particular forum as well as their spanning among various forums. The correlation of these burstiness phenomena and individuals is also an indicator for roles and hierarchies of individuals within debates. Another phenomenon is the drifting of terms within a community or among them what often can be accredited to members being active in several communities and ”infecting” them by spreading new terms. Fraunhofer FIT’s metadata-based tool SWAP-it is designed to visually support interactive text analysis on the web. It is based on web services and has been equipped with a community specific terminology, allowing a comprehensive study on the previously described phenomena also by self-supervision.
Recent trends in structure and content of global knowledge spaces present new challenges to the field of Knowledge Discovery. Very large, highly structured repositories are increasingly replacing smaller, flat information spaces. Such repositories are often filled with multimedia documents, including image, audio and video data. This publication briefly outlines the underlying trends and discusses implications on approaches to Knowledge Discovery. Some examples for applications accomodating these implications are presented and analysed for lessons learned which can be incorporated in designing future Knowledge Discovery systems. Emphasis is given to the visualisation of hierarchical structures and to cross-media knowledge mining, two fields crucial for adressing future challenges to Knowledge Discovery.
This paper concerns the need for methodological support in providing Knowledge Management (KM) IT solutions. Due to the distributed nature of knowledge, the support of KM often requires complex, distributed IT systems, which are inherently difficult to design. We propose an agent-oriented methodology based on Tropos for the analysis and design of KM systems that offers appropriate abstractions for modeling and designing the characteristics of the organizational setting of the system. The method is illustrated using a fictitious scenario where a newcomer in a knowledge organization decides to join an existing Community of Practice (CoP) in order to share knowledge and adjust to his new working environment.
In this paper we describe a software tool which aims at supporting the interplay between autonomous management of local knowledge within communities and the sharing, negotiation and coordination of knowledge among different (heterogeneous) communities, in order to sustain perspective making and perspective taking leading to innovation. The developed system combines methods for constructing artefacts reflecting the patterns of language use in a community (LanguageMaps) through document clustering and creation of personalised concept networks, with interactive visualisation and with the Reconciler tool for explicit negotiation and alignment of meanings between disparate concepts into ontology-like structures.
In this paper, we propose a technological approach that allows communities to coexist with conflicts and leaves that agreed knowledge emerges naturally, by the simple act of sharing knowledge. On the top of a collaborative workspace for developing a shared knowledge repository, we put forward: a mechanism for maintaining the discussion threads, a knowledge awareness mechanism to be up-to-date about discussion threads and their evolution, and a user centred workspace to support personal view of the shared repository with the capability of adding private knowledge.
This document describes our current work on developing a framework which supports organizations in the successful implementation of Knowledge Management (KM). It follows the holistic approach of a KM introduction by considering technological, organizational and human aspects, as well as the organizational culture in equal measure. The framework provides recommendations based on Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) techniques and Semantic Web technologies. It supports the four processes of Aamodt & Plaza’s CBR-cycle. The best practice cases for a successful KM implementation are structured by the use of an ontology.
This paper is focused on the problem of skill matching in an organizational context. We endow the classical weighted bipartite graph approach with a semantic based assignment of arcs weight and we describe a skill matching system implementing the approach. The system takes curricula and project specifications as inputs and extracts from them individual profiles respectively offered and requested, according to an ontology modeling skill management context. The suitability of each available individual to each task to assign is evaluated based on an algorithm whose returned scores are used as arc weights. As a result the semantics of profile descriptions is taken into account in the assignment process.
Based on an understanding of knowledge resolved into the concept pair “schema and its dependent instantiations” our paper describes in general the management of schemata in such a way potential users may validate their own acquired and available knowledge with respect to a provided knowledge base. The model describes fundamentals of classifying knowledge for users in particular situations requiring knowledge from various areas of expert systems. An application system with enhanced validation service is called an epistemic application system. The approach is based not on a formal but on a content-oriented language called material language on top of a rational grammar and a dictionary with a standardized reconstructed terminology.
There is an increasing number of different ways to represent knowledge structures on computers. Additionally, people want to use different devices, applications, or media for the same knowledge structures. To support this, we investigate structure interoperability, including transformation of structures and combination of different structure types. Our work focuses on structuring tasks using paper as well as those using computers. Our overall goal is to improve the usage of computers as tools for structuring knowledge work.
People need information to create new knowledge. For each piece of information obtained, a range of previous knowledge, competences, beliefs and own concept definitions significantly influence personal perception and one’s knowledge creation. This in turn, affects the ability to remember, reason, solve problems and interpret information. These issues have to be considered when planning knowledge management systems, in which information retrieval and handling, reuse, people interaction, knowledge interchange and dissemination comprise its characteristics. This paper is based on the Knowledge Object definition from Merrill and proposes an approach which more precisely enables Knowledge Object representation, taking into account the domain in which a KO is used, a range of previous knowledge, competences, beliefs, concept definitions, user profile and recommendation from community users.
A small collection of metadata concepts has been jointly negotiated among a group of specialists to be relevant for classifying data used in their field. A series of comparisons are made to test levels of agreement between individuals when these concepts are used to tag data items. Inter-coder agreement measures are presented for a range of data sets and individuals with varying relationships to the data sets. The implications of the results for the use of metadata as a supporting mechanism for knowledge sharing are discussed.
Topic Maps are sophisticated indexes for dynamic, heterogeneous, structured, and unstructured information sources. In order to move Topic Maps towards the mainstream, the automatic generation of Topic Maps and its integration in the users working environment and processes must be improved. Our described approach for Topic Map generation is based on terminology extraction with relevance feedback, which improves our previous approaches especially for small corpora. The relation between the Subjects and Topics is the core of the Topic Map theory. We propose a methodology for the proper integration of this underlying theory in the generation of Topic Maps in order to obtain real interchangeable Topic Maps. The framework TOMATO is a scientific prototype which realises the described functionality and offers interfaces for integration in applications and web-based interfaces.
In this paper, adopting a structurationist perspective on technology, we explore the relationship between organizational forms and ICTs when the “matter” to deal with is knowledge production and innovation. The reason why such focus is relevant is twofold. On the one hand it has been widely underlined the importance of knowledge as strategic asset [Stewart 97]. On the other, is because we believe that many KM technology investments haven’t generate the expected results and benefits [Davenport 00]. A structuration theory reading of KM technologies could provide a lens in order to draw some interesting explanations on some problematic aspects of KM implementations and, moreover, on some interesting prescriptions on how future implementations should be approached.
Knowledge management solutions relying on central repositories sometimes have not met expectations, since users often create knowledge ad-hoc using their individual vocabulary and using their own decentral IT infrastructure (e.g., their laptop). To improve knowledge management for such decentralized and individualized knowledge work, it is necessary to, first, provide a corresponding IT infrastructure and to, second, deal with the harmonization of different vocabularies/ ontologies. In this paper, we briefly sketch the technical peer-to-peer platform that we have built, but then we focus on the harmonization of the participating ontologies. Thereby, the objective of this harmonization is to avoid the worst incongruencies by having users share a core ontology that they can expand for local use at their will and individual needs. The task that then needs to be solved is one of distributed, loosely-controlled and evolving engineering of ontologies. In this paper we present a corresponding process template and a case study.
A formal product model contains all the information (structured and formalized) to systematically reproduce a specific product (as economic asset). There are several approaches for formalizing product model information in the old economy (for example CAD/CAM-based product models in discrete parts manufacturing). The service sector evolved to the most important sector in all developed economies. Knowledge plays a crucial role for delivering many services. For complex, IT-based service products high in variants (such as insurances, IT outsourcing or public administration services) existing approaches are not suitable but formalization is desired (e.g. it allows easier rendering, export or trade of such products). This paper elicits a possible strategy for defining formal product models for knowledge-based services using knowledge representation and semantic web technologies.
Conceptual analysis and knowledge representation often require to develop an ontological support. The activity of developing a domain ontology is therefore one of the fundamental steps to be carried out when developing a shared model of the knowledge possessed by an organization, and consequently, one of the pilasters of knowledge management.
It is clear, however, that this activity, as well as all other engineering activities, is constrained to be methodologically coherent in its phases, because the control over correctness of the development method is the only possible way to keep events of such an activity on its own track. Though it would seem attractive to deploy software applications which provide automation to the development of such models, the results of automatic ontology tools in the real practice of knowledge management are definitely disappointing.
We thus would prefer to look at formalized methodologies, and in particular, we are interested in methodologies which work from scratch, namely which aim at providing the ontological structure without any general and supposedly shared reference model in front. That choice is not the ideal one, since in general, scalability is a very desirable property, but since the two problems of developing from scratch and integrating existing parts are deeply different we have to commit to one focus.
After having reviewed the existing methodologies, we understood that these methods, which are depicted at different levels of depth in the current literature, are indeed covering in a reasonable way the several aspects of the development of a domain ontology from scratch, but each has both advantages and drawbacks. We thus carried out an analysis, which is the focus of this paper, about the conditions which make the knowledge engineer commit to one single methodology, defining a set of choosing criteria.
We define a meta-methodology which is based upon the analysis of the choosing conditions in several steps, and model this in the specific case of knowledge management activities.
The paper is organized as follows: Sections 2 and 1 are devoted to describe the framework we refer the ontologies to belong, and Section 3 reviews existing methodologies which have been documented in the recent literature. In Section 4 we provide a description of the meta-methodology we have developed. Section 5 takes some conclusions and sketches further work.
The explosive growth of international strategic alliances as firm’s way to enter markets, as well as a mode to acquire new knowledge has affected the complexity of academic research about international cooperation and knowledge transfer process. Transferring knowledge among organizations involves a wide range of features. According to this statement, empirical evidences fade out both the need to test the validity of the existing theoretical framework on knowledge sharing process and to better understand the impact of different variables on international knowledge transfer. Starting from the role that the typology of context and the tendency to individualism vs collectivism have in affecting the stability of international strategic alliances [Calvelli, 1998], the aim of this paper1 is to show, through some case studies, to what extent the effectiveness of cross-border knowledge transfer can be influenced by: the role of cultural dimensions, the type of international collaboration (complementary/synergic) as well as the strategic objectives of the relationship. Some hypothesis and suggestions for further research will be formulated on learning capabilities of partners involved in an international strategic alliance.
This paper focuses on knowledge management in organizations going beyond traditional boundaries, through collaborations based on intangible assets. The analysis has been focused on the implications generated from the blend between the network organizational structure and knowledge management. A theoretical framework is provided in order to evaluate the impact of knowledge networks on knowledge management systems, identifying the most appropriate knowledge management strategies and processes, on the basis of network characteristics.
Due to the current economic situation the formation of trans-organisational networks is getting more and more important especially for small- and medium-sized companies in order to stay competitive. Trans-organisational networks consist of at least two legally independent companies or institutions whose aim is to increase the individual competitiveness and innovativeness by a closer collaboration without a legal integration. One form of such transorganisational networks is the Business Cooperative Network (BCN). By an objective oriented integration of the partners’ intellectual assets new products and services can be developed and marketed. Those synergetic results allow the achievement of the main objectives of the network as such and the ones of the individual partners, e.g. the increase of the competitiveness, safeguarding the economic sustainability and the further development of the individual intellectual assets relevant for core competencies. In order to allow an effective idea generation process for new knowledge based products and services, the intellectual assets of the partners have to be transparent. Therefore they have to be systematically identified, represented and combined. Until now there is no methodology for the identification of synergy potentials derived from the objective oriented combination of intellectual assets within BCNs. Based on the experiences of the authors in trans-organisational network projects a clear demand for such a methodology is given. Only by a systematic identification, representation and integration of the individual partners’ intellectual assets the objectives of the network and the individual partners can be achieved. The first step in the presented methodology is the identification of core competencies of the individual partners and the related intellectual assets. In order to identify the synergy potential that results from the objective oriented combination of the partner’ intellectual assets they have to be represented in a synergy potential identification matrix. It is the aim of this matrix to oppose the partners’ intellectual assets in order to identify potential products and services. The paper at hand presents this methodology and describes the different steps that have to be performed in order to identify the synergy potentials. Finally the experiences from an explorative study are presented. The methodology was developed in the framework of a PHD-work at the University of Linz and applied in a company that participates in a BCN.
