Basic Concepts of Knowledge Management - Part 1

Introduction
This paper provides an introductory conceptual framework for knowledge management. It treats the concepts of Knowledge Management System, Knowledge Base, Knowledge, Knowledge Process, and Knowledge Management in the abstract. It then develops corresponding definitions at the slightly lower level of abstraction of human organizations. Two approaches to knowledge management are identified and characterized. The paper then concludes with a discussion of some issues suggested by the framework.

THE MOST ABSTRACT LEVEL


The Knowledge Management System (KMS)
The KMS is the on-going, persistent interaction among agents within a system that produces, maintains, and enhances the system's knowledge base. This definition is meant to apply to any intelligent, adaptive system composed of interacting agents. An agent is a purposive, self-directed object. Knowledge base will be defined in the next section.

In saying that a system produces knowledge we are saying that the system (a) gathers information and (b) compares conceptual formulations describing and evaluating its experience, with its goals, objectives, expectations or past formulations of descriptions, or evaluations. Further, this comparison is conducted with reference to validation criteria. Through use of such criteria, intelligent systems distinguish competing descriptions and evaluations in terms of closeness to the truth, closeness to the legitimate, and closeness to the beautiful.

In saying that a system maintains knowledge we are saying that a system continues to evaluate its knowledge base against new information by subjecting the knowledge base to continuous testing against its validation criteria. We are also saying that to maintain its knowledge, a more complex system must ensure both the continued dissemination of its currently validated knowledge base, and continued socialization of intelligent agents in the use and content of its knowledge base.

Finally, in saying that a system enhances its knowledge base, we are saying that a system adds new propositions and new models to its knowledge base, and also simplifies and increases the explanatory and predictive power of its older propositions and models. That is, one of the functions of the KMS is to provide for the growth of knowledge.

Knowledge Base of a System and Knowledge
A system's knowledge base is: the set of remembered data; validated propositions and models (along with metadata related to their testing); refuted propositions and models (along with metadata related to their refutation); metamodels; and (perhaps, if the system produces such an artifact) software used for manipulating these, pertaining to the system and produced by it.
A knowledge management system, in this view, requires a knowledge base to begin operation. But it enhances its own knowledge base with the passage of time because it is a self-correcting system, and subjects its knowledge base to testing against experience.

This definition of knowledge base contrasts with a popular definition of knowledge as "justified, true belief." [2] The definition does agree with the necessity of justification as a necessary condition for knowledge; but it insists that justification be specific to the validation criteria used by a system to evaluate its descriptions and evaluations. The definition also agrees that knowledge is a particular kind of belief, provided that belief extends beyond cognition alone, to evaluation.

[3]The biggest discrepancy of the above definition with the popular one is in not requiring that justified beliefs be "true." Truth can be used as a regulating ideal by a system producing descriptive knowledge. "Right" can be used as a regulating ideal by a system producing evaluative or normative knowledge. But the system in question can never say for sure that a proposition or a model within its knowledge base is "true," or "right;" but only that it has survived refutation by experience better than its competitors, and therefore that the system "believes" it is true or right. So instead of knowledge as "true, justified belief," the position taken here is that knowledge equals justified belief that some conceptual formulation, fact, or evaluation, is true or right as the case may be.

Finally, the emphasis on a system's knowledge base, rather than its knowledge, recognizes that an identification of knowledge as individual conceptions, propositions, or models is inconsistent with the reality that acceptance of a piece of information into a system's body of knowledge is dependent on the background knowledge already within the knowledge base. This background knowledge is used to filter and interpret the information being evaluated. [4], [5], [6].
In a very real sense, a system's knowledge is the analytical network of propositions and models constituting the knowledge base. It is therefore, just for convenience, that one may refer to a particular proposition or model as something a system "knows," because it knows that "something," only if one assumes that numerous unspecified background propositions and models are also known by it.[7]

The Knowledge Management Process and Knowledge Management (KM)
The Knowledge Management Process (KMP) is an on-going persistent interaction among human-based agents who aim at integrating all of the various agents, components, and activities of the knowledge management system into a planned, directed process producing, maintaining and enhancing the knowledge base of the KMS. Knowledge Management is the human activity within the KMP aimed at creating and maintaining this integration, and its associated planned, directed process.

Kemaskini Windows XP Anda

Oleh : Harisfazillah Jamel
Untuk http://cikgucyber.blogspot.com/

Secanggih mana pun perisian anti-virus, sekerap mana kemas kini definisi virus dilakukan, tanpa membuat kemas kini kepada sistem operasi Windows XP, ia masih terbuka jalan buat trojan dan virus untuk menyerang.

