KM & Communications

The significance of infopreneurs in the information society and knowledge economy

Farai Mutindindi — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 04:20:56 -0700

There is a consensus that the global economy has evolved from being predominantly industrial to an information society. The world today is characterised by an escalation of information produced every day, availed in various formats, of different opinion and from diverse originators. The information explosion is in direct response to an increasing demand for information as man incessantly appreciates the need for the commodity to provide solutions to daily challenges. The global village, as it is now referred to, has also fallen victim to an escalating growth in procedures used in gathering, processing, communicating and storing information in personal, educational, business and social life. The persistence of information explosion and the dominance of information technology have necessitated an urgent need for dynamic and competent information professionals with the mental alacrity and enthusiasm to avail relevant and adequate information promptly. The business sector has embraced the development by showing willingness to pay for information that increases profit margins and consequently the emergence of individuals and enterprises called information entrepreneurs. The following discussion analyses the significance of information entrepreneurs, steps to become an information entrepreneur and categories of entrepreneurs in this information age.
The Information age
According to Shillinglaw (1988: 12), the concept of information society refers to a society in which the majority of the workforce is engaged, not in the production of manufactured goods, but in the processing of information. It is a post industrial society in which professional services are prominent. Information, unlike in agrarian or industrial era’s dominated by agriculture and industry respectively, is highly regarded and used in providing solutions and making complex descisions. Bell (1998: 16) adds, in an information society, creation, distribution and manipulation of information becomes the most significant economic and cultural activity and the society is characterised by use of compatible technology for a wide range of personal, social, educational and business activities. The high level of information intensity in the daily lives of most citizens thus inevitably results in the need to collect, collate, evaluate and disseminate information digitally. This is information technology.
Sehgal (2004:07) defines information technology as new methods of communicating, storing and gathering information, resulting in information reaching out to every corner of the world in a faster way. Radio’s, televisions, cell phones and computers are examples of information technology used in the information society. Rubin (2004:80) says technology is a technical method of achieving practical purpose. As a result of technology, most work related applications are automated. This encourages replacing human labour with machines wherever possible. The computer is used for various purposes because of its versatility; this is because different application software’s can be loaded to carry out specific tasks. Human being’s can now easily achieve their goals regardless of area of expertise. In cataloguing, for instance, through the use of compatible technology and standards, MARC21 has been adopted by several libraries in the world as a worthwhile format for bibliographic description. This enables libraries to cooperate despite political boundaries.
Technology, therefore, enhances the Global village concept. This term was popularized by McLuhan (1964), who describes how the globe has been contracted to a village by electronic technology and the instantaneous movement of information from every quarter to every point at the same time. Developments such as computer networking and connectivity bring the “global village” even nearer. Whilst there are several advantages to globalization like bringing products and markets together, a major head ache is the role it plays as a catalyst in information explosion.
Technological advancements in methods of packaging, accessing and storing information have an adverse impact on economic, social and environmental development. Sullivan (1964) laments the rapid increase in the amount of published information or data. “As the amount of available data grows, the problem of managing the information becomes more difficult and can lead to information overload”. Persons dealing with information are left in a quandary in terms of acquisition and evaluation of information in order to make decisions or find solutions. Shillinglaw (1988: 17) describes these as individuals or bodies who, in their course of work, are occupied with the location and use of information, either as an end in itself, or in the pursuit of some other objective. Bankers, insurers, managers, educators and administrative staff can, therefore, all be included in the “information worker” bracket.
These people who perform non routine, cognitive and creative work that often require information from multiple sources certainly need the assistance of information professionals. An information professional is defined by Bell (1988:23) as an individual qualified and skilled in organization, preservation and dissemination of information. Information professionals have mastered the art of organizing and retrieving knowledge. Traditionally, their work has been with print materials, but these skills are being increasingly used with electronic, visual, audio and digital materials. Information workers are employed in a variety of public, private, non-profit and academic institutions.
The Knowledge economy
Numerous scholars describe today’s global economy as one in transition to a “knowledge economy” as an extension of an “information society”. Knowledge and expertise are as critical as other economic resources. Botha (2007:18) concurs, “we are in the knowledge economy, where the basic form of capital is driven by the accumulation of knowledge and where knowledge plays a central role in wealth generation and exploitation”. This entails that knowledge has surpassed capital and labour as the most significant factors of production and therefore, in such an economy knowledge is used to produce economic benefits. A knowledge economy is characterised by use of technology to enhance the production and distribution of knowledge. Existing knowledge becomes much easier to access and through new media like the internet, professionals, producers and users/ consumers can interact. As a result, goods and services can be developed, bought, sold and even delivered over electronic networks.
An information entrepreneur
Zimmerer and Scarborough (1996:02) coined the term entrepreneur to a person who shifts economic resources out of an area of lower productivity to an area of higher productivity and yield. The major role of an entrepreneur is to exploit change, not by doing things better but by doing things different. Knight (1921:14) states that an entrepreneur profits from bearing uncertainty and risk and Cole (1959:32) adds “entrepreneurship is purposeful activity to initiate and develop a profit oriented business”. From these definitions, entrepreneurship can therefore be defined as the establishment of an innovative economic organization for the purpose of gain or growth under risky and uncertain conditions.
Du Toit (2000:84) says information is the essential ingredient in today’s knowledge based economy. Information is data organized into useful form. When acquired, it enlightens, modifies thinking and results in behavioral change. Information has always been crucial to mankind, from the time primitive man relied on information on the natural environment to the present day when scientific enquiries are carried out before decisions can be made. Information entrepreneurship thus becomes a very significant field in the information society. Moore (2010:4) adopts a broad definition of information entrepreneurs as individuals who seek to discover market needs and launch new firms to met market demand, specifically in information trends. They are risk takers who provide impetus for change, innovation and progress in economic life. In consensus, Weitzen (1998:16) adds, a wide variety of individuals and enterprises that have seized the opportunity of turning information provision into successful commercial ventures. The primary business if an information entrepreneur is gathering and selling information. They attractively package specific required data or information related service to the relevant client at an appropriate time and earn a living.
Lahm and Stowe (2011:107) intensify, “The widespread practice of developing, selling and reselling information is now popularly known as infopreneurship. This has emerged as the information products industry has undergone a virtual revolution”. Information entrepreneurship, thus involves either coming up with an idea and developing it into a service or packaging information into a product. With technological advancements, services and products can be availed in electronic formats like databases, CD-ROM or DVD and with the development of the internet, “infopreneurs” have a platform for marketing and distribution. An example of a product is developing a library database for circulation of loan materials and targeting, say, school libraries for installation and training. Alternatively, information entrepreneurs can provide a service of centralized cataloguing library materials and target public libraries in a city. Information entrepreneurs should, therefore, possess necessary competencies to develop such products and assess the risk involved. Typical examples of information products and services as referred to by Jordan (2009) include e-books, podcasts, teleseminars, e-zines, consulting and training services, and thus implying an infopreneur as an author and publisher of proprietary and non proprietary data.
Significance of an information entrepreneur
Information provision
Jordan (2009) articulates that knowledge deficiency situations are characteristic of the knowledge economy hence it is the role of the information entrepreneur to exploit such opportunities by developing products and services to fill in the gap. Dance (1994) sustains “a deterministic feature of infopreneurs is their desire to proactively disseminate knowledge in an organization by educating colleagues and peers” Competent institutions value the significance of information not only for survival but to enhance growth and future success. Rowley (2008:08) highlights “information plays a momentous role in organizational processes such as decision making, innovation and learning”.
Increased demand for information
In the midst of an increased demand of information, where according to (Moore 2010) “audiences are hungry for information”, information portals, intranets and extranets address various commercial and community needs, customized for specific needs. An intranet meets the information needs of an organization and an extranet is flexible enough to allow significant stakeholders to have access to relevant parts of the information repository. Such centralized information gateways reduce information dissemination costs and there is easy control of information available but require the expertise of infopreneurs to install and setup.
Electronic business
The concept has been embraced to connote all products and by-products of technological innovations including e-commerce, e-office and e-learning. In essence, Jordan (2009) says it is technology that makes infopreneuring possible. Garnsworthy (2008:03) observes “in general, the economy relies on nascent entrepreneurs’ propensity to embark on a new business enterprise, and the information economy relies on infopreneurs to embark on new information based enterprises…” Setting up and maintaining a website is a sure way of an organization to communicate their desired message to the outside community. Products and services can be packaged attractively for viewing by potential customers. Orders can be made online, through e-banking money is transferred and deliveries are made. This is cost saving and convenient to the buyer and seller. It is through the innovation and skill of the infopreneur that regulation inventories, order processing, and distribution channels are defined and feasible.
The internet and Information explosion
The world is connected to a global village through a connection called the World Wide Web. The internet has changed the manner of bringing buyers and sellers together. The Internet exposure, therefore, reaches out to a thousand potential customers. This gives the marketer a challenge with regards to how best they can reach out to the customer and consequently the end user on how to or where to find desired products/ services. Garnsworthy (2008:03) enunciates “the internet permits diverse methods of interactive online trade through e-markets, e-malls, e-auctions and e-market spaces, which can be restricted to private audiences for a range of models. Information services provided by Amazon.com, GoCompare.com, MoneySuermarket.com or ebay.com with intuitive search capabilities could be described as infopreneurial as they offer proprietary and non proprietary content over global networks”.