Regional authorities as responsible economic support institutions face different challenges to institutionalise and develop their regions in knowledge-based ones. The EU represents a major player in co-financing regional activities to support this transformation process and shows future trends. One approach to foster a transformation process is to define pilot projects within a programme and work with relevant regional stakeholders especially pilot project owners to generate an added value for the regional economy. This paper points out the design of such a pilot project approach and emphasise necessary determinants and preconditions. Pilot projects can unfold synergetic effects for the region when it is pre-defined what expected contributions to several regional targets are. An established framework is responsible for identifying and selecting pilot projects. A clear understanding of the regional target group is needed. Therefore a process to address knowledge management in the region has to be defined. Finally, creating a successful working environment is an often underestimated precondition.
Measuring knowledge related performance in organizations usually is conceptualized on the basis of a strategic resp. top down-approach of KM measurement. Unfortunately, such a strategic approach has some important disadvantages: (1) It is difficult to get commitment from senior managers regarding the investment into strategic KM projects; (2) Due to the complexity of the organizational system it is difficult to show the impact of KM on organizational performance; (3) Operational KM projects often are out of focus for top managers since decentralized activities seem not to have the potential to convince senior managers of the impact of KM on organizational performance. In this paper it is shown how the actual weaknesses of measuring knowledge related performance can be overcome by a knowledge related measurement- and monitoring-system. This will be made clear on a conceptual level as well as on the basis of a case study.
In accordance with the resource-based view and the activity-based view, sustainable competitive advantages are mainly due to core knowledge that, together with tangible and (especially) intangible resources, develops competitive products and services through the appropriate activities and processes of the value chain. Strategic Benchmarking of Intellectual Capital (SBIC) is a knowledge-based strategic management methodology and information system framework that has been built drawing direct inspiration from both the above-mentioned perspectives and tries to refine the classic strategic SWOT analysis. This paper carefully describes IICBS, one of the two versions of SBIC, and shows the main benefits to be obtained from the systematic use of IICBS. The SBIC has been tested and successfully implemented in more than forty European enterprises.
Knowledge is more and more a key factor within companies. Nearly 40 percent of all employees are so called “knowledge workers“. Distribution and inquest of knowledge within companies are supported by skill management systems. Although not all aspects and potentials of this instrument are yet utilized skill management systems have spread widely within business organizations. This paper summarizes the requirements, scopes and problems for skill management system within the company.
This paper describes our current work in supporting the ad-hoc composition of teams, recruited from independent departments in an organisation, in order to solve a specific customer request. We propose the usage of a web-based decision support system using ontologies as a conceptual model for representing the organisation-specific competence portfolio. A case study shows the advantages of the proposed approach.
In many organisations, conservation of specialised expertise is picked out as a central theme only after experienced members have already left. The paper presents the SELaKT method, a method for Sustainable Expert Localisation and Knowledge Transfer based on social network analysis (SNA). It has been developed during a project co-operation between the Department of Information Science at the Institute for Media and Communication Studies, Free University Berlin, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK, Berlin. The SELaKT method uses recent insights into network analysis and pragmatically adapts SNA to suit organisational practice. Thus it provides a strategic tool to localise experts, to identify knowledge communities and to analyse the structure of knowledge flows within and between organisations. The SELaKT method shows its advances and increasing relevance for practical use by integration of specific organisational conditions and requirements into the process of analysis.
Knowledge management in construction projects is a challenging task for any client’s project manager due to several characteristics. The grade of involvement is dependent on the type of contract; it is possible to distinguish between design-and-build contract, coordinatedgeneral contract, and general contract. The type of contract regulates also the relations among the multiple involved companies. Another challenge for the project manager is the traditional separation in four phases; evaluation, planning, construction, and utilization phase. This high grad of diversity makes effective knowledge management dependent on the project manager, which normally has the broadest contacts within the project and good insights in all parts of the
project.
Based on a questionnaire study, which includes seventy three project managers representing fifty-one construction projects of varying size, project type (e.g. housing, infrastructure), and contract form, this paper illustrates the project managers possibilities to create and distribute knowledge in and between construction projects. The results show that large construction projects performed under a design-and-build contract provide the best environment for creating and distributing knowledge by the project manager. Furthermore, project managers with little or very large experience make most efforts to create knowledge.
The paper discusses the integration of codified and tacit knowledge as a potential source of competitive advantage. The management of explicit knowledge is viewed through knowledge management practices, whereas the management of tacit knowledge is conceptualised through strategic human resource management. The paper presents the empirical results of testing of low- and high-synergy models of knowledge integration on a representative sample of large Croatian enterprises.
Hewlett Packard services consulting and integration (HPS C&I) has had worldwide Knowledge Management programs for over 6 years, but until recently they had not developed a consistent set of monthly KM measures. In late 2003, HPS C&I established a set of 6 worldwide measures, which are described in this presentation. We also discovered that there was value in having uniform worldwide measures, but we could not establish uniform worldwide goals. The reason for this had to do with wide variability in business maturity and English language capability within our workforce. Consequently, we assigned each country into one of four “bands” and set different goals for each band. The presentation provides details on this aspect of our measurement program. Actual performance is not presented, because it is deemed company confidential.
In Higher Education and Research Organisations (HEROs), one of the most important activities in the R&D process is the effective management of knowledge transference. A correct analysis and diagnosis of that process through knowledge management methodology is essential for the correct orientation of organisation strategy. The aim of this paper is to describe the analysis carried out in order to diagnose the research & development & transference (R&D&T) activities at a public university in Spain. The diagnosis analyses the key phases in the knowledge transference process, because these different stages define important implications for the monitoring of the intellectual capital and the organisation’s performance. Also with in the diagnostic analysis preformed here an methodological innovation is introduced related with the cause and effect relations of the knowledge collaboration and a process witch deals mainly with intangibles
Knowledge audit lays a concrete foundation for any knowledge management programs. The central topic of this paper is to integrate various knowledge audit related techniques into pre-audit preparation, in-audit process and post-audit analysis in a systematic manner. Culture assessment, in the form of surveys and radar charts, along with orientation program make up the pre-audit preparation. Structured interviews are carried out to capture process-critical knowledge. Knowledge inventory, knowledge maps and knowledge flow analysis compose of post-audit analysis. Knowledge inventory is then built for stocktaking knowledge assets and thus revealing the key knowledge assets by measuring them against four performance criteria. Knowledge mapping together with social network analysis are to show the knowledge exchange path and make the key knowledge suppliers and customers visible. They are then being further applied into knowledge flow analysis, which serves to reveal the strength and weakness of the current knowledge flow. A case study of applying the designed instruments in the Engineering Division of the Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited and the related analysis are also present in this paper.
This paper presents further research findings on the use of software-based, collaborative visual communication tools for the transfer and creation of professional knowledge in organizational decision making contexts. The paper begins by describing typical knowledge communication situations and summarizes dominating problems in these contexts. It then reports on the real-life experiences in using three visual knowledge communication tools, namely the OnTrack visual protocol tool, the Parameter Ruler application, and the Synergy Map. The application experiences with these tools in four companies show that they can reduce some of the discussed problems. Their main benefits are focus, coordination, documentation, consistency, accountability and traceability. Their major improvement areas are accessibility and flexibility. Implications for further research and for further tool developments are highlighted.
Topic Maps are a knowledge representation standard. Distributed Knowledge Management describes a knowledge-based organization as network of more or less independent units (Knowledge Node) which create and exchange knowledge. This paper describes how Topic Maps can be used to model organizational and spatial structure of DKMS and interaction scenarios between Knowledge Nodes. Deployment of a runtime system is discussed and how measurements at runtime can be used to reveal unknown Knowledge Nodes and interaction
pattern inside a DKMS.
Distributed Knowledge Management is an approach to Knowledge Management based on the principle that the multiplicity (and heterogeneity) of perspectives within complex organizations should not be viewed as an obstacle to knowledge exploitation, but rather as an opportunity that can foster innovation and creativity. Despite a wide agreement on this principle, most current KM systems are based on the idea that all perspectival aspects of knowledge should be eliminated in favour of an objective and general representation of knowledge. In this paper we propose a peer-to-peer architecture (called KEEx), which embodies the principle above in a quite straightforward way: (i) each peer (called a Kpeer) provides all the services needed to create and organize “local” knowledge from an individual’s or a group’s perspective, and (ii) social structures and protocols of meaning negotiation are defined to achieve semantic coordination among autonomous peers.
IT support for knowledge management that builds on rather standard information systems architectures, e.g. a Web server with underlying database technologies, has proven beneficial in many situations where knowledge processes supported in this way were comparatively rigid and where the value of knowledge could be reasonably easily be assessed. However, these assumptions do not hold for less rigid knowledge processes; thus, more decentralised solutions have been proposed. With SWAPSTER we have built a Peer-to-Peer knowledge management platform that avoids some of the issues that detriment centralised solutions. This platform is surveyed here. We also show methods that support new ways of socialisation enabled by the Peer-to-Peer platform.
In this paper we present the results of two studies aimed at understanding how employees find knowledge available in their organisation. Data about knowledge awareness and knowledge finding strategies were collected in two research organisations using interviews and on-line questionnaires. The results of the two studies demonstrate interesting patterns. First, we found that although people say that they are aware of knowledge in their organisation, they also indicate that the same knowledge is developed at different places in their organisations. Second, asking others and searching own mailbox and other own digital and paper archives – and not organisation-wide repositories – are most popular ways for finding in-house knowledge. The results are discussed in terms of implications from the perspective of employees and from the perspective of organisations.
Goal of this research is hence to present a research model for influencing factors of pricing decision for an organizational procurement A model for the evolution of organizational market is built based on literature review of inter-organizational negotiation, interviews indepth with domestic industry, and empirical data analysis. Factors in the proposed model may create valuable information for marketplace administrators to build appropriate strategies for their businesses. The relationship between framing, personal risk attitudes and the performance and personal intuitive preference of pricing decision in an organizational procurement are proposed to assist the trades between industries. Also the findings might be useful for building a data bank for e-negotiation between buyer and seller. Knowledge base and E-learning information systems are potential research to promote the effectiveness and efficiency of trades of organizational marketplace on Internet.
Seveso Directive on the control of major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances forces the plant operators to implement a safety management system without any precise indication about the employment of computer based systems. Furthermore the same Directive asks the operators for communication to the appropriate authorities of relevant data related to major accidents. By using a well structured information system it is possible to retrieve data and knowledge to improve the safety level and prevent similar accidents. Several case studies are depicted.
In this paper, we describe a very substantial (probably the world’s largest) e-Learning project that is underway in the Northern Ireland school system. It is taking place at atime when the focus of policy is on e-Learning and its role in the radical restructuring of thepublic school system, it involves a network of partners in both the public and private sectors, and it is based on leading edge MLE (Managed Learning Environment) technology. The policy focus, the research debates, the technology, the partnerships and the issues we face are outlined in this paper.
This paper argues that structuring of knowledge is a natural and central part of knowledge management. The paper presents a scenario that envisions how scholarly work (as an example of a knowledge management task) can benefit from various types of structuring support. The paper also reviews past and present work and outlines future work on the Construct structural computing system to provide the envisioned structuring support for scholarly work processes.
