Knowledge ecosystem
Encyclopedia
The idea of a knowledge
ecosystem
is an approach to knowledge management
which claims to foster the dynamic evolution of knowledge interactions between entities to improve decision-making and innovation through improved evolutionary networks of collaboration
.
In contrast to purely directive management
efforts that attempt either to manage or direct outcomes, knowledge ecosystems espouse that knowledge strategies
should focus more on enabling self-organization
in response to changing environments. The suitability between knowledge and problems confronted defines the degree of "fitness" of a knowledge ecosystem. Articles discussing such ecological approaches typically incorporate elements of complex adaptive systems theory. Known implementation considerations of knowledge ecosystem include the Canadian Government .
Key elements of networked knowledge systems include:
1. Core Technologies: Knowledge ecosystems operate on two types of technological core - one dealing with the content or substantive knowledge of the industry, and the other involving computer hardware and software and telecommunications, that serve as the "procedural technology" of operations. These technologies provide knowledge management capabilities that are far beyond individual human capacity. In the business education and training context substantive technology would be knowledge of different business functions, tasks, processes products, R&D, markets, finances and relations. Research, codification, documentation, publication and electronic sharing create this substantive knowledge. Communications between computers and among humans permit knowledge ecosystems to be interactive and responsive within the wider community and within its subsystems.
2. Critical Interdependencies: Organizational knowledge resides in a complex network of individuals, systems and procedures both inside and outside the organization. This network is established in the form of social and technological relationships. The relationships reflect vital interests and mutual histories. The elements of the network are dependent on each other for resources and mutual survival. Accessing and using this knowledge network involves understanding and maintaining the integrity of underlying relationships.
3. Knowledge Engines and Agents: This refers to the system of creating knowledge including the research and development processes, experts, operational managers/administrators, software systems, archival knowledge resources and databases. Knowledge agents are independent software systems that perform dedicated organizational knowledge functions. In the case of business education knowledge ecosystem these engines and agents include, researchers, faculty or trainers, WWW information resources, corporate and industry data bases, and software systems for accomplishing specific strategic tasks.
4. Performative Actions: Organizational knowledge is converted into economic value through processes that involve action. These could be cognitive actions such as learning or deciding, or physical actions such as preparing a meal or writing a check, and social actions such as organizing or entertaining. Organizational tasks most often require all these and other types of actions to occur in a linked way for value to be created. They occur in the physical spaces, electronic spaces, economic transactions, and communicative exchanges of knowledge tasks. They contribute to achievement of organizational goals.
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
is an approach to knowledge management
Knowledge management
Knowledge management comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organization to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences...
which claims to foster the dynamic evolution of knowledge interactions between entities to improve decision-making and innovation through improved evolutionary networks of collaboration
Collaboration
Collaboration is working together to achieve a goal. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals, — for example, an intriguing endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing...
.
In contrast to purely directive management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
efforts that attempt either to manage or direct outcomes, knowledge ecosystems espouse that knowledge strategies
Strategy
Strategy, a word of military origin, refers to a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. In military usage strategy is distinct from tactics, which are concerned with the conduct of an engagement, while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked...
should focus more on enabling self-organization
Self-organization
Self-organization is the process where a structure or pattern appears in a system without a central authority or external element imposing it through planning...
in response to changing environments. The suitability between knowledge and problems confronted defines the degree of "fitness" of a knowledge ecosystem. Articles discussing such ecological approaches typically incorporate elements of complex adaptive systems theory. Known implementation considerations of knowledge ecosystem include the Canadian Government .
Key Elements
To understand knowledge ecology as a productive operation, it is helpful to focus on the knowledge ecosystem that lies at its core. Like natural ecosystems, these knowledge ecosystems have inputs, throughputs and outputs operating in open exchange relationship with their environments. Multiple layers and levels of systems may be integrated to form a complete ecosystem. These systems consist of interlinked knowledge resources, databases, human experts, and artificial knowledge agents that collectively provide an online knowledge for anywhere anytime performance of organizational tasks. The availability of knowledge on an anywhere-anytime basis blurs the line between learning and work performance. Both can occur simultaneously and sometimes interchangeably.Key elements of networked knowledge systems include:
1. Core Technologies: Knowledge ecosystems operate on two types of technological core - one dealing with the content or substantive knowledge of the industry, and the other involving computer hardware and software and telecommunications, that serve as the "procedural technology" of operations. These technologies provide knowledge management capabilities that are far beyond individual human capacity. In the business education and training context substantive technology would be knowledge of different business functions, tasks, processes products, R&D, markets, finances and relations. Research, codification, documentation, publication and electronic sharing create this substantive knowledge. Communications between computers and among humans permit knowledge ecosystems to be interactive and responsive within the wider community and within its subsystems.