Ramai pengguna komputer Windows XP tidak menyedari wujudnya Windows XP Automatic Updates. Ia adalah bertujuan untuk memudahkan muat turun kemas kini kepada ralat Windows XP oleh Microsoft melalui Internet. Dengan cara ini, pengguna Windows XP tidak perlu lagi melawat laman khusus seperti http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

Oleh kerana kebanyakan kemas kini daripada Microsoft adalah kritikal kepada keselamatan Windows XP, maka kemas kini perlu dimuat turun secepat mungkin. Sifat manusia yang mungkin terlupa atau tidak menyedari ada kemas kini terbaru maka Automatic updates ini telah menjadi satu keperluan untuk dijalankan terutama bagi Windows XP yang telah dikemas kini dengan Service Pack 2 (SP2).

Kemas kini menjadi penting sekiranya Windows XP anda masih lagi dengan Service Pack (SP) 1 atau tiada langsung SP. Cara untuk memeriksanya :-

Cari Ikon My Computer di atas Desktop atau pada butang Start. Dengan Klik butang kanan tetikus

My Computer -> Properties.

Rujuk penyataan Windows XP pada System: yang akan dituruti sama ada Home atau Pro dan kemudian jenis SP.

Jam masa Automatic Updates perlu diperiksa. Klik tab Automatic Updates Buatlah pilihan Automatic (Recommended) dan diikuti dengan masa yang sesuai. Dicadangkan pilih Every Day dan masa Internet dapat dicapai dan komputer biasa digunakan dalam jangka masa yang panjang. Sebagai contoh jika di pejabat pukul 10 pagi adalah masa yang sesuai manakala di rumah mungkin sekitar pukul 9 malam.

Kemas kini akan dimuat turun secara automatik. Bergantung komputer pelayan Microsoft, jenis-jenis kemas kini yang diperlukan dan kelajuan Internet anda. Kemas kini akan mengambil masa tertentu untuk muat turun. Apabila kemas kini bermula, satu ikon bumi berserta logo Microsoft akan kelihatan di tepi kanan bawah di bahagian jam Windows XP.

Sebelum SP2, Windows update yang telah dimuat turun perlu dipasang sendiri dengan klik ikon perisai kuning berlambang tanda seruan. Ikon ini menggantikan ikon muat turun itu tadi. Pilihlah "Express Install" dan kemudian butang Next dan kemudian Install.


Untuk Windows XP dengan SP2, setelah "update" dimuat turun, kemas kini boleh dilakukan sama ada seperti di atas atau sewaktu shutdown Windows XP, ia akan dilakukan secara automatik. Jika dilakukan sewaktu shutdown, anda perlu tunggu lebih lama sedikit daripada biasa sewaktu Windows memasang "update" baru.

Jika anda tidak mahu memasang update sewaktu "shutdown" tekanlah terus butang shift sebelum menekan butang "shutdown". Namun begitu "update" masih perlu dilakukan dan ia akan ditanya pada "shutdown" lain nanti.

Sekiranya anda sering melakukan "update", jangka masa kemas kini akan menjadi semakin kurang dan adakala ia tidak disedari.

Bagi anda yang tidak dapat membuat kemas kini atas sebab-sebab perlesenan, tindakan awal yang anda boleh lakukan adalah dengan melakukan beberapa perkara penting sebagai pelan tindakan sementara.

(1) Pastikan "Firewall" bina dalam Windows XP dijalankan.

(2) Pastikan antivirus terbaru dipasang.

(3) Pastikan anda tidak menggunakan Internet Explorer kerana banyak kelemahan Windows XP adalah daripada Internet Explorer.

Untuk perkara pertama ia boleh dilakukan berdasarkan artikel ini.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/learnmore/icf.mspx
http://www.dshield.org/clients/windows_xp_firewall_setup.html

Untuk perkara kedua boleh muat turun

http://free.grisoft.com/ (Free Edition For Home)
http://www.clamwin.com/ (Open Source)

Untuk perkara tiga, Mozilla Firefox adalah pilihan yang terkini. Sila lawat laman http://www.wanita.us/firefox.php untuk artikel tentangnya atau muat turun di http://www.mozilla.org/

Diharapkan artikel ini dapat menyedarkan pengguna Windows XP kepentingan kemas kini Windows XP anda kerana ia mampu dalam melindungi kepentingan dan data anda.

Harisfazillah Jamel
http://blog.harisfazillah.info

Major IT Projects Review

Successful IT: Modernising Government in Action

Business Change

Delivery of information technology (IT) projects must be set in the context of delivering wider business change.

In the past, the introduction of IT systems has been seen as an end in itself instead of being part of a wider process to meet departments’ and agencies’ overall business objectives.