Knowledge work often involves structuring information. Structural computing systems have been used successfully to support structuring work in a wide variety of application domains. In this paper, we discuss supporting two computational linguistics applications with two different structural computing systems, comparing and contrasting their designs and implementations.
Knowledge management is a task of combining technical, personal and organizational. The representation of process of knowledge creation represents a major task for knowledge management, since adjusting knowledge processes to other business processes is decisive for long-term capacity building of an organization. Basic elements of social network analysis are described. The method is presented as a valuable means to identify patterns of knowledge flows in organizations and types of knowledge processed by knowledge agents according to distinct stages of knowledge creation. The approach is discussed with respect to its relevance for practical knowledge management.
Companies are starting to recognise synergies between knowledge management, training and e-learning programs, but a closer look reveals that these integration ideas are rarely implemented in practice. The goal of this paper is to provide a starting point for collaboration between corporate KM and HR/learning teams by mapping existing practices of linking KM, training and e-learning efforts. We provide an overview of experiences and future ideas of collaboration derived from several studies, group them in three themes and then illustrate each theme with a scenario. The first theme gives examples of using HR and training instruments to support knowledge management. The second theme represents cases of using KM methods (namely a community of practice) to support HR learning management efforts. The last theme describes how KM and HR/learning teams could work on joint initiatives. Then we discuss the added value of the scenarios and propose further practical steps and research directions.
The effective use, preservation and creation of knowledge in design-type work processes is of vital interest for an enterprise. We present the CLOCKWORK approach to organizational learning which comprises a web-based toolset to structure, store and retrieve knowledge elements created during all phases of the product development. The examination and re-use of this knowledge base across different design processes as well as the consideration of earlier aftersales experiences during product design are key steps towards systematic organizational learning. The solution is presented using an example from the speciality engineering domain.
Modern computational Problem Solving Environments (PSEs) become more and more complex and knowledge intensive in terms of their integrated toolsets, in particular for engineering design search and optimization. Whether these toolsets can be assembled effectively to produce satisfactory results depends heavily on using the best domain practice and following decisions made by skilled engineers in practical situations. In this paper, a knowledge based approach is used to acquire this knowledge from existing sources and model it in a maintainable fashion. Ontologies are used to develop the conceptualization of a knowledge base. In order to reuse this knowledge to provide guidance at knowledge intensive points, we propose a knowledge based advisor, which can give a context-aware critique to guide users through effective operations of building domain workflows. The concept of a state panel is proposed to collect system state information, which is then reasoned about together with various task models in the JESS (Java Expert System Shell) environment. Two reasoning strategies are designed for different advising styles. A multilayer and client-server style architecture is proposed to illustrate how this advisor can be deployed to make available its knowledge advising service to a real workflow construction PSE in a maintainable fashion. Throughout we use the example of these knowledge services in the context of design optimization in engineering.
In spite of the growing number of KMS emanating from academia, only few of these systems seem to be actively used by their creators. We can only speculate about the reasons, but lack of usability and support for real-life business processes are likely to be two of them. This paper presents the Infolayer, a KMS developed at the Artificial Intelligence unit at Dortmund university. Originally developed as an integrated information infrastructure for human users and software agents within a specific project, it has grown into a general KMS solution. Where other systems are built around complex reasoning capabilities based on Description Logics, the Infolayer’s focus is ease of use, customizability and integration of industry standards like UML. The system is being actively used to drive the intranet/internet presence of our unit as well as a number of other projects.
Within a business environment, where the fast and reliable access to knowledge is a key success factor, an efficient handling of the organizational knowledge is crucial. Therefore the need for methods and techniques, which allow to structure and maintain complex knowledge bases according to the requirements emerging from the daily work have a high priority. This article provides a business process oriented approach to structure organizational knowledge and information bases. The approach was developed within applied research in the industrial, service and administrative sector. Following this approach, three different types of knowledge structures and their visualization have been developed by the Fraunhofer IPK and are currently applied and tested in organizations. Beside the approach itself, these three types of knowledge structure and the cases of application shall be introduced here.
The Distributed Knowledge Management (DKM) approach tries to overcome problems deriving from a typical outcome of traditional Knowledge Management (KM) solutions: the creation of a unique conceptualization of corporate knowledge (e.g. an ontology or a unique system of classification) which does not allow autonomy of organizational units and the coexistence of different conceptual schemas (e.g. points of view or perspectives). This new approach takes strongly into account local heterogeneity, and looks at complex knowledge-based organizations as constellations of local organizational units which manage knowledge in an autonomous way, exchanging it with other units through meaning negotiation/coordination processes. In a DKM system each autonomous unit is reified by a Knowledge Node (KN), a useful abstraction which allows us to identify, within organizations, people who manage knowledge according to a local conceptual schema and a personalized system of artifacts. In this paper, a new methodology is described and then used to unveil Knowledge Nodes in a case study: Impresa Pizzarotti & C. S.p.A., a complex Italian building industry. It is argued that the resulting Distributed Knowledge Management system might be implemented within the firm with a high probability of success, because the system of Knowledge Nodes (discovered through this methodology) reflects the perspective and the way in which organizational units usually manage their knowledge.
This article depicts the idea of service based Knowledge Management and introduces a method to design an Enterprise Knowledge Management System (E-KMS). We assume that each organisation already uses an E-KMS but only few organisations are aware of it and even less organisations design their E-KMS properly to manage their internal processes. These internal processes of an E-KMS are seen as Knowledge Management Processes (KMP) that describe the knowledge exchange between knowledge workers in a process oriented manner. This article introduces the concept of KM-Services to manage heterogeneous KMtools based on Web-Service that are organised by KMPs. The design process of these KMPs is discussed introducing a method that derives KM-Services out of knowledge goals and briefly mentions an evaluation framework using the Balanced Scorecard concept (BSC).
Algorithmic research is an established knowledge engineering process that has allowed researchers to identify new or significant problems, to better understand existing approaches and experimental results, and to obtain new, effective and efficient solutions. While algorithmic researchers regularly contribute to this knowledge base by proposing new problems and novel solutions, the processes currently used to share this knowledge are inefficient, resulting in unproductive overhead. Most of these publication-centred processes lack explicit high-level knowledge structures to support efficient knowledge management. The authors describe a problem-centred collaborative knowledge management architecture associated with Computational Problem Solving (CPS). Specifically we articulate the structure and flow of such knowledge by making in-depth analysis of the needs of algorithmic researchers, and then extract the ontology. We also propose a knowledge flow measurement methodology to provide human-centred evaluations of research activities within the knowledge structure. This measurement enables us to highlight active research topics and to identify influential researchers. The collaborative knowledge management architecture was realized by implementing an Open Computational Problem Solving (OpenCPS) Knowledge Portal, which is an open-source project accessible at http://www.opencps.org.
A project memory is a representation of the experience acquired during projects realization. It can be gotten through a continuous capitalization of the enterprise activity, notably its design rationale. Most of capitalization methods don’t allow a design rationale structuring in real time. We propose in this paper, a dynamic process of knowledge modelling, offering a way to keep track of Knowledge in two stages: direct transcription and structuring.
Infrastructures developed to support knowledge management activities are usually designed in such way that queries and search for specific information, for a certain piece of knowledge or meta-knowledge becomes easier or even possible at all. The user is expected to know and be able to express precisely what he or she wants to know, otherwise intuition becomes the key factor in this process and the kind of information or knowledge units provided may strongly be influenced by randomness. On the other hand it’s also not really helpful (and often even disturbing or annoying) to automatically come up with information, knowledge units, links or hints without request. Instead users should be supported in the way they need. For this, the paper presents a conceptual framework enabling to integrate knowledge management into problem solving instead of being attached to or linked with it. Although this framework is developed to meet the needs of problem solving processes in logistics planning, it contains a more generic approach that can be applied to other knowledge areas as well.
Through application of Web usage mining to operational Web systems, we have confirmed the effectiveness of active mining, which mines actionable knowledge as follows: First, we describe an adaptable recommendation system called the system L-R, which constructs user models as actionable knowledge by classifying the Web access logs and by extracting access patterns based on the transition probability of page accesses and recommends the pages to the users based both on the user models and the Web site structures. We have evaluated the prototype system and have successfully obtained the positive effects of the mined actionable knowledge. Second, we describe another approach to constructing user models, which clusters Web access logs based on access patterns. The actionable knowledge helps to discover unexpected access paths corresponding to ill-formed Web site design. Lastly, we have successfully identified undiscovered research issues such as dynamic page recommendation when we have attempted to mine Web usage logs for operational systems.
Automatic acquisition of information structures like Topic Maps or semantic networks from large document collections is an important issue in knowledge management. An inherent problem with automatic approaches is the treatment of multiword terms as single semantic entities. Taking company names as an example, we present a method for learning multiword terms from large text corpora exploiting their internal structure. Through the iteration of a search step and a verification step the single words typically forming company names are learnt. These name elements are used for recognizing compounds in order to use them for further processing. We give some evaluation of experiments on company name extraction and discuss some applications.
Knowledge Management recently has become popular in enterprises hoping to achieve a competitive advantage. Describing information by metadata allows for performing detailed queries uniformly over information items from different information sources and enables goal-directed search and automatic provision of relevant information. As the manual acquisition of metadata is very costly, support for this task is desired. This work presents two metadata extractors for the creation of metadata. The first applies Instance-Based Learning for the adoption of metadata from similar objects. The second extracts information by applying regular expressions. Both extractors have been integrated into the metadata generation framework of the KnowWork system and have been evaluated in experiments on two realworld data sets from the engineering domain.
The recent evolution of e-commerce and the astonishing growth of the Internet have increased the amount of information that scrupulous customers want to process before selecting items that meet their needs. Personalization has become an important strategy in Business to Consumer e-commerce, where knowledge about customers can be exploited in order to improve access to relevant products. This paper presents a machine learning-based approach to turn raw data about customers into knowledge about their interests. This knowledge is stored in personal profiles and is used to provide an intelligent search support.
We present a novel approach of extracting a domain ontology from large-scale thesauri. Concepts are identified to be relevant for a domain based on their frequent occurrence in domain texts. The approach allows to bootstrap the ontology engineering process from given legacy thesauri and identifies an initial domain ontology that may easily be refined by experts in a later stage. We present a thorough evaluation of the results obtained in building a biosecurity ontology for the UN FAO AOS project.
This paper aims at analyzing by bibliometric methods the economic literature dealing with Innovation in Services, giving at the same time an overview of the main topics of discussion. To achieve this, the software toll BibTechMon was useed. Our analysis shows that in the last 15 years attention has been primarily focused on technological change in telecommunications, media and the software industry and its consequences for the market structure in these sectors. These results are supported by an additional cluster analysis.
We present a q-gram text retrieval system with a fault-tolerant option, that circumvents some disadvantages of the edit distance measure by recursively applying localized, weighted changes (submorphs) to the search pattern. The set of legal submorphs is mainly based on phonetic similarities, but common typing errors and special text corpus characteristics can also be handled. The submorph weights can be fine-tuned for different text characteristics and expected user behavior. The best rated morphed patterns are then fed into a fast, exact offline search to generate fault-tolerant retrieval results for the original pattern. We present filtering of less promising morphs, and we demonstrate how to build a fault-tolerant add-on that can be applied even to other text retrieval systems. Practical experiments and feedback of end-users of a commercial scientific 12-volume encyclopedia that uses our system, show that this approach is very useful for scenarios where the length of the text corpus is considerably large, where scientific terms have more than one correct spelling in a multi-lingual context, and where errors may be in the pattern and the text.