In the field of information science, lack of proper policy and implementation on bibliography has often left the profession in a quandary. Published works should be recorded in respective bibliographies in order to facilitate identification, utilization and acknowledgement. Works published in colleges/ universities or within a nation should find their way to institutional or national repositories and consequently be listed in the bibliography. Through use of standards, the national bibliographies should be integrated with the regional, continental and ultimately world wide databases in order to counter information explosion.
Product/ service evaluation and feedback
According to Keeney (1999:541) customer values are a key element of all major decisions in internet commerce. The internet is an efficient tool to test or prototype items online with the bidirectional flow of information revealing customer feedback. Gransworthy (2008:04) augments “Web statistics detailing feedback about competitors and data collected through online registration and purchase activity can be digitally recorded and analysed”. This allows the seller to have an intimate relationship with buyers essential when moulding targeted marketing initiatives and eventually resulting in customer loyalty. Infopreneurs appreciate that the knowledge economy is dynamic hence the continuous need to engage in the process of re-engineering marketing strategies.
In a library environment, such feedback is vital for example in determining borrowing patterns, overdue rationale, enabling recalls and processing extensions. All this is information paramount in policy making especially for acquisitions, membership and loans. Once the salient connotations are discovered the recommendations can be replicated in similar situations and environments.
Protecting and promoting origination of information
The information entrepreneur plays a significant role in protecting the interests of information originators by acknowledging them, paying royalties and abiding to terms and conditions of their memorandum of understandings in order to encourage them to continue producing more information. Jordan (2009) says “anybody can be an infopreneur” but explains that this requires “original content” creation and goes on to attack “information traffickers”. Information entrepreneurs should abide to the ethics of the profession to ensure that every information source is exploitated, every information need within their sphere of influence is adequately attended to and originators of information are sufficiently rewarded.
How to become an entrepreneur
Du Toit (2000:84) says Information, the essential ingredient in today’s knowledge based economy, is dynamic, expensive, and continually being repackaged and reconfigured. For one to become a successful information entrepreneur they will need foresight, determination and courage, as they would be “stepping out of the relatively safe environment of a salaried world , with regular paychecks, and venturing into the uncharted territory of the business world” (Dance 1994). There are several pre-requisites and phases that one has to go through in order to become an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurial discovery
The first step in becoming an information entrepreneur is discovering an opportunity to engage in a profitable venture. Fiet (1996: 419) suggests that this could be corporate venturing, expanding an existing business, replicating a successful concept or operating a family business. Regardless of the type of activity, the focus is on identifying the unexpected, yet valuable economic activity. Once the information entrepreneur decides on the “discovery” the next step is to acquire relevant information, package the product/ service and add value to it. In consensus, Weitzen (1998:98) adds “information entrepreneurs are profit maximisers who purchase information about prospective ventures that they utelise to improve their risk adjusted return on investment”. The infopreneur combines the acquired information with their previous knowledge and decides on the best way to package the product or present the service. They assess the risk and reduce the likelihood of making a loss by putting security arrangements in the form or contracts or a memorandum of understanding with providers of information in place.
Operational plan
Weitzen (1998) identified six ways in which infopreneurs generate, organize and disseminate information. These are through use of leveraged information (like databases or internet), customized information (tailor-made to the user’s needs), Facilitating access (reducing gap between information produced and information consumed), speeding up the flow of information (infopreneurs as communication catalysts), repackaging information (creating new information products and services) and adding value to information by using round the clock delivery systems. The infopreneur should decide on which of the broad ways they would want to operate their services and products on.
Target market
Entrepreneurial discovery and identifying a market are, to some extent, done simultaneously because the information entrepreneur would already be having an idea of the available market when they discover the product/ service. According to Fiet (1996: 422) “markets are informationally balanced when buyers and sellers have the same information, a state of perfect competition exists where economic actors earn the same average levels of profit”. In the knowledge based economy characterised by technological expansion and information explosion, no such balance exists and hence it becomes the thriving ground for entrepreneurs. On whether to target the public or private market, Fama (1970:218) reported that “public equity markets a semi-informationally efficient” meaning no investor can earn above normal returns by trading on publicly available information. The private market therefore becomes more lucrative for the information entrepreneur but scholars like Fiet (1996) go on to argue that the infopreneur can make more money from pushing volumes if they decide to trade publicly.
Personality, knowledge and skill
Different people best operate different forms of business. Infopreneurs should decide on which type suits their particular personality and needs. Zimmer and Scarborough (1996:08) say “successful entrepreneurs are visionary leaders, not dreamers…. Such visionary leaders are not loners; they have no need to insist on getting all the credit. Rather they realize that rarely is it possible to build a successful venture alone”. Other considerations include personal moral standards, physical and intellectual capabilities, training and experience, self confidence, commitment and determination, willingness to learn and creativity and flexibility. These aspects play an important role in the eventual success of the firm and infopreneurs satisfaction.
Capital investment
Budding entrepreneurs have to give particular attention to the capital investment required to start the firm and sustain it until it becomes self sustainable. However, Du Toit (2000:85) notes that “most information brokers and consultants practice from their homes. The industry is not capital intensive and they often employ part-time personnel”. Since availability of capital is, therefore not prejudicing infopreneurs, they have a wider option of paths to choose from. Having considered the points above, one can begin their infopreneurship journey.
Categories of entrepreneurs
Several basis of classification have been proposed by various scholars to be adopted in order to come up with categories of entrepreneurs. Rowley (2000:97) says “classification is a tool to aid understanding, not a rigid category that entrepreneurs must be shoehorned into”. The types of entrepreneurs are therefore, not mutually exclusive but overlaps occasionally occur. Below are the methodology that can be used to categorise entrepreneurs.
The “classical” approach
The major proponents of the “classic views” are Cantillion, Schumpeter and Kirzner. Praag (1996:13) exclaims, they all explicitly give an essential role to the entrepreneur as a mover of the market into a certain direction as compared to it’s an equilibrium position. The premise of the entrepreneur’s contribution to the economy is based on imperfect information. Cantillion’s entrepreneur establishes equilibrium, Schumpeter’s entrepreneur destroys equilibrium and he initiates movement to a higher equilibrium position. Kirzner’s entrepreneur, on the contrary, achieves tendencies towards an equilibrium position which is never realized.
This category comprises of craftsmen, opportunist – independence/ growth oriented entrepreneurs. Craftsmen attempt to make a living by privately selling their trade or the product they produce. Their aim is to acquire a steady income and they are also expansion oriented. Opportunist entrepreneurs are interested in maximizing their return from short term deals. Within this group, there are growth oriented entrepreneurs who pursue opportunities to maximize the potential of their ventures and independence-oriented entrepreneurs whose ambition is be self employed, (Baumol 1993:87).
Webster’s approach
Webster (1977) made a distinction between “cantillion-administrative” and independent entrepreneurs. The entrepreneur takes entrepreneurial risks but also heeds to managerial responsibility. These individuals are also known as intrapreneurs, described by Burgelman (1986 et. al.) as the practice of developing a new venture within an organization, to exploit new opportunity and create economic value. The “cantillion-entrepreneur” brings resources together to create an entirely new organization. This can lead to the establishment of a small business and the entrepreneur takes the responsibility of running the venture. An industry maker goes beyond merely initiating a firm, their innovation is so significant that a whole industry is crafted upon it.
Landau’s approach
His classification is based on two key concepts that are significant to all economic activities, that is, risk bearing and innovativeness. The parameters result in the emergence of four types of people.
The gambler is characterised by a low degree of innovation and high risk level. He has no significant innovation and is likely to have problems in matching the standards of existing players. The consolidator is an entrepreneur who develops a venture based on low levels of innovation and risk. Dance (1994:71) says “this consolidatesin that it really is, at best, a marginal improvement on what existing players have to offer”. A dreamer has high innovativeness and low risk. This is most ideal for most entrepreneurs but Landau dismisses the idea as he states that dreams cannot be achieved. The true entrepreneur combines high innovativeness and high risk. Weitzen (1998:13) challenges them “entrepreneurs and their investors must accept risk, by understanding their innovation and why it appeals to the market, they minimize and manage the risks”.
Jones - Evans approach
The technical entrepreneur as propounded by Jones – Evans (1995) is a founder andowner of a technology based business, he is primarily responsible for its planning and establishment and has management control of the organization. Rowley (2000: 51) argues that the primary assets are knowledge and skills of the founders. A sub group is the research technical entrepreneur who Jones – Evans describes as one involved in scientific or technical development of product development either in a higher education establishment or a non commercial research laboratory.
Ownership
Entrpreneurs can also be classified according to venture ownership. According to Zimmerer and Scarborough (1996:171) before selecting a form of ownership, an entrepreneur must carefully analyse the pros and cons of each form as it pertains to her situation. Entrepreneurs can choose from either being a sole proprietor, partnership or a corporation. In a sole proprietorship arrangement, the business is owned and managed by one individual. When two or more people co-own a business for the purpose of making a profit, the form of ownership is known as a partnership. Here partners share assets, liabilities and profits according to terms of their agreement. A corporation is a separate entity apart from its owners and may engage in business, make contracts, sue and be sued and pay taxes. Owners and shareholders can sell their shares without affecting continuity. All the types exist to make profits but the entrepreneur should first assess the advantages and disadvantages of each in relation to his objectives before deciding on which one to settle for.
Type of business
Entrepreneurs can also be categorized according to their type of business. Dillinger (1995:147) says trading companies may either take title to merchandise outright, sell on consignment or act as commission agents. Production companies establish operations in a host country instead of exporting to it. He identifies four options of production as contract manufacturing, licensing, franchising or direct investment. The industrial entrepreneur undertakes manufacturing of a certain product to fill up an identified gap in the market.
Other categories include the trait approach which is more concerned about the charecteristics of entrepreneurs. (Baumol 1993), classification according to ther base and sphere of influence to come up with rural, home, female, international and global entrepreneurs, (Radovic – Marovic 2009) or serial entrepreneurs who have led one business to success and leave to start another, Dance (1994:78)
Conclusion
The role of the information entrepreneur in the information society and knowledge economy has been revealed as very significant for social, educational, political and economic development. The essay discussed how one can become an information entrepreneur and finally debated on the various types of entrepreneurs.