2. Critical Interdependencies: Organizational knowledge resides in a complex network of individuals, systems and procedures both inside and outside the organization. This network is established in the form of social and technological relationships. The relationships reflect vital interests and mutual histories. The elements of the network are dependent on each other for resources and mutual survival. Accessing and using this knowledge network involves understanding and maintaining the integrity of underlying relationships.
3. Knowledge Engines and Agents: This refers to the system of creating knowledge including the research and development processes, experts, operational managers/administrators, software systems, archival knowledge resources and databases. Knowledge agents are independent software systems that perform dedicated organizational knowledge functions. In the case of business education knowledge ecosystem these engines and agents include, researchers, faculty or trainers, WWW information resources, corporate and industry data bases, and software systems for accomplishing specific strategic tasks.
4. Performative Actions: Organizational knowledge is converted into economic value through processes that involve action. These could be cognitive actions such as learning or deciding, or physical actions such as preparing a meal or writing a check, and social actions such as organizing or entertaining. Organizational tasks most often require all these and other types of actions to occur in a linked way for value to be created. They occur in the physical spaces, electronic spaces, economic transactions, and communicative exchanges of knowledge tasks. They contribute to achievement of organizational goals.
See also
- Collective intelligenceCollective intelligenceCollective intelligence is a shared or group intelligence that emerges from the collaboration and competition of many individuals and appears in consensus decision making in bacteria, animals, humans and computer networks....
- Digital ecosystemDigital ecosystemA digital ecosystem is a distributed adaptive open socio-technical system with properties of self-organisation, scalability and sustainability. As an emerging field of study, "digital ecosystems" is informed by knowledge of natural ecosystems and is still being defined...
- Distributed cognitionDistributed cognitionDistributed cognition is a psychological theory developed in the mid 1980s by Edwin Hutchins. Using insights from sociology, cognitive science, and the psychology of Vygotsky it emphasizes the social aspects of cognition. It is a framework that involves the coordination between individuals,...
- EcosystemEcosystemAn ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
- Global brainGlobal brainThe Global Brain is a metaphor for the worldwide intelligent network formed by people together with the information and communication technologies that connect them into an "organic" whole...
- Information ecologyInformation ecologyIn the context of an evolving information society, the term information ecology marks a connection between ecological ideas with the dynamics and properties of the increasingly dense, complex and important digital informational environment and has been gaining progressively wider acceptance in a...
- Knowledge managementKnowledge managementKnowledge management comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organization to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences...
- Knowledge marketKnowledge marketA knowledge market is a mechanism for distributing knowledge resources. There are two views on knowledge and how knowledge markets can function. One view uses a legal construct of intellectual property to make knowledge a typical scarce resource, so the traditional commodity market mechanism can be...
- Intelligent city
Further reading
- Clippinger, J. (ed.). The Biology of Business: Decoding the Natural Laws of Enterprise, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1999.
- March, James G. A Primer on Decision-Making. (1994)
- March, James G. The Pursuit of Organizational Intelligence. (1998)
External links
- Tim Clark (2006). Knowledge Ecosystem Task Force Proposal, W3C HCLS-SIG Draft for discussion 2/13/06
- http://wiki.nasa.gov/cm/wiki/Federal%20Knowledge%20Management%20Working%20Group%20(KMWG).wiki/1001884main_Bontis%20from%20KM%20101%20Slides.ppt
- http://www.climatechange.ca.gov/adaptation/meetings/2008-10-10_meeting/2008-10-10_CAS_Public_Meeting_Presentation.pps
- Zhuge H. and Shi, X. Toward the Eco-grid: A Harmoniously Evolved Interconnection Environment. Communications of the ACM, 47(9)(2004)78-83.