In this paper, an integrated information system is presented that offers enhanced search and retrieval capabilities to users of heterogeneous digital audiovisual (a/v) archives. This innovative system exploits the advances in handlings a/v content and related metadata, as introduced by MPEG-4 and worked out by MPEG-7, to offer advanced services characterized by the tri-fold ”semantic phrasing of the request (query)”, ”unified handling” and ”personalized response”. The proposed system is targeting the intelligent extraction of semantic information from a/v and text related data taking into account the nature of the queries that users my issue, and the context determined by user profiles. It also provides a personalization process of the response in order to provide end-users with desired information. From a technical point of view, the FAETHON system plays the role of an intermediate access server residing between the end users and multiple heterogeneous audiovisual archives organized according to the new MPEG standards.
In this paper we presented a framework for the query refinement which is driven by the user’s information needs. Based on the analyses of the real IR case studies we gathered the requirements and modeled the query refinement process as the process of changing query ambiguity according to a user ‘s need. We define several semantic and structural ambiguities, implied by the used vocabulary and information repository, respectively. As our evaluation study shows, the usability of the approach overcomes the traditional information retrieval problems and enables the realisation of an e-shop-assistant in the e-commerce applications.
Profiting from Social Capital when Building Network Organizations
In knowledge economy, companies and organisations build sustainable competitive advantages not only relying on their internal intellectual capital but also on the intellectual capital of other companies, organisations and institutions and specifically on those of the cluster [Porter, 1990], microcluster or territory where the company is located. This kind of intellectual capital, basically external and of a relational nature is one of the main constituents of the networked organisation and (will be called) from now on Social Capital [Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998] because it is embedded in the social fabric (texture) of the nearby environment. SCBS (Social Capital Benchmarking System) is both a new management method and a new management tool, that identifies, audits and benchmarks the resources and capabilities or the social capital, existing in alternative cluster locations that are necessary in order to develop the specific network organisation that each particular business model requires. The system has been successfully piloted in five European enterprises.
Due to contradictory results obtained in Knowledge Management initiatives a model of audit is presented. The main action in the international project “Strateg” is the development and application of a model to diagnose and propose suitable recommendations concerning the management of knowledge and intellectual capital of a firm. A brief description of the model is presented after the exposition of its key scientific assumptions. Finally, the current state of the project is reviewed.
Based on the observation that on one hand a lot of knowledge management initiatives lack of a precise assessment of the relevant knowledge assets and that on the other hand actual concepts of knowledge audits lack of a sound theoretical basis, the aim of this paper is to describe the theoretical basics of such a knowledge audit: Its core idea lies in the integration of knowledge stock- and knowledge flow measurement. The concept of Intellectual Capital (IC) makes clear that knowledge measurement from this perspective deals with the measurement of knowledge stocks. Hence, the impact of IC investments at the beginning of a period can be identified in an increased knowledge stock at the end of the period. Unfortunately, IC measurement approaches do not provide managers with explicit recommendations on how to deal with the resource knowledge within a period. Hence, managers can be provided with knowledge flow measures in order to be able to manage the resource knowledge more specifically. A case study illustrates the benefits of knowledge flow measurement in order to plan and evaluate knowledge management projects explicitly.
The goal of this article is to explore some of the main reasons that sustain a
distributed approach to Knowledge Management, and this will be done, first, showing how, according to very different theoretical disciplines, knowledge diversity is proposed as the very source of organizational innovation and adaptability; second providing some evidence coming from major applicative domains; third proposing some considerations on the role of technology.
SENEKA (Service-Netzwerke für und Weiterbildungsprozesse) is a large-scale entrepreneurial and research programme, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education. The programme aims not only to improve the management of information flow and knowledge creation, but seeks to re-design processes of innovation and research. The pool of participating companies in this programme consists mainly of SMEs empowering their capabilities and competencies with regards to innovation management. Approximately 30 companies, mainly located in Germany and research institutes from all over Germany are working in different fields of activity seeking to find new methods and tools to improve information flow and knowledge management processes. Recent trends in information and knowledge management describe challenges the participating companies try to meet while developing these new methods and tools.
In order to survive organisations are in need of more efficient utilization of human resources and intellectual capital. As the nature of organisations has become more knowledgeintensive, the importance of competencies, i.e. knowledge and skills, is emphasised. Intellectual capital management is one of the growing functions in Finnish companies. For example, competence management and knowledge management are considered to be an important part of it.
The focus of this study is on intellectual capital management in the Finnish TOP 50 companies. The role of competencies and knowledge in contemporary business is significant. In intellectual capital management competence management and knowledge management play an important role. Therefore, this study focused especially on competence and knowledge management in the Finnish TOP 50 companies.
The study was based on a survey conducted during autumn 2002. The target group was the TOP 50 Finnish companies and the informants were from HRM-functions. The survey was conducted by telephone and a questionnaire was e-mailed to the respondents beforehand. The aim of the study is to illustrate the use of intellectual capital management, especially competence and knowledge management in the Finnish TOP 50 companies, from HRM perspective. It was assumed that every Finnish TOP 50 company uses intellectual capital
management to some extent. As there have previously been only case studies, there is a need for this study. Almost every company from the Finnish TOP 50 companies had systematic activities for managing intellectual capital management. The most common terms for intellectual capital management functions were competence management and competence development. The most common reason for beginning intellectual capital management activities had been the need for knowledge on personnel competencies and their development in operative functions. All respondents emphasised the importance of the role of intellectual capital management in gaining knowledge on personnel competencies. The aim of intellectual capital management in most of the companies was the development of personnel competencies and knowledge. According to the respondents, changes related to intellectual capital management are expected within the next five years. Many of the informants said that the relationship of intellectual capital management and strategy would intensify in the next five years. It was also expected that centralized information and knowledge management would increase, when at the same time it was expected that in practice it would disperse into different functions within the organization.
In the fast moving businesses the ability to be flexible and adaptive to change is crucial. When monitoring their operating environments for weak signals and for other disruptive information companies face filters that hinder the entry of the information to the company. We are discussing three filters: mentality filter, surveillance filter and power filter. Each filter has a logic of its own that hinders effective knowledge flow. We introduce a software tool that helps to overcome these filters especially in a strategy formulation process.
Knowledge creation and organisational learning are as much about questioning assumptions as they are about harnessing what is already known. We describe a procedure for expressing knowledge, theorising from it, identifying data suitable for testing theories, and the value to a business of the outcomes it produces. This technique, called ‘theorise-inquire’, supports the validation of knowledge once it is expressed in a shareable form and draws attention to gaps in data and to information quality generally. We illustrate the ideas presented with examples drawn from work with profit protection specialists working in large retail organisations in the UK.
Discourse flows are interactive instruments for stimulating electronic discourses. For specified problems, they suggest a flow of a computer-mediated discourse with goals, participants, time frame and the communication tools to be used. Discourse flows potentially reduce the effort of planning and executing electronic conversations for knowledge conversation between distributed participants. As templates, discourse flows might be executed by a discourse flow controller. Discourse flows might be preferably used for recurrent communication processes, like processes of innovation, problem-solving and learning.
Embedded systems play an increasingly important role in today’s society. The spectrum of embedded systems ranges, for example, from mobile phones to X-by-wire control systems in cars and airplanes. The regional embedded systems knowledge base, called EmBase, is a comprehensive project which investigates and maps the knowledgebase in embedded systems with a focus on Austria and Central Europe. EmBase supports individuals, private and public institutions and companies that implement, develop, support, purchase or sell embedded systems so that they can successfully identify key market trends and directions and align themselves and their activities with these trends
The development of a knowledge management system (KMS) is becoming increasingly important for the metal industry in Taiwan. The ontology design and knowledge search are two major activities of knowledge management. In this paper, we introduce a threestage life cycle for the ontology design and propose a Java/XML-based scheme for automatically generating knowledge search components to reduce the overhead in developing a KMS. The resulting ontology is classified as information ontology and domain ontology so that the objective of semantic match for knowledge search can be realized. The system is built on the top of the component-based KAON development suite which makes it more flexible and robust. We conduct a case study by applying the system to Metal Industries Research & Development Centre (MIRDC), Taiwan to confirm its effectiveness and efficiency in dealing with KM activities. In addition, the proposed reusable scheme endorses the encouraging feasibility of wide applications to different domains.
Knowledge management case studies in most cases focus on one or a few applications. Typically, the discussion is limited to what has been found out in the past. On the other hand, numerous authors have reported on the technological aspects at a high level of abstraction, where no specific business cases were taken into account. There are polls and surveys to identify potential future trends, but these typically investigate a serious of market segments without making specific statements about KM in the automotive industry. In this paper we hope to bridge this gap: in order to identify the potential benefits of KM, we will survey some of the literature describing recent, current, as well as expected future developments in the automotive industry. In particular, expand on three key trends in order to discuss potential benefits from Collaborative KM: the supply chain, improvements in engine development, and providing the industry with skilled workers. We found that the following are interesting applications from the point of view of Collaborative KM: (1) collaborative partner extranets (to support the supply chain), (2) inter-company collaboration, training to be tied into every-day work, KM to support Quality Management (to assist in the improvements of engine performance), and (3) e-learning combined with helpdesk automation and a knowledge base (in order to help provide the industry with skilled workers).
In the paper the applications to the 2002 Knowledge Management Award are discussed in relation to measuring the benefits of KM. It is concluded that benefits of KM initiatives depend on the KM approach taken.
The objective of this paper is to describe a new post-Nonaka generation of Knowledge Management that, for the first time has the potential to meet people’s expectations. It is divided into the three categories:
• processes
• organisation & culture
• information technology
and builds on Frederik Taylor’s idea of applying knowledge to work, though noton his Scientific Management model. Instead, it extends to Knowledge Workers and gives answers to the key question of Knowledge Management: How can the productivity of knowledge workers be increased?
This paper is based on on-going research carried out in the framework of an EU project aimed at enhancing knowledge management (KM) in enterprises. It deals with the impact of (inter)cultural factors on the accessibility and presentation of eLearning content. Once the empirical research is completed and the data analysed, guidelines will be proposed for developing Web-based training modules for culturally heterogeneous user groups sharing the same professional background. Special consideration will be given to contextual and community features.
The paper focuses on adaptability, knowledge mediation and knowledge flows in face-to-face classes compared to computer-based classes within the Web in particular. The paper gives an overview of features of on-line learning systems that facilitate the learning process and gives some aspects on adaptation and personalisation issues within those systems. Some recent developments of intelligent tutors capable of expressing emotions and possible applications are presented. An outlook on possible future developments and constraints is provided.
An analysis of the development of the concept of knowledge is provided involving the consequences of the scientific and the management revolution. The situation of conceiving knowledge in the industrial society is outlined. An analysis of important factorst leading to he present sitation is provided focusing on the role of the IT-revolution, esp. Artificial intelligence and knowledge based systems and organisational learning as a key factor of value creation. Finally the present situation is outlined ending with a conception of what knowledge management is.
E-learning is an increasingly accepted teaching methodology in the academic community. One problem that e-learning has to deal with is the lack of quality rules. At the current development stage, quality assessment and assurance in e-learning must dealt in parallel with the establishment of the form and content of e-learning platforms. Based on the experience in quality assurance gained in the frame of TEMPUS Project S-JEP 11155, the authors investigate this subject and analyze a series of considerations about auditing. Is audit necessary in e-learning? Which will be the manner, on electronic support (e-audit) or a combination of electronic support and real visits at the university that need accreditation? Is all the e-learning community convinced about importance of quality assurance and audit to warranty the quality of teaching using e-learning methodology? Which will the content of an eaudit be? The answer of these questions is the development of e-learning as teaching methodology in parallel with quality assurance, a essential combination to impose e-learning as the future support of ODL.