Personal Knowledge Management Project

Facilitation techniques for KM projects

KMAadmin — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:53:57 -0700

Start: 28 Feb 2013 - 8:30am

Timezone: Etc/GMT+2

Presented by KMAfrica.com KM Practitioners Group – info@kmafrica.com

This ½ day session is designed to create and share knowledge among participants about facilitation techniques useful in KM projects. Participants will lead the way questioning, sharing and testing techniques of group engagement and animation. Particularly we'll focus on:

Defining facilitation
How to create context for a 'safe space'
Opening and closing the session – stepping out of time
Getting participants to 'open up' - how to elicit participation
Useful models and tools of facilitation including powerful African facilitation techniques
How to ensure equal participation by all
How to use symbols, metaphors and rituals in facilitation
How to encourage knowledge sharing and production

Propose: The session is designed to provide an expanded practical understanding by participatants of facilitation in KM projects. You'll leave with a useful toolbox of techniques that can be used in the workplace.

Audience / Who should attend: facilitators, change agents, KM specialists

Facilitator: Steve Banhegyi

Investment: R1,000 for ½ day workshop

Maximum number of participants: 12

Bookings: info@kmafrica.com

KM Practitioners Group - Johannesburg Chapter

Chisita Collence KM STALWART With delivering a round table lecture in Puerto Rico 2011

collence chisita — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 10:37:12 -0700

This was a great inspiring conference drawing crowds from allover the world.Chisita , Collence

KM & Communications

Chisita Collence KM STALWART With FRIENDS AND A FACILITATOR FROM IDS UK Siobhon at a workshop in Harare for LIS pedagogy

collence chisita — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 10:33:55 -0700

Chisita and friends with Siobhon from IDS UK at an ILL Pedagogy workshop in 2013 January

KM & Communications

tHE GREATEST HARANGUE OF 2009

collence chisita — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 10:28:36 -0700

CHISITA COLLENCE DELIVERING A HARANGUE IN Frankfurt 2009

KM & Communications

in Vancouver Chisita promoting Minisis

collence chisita — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 01:49:55 -0700

Chisita Collence Takaingenhamo in Vancouver 2012 Promoting Minisis

KM & Communications

With young South Africans the future!!!!!

collence chisita — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 09:00:35 -0700

Happy with the kids in South Africa-Collence.T.CHISITA

KM & Communications

Removing the barriers:Uniting the world through Information

collence chisita — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:16:23 -0700

At the University of Purto Rico.Chisita Collence

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Riding the wave:Chisita Collence with friends

collence chisita — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:01:59 -0700

Chisita In Chicago with friends from France and Morroco

KM & Communications

The Information Guru

collence chisita — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 06:56:37 -0700

With Professor from Japan and Students from Puerto Rico

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Ideas, Knowledge and Communication

collence chisita — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 06:52:55 -0700

In the center of knowledge Puerto Rico University

KM & Communications

Collence Chisita The Guru of Information doing his best

collence chisita — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 06:48:44 -0700

Chisita looking embracing the east /orient This was in Puerto Rico

KM & Communications

Collence Chisita in Cape Town

collence chisita — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 06:45:06 -0700

Collence Chisita delivering a harangue at World Science Congress

KM & Communications

Collence.T.Chisita flanked by Yedley from Africa Union and Edmund Katiti NEPAD

collence chisita — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 06:42:26 -0700

Chisita Collence .T.

KM & Communications

Information Science as a tool for socio-economic development: Libraries taking the lead in transforming society in Zimbabwe.

collence chisita — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:50:33 -0600

Information Science as a tool for socio-economic development: Libraries taking the lead in transforming society in Zimbabwe

By: Collence.T.Chisita

Abstract

This treatise explores the significant evolution of information science and its relationship with related fields like library and information science. It explores the role of information science in socio economic development. The paper highlights the role of information science in the information society with to libraries. The paper further looks at how modern technology is transforming library and information science in the twenty –first century. The paper looks at the the use of ICT’s for resource sharing and collaboration. It also explores the use of social media networks as tools for communication. The treatise also looks at information ethics and how they impact the information age. It also highlights the challenges of the digital divide with regards to access to information .The paper also explores the changing nomenclature of librarianship due to ICT’s .It also highlights the challenges of integrating culture and technology in the development of libraries and access to information.

Key words: Information Science; development; libraries; social media; ICT‘s; access to information; information ethics.

Introduction

In the Information/knowledge Age, access to Information has become significant for socio-economic development and libraries and related institutions are playing a great role in the fulfillment of such noble goals that contribute towards human development. There is a co- relationship between Information Science and libraries because both are concerned with storage and retrieval of information. Borko (1968:3-5) defines Information Science as an interdisciplinary science that systematically investigates the properties and behaviors of information, the forces that govern the flow and use of information and the labor-intensive and mechanical techniques of processing information for optimal storage, retrieval and dissemination. The discipline comprises of a pure science constituent that explores into the subject without regard to application; and an applied science component that develops services and products, for example, informatics, library and information science, records and information science and so on.

Beniger (1986) states that Information Science is a scientific discipline centered on the generation, processing and dissemination of information as well as the design of information systems that help to achieve the ideals of an information society. The Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science (2011) defines Information Science as the systematic study and analysis of the sources, development, collection, organization, dissemination, evaluation, use, and management of information, all its forms, including the channels (formal and informal) and technology applied in its communication. Information science should be viewed as an integral part of a large community of other sciences, including computer, library and information and communication sciences all of which fall under the discipline of “knowledge sciences”. Gofman (1970) notes that Information Science must aim towards the establishing a united approach to the problems relating to information and human communication “…establishing a unified scientific approach to the study of the various phenomenon involving the notion of information….the study of the properties of communication processes which may then be translated into the design of the appropriate information system for a given physical situation”

Information Science is concerned with the processes, procedures and techniques involved in contemporary Information Storage and retrieval. These discipline focus on the advancement of human meaning and understanding through technology. Furthermore contemporary Information Sciences take into cognizance the socio-economic and technological impact of ICT’s in the production, organisation, retrieval and dissemination of information. In the current ICT driven dispensation the use of modern technology has become critical as the most effective and efficient way of sharing knowledge irrespective of time and space or distance. The use of ICT’s in libraries has helped to free librarians /information professionals from the boredom of doing repetitive tasks like charging, discharging, stamping and recalling, thus enabling them to concentrate on more intelligent tasks like planning, organizing and controlling information systems. As the world advances towards the global information/knowledge driven economies information science has become fundamental to the development agenda.

Development and access to information

Ssesanga (2009) describes development as a multifaceted subject whose meaning is determined by the context in which it is used. The author defines development as the positive transformation of people’s ways of living, attitudes and behaviors as a result of their exposure or access to relevant, adequate and timely information services courtesy of the information (digital) age. Development is an issue that is on the agenda of all nations and it is by nature an enviable goal for all people and nations as the world advances towards the knowledge economy. Malekabadizadeh; Shokraneh and Hosseini (2003) argue that even though the concept is associated with economic progress, there is need to consider other factors, for example, life skills, security, science and technology, politics and economics and access to information among other factors. The authors further state that information science plays a significant role in development and this implies that libraries and related institutions as well as information systems are critical in promoting creativity, innovation and dealing with peoples needs and expectations.