Business development skills need to be strengthened to support the management of business change projects and to enable informed business decisions to be made both before initiation of a project and throughout its life.

Effective management of business change requires the production and maintenance of a business case for the total change, not just for the introduction of a new IT system.

Best practice standards and guidance will be provided from the Centre, to achieve greater consistency across Government in the application of this approach.

Leadership and Responsibility

Effective business change programmes and projects require clear, active and visible leadership from the top.

In the past, some change programmes and projects have suffered from a lack of active ownership.

Overall responsibility for delivering the business objectives and benefits of any programme or project must be vested in a single, responsible and visible individual, the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO).

The practice of having SROs for projects and programmes must be embedded across Government through the use of appraisal and reward systems.

The Centre needs to provide and maintain information-sharing mechanisms and practical guidance for SROs on the nature of the role and the specific tasks involved.

Project Management

Skill in policy or operational roles is no assurance of the ability to manage a project. Failure to recognise the need for specific skills results in ineffective project management and has been a contributing factor in the failure of a number of projects.

To improve Government’s performance, we need mechanisms to harness and build on the limited experience available. One such mechanism will be the wider adoption of formal project management methodologies.

Key staff on major projects should undertake appropriate project management training and mentoring should be made available to project managers across Government.

Departments and agencies must assess the difficulty of their projects and match this against the abilities of their project managers. Where necessary, these abilities should be supplemented by managers from elsewhere in the public sector or from the private sector.

Risk Management

An appreciation of business risk management at all levels in an organisation will help to ensure that the impact of a project is fully understood and monitored throughout its life.

The process of risk analysis and management is covered in existing guidelines but the extent to which these are followed varies considerably.

To ensure risk management is effective, procedures designed to improve reporting and the upward referral of problems are needed.

More effective risk management will enable departments and agencies to undertake the increasingly complex and cross-cutting projects that are demanded by the Modernising Government agenda.

Modular and Incremental Development

Large, ambitious projects carry a high risk of failing to meet some, or all, of their goals.

Governments in the UK and abroad and the private sector have recognised that an effective way o reduce risk is to break large projects into smaller, more manageable components.

We have produced some preliminary guidelines on modular and incremental approaches to IT delivery for departments and agencies to consider when taking on large projects.

Departments and agencies must consider the subject explicitly and must document their chosen approach before initiating large projects.

Benefit Realisation

Projects and programmes can only be regarded as successful if the intended benefits are realised.

There have been weaknesses in the systems used for ensuring that benefits are tracked and ultimately delivered.

Departments and agencies must include formal processes to determine the benefits of projects and review the progress towards their realisation.

The Centre needs to collect and maintain information on the type of benefits realised from specific projects and programmes and share this information across Government.

Procurement and Supplier Relationships

Increased dependence on IT to help deliver business objectives raises the importance of effective IT procurement.

Clearer articulation of Government IT procurement policy will improve relations between the Government and its suppliers and improve the success rate of projects.

Mechanisms that encourage more mature co-operation between client and supplier can have a significant impact on project success.

Scrutiny of supplier plans throughout the procurement process is important in ensuring that objectives are delivered. There are key actions that must be taken by suppliers to help improve performance.

Actively managing market intelligence across Government can help improve procurement decisions.

People and Skills

The Modernising Government agenda places a huge demand on departments, agencies and IT suppliers to expand the skills they will need to deliver successful business change.

Government needs to enhance its skills in the procurement and management of IT at a time when global demand for these skills is escalating and widespread skill shortages are being predicted.

All departments and agencies will need to retain some core skills and must consider early development and recruitment in key areas.

Government needs to get better at identifying and measuring these core skills and provide rapid ways of developing and acquiring what is missing.

The Centre also needs to act now to help departments and agencies prepare to meet the demands of the e-government Strategy.

Learning Lessons

Improving performance means learning the lessons from experiences, both good and bad.

In the past, change programmes and projects have been carried out without an awareness of what was happening, or had already happened, elsewhere.

A system of peer review will spread knowledge and ensure that new initiatives have the benefit of experience as they go ahead.

New mechanisms are needed to ensure that best practice and good advice are readily available and easy to use.

Implementation Strategy

Implementation of the recommendations set out in this report will be vital to the achievement of Information Age Government.

Implementation of these recommendations will be owned by the e-envoy who will make an interim report to the e-government Minister in December 2000 on progress and further reports on an ongoing basis.

Permanent Secretaries will be responsible for driving and monitoring progress in implementing these recommendations in their departments and agencies; reporting on progress to the e-envoy.

The Centre will have an important role in implementing the recommendations made in this report. This role must be understood by, and promoted to, government departments and agencies and industry.