Cooperative learning is characterized by communication and interaction in a group. The computer supported cooperative/collaborative learning (CSCL) is a specific form, which removes previous spatial and temporal restrictions. Starting point of the examinations are known learning processes and their possible support by a CSCL system. The meaning of different user models as well as different styles and roles of learning are analyzed in CSCL systems and shown in different scenarios supporting cooperative or collaborative learning processes. The practical evaluation of the methods and algorithms was done by an adaptive CSCL system to support learning effects on the domain of software engineering.
In this paper we present some results of the project LEBONED which deals with the integration of digital libraries and their contents into Learning Management Systems. After describing in brief how the architecture of a standard Learning Management System has to be modified to enable such an integration, we present in more detail the LEBONED Metadata Architecture which describes the process of importing and processing documents and their metadata from digital libraries. Finally, we give a short discussion about our decision to physically store imported documents in an content repository of the Learning Management System instead of leaving them in the digital libraries.
While the establishment of eLearning standards has promised to improve interoperability between eLearning systems, this can only be done through enforcement of these standards. As many existing eLearning systems are built on top of relational databases, we propose a framework which matches XML Schemas (from learning standards) and relational schemas semi-automatically. Our framework also provides translation between learning objects and relational database as well as an interface to manually refine existing schema mappings.
In all areas of the e-era, personalization plays an important role. Particularly in elearning a main issue is student modelling, that is analysis of student behaviour and prediction of his/her future behaviour and learning performance. In this paper, we have focused our attention on a system based on Machine Learning techniques, which discovers the preferences, needs and interests of users accessing the e-learning system (the Profile Extractor). The automatic generation and discovery of the user profile, to obtain a simple student model, based on learning performance and communication preferences, helps create a personalized education environment.
Current E-Learning solutions are not sufficiently aware of the context of the learner, i.e. the individual characteristics, the organization and the work processes and tasks. This can be achieved by modular learning objects and semantical metadata for their contextualization. This allows to deliver learning material that is relevant to the current situation of the learner. This paper presents the general approach and the architecture.
Traditional software used for student-centered learning typically provides for a uniform user interface through which information is delivered in a uniformly identical fashion to all users without regard to their learning style. This research classifies personality types of computer science undergraduate students using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator; relates these types of personalities to defined learning preferences; and tests if a user interface designed for a student’s learning preference enhances learning. The approach of this study is as follows: given a set of user interfaces designed to fit personality types, provide a user interface to participants with the matching personality type. In the control group, provide participants with a randomly chosen user interface. Observe the performance of all participants in a post-test. Quantitative results indicate that personality-aware user interfaces have a significant effect on learning. Qualitative results show that in most cases, users preferred user interfaces designed for their own personality type.
How to design effective learning opportunities? Why is learning by experience often more efficient than learning by studying? How to provide the learning experiences needed to respond to current challenges? Using computer games and games in general for educational purposes offers a variety of knowledge presentations and creates opportunities to apply the knowledge within a virtual world, thus supporting and facilitating the learning process. An innovative education paradigm like game-based learning suitable for this purpose is described in this article. The connection of the collaborative social context of education with game-based learning is discussed.
This paper depicts the interrelation between situated learning and learning management from an organisational and personal perspective. Based on this introduction we show how educational metadata can be used for approaches of situated learning and how we can take care of learning approaches and contexts using situated and context specific metadata and role-based models.
The present state of research on competence management does not provide any suitable model that can be used in practice. This article presents a model for integrated competence management, which gives approaches from both cognitive science and organizational science a practical framework of action.
Methodological Requirements and an Illustrative Example
Few studies attempt to measure organisational learning. Measurement is critical to evaluate relationships between initiatives to support learning and organisational performance. This paper proposes a theory-based tool kit for measurement of organisational learning. By tool kit we mean a collection of methods that each captures elements of the term ‘organisational learning’. The paper clarifies the term and discusses requirements of theories and methods to be included in the tool kit. Some examples of theories with methods are given. Emphasis is placed on Kelly’s Personal Construct Theory with the accompanying Role Construct Repertory Test to illustrate methodological requirements.
This paper is going to study the influence of three components of the human capital focusing on operative personnel under a dynamic perspective. It considers learning flows and the knowledge stocks that the employees of the organization generate because of the relationships that they maintain with the clients. The influence of human capital in these learning flows will be examined. These being components such as: learning capacities; automatic and conscious knowledge, on the flows of the relational learning process including acquisition, distribution and utilization phases of knowledge. In order to study the relative importance of the human capital components in each phase of the relational process, the scale established by Kohli and Jaworski [1990] will be used by this research. The paper is structured in four parts. In the first, a theoretical reference on human capital components on the relational learning process will be established. In the second part, some hypothesis and the necessary methodology will be proposed. In the third part the results will be shown and finally, in the conclusions some interesting aspects on the role of the human capital in the described process will be shown. Conclusions are based on a study of ninety-eight organizations. This investigation establishes important conclusions on the role of human capital in the generation of the customer capital. Concretely, the explicit knowledge of the employees is the most meaningful in the relational learning process, although it is also true that the tacit knowledge and individual learning capacities have a special importance in the acquisition and utilization phases of the knowledge respectively.
Simulated learning environments provide an efficient means for improving individual skills in specific problem solving and learning situations. One crucial aspect of an optimal system for simulated training environments is its capability to keep track of the improvements of the user along the whole training process. In this paper we present a set-theoretical formal framework that can be applied for the efficient assessment of the skills of an individual in a simulated learning environment. The basic concept underlying our approach is that of a functional skill mapping of the simulated learning environment through problem spaces.
We propose a formal approach to Ontology-Based Semantic Matchmaking between Skills request and offer, devised as a virtual marketplace of knowledge. In such a knowledge market metaphor, skills are a peculiar kind of goods that have distinguishing characteristics with respect to traditional assets. Buyers are entities that need the skills of people, such as projects, departments and organizations; sellers are workers that offer their own skills. The formal framework supports the semantic match of descriptions provided by demanders and sellers of skills. In particular our approach, based on Description Logics formalization and reasoning, overcomes simple subsumption matching and allows for match ranking and categorization. The implementation of the approach in a prototype facilitator, which embeds a NeoCLassic reasoner, is also described.
An Example of a Group Memory System for the Management of Group Competencies
Knowledge Intensive Organisations (KIOs), that is organisations built on their use intellectual capital, need to create an environment that facilitates the effective deployment and reuse of existing organisational knowledge. As people transform data, information and experiences into shared knowledge, the management of individual competencies has become increasingly important to these organisations. Knowledge gained during the normal execution of daily tasks is easily lost in the dynamic environment of modern business. The ability to find versatile employees and to be able to leverage their knowledge to meet differing corporate needs, is a matter of vital importance for KIOs. This paper describes an ontological framework focused on competence elements that are modelled as knowledge assets in a group memory. A group memory is taken to be a specific example of an organisational memory. The dynamics of group competencies as a key organisational resource is emphasised and a model for a group memory system to manage corporate competencies in a KIO is presented.
- A Pilot Project in the Putzmeister, Inc./ Germany
The knowledge and the competence of the firm members are substantial success factors in the world-wide competition. For a “Hidden Champion” like the middle-sized manufacturer of Top-Class Concrete Pumps and Plastering Machines, Putzmeister, Inc./Germany, a systematic and anticipating Competence Development System is essential. The article describes a pilot project started in spring 2002 to gain more specific knowledge about the implementation of a strategic computer aided, employee orientated Skill Management System in the Company. The main success factors found are first, an acceptance strategy, which includes the participation of motivated groups of pilots, the integration of the workers council, the support of the management as well as much information and transparency about the objectives and the purpose of the system. Especially a good co-operation with the workers council is from great importance. Finally enough personnel and organizational resources must be given to the project.
BEKO-SMS is a knowledge-based skill management system that combines projectplanning and human resource management. Application and system functions model specific skills and relationships used in a particular project. The definition of skills, skill trees, skill updating and other processes form the basis for the success factors of the SMS. We conclude that efficient project resource planning would not be possible without SMS and the skill manager.
We have developed a concept for a Skills Management instrument and have introduced it in a pilot area within a large engineering company. The instrument was designed to serve a broad range of purposes, including support for Human Resource development planning, expert search and strategic planning. As implementation and maintenance on a larger scale would have produced considerable effort, the instrument was reduced and focused on one particular goal, namely a more effective employment of development measures. We discuss some conjectures of why designing Skills Management as an “all-purpose” tool might be an unrealistic endeavor.
Documentation analysis and organisation are vital to the researcher when trying to understand the evolution of patrimonial edifices and sites. Documentary sources provide partial evidences from which the researcher will infer possible scenarios on how an edifice may have changed throughout the centuries. Still, in the field of the architectural heritage, there is a gap to fill between proven data management technologies that provide solutions for documentation handling, and geometric modelling techniques that underlie reconstruction efforts. Documentation is organised with regards to what the documents are, books, illustrations, etc… Virtual renderings feature a geometry that bears no link to the documentation’s analysis. Our contribution introduces a solution for attaching the documentation to architectural concepts that represent physical beings used in the edifice’s structure, and this without modifications on existing documentation descriptions. 3D scenes can then be used as one of the means to access or visualise the information we hold on the edifice’s or site’s evolution.
This paper describes a GeoLibrary as metaphor-based information and navigation space to access geodata archives. Books, shelves and further library metaphors are used to present geo datasets. Additionally, a map is used to provide a familiar environment for spatial visualizations and navigation. From the technical point of view, GeoCrystal as innovative information visualization technique is embedded into a 3D information and navigation room of the GeoLibrary to access geo datasets and geodata archives. GeoCrystal provides visualizations not only of search results, but is also useful for query formulation and query modification. Concerning semantic aspects, the structure of the GeoLibrary represents relationships among datasets and geodata archives. This structure is dynamically in the sense of user interests and individual objectives to access the wide range of information spectra of geodata disciplines respectively the individual way to dive into a semantic network for geodata. The paper is structured into three parts: Initially, chapter one and two introduce into the research topic of user guidance to geodata archives and provide a technical state-of-the art analysis within this context. Chapter three describes concepts and methods of the GeoLibrary and GeoCrystal. Finally, chapter four summarizes the most important results and discusses possible technical extensions as well as adoptions to other application fields.
The widespread use of cellular devices has resulted in an increased demand for proper and continuous functioning of cellular services. For this reason, cellular service providers require better and more sophisticated tools to analyze customer usage data. They are constantly seeking new approaches for fine tuning and optimizing the performance of their networks. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of a new space-filling visualization technique that is capable of displaying multi-dimensional attributes of a cellular network data. We illustrate the value of the technique through an example.
Contemporary knowledge management activities in an enterprise suffer from the discrepancy between the global benefit for the organization and the personal benefit for the individual knowledge worker. To ameliorate this divergence we investigate an evolutionary approach which automatically integrates the structures of individual knowledge workspaces into comprehensive organizational knowledge structures. To enable the individual user to keep an overview over both the personal information space and the various views and structures in the organization, we present a concept for dynamically-configured visualization of multi-layered concept spaces and information structures. This approach will be realized in the newly-started research project EPOS.
The visualisation of text corpora requires a spatialization process to map the underlying information structure onto a three-dimensional space. The information structure must be preserved from the original document corpus to the 3D representation for this spatialization to be useful. In this paper, we describe an experimental evaluation of spatialization algorithms and parameters for each step in the process.