Sharif al Nasabi (1996) describes development as the sum total of all actioning that drive society towards an organized system of individual and collective living conditions relating to desirable values. The pragmatic nature of “ actioning” is anchored on provision and equitable access to information. Abidi (1991) states that in order to ensure effective development there is need to combine the “inseparable trinity” comprising of a combination of knowledge/information, communication and development. Development can only be realized through the provision of relevant information /knowledge at the right time and in the right package. Libraries, resources centers, registries, archives, museums and related institutions play a noteworthy role in providing access to relevant information/ knowledge vital for stimulating and sustaining development. The common denominator of the definitions of development is element of positive transformation, growth or advancement and access to information/knowledge.

Transformation of the human society

Kawatra (2000) notes that human society is undergoing transformation due to rapid development and diffusion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT’s) that now permeate all aspects of our lives. This phenomenal transformation is characterized by large-scale computerization, grandiose development of electronic information coupled by global access to information through telecommunication infrastructure. In the information age information/knowledge has emerged as a critical resource for all activities in education, research and development, industry and commerce and socio-cultural activities among others.

Zimbabwe is no exception as it promulgated its National Information and Communication Technology Policy Framework in 2005.This policy is a major milestone in the drive towards an information society as it acknowledges the greater potential that ICT’s play in the realization of the goals of the United Nations MDG goals and the United Nations WSIS Plan of Action. The policy takes cognizance of the impact of the digital and information divide as it affects rural communities and special groups who include women, youths and people living with disabilities who require technologically driven assistive and adaptive technologies to enable them to access information/knowledge. The policy aims to narrow the digital divide through enhancing public awareness and education on ICT’s, improving penetration in all economic sectors, increasing access by all communities, increasing basic and supportive communication infrastructure, developing pertinent local content in vernacular and establishing a business culture open to new ICT based economic dispensation with reference to e-commerce not withstanding all inclusive aspects of the e-revolution with regards to e-inclusion.

Zimbabwe has a number of Internet service providers (ISP’s) like ZARNET, Yo-Africa, ZOL, Africa Online, Icon Internet, Zambezi Net, MWEBB, iWAY Africa ZimWeb, Telco, Global Internet, Earth Internet, Utande, and Taurai Zimbabwe among others. These Internet service providers are championing for the full use of ICT’s and are geared to fulfill their mandate of providing Internet connectivity and other ICT solutions in the academic sector according to Mack (2010). ISP are providing broadband facilities on a variety of platforms namely WI-Max, Leased lines, VSAT, VDSL, Optic fibre, UHF (radio) ADSL, and WI-FI and so on. Broadband refers to high speed Internet access that is always on and faster than traditional dial up access. ISP’s are critical to enabling successful use of the Internet and the WWW. They ensure that all customers’ personal and business needs are met through the provision of access, tools, training and technical support.

The Internet is viewed as a classic example of the convergence of computers and telecommunication technology. Its optimum capacity is only realized through broadband Internet facilitating the use of multiple ICT applications and services. This technology provides high-speed data transmission, convinient access to highest quality Internet services like streamlining media, VoIP, computer gaming and interactive services and less delays in transmitting content. Another service provider ECONET Wireless also provides broadband services and it has managed to lay out thousand of kilometers of fibre optics thus wiring the country and also installing high capacity base stations.
Mack (2010) notes that users can derive immense benefits from effectively and fervently using Internet services and applications through broadband connection, for example, remote network access, VoIP services and video conferencing and information exchange through WAN. These services have helped to network libraries and provide easier access to information through mobile internet. Even though people might not have networked computers, access to mobile internet can play a leading role in facilitating convenient access to information.

Information Society

Information society has transformed various facets of our life such as business, education and communication just to mention but a few The concept of the information society developed during the second half of the twentieth century when the computer technology became the catalyst for the United States of America’s transition into an information driven society according to Toffler (1980) and Martin (1995). Daniel Bell (1990) noted how the contours of the post industrial society were moving towards an information/knowledge driven society “ a shift from goods producing to service industry and ….the codification of theoretical knowledge, with knowledge and information serving as the strategic and transforming resources of society, just as capital and labour have been in earlier industrial society…”

The information society implies ascendancy in the role of information in primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy. Kumar (1999) notes that the significant role of libraries cannot be underestimated because being part of the superstructure; they maintain their position as respectable constituencies of the emerging service sector. Libraries in Zimbabwe play a critical role in providing access to the much-needed information. These libraries range from the school, public, academic and national libraries. The development of these libraries can be traced to the colonial era in the 1890’s when the settler communities established libraries in the major towns to cater for their recreational, educational and informational needs. At independence more libraries were developed, for example, local government authorities in the major cities developed public libraries coupled with new state and private universities and colleges.

Information Explosion in the context of Information Age

Information explosion can be described as a social challenge that started in the sciences and then began to spread to other disciplines. It has been noted that the pace at which the modern society changes and adjusts to such change is the most incredible feature of our present society. Change is a challenge for all institutions and the capability to adjust to change distinguishes progressive from non-progressive organisations. It has been observed that the pace at which social, economic, technological and cultural innovations are taking place is quite significant that it has become a problem for institutions like libraries to keep abreast of such developments.

Alvin Toffler (1970) predicted that that, the increase of velocity of change and its psychological effects would lead to a set of stern physical and cerebral disturbances, which he called the "future shock" syndrome. Reuters (1996) and Shenk (1997) highlighted ,anxiety, poor decision-making, difficulties in memorizing and remembering, individual and institutional amnesia and reduced attention span as effects of information overload.
The information profession is the most dynamic profession because technology is constantly changing and this calls for libraries to reorganize, restrategise and reinvent as a way to keep abreast of change. The problem of information overload is not peculiar to libraries alone but even the intellectuals, researchers, educators, managers and technologists, who often find themselves overwhelmed by the changes in their respective fields and hence the need for effective systems of Information Management anchored on scientifically proven theories of information Science.

Interdiscilinary Leit-motif for Information Science

In the second half of the twentieth century Calvin Moores (1950) coined the term Information Retrieval to refer to the complete field of the problems of recovering information from recorded knowledge/information that may be required at a particular time for a particular purpose. It is indeed a solution provided by information science to the impending catastrophe of the information explosion. Kochen (1972) noted that Information Retrieval assumed a broader context encompassing the life cycle and interactions between, people as information processors, documents as carriers of information and topics as representations.

The main challenges for Information retrieval as part of information science include efficacy, human communication, knowledge, information needs, information use, records, individual context, social context, institutional context. These problems were and are still too complex to the extent that they require an interdisciplinary approach that is encapsulated in information science. The interdisciplinary leit-motif justifies the proximity of librarianship, computer science, cognitive science and communication in the development of information science. Saracevic (1992) defines information science as an evolving field committed to scientific examination and professional application of knowledge and skills addressing the challenges of effective communication with regards to “… knowledge and knowledge records among humans in the context of social, institutional and /or individual users of and needs for information. In addressing these problems, we take advantages of the modern information technology…” The author further notes that “…base of information science is centered on human communication, designing, managing and using ICT’s…”

Information Science and librarianship

Kawatra (2000) states that the twenty first century should be viewed as the“Information/Knowledge Age” and Zimbabwe is ready to take off. The author further states that the information revolution has already started triggering deep and far reaching changes just as the development of the first metal, the printing machine, the steam engine, television or the first computer. Tapscot (2000) is of the view that in the information / knowledge economy, more and more of a company’s added value will be created by brain rather than brute force. Libraries have morphed from traditional to automated and from electronic through digital to virtual or world or universal libraries. This transition can be discerned from the vibrant wide array of nomenclature for Information professionals, for example, Digital librarian, Information navigator, Learning resources Librarian, Inforbroker, information and Communication Librarian, Infopreneur, Informediary and so on.

In Zimbabwe libraries are adjusting to the metamorphosis from traditional to technology driven libraries through embracing ICT’s in all aspects of library work, for example, cataloguing, classification, indexing, abstracting, acquisitions, circulation, marketing and conservation and preservation of materials through digitization among other areas. Information Science in its broadest context and ICT’s is on record for providing solutions to the management of information and overcoming information overload. However, adjustments to the ICT revolution are more pronounced in resource endowed academic and special libraries and less in resource starved public and school Libraries. The University of Zimbabwe is using open source software DSpace software for its institutional repository consisting of published and unpublished material. This is a commendable initiative which shows creativity in utilizing technology to preserve corporate memory, evade the pitfalls of organizational amnesia and enhance sharing of e-resources.

