Abstract

This paper addresses the expectations, organizational implications, and information processing requirements, of the emerging knowledge management paradigm. A brief discussion of the enablement of the individual through the wide-spread availability of computer and communication facilities, is followed by a description of the structural evolution of organizations, and the architecture of a computer-based knowledge management system. The author discusses two trends that are driven by the treatment of information and knowledge as a commodity: increased concern for the management and exploitation of knowledge within organizations; and, the creation of an organizational environment that facilitates the acquisition, sharing and application of knowledge.

Tracing the evolution of the structure of organizations, the author concludes that the web-like features of the Network Model are most conducive to the promotion of knowledge management principles, even though this model does have liabilities that require careful monitoring.

The paper further discusses in some detail the architecture of a knowledge management system that consists of a lower integrated data layer and an upper information layer. Attention is drawn to the need of the data layer to include not only archived summary data as found in Data Warehouses and Data Marts, but also near real-time operational data with convenient access provided by Data Portals. An important distinction is drawn between data-centric and information-centric software environments in terms of software with an internal information model capable of supporting agents with automatic reasoning capabilities. The paper concludes with a brief description of the mechanisms through which a Web-Services environment provides access to distributed data sources, as well as heterogeneous data-centric and information-centric software applications.

Disciplines

Software Engineering

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URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cadrc/37