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This presentation aims at answering the question “What if we
could use technology to have the same impact on knowledge
mobilization as the Web has had on information mobilization?”
The purpose of information is to help build knowledge and the
purpose of knowledge is effective action. We are now at a point
where most of the challenges of information management have been
met; new architectures based on Web Services standards at last
permit the codification, collection and integration of just
about any type of multimedia data. The Web has become the
ever-expanding base for information mobilization: access to and
distribution of information. The Semantic Web is the next thrust
in extending this mobilization. “Management” means getting
something under control: hence data base management, information
management and business process management. “Mobilization” means
activation: situational, on-demand access to information put to
use. Mobilization is demand-focused. Management is
supply-centered. Having largely solved the information supply
problem, it is time to move on to meeting the knowledge demand
opportunity.
There is a wealth of conceptual and empirical work on
knowledge management, most of which reports disappointing
results, especially widespread barriers to collaboration and
knowledge-sharing and expensive investments in intranets that do
not generate the planned use and impact. This presentation
offers some directions for breaking these boundaries on
knowledge mobilization. Topics that it addresses are:
- The nature of knowledge as personal identity : accountable
knowledge that can and should be shared as widely as possible,
discretionary knowledge that is the primary target for
organizational information-sharing and that rests on building
communities of trust, and autonomous knowledge that is private
and core to individual identity. Each category of knowledge
requires a different approach to both the technical and
organizational elements of a knowledge mobilization strategy.
- The Universal Information Interface: the combination of
Web Services, augmented barcoding (including RFID) and
industry-specific metadata are rapidly standardizing the
interfaces to rich media. They are also signaling a shift from
“information” technology to enterprise coordination technology
architectures.
- Mobility: the new generation of mobile communications and
tools will be core to knowledge mobilization for the obvious
reason that they bring information and communication resources
to people where they are and when they need them. Knowledge
mobilization and mobile technology will increasingly move
together and open up many opportunities for process
innovation.
Knowledge mobilization is a core element in building
enterprise coordination capabilities. Those capabilities are the
embodiment of the relationships, collaborations and process
innovations that differentiate organizations in terms of
service, productivity and growth. the overall goal of this
presentation is to offer practical frameworks and
recommendations for research and practice in what will surely be
the mainstream in the knowledge era that follows on from the
information era. |