Information Science has also provided an enhanced understanding of an assortment of problems, processes and structures associated with knowledge, information and human behavior. It is through the intellectual strenuous task of information science scholars like, Ranganathan (1970), Calvin Mores (1950), Mchombu (1990), and Vanessa Bush (1945) among those who contributed to the organized body of knowledge and professional competencies dealing with the challenges of the information age. Saracevic (1992) is not worried whether information science, informatics, information studies, and computer and information sciences, artificial intelligence, library science or knowledge management will address Information problems as long as they are addressed in a manner that takes cognizance of human interests. Information Science and Librarianship are two distinct disciplines but they have a strong relationship in that both have a social-technological and ethical role and are concerned with the problems of effective utilization of information/knowledge.

Social Media and Libraries

The proliferation of virtual communities, social networking and user generated content production has generated new elements to the development of libraries as the service sector according to Antiroiko and Savolainen (2011). The benefits of such technologies are that library collections become more accessible and interactive, libraries become more visible and researchers will be able to share ideas as they develop their scientific work with others irrespective of time and space. Social media can be utilized to reinvigorate library services through promoting content sharing, communication and social networking. Libraries can use social media to promote culture including indigenous knowledge through wiki’s. The array of such technologies includes Facebook, Myspace, blogs, wikis and RSS feeds and so on. It is possible to create a Library page or YouTube are examples of the great potential that can be realized from social media. However, the adoption of social media requires investments and the capacity to provide service to a wider community.

Challenges confronting developing countries in the Information Age

The information economy and society rely on the global interrelationships of ICT’s with economic, political, social and cultural factors. Cogburn (1999) noted that those countries that fail to clinch the digital revolution would face cultural decline, loss of competitive economic strength, and market share as well as possible decline in national income. There are opportunities for international assistance and technical cooperation to bridge the digital divide there is need for a home-grown vision underpinned by a coherent national vision at the national level-learning Africa and Euro Africa forum for ICT research are among some of the significant players in the drive to stimulate the enhancement of a viable ICT sectors in developing countries. Zimbabwe launched its ICT strategic plan (2010-2014) whose targets encompass infrastructure development, application and services development, ICT Industry, investment and partnerships, research and development, security and quality assurance frameworks, ICT utilization and e-inclusion.

The Digital and information divide affects developing countries

The digital divide is a multi-dimensional concept that can be anatomised into the global, social and democratic divideoral .Pippa (2008) states that the global divide relates to the divergence of internet access between developed and developing countries, while the social divide refers to the lacunae between the information rich and poor in each nation and the democratic divide is viewed as a index to the differences between those who do and do not use the digital resources to engage, mobilise and participate in public life.Technological disparieties range from those at local to the global level. The digital age is characterized by digital information as evidenced by online databases, electronic publishing, library networking, e-commerce, e-governance or e-inclusivity. It is an of a high extent of computerisation, large volume growth of electronic information coupled with global access to information via telecommunications infrastructure comprising fibre optics, satellite and wireless technologies.

The greatest challenge to bridge the digital divide involves inadequate funding, lack of coherent policies, connectivity, poverty and lack of infrastructure among others. Zimbabwe has made headway through promulgating ICT policies and allowing private players to invest in the ICT industry. Libraries will greatly benefit from ICT’s through resource sharing, increasing online visibility, and content development. There is need to strengthen Public Private Sector Partnerships to support libraries and related institutions in the drive towards the information/knowledge economy. Libraries are engaged in PPP’s but there is need for a regulatory framework to guide the process to ensure mutual reciprocity rather than a zero sum game.

Information Ethics Information Science

Information professionals should understand legal and ethical issues that are critical in comprehending the challenges of the information age. Hauptman (1988) notes that information ethics range from censorship, privacy, security, access to information, confidentiality, quality of data provided by print and online vendors, copyright, fair use, credibility, respect for intellectual capital, and codes of ethics to name but a few. The convergences of disciplines relating to the modern Internet technology have stimulated the need for information ethics.

Capuro (1988) states that Information ethics become greater as evidenced by the establishment of the International Center for Information Ethics (ICIE), inclusion of legal and ethical issues in the information science curricular and development of professional codes of ethics. Generally Information ethics deal ethical questions relating to the Internet, computer science, bio-information media and communication, library and information sciences, records management and business. In the Information /Knowledge age ethical issues cover such aspects as information production of, collection and classification and access and dissemination. The ethical issues of information production involve intellectual property rights; for example, Zimbabwe has the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act that emphasizes on the economic rights that offer legal protection to knowledge producers.

The ethical issues of collection development and organisation of knowledge relate to censorship and control. This is determined by socio-cultural, political and religious factors according to Froelich (1998). The tools for organising knowledge, for example, classification schemes, indexing schedules, cataloguing rules and search engines are not neutral they have their own biases. Ethical aspects of information access and dissemination relate to public access and inalienable universal right to communicate. This issue also relate to the commoditisation of information versus free access, for example, public libraries, as a gift to society have maintained their reputation as poor peoples universities providing free access to survival and citizenry information. The provision of equal access to information within the context of Information Science is critical because it helps to bridge the digital divide, hence the calls to include the right to communicate and the right to write as human rights in national constitutions and the Universal Declaration of Human rights in the information/knowledge driven age. Capuro (2004) calls for intercultural dialogue in order to harmonise the diverse views of information ethics taking into account socio– cultural factors from different angles and viewpoints.

Conclusion

Libraries are indeed taking the lead in transforming society through providing access to information. Despite socio-economic challenges ICT’s have transformed Library and Information Science with regards to the roles, procedures and processes of information storage and retrieval as well as information seeking behavior. Through networking, libraries, are realizing the benefits of electronic resource sharing through Zimbabwe University Library Consortia and College and Research Library Consortia .Technology can be effectively utilized to overcome the challenges of high cost of reading material and dwindling library budgets. Libraries have no choice other than to adopt appropriate modern technology such as ICT’s, online technology, CDROM, Web 2.0. and reprographics among other technologies. The twenty –first century requires Information professionals who appreciate intellectual and technological humility because of the dynamic nature of the technology driven information/knowledge age which calls for life-wide learning to help people grapple with information, digital and multimodal literacies.

References

Abidi, S.A.H. (1991) Communication, Information and Development in Africa.Kampala: Bano Publishers.
Bahrazadeh, H.A. (2003) Sustainable Development.IN: Tadbir Journal 134:35-42.
Beniger, J.R. (1988) “Information and communication: The new Convergence” Handbook of communication science. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Bordbar.S.Information System and accessing human knowledge.IN:Ettld Resani Journal. Iranian Information and Documentation Center.
Borko,H.(1968) Information Science-What is it ? IN: American Documentation, Vol. 19.p.3-5.
Bush, V. (1945). As we may think.IN: Atlantic Monthly, 176, (1) p.101-108
Capuro, R. (1988) IN: Hauptman, R.(1988)Ethical Challenges of Librarianship.Phoenix,A.Z.:Oryx Press.
Capurro,R .(2004)Intercultural information ethics. IN: International ICIE Symposium 2004, Localizing the Internet: ethical issues in intercultural perspective. Karlsruhe, Germany: Center for Art and Media, October 4-6, 2004. (Unpublished)
James, T.(ed)(2001)An Information Policy Handbook for Southern Africa-Knowledge base for decision makers. International Development Research Center.
Kawatra,P.S.(200O) Textbook of Information Science.New Delhi:A.P.H Publishing.
Mack, C.(2010) Zarnet Internet Connectivity speed that thrills.IN:Standard Supplement,November14-20, 2010.
Martin, W.J. (1988) The information Society-idea or entity? IN: ASLIB Proceedings.VOL.40.No.11.
Martin, W.J.(1995) The global Information society.Ashgate.
Ministry of Information and Technology ICT Strategic Plan: 2010-2014.[Internet] Available http:// www.immi.gov.au/about/plans/ict-plan/. Accessed 28 August, 2011.
Mooers, C.N. (1951:20-32) Zatacoding applied to mechanical organisation of knowledge.IN: American Documentation Vol.2.
National Library and Documentation Services Act (1985)
Saracevic, T. (1992). Information Science: origin, evolution and relations. IN: Vakkarri, P. and Cronin, B.Conceptions of library and Information Science: Historical, empirical and theoretical perspectives. Los-Angeles, CA: Taylor Graham.
Sharif al Nasabi,M.(1996)Development process: Guidelines for rapid growth. Tehran Rasa Institute.
Toffler, A. (1980) The third wave.New York.