This paper reports an ongoing longitudinal study of the adoption of information visualization systems by administrative data analysts. Participants were initially excited about the anticipated potential of visual data analysis for their work, but gradually discovered difficulties that eventually precluded a true integration of the visualization system into their daily work practices. These difficulties are unrelated to the specific visualization system used. We conclude that data analysts can take much better advantage of the benefits of information visualization systems when these systems are redesigned to be complementary products of current data analysis and workflow systems, rather than being stand-alone products as is currently the case. Our study offers some insights about how this complementarity can be
achieved.
This paper will present a new visual information retrieval system for metadata and the interaction techniques of the new system. The abundance of information we get while analyzing search results of an arbitrary query has to be channeled. This can be done by different visualizations and filter techniques. We use a Scatterplot in combination with a so called SuperTable to support the process of finding relevant information in an intuitive yet multifunctional way. Visual filters and the interaction between the visualizations play an important role. By examples from a web and a movie database search features are demonstrated.
The Use of Visual Metaphors in the Communication of Knowledge
The use of visual metaphors for the transfer of knowledge is a fruitful, but rarely applied communication strategy of experts who strive to convey their insights to others. Although there is a plethora of literature on the benefits of images and metaphors for effective communication, there are only few widely used metaphor templates. In this paper, several possible templates (on four levels) for visual knowledge communication are distinguished and real-life examples of their use are presented. Their advantages and potential risks are addressed. The paper ends with a discussion of future research directions for metaphor-based knowledge
visualization.
Creating online communities involves much more than creating software. Software houses online community activities but social interactions also depend on who is involved, what their goals are, personalities and policies. By paying attention to these sociability issues, community developers, managers and leaders can influence how a community develops. For instance, they can facilitate policies that engender sound social norms and increase social capital. This paper identifies some of the ingredients for social capital development in Communities of Practice (COP) and outlines the components of a a framework for future research.
Integrated Enterprise Suites including software for Web Content Management,Collaboration, and Knowledge Management have (1) been successfully deployed in manyorganizations, and can (2) substantially reduce integration costs [Shegda et al, 2002].Furthermore, when software is available as a set of components, the risk of ownership can bereduced by deploying module-after-module, step-by-step. Integration costs and risk of ownership can be further reduced when there is a greater number of modules in an Integrated Enterprise Suite: two possible examples which are receiving growing interest are e-Learning and Communities of Practice (CoP). In the first part of this paper, we will take a technological view on CoP to see what Integrates Enterprise Suites have to offer. The second part discusses real-world applications and insights from end users.
An ontology-based knowledge sharing system OntoShare and its evaluation as part of a case study is described. RDF(S) is are used to specify and populate an ontology, based on information shared between users in virtual communities. We begin by discussing the advantages that use of Semantic Web technology afford in the area of knowledge management tools. The way in which OntoShare supports WWW-based communities of practice is described. Usage of OntoShare semi-automatically builds an RDF-annotated information resource for the community (and potentially for others also). Observing that in practice the meanings of and relationships between concepts evolve over time, OntoShare supports a degree of ontology evolution based on usage of the system – that is, based on the kinds of information users are sharing and the concepts (ontological classes) to which they assign this information. A case study involving OntoShare was carried out. The evaluation exercise and results for this case study are described. We conclude by describing avenues of ongoing and future research.
Our research on knowledge management is rooted in the community perspective. We believe that knowledge systems should serve primarily to help people create and share new knowledge. But we also acknowledge the role of stable, structured and reliable information, both as a component of our systems and as a component of the organizations within which we work. The contribution of the paper is a framework for integrating organization and community perspectives on knowledge management and its computational support.
This paper presents an approach to supporting the exchange of knowledge in communities of practice that connect experts from different fields of expertise. The developed system allows unobtrusive construction of personalised knowledge maps that capture implicit knowledge of individuals and groups of users and make it usable for collaborative structuring of shared information repositories. The personalised maps also reflect the global patterns of knowledge exchange in the community which allows the extraction of a shared conceptual structure that connects knowledge across different individuals and groups of users. To this end techniques for self-organised clustering are combined with methods for supervised learning and collaborative filtering. Application scenarios include automatic generation of personalised knowledge portals, collaborative knowledge management and the construction of shared ontologies and topic networks. The real-world testbed is the Internet platfom netzspannung.org.
In our work a new approach, the Distributed Knowledge Management (DKM) approach, is used and organizations are seen as constellations of communities, which “own” local knowledge and exchange it through meaning negotiation coordination processes. In order to reify communities within a DKM system, the concept of Knowledge Node (KN) is used and then applied in a case study: a complex Italian national firm, the Impresa Pizzarotti & C. S.p.A. All communities of practices are unveiled and reified as KNs within a high level architecture of a DKM system. In this paper it is argued that, even if knowledge has to be organized and made useful to the whole organization, there are types of knowledge that must be managed in an autonomous way, and the DKM approach is a good system which to deal with coordination/ negotiation processes.
This article is about knowledge and learning across organisations. It introduces the concept of the Learning Network, examines how learning networks are formally established, and how they can increase the participants’ knowledge and learning capability. Based on our experience from AC Styria (an Austrian automotive regional cluster) this paper analyses the role of the broker in such networks and provide a constructive set of recommendations for using IT to support learning and knowledge sharing at the inter-organisational level.
In software engineering, the quality of development and business processes and their models is of utmost importance for (a) the quality of the software products developed and (b) the operational success of the organization. Nevertheless, many organizations neglect these processes and leave the knowledge about them in the heads of their experts. In this paper, we present the indiGo method and platform for eParticipative Process Learning. Furthermore, we present first results of a long-term case study for the evaluation of these methods. The results indicate that processes introduced and modeled with process user participation result in process
models with higher acceptance and better perceived quality.
Case Studies into the CoP Theory-Practice Gap
Communities of Practice (CoPs) are among the most promising concepts to promote the genesis, evolution and exchange of knowledge in organisations. However, there is a gap between CoP theories and their implementation in companies. Our case studies of four attempts to introduce CoP-related structures show that the different management principles lying behind can systematically be analysed in at least two dimensions, technology “vs.” the social and exchange “vs.” production. We argue that the choice is not contingent, but that an emphasis on the social and the creative production of new knowledge leads to more productive structures in the area and in the sense of knowledge intensive services.
KM is more an archipelago of theories and practices rather than a monolithic approach. We propose a conceptual map that organizes some major approaches to KM according to their assumptions on the nature of knowledge. The paper introduces the two major views on knowledge –objectivist, subjectivist – and explodes each of them into two major approaches to KM: knowledge as a market, and knowledge as intellectual capital (the objectivistic perspective); knowledge as mental models, and knowledge as practice (the subjectivist perspective). We argue that the dichotomy between objective and subjective approaches is intrinsic to KM within complex organizations, as each side of the dichotomy responds to different, and often conflicting, needs: on the one hand, the need to maximize the value of knowledge through its replication; on the other hand, the need to keep knowledge appropriate to an increasingly complex and changing environment. Moreover, as a proposal for a deeper discussion, such trade-off will be suggested as the origin of other relevant KM related trade-offs that will be listed. Managing these trade-offs will be proposed as a main challenge of KM.
Professional Service Firms (PSF) from the consulting, accounting or law industry represent a prototype of the so called knowledge intensive organization. Knowledge plays a central role in many business processes of a PSF on the input as well as on the output side. Expertise and knowledge is what they seem to sell to their clients and it is the fuel that keeps their internal decision and action machine running. However, a lot of research on knowledge in organizations tends to over-emphasize the role of knowledge as a means for making rational decisions. Writers of this perspective view knowledge as an asset and their primary focus is on how new knowledge is being generated, how tacit knowledge can be turned into explicit knowledge, how knowledge can be captured, stored and best be dissiminated. Knowledge, goes the argument, helps to understand the world, to adapt in a changing environment and to make informed judgements. The higher the speed at which organizations learn, the more knowledge and information flows through an organization, the more new ideas fuel internal processes, the better for the organization. While this perspective adopts a normative model of rationality and conceptualizes knowledge as an objectively definable commodity that leads to better decision making and in a real world, we propose a different point of view.
Central to an alternative perspective is the idea that action is the fundamental goal of business organizations. The need for action and operation calls organizations to reduce the complexity that is often generated by rational decision-making exercises. Paradox but true: uncertainty and doubt often increase as decision makers accumulate information in an attempt to get “the full picture”. From an action perspective knowledge can play its important role as an absorber of uncertainty and a provider of organizational legitimacy both intra-organizationally as well as externally only if it complies with a specific quality standard. Action-reinforcing knowledge must not be ambiguous in nature and it has to be valid and reliable in the sense that it is shared and reproduced among knowledgeable people who understand the rules for socially certifying knowledge. Centralization and control of the knowledge base(s) of an organization are in this perspective a rational means to reduce external complexity. Knowledge management is instrumental in coordinating action when it helps to systematically not adopt a normative model of rationality. In a complex world it cultivates a single perspective and the confidence it attaches to the knowledge used is excessive in relation to what would seem reasonable.
The EXTERNAL infrastructure is described. The key idea is a model based approach to supporting knowledge sharing in extended enterprises. The infrastructure as a whole offers facilities for creating, visualizing, maintaining and executing shared process models. The process models are interactive, and may be updated by the user at any time during execution. The EXTERNAL infrastructure has been evaluated by the project use cases with promising results.
Combining the words ‘knowIedge‘ and ‘management’ into Knowledge Management is confusing. Knowledge resides within professionals and cannot be managed in a direct way. This paper proposes the concept of Knowledge Cycle Management. First, it describes the Knowledge Cycle. Successful Knowledge Cycle Management requires knowledge cycle behaviour of all professionals. But what can an enterprise or its management do to actually change the behaviour of professionals in order to improve the knowledge cycle? To answer this question, this paper discusses the Model of Focused Change of Behaviour. This paper ends by presenting an integrated approach to improve the knowledge cycle behaviour of professionals.
Knowledge Flow Management is our newly proposed knowledge sharing and knowledge management approach, which can realize the tightly coupled and efficient knowledge sharing by optimizing the knowledge flow process. Incorporating the knowledge flow with the loosely coupled knowledge-sharing paradigms is a solution to balance the efficiency and flexibility. This paper first presents the concepts and methods of the Knowledge Flow and the Knowledge Grid and then presents the approach to incorporate them. The case of applying the approach to realize knowledge management in distributed software development team is studied.
This paper describes experience gained in implementation of Knowledge Management models and instruments in a cross—organisational research setup. concretely in a case of Delft Cluster Knowledge Centre. The role of Knowledge Management and in particular of Communities of Practice in Delft Cluster is outlined, followed by an extended list of Lessons Learned.
This paper shows how knowledge space theory can be adapted to an organizational context for the efficient assessment of action in an organization. The research mentioned here was presented and discussed elsewhere [Stefanutti, Cristante and Tomasini 2001];in this context we just take it as an example for illustrating some relevant features of a particular class of models derived from knowledge space theory, called ‘action structures’. ln this paper we show (1) how an action structure is constructed in practice and which kind of phenomena it allows to model; (2) how this model can be used in a practical situation for assessing the operating state of an organization.
This article introduces the EC-project PROMOTEQ (1ST-1999-11658) [PRO99]. [Kar0O], [TeI0l] where an overall framework for process-oriented knowledge management, starting by modelling knowledge intensive business processes in a web-environment and focusing on the knowledge management processes such as identification, validation, distribution usage and evaluation of knowledge is being developed. The conceptual ideas are briefly mentioned, examples of knowledge models are depicted and the realisation within a test scenario to enhance the quality of a software development process is briefly discussed.