KM & Social Challenges

Africa .The great Continent.Motherland

collence chisita — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:42:57 -0600

Professor Chisita extreme right and The Great Gurus of Information Science, Professor Chowdry.Convergence in the Caribean region

KM & Communications

Africa .The great Continent.Motherland

collence chisita — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:38:19 -0600

The Spertus Jewish Library in Chicago holds a great collection of old and contemporary resources

KM & Communications

THE FUTURE OF HUMAN, NATURE and KNOWLEDGE

Md Santo — Wed, 18 May 2011 16:57:46 -0600

THE FUTURE OF HUMAN, NATURE and KNOWLEDGE
by : Md Santo – MobeeKnowledge Services - http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com

“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey.” - Stephen Covey
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." - Albert Einstein
....“I think the next century will be the century of Complexity.” - Stephen Hawking
..... Dear Hawking, it seems the next century will be the century of Knowledge.” - Md Santo

PROLOG
Considering, Human Knowledge evolved and generated from Human Knowing Tools (HKT) and most likely that “WE ARE KM-REGULATED BY NATURE vice-versa BY NATURE WE ARE KM MODEL” ( KM = Knowledge Management ) - http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/we-are-kmregulated-by-nature

? Therefore, on redefining Knowledge :
Knowledge evolved as emergent property inside human being as Complex System having consciousness, alive and behaving as subject with freewill. Contrary with Data and Information exist outside human being, non-alive and behaving as object only ( MobeeKnowledge K-base http://www.delicious.com/mobeeknowledge/kmdefinition )

? Therefore, on discussing DIKW model :
If we treat Data (D), Information (I), Knowledge (K) and Wisdom (W) as “human enlightenment agents”, most likely that DIKW continuum should be separated into separated DI – KW continuum model, considering of the Knowledge behavior above mentioned ( THE ORIGIN OF KNOWLEDGE AND KM : DI-KW SEPARATED ENTITIES MODEL” - http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/the-origin-of-knowledge-and-... )

? Therefore, it is our obligatory to develop Human System Biology-based Knowledge Management (HSBKM) model framework as follow :

• Human Senses (Peripheral Nerves System incl. Autonomic Nerve System) as Primary HKT – Primary HKT producing “Knowledge with Lower Consciousness” (KLC) – KLC representing human sense-taste-feeling-feel-flavor-sensation – Within Human System Biology-based KM (HSBKM) model framework, KLC represented by KM Tools as Techno-based boundary – Weighted Score (WS) = 1.0 as value of KM Tools representing the value of KLC - KM TOOLS component covering IT/ICT, Web 1.0 and 2.0 incl. Social Media platforms. (Referred to “Machine or Techno Learning” or to Category 7.0 (PCF – APQC**) as corporate orientation) – Be like to human organ system as somato (physical body structure) aspect : Documents of management (tools) type exist as Explicit Codified Knowledge, Taxonomy Metadata Management + CMS = Data/Information Management (Knowledge-base)

• Human Brain (Central Nerves System) as Secondary HKT – Secondary HKT producing “Knowledge with Medium Consciousness” (KMC) – KMC representing human reason-mind-intellect-intelligence-way-idea – Within HSBKM model framework KMC represented by KM Process Framework as Human Mind-based boundary – WS = 3.0 as value of KM Process Frameworks representing the value of KMC - KM PROCESS FRAMEWORK component covering Human (Tacit) Mind incl. Web 3.0 and/or Semantic Web including Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Referred to “Individual Learning” or to Category 12.0 (PCF – APQC**) as corporate orientation) – Be like to human brain as somato (physical body structure) aspect : Documents of Process Classification Framework (sources of Human Learning Competencies) exist as Explicit Codified Knowledge

• Human Genomic DNA as “Tertiary HKT” producing “Knowledge with Higher Consciousness” (KHC) – KHC representing human will-desire-wish – Within HSBKM model framework KHC represented by KM Standards Culture and Value as Human Organizational (Collective / Social) Learning-based boundary in KM – WS = 5.0 as value of KM Standards Culture and Value representing the value of KHC - KM STANDARDS Culture and Value component covering Codified / Explicit Knowledge, Human Social Behavior, Organizational Culture (Learning Organization. (Referred to “Organizational Learning” or to Category 1.0 – 2.0 – 3.0 – 4.0 – 5.0 – 6.0 – 8.0 – 9.0 – 10.0 – 11.0 (PCF-APQC**) as corporate orientation) – Be like to human genomic DNA as somato (physical body structure) aspect : Documents of Enterprise DNA = Knowledge Architecture (as Content Management System / CMS & Learning Management Syste / LMS) + Taxonomy Metadata Management exist as Explicit Codified Knowledge

** Referring to PCF – APQC = Process Classification Framework – American Productivity and Quality Center as taxonomy of cross functional business process comprising 12 Categories :
1. Develop Vision and Strategy
2. Develop and Manage Products and Services
3. Market and Sell Products and Services
4. Deliver Products and Services
5. Manage Customer Service
6. Develop and Manage Human Capital
7. Manage Information Technology
8. Manage Financial Resources
9. Acquire, Construct, and Manage Property
10. Manage Environmental Health and Safety (EHS)
11. Manage External Relationships
12. Manage Knowledge, Improvement, and Change

EPILOG
• We did not mention Knowledge with Ultimate Consciousness (KUC) as some people called “the Unknown” as the ultimate HKT whatsoever, considering that KUC is beyond human being although the interaction (knowledge sharing) among KLC – KMC – KHC – KUC believed to be in perpetual state. Considering also that KHC to KUC is a “spiritual journey”, but essentially I myself tend to agree that …….we are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey..... as Stephen Covey said as well as Albert Einstein mentioning .... "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one"....... That’s because “...... space-time is the notion of human being in the universe to accommodate the existence of Matter and Energy . Some people say, space-time is human illusion regarding Knowledge behaving as subject with consciousness acting as “causa prima” of human selves feeling toward Matter and Energy....” (Md Santo : “SPACE-TIME AND KNOWLEDGE : A HUMAN SYSTEM BIOLOGY-BASED KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT VIEW” - http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/spacetime-and-knowledge-a )

• We’re convinced that behavior of Knowledge as living thing having consciousness could linking up Human Knowledge with Nature Knowledge among others through comprehending “DESCRIBING COMPLEX SYSTEM AS KM ATTRIBUTE” - http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/describing-complex-system-as... and from our K-base on Complex System / Complexity http://www.delicious.com/mobeeknowledge/complexsystem as well as through “IS KNOWLEDGE THE 3rd BASIC INGREDIENT OF THE UNIVERSE BESIDE MATTER AND ENERGY ? : KNOWLEDGE REPOSTULATED” - http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/is-knowledge-the-3rd-basic?x...

• Knowledge is an important valuable aspect and must be well managed and measured. So far, it seems no universal accepted method for assessing the Competency as well as the Capability Maturity in field of practicing Knowledge-based or Knowledge Management within corporate. Amid such condition, we have developed our Human System Biology-based-KM (HSBKM)-driven KM Metric version called “Mobee Knowledge Competency and Capability Maturity” (MKCCM™) model to complement the operational concept of HSBKM ( “INTRODUCING MOBEE KNOWLEDGE COMPETENCY AND CAPABILITY MATURITY (MKCCM™) MODEL” - http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=2090583:Topic:11355 and MobeeKnowledge K-base http://www.delicious.com/mobeeknowledge/kmmetrics+mkccm )

LIST OF SELECTED FORUM ARTICLES AS BACKGROUND READING STRONGLY RELATED WITH HUMAN, NATURE AND KNOWLEDGE ISSUES

1. http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/we-are-the-knowledge-hybrid - WE ARE THE KNOWLEDGE : HYBRID DEFINITION OF KNOWLEDGE” (October 25, 2009)

2. http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/five-basic-implications-of-n... - “FIVE BASIC IMPLICATIONS OF NEW PARADIGM OF KNOWLEDGE” ( November 19, 2009)

3. http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/the-origin-of-knowledge-and-... - “THE ORIGIN OF KNOWLEDGE AND KM : DI-KW SEPARATED ENTITIES MODEL” (February 15, 2010)

4. http://bit.ly/eRWQD7 - “KNOWLEDGE ‘R’ US” (April 1, 2010)

5. http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/the-edge-of-scientific - “THE EDGE OF SCIENTIFIC BOUNDARY : KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT DOMAIN” (July 9, 2010) ( http://bit.ly/aoFQp0 - “KNOWLEDGE IS THE EDGE OF SCIENCE” )

6. http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/knowledge-is-neither-flow-no... - “KNOWLEDGE IS NEITHER “FLOW” NOR “THING” BUT “CONSCIOUSNESS” : KNOWLEDGE IS EMERGENT PROPERTY OF HUMAN BEING AS COMPLEX SYSTEM” (August 1, 2010)

7. http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/we-are-kmregulated-by-nature - “WE ARE KM-REGULATED BY NATURE vice-versa BY NATURE WE ARE KM MODEL” (October 27, 2010)

8. http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/is-knowledge-the-3rd-basic?x... - “IS KNOWLEDGE THE 3rd BASIC INGREDIENT OF THE UNIVERSE BESIDE MATTER AND ENERGY ? : KNOWLEDGE REPOSTULATED *” (January 5, 2011)