Employing collaboration technology for Knowledge Management some inherent challenges have to be met. One important prerequisite is that users adjust their patterns of interaction and cooperation and agree on the adjustments of others so they can practice cooperative knowledge management to their satisfaction. ln dynamic environments, however, the patterns of cooperation must he continuously reassessed and revised. This paper suggest an approach to record and display process information in a way that makes transparent the patterns of interaction and produces navigable process displays that can be incorporated into work routines. We introduce a technical architecture, describe a concrete usage scenario and reflect on potential applications.
The engineering domain features various information sources and is heterogeneous in multiple ways, Managing its specific knowledge requires adapting to these characteristics. In order to ensure the success of software that is to support the exchange and use of information within this domain, the extraction of relevant metadata should be adequately supported. Since the meta information describing the information items is as heterogeneous as they are themselves, various means have to be combined in a modular architecture.
This paper presents research results obtained from the project Personal Adaptable Digital Library Environment (PADDLE). The main focus of the DFG funded research project E; is to apply concepts of knowledge management to digital libraries by introducing personalization techniques. The idea is to enable the specific needs, experiences, skills and tasks of a knowledge worker using a digital library could be taken into account. Metadata is the key issue for doing this. Therefore the PADDLE system architecture describes a metadata . manager, which allows the association of metadata with the knowledge objects stored in distributed information resources. Based on this architecture several personalization concepts like workspaces and profiles are introduced. Finally, a geographic information portal is described that realizes a new way of seeking and accessing geodata related knowledge objects within a digital library.
ln this paper, we address the problem of integrating answering queries using views (and more generally query folding) with semantic query optimization into one optimizer that uses the semantic knowledge about information sources expressed as integrity constraints to support the query processing and optimization of knowledge management applications.
The usefulness and desirability of high-quality metadata in information and knowledge management tasks is widely acknowledged. However, the methods for managing metadata generally treat the metadata as “second-class” objects. ln other types of information systems, information management techniques specihcally designed for the unique charateristics of metadata have been designed, implemented, and refined for many decades, albeit in different settings. ln this paper, we consider the lessons learned from structural computing systems with respect to metadata management, and how these lessons generalize to other knowledge management tasks.
There is an immense number of information resources on the Internet that can be utilized free of charge. So many knowledge workers try to make use of this information in their daily tasks. Nevertheless, it is very hard to find the relevant information in the Internet by using the full-text retrieval techniques which are offered by most existing search engines. This paper demonstrates that Thesauri, which have been used in established online retrieval systems for a long time, also open up new methods for the automated search for information in the Internet. In addition, thesaurus-like structures known as Gazetteers allow handling geographical references of information resources in a very effective way. The knowledge represented in thesauri and gazetteers can be used to process a variety of thematic and geographical queries and to retrieve the information of interest from the Internet. Comfortable ways of specifying queries can be offered to the users, e.g., by navigating in a hierarchical tree of descriptors, by using synonymous, related or foreign-language terms rather than fixed elements of a controlled vocabulary, or by indicating a geographical region of interest on a cartographic map.
In addition to the general principles, examples of powerful query processors and advanced user interfaces are presented which demonstrate the effective usage of the knowledge stored in thesauri and gazetteers. The implemented solutions turn out to be considerably more comfortable than the “black box search” offered by most existing library catalogs and Internet search engines.
The loss of an employee – voluntarily or involuntarily – represents a great risk of losing information and know how as well as breaks the natural knowledge flow. We developed the Knowledge Transfer Meeting Methodology in order to reduce the “brain drain” through a systematic hand-over. The Knowledge Transfer Meeting consists of five modules that support the retrieval and sharing of knowledge systematically and explicitly. The approach promotes a mentorship or partnership philosophy, motivating the leaving employee to share his or her knowledge and experience with a successor. For the implementation of the Knowledge Transfer Meeting Methodology in the company, we identify and train so-called “facilitators” who lead the participants through the process and hence support and spread the methodology within the company.
Establishing electronically accessible repositories of people’s capabilities, experiences, and key knowledge areas is key in setting up Enterprise Knowledge Management. A skills repository can be used for e.g. finding people, staffing, skills gap analysis, and professional development. The ontology based skills management system developed at Swiss Life uses RDF schema for storing ontologies. Its query interface is based on a combined RQL and HTML query engine.
This paper reports on long-term research work of recycling networks in Germany and Austria from a knowledge-based perspective. Using data from expert interviews, we
discuss the key determinants of inter-organizational knowledge transfer within networks. In particular, we highlight the factor of mutual trust as important determinant of knowledge transfer in company recycling networks. One important goal of our empirical research is the institutionalization of knowledge transfer through the implementation of a central recycling agency in order to build core capabilities and to create intellectual capital.
This article outlines new technologies in the areas of automated expertise finding, expert network discover, virtual place-based collaboration, and automated question answering. We illustrate each of these areas with implemented and in some cases empirically evaluated systems. Collectively, these illustrate new methods for automatic discovery of knowledge, experts, and communities in an effective and efficient manner.
The process of knowledge and intellectual capital management aims to improve organisational performance and efficiency. Knowledge is a distinct capability that contributes to the improvement of this efficiency. Learning is an integral part of the knowledge system and can be identified by deconstructing available organisational knowledge. This paper offers an interpretative perspective of knowledge and intellectual capital development; it also examines previously fractured contextual approaches to organisational management research, which often fail to include learning as a significant factor for both absorbing and recognising the knowledge capabilities of a firm. Based on the results from a study conducted across 140 companies as well as selected case studies, this paper investigates learning mechanisms and their role in building a firm’s knowledge capabilities. This paper argues that learning is an integral part of the knowledge process in which learning acts as an endogenous factor for the development, absorption and utilisation of knowledge. The search continues for an appropriate epistemological framework in the area of management research under which organisational learning theories can be analysed while simultaneously remaining relevant and useful to the pragmatics of organisational knowledge development.
This paper reports on a study examining attorneys’ and law librarians’ use of their memory and information they record externally in searching for, using, and sharing legal information. The paper suggests automatically and manually recording search histories and basing user interface tools on this information to support mental model building and knowledge sharing in the legal information domain. The research described is part of the author’s dissertation research [1] that examined the use of search histories in legal information seeking and use, and proposed interface design recommendations for information systems. While searching for and using information, attorneys learn about legal topics and use this knowledge in their work. They create mental models and share their new knowledge with colleagues. Computers can automatically record human-computer interaction events. This information can help searchers represent and share new knowledge. The recorded information can be provided back to the user through the user interface to support searching for and using information, learning about the subject matter and sharing this knowledge with others. In this study, attorneys and law librarians were interviewed and observed to assess their use of their memory and external memory aids while searching for and using legal information. The results reported here focus on the role of interaction histories and history-based interface tools in supporting mental model development of legal information seekers of a topical area and sharing this information with other users.
On the basis of an example gained from the perspective of a person reading Intellectual Capital (IC) reports this paper explains the method of BibTechMonTM which is based on an analysis of the co-occurrence of different terms within databases and the algorithm to visualise the results [Kopcsa, A., Schiebel, E. (1998b)]. The application of this method for the IC report is currently a major step in improving the IC reporting system within ARC Seibersdorf research GmbH. In this paper the advantages and potentials of using BibTechMonTM in the context of IC reporting will be demonstrated by means of the 2001 IC report of ARC Seibersdorf research GmbH.
In IT-supported knowledge management (KM), the software user interface is at the boundary between persons and the knowledge management system (KMS). It plays a central role because seen from the users point of view, the user interface is the system. This paper presents a case study in which a particular User Interface Design methodology was employed to design a prototype KMS user interface for an inbound call center. In this example, we combine knowledge re-use and expert location.
The main goal of this research is to improve Information Retrieval Systems by enabling them to generate search outcomes that are relevant and customized to each specific user. Our proposal advocates the use of Instance Based Reasoning during the information retrieval process. When conducting a search, the system retrieves a previous similar search experience and traces back previous human reasoning and behavior and then replicates it in the current situation. Thus, user information retrieval experiences or instances are saved to be reused in future similar cases. The resulting cooperative memory is used for user query expansion.
In order to improve the information retrieval experience, we propose to conceptualize and model both the user profile, and the information retrieval process. This leads us to define some similarity functions between user profiles and information retrieval situations. The reuse of past experiences serves to enrich the initial user query by words from documents found in similar
cases. Unlike the classical Rocchio method, these documents are those already judged as valid by users with similar profile and in similar search situation. The value this method brings to the user is an increasing relevance of the search outcomes while reducing user interaction with the system.
This method has been implemented in the COSYDOR (Cooperative System for Document Retrieval) prototype based on Intermedia (Oracle 8i). Tests and evaluations have been performed on the COSYDOR prototype using the test corpus of TREC (Text Retrieval Conference) and its standard procedures for performance analysis and benchmarking. The results of these analyses show a significant improvement of performance in the first search iterations compared to the Intermedia benchmark.
People have always been mobile. In the Middle Ages, masses moved because of pilgrimages. Today, these masses are called holiday travellers. People have never been more mobile than today. Because of increasing prosperity and the abolishment of many borders in Europe, “freedom” has become a new symbol. Freedom causes movement. We have yet to overcome the borders of the countries behind the former Iron Curtain.
Our economy needed the division of labour, and therefore more mobility for goods and managers. Moreover, liberalised markets brought about the “global village”. In the 21st century, the global economy will be dominated by three key industries:
Changes in technologies and generations are common developments. Old styles are replaced by new ones. New technologies are replacing old ones. Telecommunications and Information Technology have propelled us into what we call the Information Society. More than 50 percent of employees in developed countries are working with information.
The Information Society did not only bring about change. Its instruments also helped us to become more mobile. Mobility is nothing new for people. We can now lead nomadic lives without being accountable to the state.
In this paper, we criticise the objectivistic approach that underlies most current systems for Knowledge Management. We show that such an approach is incompatible with the very nature of what is to be managed (i.e., knowledge), and we argue that this may partially explain why most knowledge management systems are deserted by users. We propose a different approach – called distributed knowledge management – in which subjective and social (in a word, contextual) aspects of knowledge are seriously taken into account. Finally, we present a general technological architecture in which these ideas are implemented by introducing the concept of knowledge node.
Starting from text corpus analysis with linguistic and statistical analysis algorithms, an infrastructure for text mining is described which uses collocation analysis as a central tool.
This text mining method may be applied to different domains as well as languages. Some examples taken form large reference databases motivate the applicability to knowledge management using declarative standards of information structuring and description. The ISO/IEC Topic Map standard is introduced as a candidate for rich metadata description of information resources and it is shown how text mining can be used for automatic topic map generation.
Managing image data in a database system using metadata has been practiced since the last two decades. However, describing an image fully and adequately with metadata is practically not possible. The other alternative is describing image content by its low-level features such as color, texture, shape, etc. and using the same for similarity-based image
retrieval. However, practice has shown that using only the low-level features can not as well be complete. Hence, systems need to integrate both low-level and metadata descriptions for an efficient image data management. However, due to lack of adequate image data model, absence of a formal algebra for content-based image operations, and lack of precision of the existing image processing and retrieval techniques, no much work is done to integrate the use of lowlevel and metadata description and retrieval methods. In this paper, we first present a global image data model that supports both metadata and low-level descriptions of images and their salient objects. This allows to make multi-criteria image retrieval (context-, semantic-, and content-based queries). Furthermore, we present an image data repository model that captures all data described in the model and permits to integrate heterogeneous operations in a DBMS.
In particular, similarity-based operations (similarity-based join and selection) in combination with traditional ones can be carried out. Finally, we present an image DBMS architecture that we use to develop a prototype in order to support both content-based and metadata retrieval.
Software quality management and quality assurance are disciplines that require substantial knowledge of the methods and techniques to be applied. More important than a solid knowledge of methodology, however, is the ability to judge feasibility of approaches, and to tailor activities to the business unit culture and constraints. Software quality activities must be carefully integrated into an existing company or business culture. Making informed decisions requires more than knowledge – it calls for experience of what works and what does not work in a given environment. Experienced quality agents are a scarce resource. Exploiting a scarce resource – like experiences in software quality – more effectively is a straight-forward concept.
Five years ago, DaimlerChrysler set up a large research project with business units, called SEC (Software Experience Center). Its purpose was to explore opportunities for learning from experiences within and across different business units. Unlike more general approaches of knowledge management, SEC was entirely devoted to software processes: software
development, software acquisition, and in particular software quality in both development and acquisition settings.
However, not all expectations that are often related to experience exploitation are realistic. In SEC, some of our initial expectations were met, others were not. This talk reports and reflects on our attempts to capture, engineer, and reuse experiences in the realm of software quality and software process improvement.
The generation of technical knowledge abounds while the underusage of existing knowledge potential remains a problem in business as well as in society. Generally speaking value can be extracted from knowledge in three ways:
Each way requires different approaches to KM. But in all cases the problem of how to deal with abundance arises: It arises at the individual as well as at the level of interface design in a knowledge dividing society.
First ideas to solve that problem refer to the individual rather than the interface design level:
deal with the growing gap between abundant potential knowledge and scarce human attention on the one hand and with restricted human capacity to process information on the other.
For the time being a clear focus on good old virtues, such as will (focus), modesty (less is more) and courage (to decide under conditions of incomplete information and uncertainty) seem as trivial intellectually as hard to implement in practice.
New wireless protocols like W-LAN and Bluetooth allow establishing spontaneous networks and peer-to-peer exchange of information. At the same time standards like Semantic Web and Topic Maps gain acceptance that add semantics to information. This paper introduces Shark. Shark is an acronym and stands for “Mobile Shared Knowledge”. Shark organizes knowledge with help of Topic Maps, synchronizes knowledge inside closed user groups but also enables a peer-to-peer exchange of knowledge by means of Bluetooth. This paper gives an overview of the system and its communication protocols.
Community web sites exhibit the property that multiple content providers exist. Of course, any portal is only as useful as the quality and amount of its content. Developing original content is time consuming and expensive. To offset the cost, we present a novel framework, viz. SEAL (SEmantic portAL), that builds on Semantic Web standards. We illustrate our approach with examples from the OntoWeb community portal. Community web sites exhibit two dominating properties: They often need to integrate many different information sources and they require an adequate web site management system. SEAL exploits ontologies for fulfilling the requirements set forth by these two properties. Ontologies provide a high level of sophistication for web information integration as well as for web site management.
Vast collections of video and audio recordings which have captured events of the last century remain a largely untapped resource of historical and scientific value. The Informedia Digital Video Library has pioneered techniques for automated video and audio indexing, navigation, visualization, search and retrieval and embedded them in a system for use in education and information mining. In recent work we introduce new paradigms for knowledge discovery by aggregating and integrating video content on-demand to enable summarization and visualization in response to queries in a useful broader context, starting with historic and geographic perspectives.
New Learning in analogy to New Economy means a new paradigm of learning. Old Learning was learning with a continuous learning history in mind. New Learning means, that the continuity of a learning history is stored in a computer memory and can be quickly accessed. The external storage generates a better and more precise continuity of individual historical learning experiences and shifts the focus of cognitive energy to cognitive creativity. If knowledge is managable as the new discipline knowledge management offers, this new approach will make sense.
This case study illustrates the knowledge management framework that was designed during the introduction of knowledge management instruments at Siemens Business Services GmbH & Co. or SBS, as it is known. The knowledge management framework will give the reader an understanding of the holistic approach to knowledge management and the different stages of implementation. It also introduces the key learning processes experienced by Siemens Business Services (SBS) during the various implementation phases. The knowledge management (KM) requirements, challenges and solutions within the service business are highlighted. The case study also shows the challenges and objectives of knowledge management (KM) programs, in general, and at Siemens Business Services (SBS), in particular. Based on the experience of the implementation of KM at SBS, the case study closes with critical success factors for other KM implementations, both within and outside Siemens.
Interested readers find a lot of ideas, concepts and implementation attempts for the modern subject “knowledge management”. A midsize consulting company now faces the problem of finding the answer to: „what do we need to implement to stay in touch with knowledge and where does the cost/profit relationship just put a stop our possibilities?“ The biggest problem for these companies is their size: they are too big to exchange information and knowledge during coffee or lunch breaks. On the other hand the extensive, company wide systems of the corporates are too expensive and usually not hitting the target. Against this background I’d like to present a possible solution for day-to-day knowledge management using the hands-on experience of Gosch Consulting GmbH, a midsize IT-consulting company.
Looking at our company from the knowledge point of view we realized early on that certain standards have been partly implemented within the company even before the knowledge management hype started. This motivated us to take a closer look at the practicability of our tools and to look into and introduce some of the new concepts and ideas. The objective was to
examine their efficiency and effectiveness for our own company first and then to find the balance between “must” and “nice to have”. Equally important was the fact that the instruments had to enhance the quality and value of the company and also of the individual employee.
In order to be able to (re-)use digital content, interested users must be able to identify and locate relevant documents. This requires descriptive data, nowadays generally referred to as metadata. Technical standards for a scaleable deployment on a global scale are required if we want to achieve a critical mass of resources. In this paper, we present the current status of ongoing work in this area, with a particular emphasis on the IEEE LTSC Learning Object Metadata standard [IEEE, 2001] and related developments in the context of the ISSS Learning Technologies Workshop [ISSS, 2001].
Recently, the idea of semantic portals on the Web or on the intranet has gained popularity. Their key concern is to allow a community of users to present and share knowledge in a particular (set of) domain(s) via semantic methods. Thus, semantic portals aim at creating highquality access — in contrast to methods like information retrieval or document clustering that do not exploit any semantic background knowledge at all. However, by way of this construction semantic portals may easily suffer from a typical knowledge management problem. Their initial value is low, because only little richly structured knowledge is available. Hence the motivation of its potential users to extend the knowledge pool is small, too.
We here present SEAL-II, a methodology for semantic portals that extends its previous version, by providing a range of ontology-based means for hitting the soft spot between unstructured knowledge, which virtually comes for free, but which is of little use, and richly structured knowledge, which is expensive to gain, but of tremendous possible value. Thus, we give the portal builder tools and techniques in an overall framework to start the knowledge process at a semantic portal. SEAL-II takes advantage of the ontology in order to initiate the portal with knowledge, which is more usable than unstructured knowledge, but cheaper than richly structured knowledge.
The efficient management of knowledge has become imperative for almost all types of organizations. Many approaches exist for dealing with knowledge management at a corporate level. But there is also a need to support knowledge management also at an individual level, a level which takes the specific needs, experiences and skills of knowledge workers into account. While largely unexplored within the field of knowledge management, in the field of digital libraries advanced personalization and customization concepts exist. Within this context, this paper examines these concepts and how they can be exploited to address the challenges which are typical for knowledge management. As the paper will show, many synergies exist, if knowledge management at an individual level is dealt with in combination with personal digital libraries.
The utilization of new emerging standards such as MPEG-7 is expected to be a major breakthrough for content-based multimedia data retrieval. The main features of the MPEG standards series and of related standards, formats and protocols are presented. It is discussed, how they, despite their partially early and immature stage, can best be utilized to yield effective results in the context of a knowledge management environment. Complementary to that, the current status and state of the art in content-based retrieval for images, video and audio content is briefly presented. In the context of the KNOW-Center we are developing a prototype platform to implement a user friendly and highly informative access to audiovisual content as a potential component for a future knowledge management system. The technical requirements and the system architecture for the prototype platform are described.
This paper describes our vision for the near future in digital content analysis as it relates to the creation, verification, and presentation of knowledge. We focus on how visualization enables humans to make discoveries and gain knowledge. Visualization, in this context, is not just the picture representing the data but also a two-way interaction between humans and their information resources for the purposes of knowledge discovery, verification, and the sharing of knowledge with others. We present visual interaction and analysis examples to demonstrate how one current visualization tool analyzes large, diverse collections of text. This is followed by lessons learned and the presentation of a core concept for a new human information discourse.
This paper deals with a general approach to knowledge management in companies and organizations. It strongly builds on insights concerning knowledge processing in superorganisms and reflects years of FAW experiences in applications. The paper in particular shows how (1) human resources, (2) issues of organization and (3) new IT systems interact in achieving a higher level of competence and competitiveness. In this context, dealing with non-explicit sources of knowledge is a major issue, too.
The rapid emergence of a global knowledge economy both shortens the timetable for progress on sustainable development and also offers a potential “win-win” alternative to the traditional trade-off between growth and environmental sustainability. The Lisbon Strategy and e-Europe initiative to accelerate development of the knowledge economy in Europe already addresses several aspects of social and economic sustainability. However, the trends in most resource-use and environmental impact indicators are still worsening, and much more needs to be done to realise the potential benefits of structural change in business and employment, notably in the service sector. The Stockholm and Göteborg EU Summits, and the subsequent Rio+10 conference give a timely and unique opportunity to establish European coherence and leadership in seeking sustainable development in the knowledge economy.
However, we also need a new clarification of individual and business-level responsibilities for lifestyle and business organisation changes, and a much wider take-up of innovative “win-win” solutions for growth with reductions in resource use and impacts.
“New” essential resources and success factors keep being invested and provide fertile grounds, not only in the consultancy industry, for ever more glossy brochures to create success. The production factor of knowledge is currently at the focus of many theories and numerous publications. It remains to be seen whether we are seeing real innovations. Knowledge has always been prerequisite to creating products or services, an essential input, a “silent production factor”.
The modern, complex environment has also made products and processes more complex and extensive. The ability to adapt to changing conditions increasingly determines success or failure. All aspects of enterprises are affected, even the “smallest units”, the human element. In this context, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to share knowledge with colleagues. Knowledge transfer is basically characterised by a question-and-answer principle. The focus is on the incalculable human factor. This causes more or less distinct transfer barriers.
Prejudices, fear of criticism, lack of confidence, constant time pressures and other factors are some barriers to transfer caused by the individual. Besides organisations may create barriers, too, through rigid hierarchies, red tape, and outdated procedures.
By means of the barrier matrix and the barrier cube we have presented eight different constellations from the scientist’s view. At a very theoretical level we have also touched briefly on how to solve these problems. Knowledge management does not yet seem to attach enough importance to the issue of communication, particularly to internal communication. In addition to individual and organisational transfer barriers, communication media can also contribute to problems and barriers in knowledge transfer.
Humans are not able to cope with the exponential growth of information and the increasing speed of information and business processes fostered by information and communication technologies. Technical support not only for information storage and retrieval but also for information selection, process planning, and decision support is needed. Most of the ICT investments, however, do not foster innovation or productivity. Recent studies show that ICT-based training is the main instrument of knowledge management. On-line media and selfdirected learning environments are among the most effective training solutions in terms of cost, time and logistics. In the last few years, the percentage of employees participating in training courses increased. At the same time, there has been a decline of training budgets. E-Learning is able to deliver more valuable training for less money only if it is part of an integrated knowledge and skills management system. Two case studies of knowledge and meta data management systems are discussed.
Knowledge management systems provide three basic services: information capture, storage and organization, and access. This paper argues that collaborative virtual environments (CVEs) provide features that make them uniquely suited as an integral part of information capture. After introducing CVEs, we present our work in this area and outline our future plans.