9. http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/repostulating-knowledge-to - “REPOSTULATING* KNOWLEDGE TO ADDRESS EVOLUTION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY” (January 29, 2011)

10. http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/spacetime-and-knowledge-a - “SPACE-TIME AND KNOWLEDGE : A HUMAN SYSTEM BIOLOGY-BASED KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT VIEW “ (February 22, 2011)

11. http://bit.ly/hJCYtI - “...DEAR HAWKING, IT SEEMS THE NEXT CENTURY WILL BE THE CENTURY OF KNOWLEDGE...” (April 18, 2011)

12. http://bit.ly/ipH4kd - “MOBEEKNOWLEDGE CHRONOLOGICAL ATTEMPT TO REVISITING KNOWLEDGE AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY “ (April 23, 2011)

TO GET COMPREHENDED VISUALLY ON HUMAN SYSTEM BIO-BASED KM (HSBKM) MODEL FRAMEWORK FOLLOW THE FOLLOWING LINKS :

“KM 2.0 Basic Visual Map” http://bit.ly/bTzgUz - “Our KM Model Framework” http://bit.ly/cSwUlx - “Our 6 Dimensions of KM” http://bit.ly/cPadwJ - “HSBKM-based CoP model” - http://bit.ly/g3B4jo and our K-base http://bit.ly/cIh75U

Tags : human, nature, knowledge, knowledgemanagement, mobeeknowledge, hsbkm, humansystembiology, complexsystem, consciousness, stephencovey, stephenhawking, alberteinstein, di-kwmodel, science, mkccm, kmmetrics, complexity, philosophy, physics, learning

Dr Md Santo
• Founder social networking site http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com
• http://bit.ly/i0ekT7 - “Introduction to MobeeKnowledge services”
• http://bit.ly/hU7fjM - “MobeeKnowledge Site Map – Taxonomy Metadata Management – Human System Biology-based KM model framework – KM Components”
@2011 - MobeeKnowledge

KM & Communications

Chronological attempt to Revisiting Knowledge and Knowledge Management Philosophy

Md Santo — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 01:29:46 -0600

Ten Landmarks Toward Next Generation Knowledge Management
Published: Feb 26, 2010 by Md Santo - http://bit.ly/fNCO9e
Category: How-To Guides/Manuals
Description : Discover the signs towards next generation Knowledge Management

KNOWLEDGE 'R' US (not KNOWLEDGE 'R' OURS)
Published: April 1, 2010 by Md Santo - http://bit.ly/eRWQD7
Category: Research > Science
Description : We are as Human Being in fact is the Knowledge itself because the Knowledge essentially behaving as Human Consciousness since beginning of our life functioning to lead us in our journey through the path of Physical Realities – Data – Information – Knowledge (narrow meaning) – Wisdom and above. So Knowledge should be treated as something which has broad meaning to our understanding. This paradigm surely will give significant impact on how we look at next gen KM as well as to the influence of how Science and Technology should developed

REPOSTULATING* KNOWLEDGE TO ADDRESS EVOLUTION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Posted by Md Santo on January 29, 2011 - http://bit.ly/hmmHHI
.....* Postulate = Basic Assumption
List of selected topics derived from Social Networking Site “MOBEE KNOWLEDGE CoP” K-base http://www.delicious.com/mobeeknowledge/knowledge to consider the needs to repostulate Knowledge toward next gen KM and next evolution of Science - Technology : .....

.....DEAR HAWKING, IT SEEMS THE NEXT CENTURY WILL BE THE CENTURY OF KNOWLEDGE....
Posted by Md Santo on April 18, 2011 - http://bit.ly/hJCYtI
....“I think the next century will be the century of complexity”
S. Hawking “
....My apologize to the people who wrote the QUOTES about complexity and simplicity below are modified each with my Knowledge-driven set of ideas.
The QUOTES cited from http://aidontheedge.info/quotes/ by Ben Ramalingam, lead author of a 2008 Overseas Development Institute working paper ‘Exploring the Science of Complexity: Ideas and Implications for In.... The title : Aid on the Edge of Chaos - Exploring complexity & evolutionary sciences in foreign aid....

Tourism Knowledge SIG

The William Kamkwannba story - "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind"

KMAadmin — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 06:28:47 -0600

The William Kamkwannba story

William Kamkwamba's new book "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind," written with Bryan Mealer was released September 29th in the US. http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Harness...

KM, Emerging Technologies and Innovative Schemes

Saving money on communications in Africa

storytelling — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 05:58:20 -0600

The man from the World Bank was quite insistent when we met over coffee at the Lancer's Inn in Maseru. "There is only one major way to save money on communication while travelling in Africa - DON'T ROAM". He continued "When I arrive in a new African country, I immediately remove my normal sim card and buy a pay-as-you-go sim card in town when I arrive - sim cards are generally much more expensive at the airports". "Then I do a simple recharge, buy an SMS package and a data package then send an sms to colleagues and family back home from my new number". The data and sms packages are important as if you don't buy these up-front, you are charged out-of-bundle rates that are significantly greater than in-bundle rates - the difference is as much as US7c per Mb as opposed to US$1 per Mb out-of-bundle.

There are many stories of how enormous cellphone bills arrive shortly after you return from an overseas trip. African cell companies often design systems to make it difficult to find out how much you are spending and some African cellphone providers don't support data via GPRS so you may find that the data is being charged not via the amount of data transmitted but as a result of the amount of connect time used. The result is that often people complain that the bills of cellphone companies - especially many African "service providers" are more akin to sci-fi.

Fireside Chat

Pakistan Relief Toolkit: Providing Essential Knowledge and Resources for Relief Efforts

K4Health — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:00:42 -0600

As the flood waters begin to recede across Pakistan, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani says the government is now “seriously concerned” about the potential spread of epidemic diseases.

The flooding has left more than 1,600 people dead and approximately six million homeless. According to the BBC, about 17 million of Pakistan’s 166 million people have been affected by the disaster. In addition, the United Nations warns that without enough doctors or proper facilities, over 100,000 pregnant women are now at risk of infection and disease.

“As human misery continues to mount, we are seriously concerned with the spread of epidemic diseases,” Yousuf Raza Gilani said, adding, “There is a likelihood of water-borne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea and dysentery, especially in children who are already weak and vulnerable.”

In an effort to assist the relief efforts in Pakistan, K4Health has published the Pakistan Relief Toolkit (www.k4health.org/toolkits/pakistan-relief) which provides practical and technical health-related information to those on the ground.

The toolkit is a one-stop source for information that will help health workers respond to the flood relief efforts underway in the country. The toolkit covers the vital sectors in emergencies, including health, water and sanitation, food security, and shelter. It also covers key field activities supporting the operations, such as logistics.

The toolkit is accessible online, but K4Health will also be uploading it to flash drives so that those on the front line can access the information where Internet connectivity is lacking.

The devastation in Pakistan is severe and those providing relief need as much support as possible. Please join us to bring the essential knowledge and resources needed on the ground to alleviate some of the burden.

If you have any questions concerning the toolkit, please contact the team at toolkits@k4health.org or leave a comment on the discussion board.

Chris Rottler, Senior Communication Manager

KM & the Environment

ICT for Youth empowerment

Farai Mutindindi — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:08:33 -0600

The world today is faced with several challenges like the economic recession, climatic change, disease outbreaks, increased organized crime, information explosion, and uncontrolled migration. Like any other calamity, the harsh effects are mostly felt by the vulnerable third world states. Zimbabwe, coming out of an economic crisis characterized by record inflation, high unemployment, heavy brain drain and a large reduction in the Gross Domestic Product, has plenty to do with regards to enhancing the recovery path and rejuvenating the economy. With the Unity government having managed to tame the legendary inflation and the economy expected to grow, focus is now on which sectors of development should be prioritized over others given a background of an economy thriving on limited resources.

Most governments concur and recognize the fact that Information Communication Technologies (ICT’s) are central to social and economic development. On the other end of the continuum, the youth are perceived as the highest potential users of ICT. In addition, the UN population division has revealed the following statistics about youth:

The world population in the range of 12 – 24 years of age is 1.5 billion of which 1.3 billion are in developing countries.
The African median age is 19 years.
The African youth population has multiplied 4 times since 1950 and in projected to be 8 times more by 2050.

It, therefore, would not only be fair but wise to recommend that the bulk of resources and opportunities should be directed towards developing this sector.

The African Union acknowledges this thought and has established the African Regional Action Plan on a Knowledge Economy (ARPKE) as a promising pan-African initiative that will establish a platform for launching regional and sub-regional ICT projects for the benefit of the African youth. The Government of Zimbabwe, through the relevant ministries of ICT and Youth empowerment, should compliment this gesture and give preference to projects that give special attention to youth developing their ICT capabilities since the youth represent the most valuable asset and hope for the future.

While addressing Youth and ICT, emphasis on critical issues such as access, integration, empowerment, learning and employment is essential. The youth should be able to apply various ICT strategies to improve gathering, collation, evaluation and dissemination of information regardless of their areas of expertise. Below are some essential areas:

Education and Training

E-Learning is set to surpass traditional face to face education because it has proven to be a more effective method of instruction. The consensus of research shows that online instruction is better than traditional methods because of the numerous advantages attached to it. The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education has adopted “Moodle” as the recommended Learning Management System or platform (LMS) for colleges and universities in Zimbabwe. This poses several questions regarding these institutions’ capacity to fully implement E-Learning, ability of lecturers to upload learning materials on the LMS and capability of students to navigate it. There is need for harmonized policy guidelines on mainstreaming ICT’s in the education system.

Commerce

There is a need to facilitate and grow E-Commerce locally. The Wikipedia defines E – Commerce as buying and selling products and services over electronic systems such as the internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown extraordinarily with widespread internet usage. The use of commerce is conducted in this way, spurring and drawing on innovations in electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at some point in the transaction's lifecycle, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well.

Agriculture

With agriculture being the mainstay of the economy, there is need for transformation to accommodate modernization in order to utelise ICT in land management, crop and animal production and output processing. ICT promotes information sharing for forecasting and sustainable agricultural development. It is imperative that agrometeorological services should harness ICT’S in order to ensure that the mass populace makes maximum use of online agricultural information services to improve productivity and promote sustainable development

Mining and Manufacturing

ICT use for both small and large scale mining industries can aid in prospecting and modeling deposits. It can also improve the quality of controls, marketing, production data and management in trade.

Health

Research, data gathering and processing information for dissemination within the health sector will be achieved by developing and promoting the use of ICT to efficiently deliver health services. This will result in integration of health services with an interactive national and international ICT information sharing system.ICT’S can also be used to improve health Information services and also to facilitate the realization of the Millennium Development Goals.

Tourism

The tourism industry would benefit from electronic reservations, payment systems and travel technology. Countries like Malaysia have benefitted immensely from innovative E – Tourism projects.

Having highlighted some of the areas that would benefit from ICT’s, it is imperative to capacitate the youth in order to enable them to pioneer proceedings in these areas. ICT training for the youth should be extended to grassroots levels and remote areas. Opportunities for research should be availed and best practice projects on ICT that have been implemented in some areas should be replicated. Social networking sites available on the internet provide an opportunity for youth to showcase their capabilities, share accomplishments, and reveal challenges. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and hi5 are some of the modern platforms that the youth can use to create personal, project or event profiles in order to market themselves. These networking forum are becoming so influential that Personnel Recruitment companies have hinted that potential employers are consulting these during candidate selection.

Whilst the government should be commended for waiving customs duty on ICT products, more should be done to encourage the youth to venture into projects related to ICT. Incentives for those carrying out research and development in this sector, for instance, would go a long way in promoting creativity in the local industry. The youth, undoubtedly, has brilliant ideas and such incentives would encourage creation of small scale enterprises and establishment of public private partnerships. Such incentives may include tax exemption, tax reduction on equipment and software, special ICT investment funds, subsidies and micro-credit.

KM & Communications

The role of translation in Knowledge Management

charlesd — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 04:22:32 -0600

"Indigenous African knowledge has much to offer science — but only if science can be translated into local languages" Charles Dhewa.

Africans have a rich cultural heritage and a wealth of traditional knowledge on topics ranging from agricultureand forestry to medicines and medical practices — all of which could make valuable contributions to modern science. For example, traditional knowledge of drought-resistant crop varieties could prove crucial in helping small farmers across the continent adapt to climate change. Much of this type of knowledge is embedded in the diverse local languages and cultures found in Africa.

Yet despite centuries of scientific undertakings on the continent, there is still no vernacular word for 'science'. In Southern Africa, science remains a minority, English-language based, pursuit that reinforces the domination of English at the expense of local languages such as Ndebele, Swahili and many others.

This marginalisation of African languages and practices means much local knowledge is lost. Many innovations by farmers and rural communities are excluded from modern science and technology (S&T) because there are no local terms or expressions to capture them.

It is vital for ordinary people to be able to participate in science innovation. Moving the large body of indigenous knowledge into mainstream S&T systems will help address pressing development issues on the continent.

Engaging ordinary people with S&T could also help prevent unfair exploitation of natural resources and make citizens more aware of laws protecting these resources at national and regional levels.

Domesticating science

African policymakers must make an effort to 'domesticate' science by usingvernacular languages to talk about it. This means investing in translation activities.

Literal translation is, of course, an important aspect. Initiatives to compile science dictionaries are a welcome step forward. Zimbabwean scientist Christopher Chetsanga is, for example, compiling a dictionary in the Shona language — spoken by nine million people in Zimbabwe — that should do much to improve local understanding of scientific terms and issues.

Certainly, big institutions such as the UN Economic Commission for Africa and huge initiatives such as the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development should use translation to add value to the mountains of documents they publish in English.

But it's not just individual words that need translating, it's also the expression of ideas and meanings, formed in one context and received and interpreted in very different ones.

Integrating ideas

To achieve this we must strengthen the role of intermediaries with specialist communication skills — people who can translate and summarise complex S&T ideas in local languages and explain both the concepts and implications with simplicity. Such people are sometimes called 'integrators', 'filters' and 'synthesisers'.

Integrators combine separate ideas into one body of knowledge. An integrator can adequately combine indigenous and scientific knowledge on climate change in ways that are meaningful to ordinary people. Filtering includes editing and clarifying ideas so that people can understand the benefits of, for example, biotechnology, without bias or misunderstanding. Synthesisers effectively summarise key issues.

Translating the issues around topics such as climate change and biotechnology, where debate is often highly polarised, requires all three skills.

Intermediaries can sometimes do more than simply explain the science. They might, for example, be able to draw attention to opportunities around intellectual property.

And intermediaries can draw marginal communities into modern scientific discourses, enhancing collaboration with researchers and formal S&T organisations.

Translation activities should also promote cross-disciplinary sharing and collaboration. Many S&T disciplines still operate as self-contained silos. In Africa, for example, civil engineers rarely communicate with agricultural researchers, with potentially serious consequences for rural farmers.

Boosting farmers' yields through agricultural research is of little value if the transport infrastructure, including roads and bridges, cannot get their crop to market.

Paying for progress

Of course, domesticating S&T through translation can only succeed with sufficient investment to support it. In theory, money for translation activities should come out of national S&T budgets. But these remain very small in Africa.

Despite African Union members promising, in 2007, to spend one per cent of their GDP (gross domestic product) on research and development, only two countries are doing so — Rwanda and Tunisia (see Africa Analysis: Progress on science spending). The average spend across the continent is just 0.4 per cent — translation funds are unlikely to be found here.

An alternative source of funding, recently championed by my scientific colleagues in Zimbabwe, could be national S&T taxes, modelled on Zimbabwe's three per cent HIV/AIDS Levy, introduced in 1999. The levy has been remarkably successful in ensuring funds for HIV/AIDS activities, including access to lifesaving antiretrovirals, despite the country's economic turmoil.

A S&T Levy could be used to finance all aspects of research and development, including translation activities. It could also help promote industrialisation and help local producers and manufacturers add value to their products.

Whatever the route to accessing money, the fact remains that science translation activities in Africa are urgently needed if we are to tap into the energy, entrepreneurship, creativity and intelligence of our people.

Charles Dhewa is the managing consultant for communications and knowledge management consultancy Knowledge Transfer Africa in Harare, Zimbabwe.

KM & Social Challenges

Will Knowledge ‘R’ us (not “Knowlege 'R' ours”) shape the future of knowledge and KM?

Md Santo — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 08:04:48 -0600

Will Knowledge ‘R’ us (not “Knowlege 'R' ours”) shape the future of knowledge and KM?

By : Dr Md Santo – http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com

The nature of Homo Sapiens comprising three knowing tools components. The first is Peripheral Nerve System or Human Senses including our Autonomic Nerve System representing Human Knowledge with Lower Consciousness (KLC). The second is Central Nerve System or Mind Brain representing Human Knowledge with Medium Consciousness (KMC). The third is Human Consciousness DNA representing Human Knowledge with Higher Consciousness (KHC). If it is postulated that nature of Knowledge Management (KM) derived from the nature of Human or we could say Human System Biology (HSB)-based KM, then we will observe that KM Tools mainly generated from KLC, KM Process Framework generated from KMC as well as KM Standards (culture and value management) generated from KHC respectively ( http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/brief-description-of-our )
Consequently Knowledge which is located at the domain of DIKW continuum model as commonly believed has a narrow meaning. Hence, I suggested to separate DI with KW considering each is an entity into DI – KW model to give emphasize the paradigm I’ve just mentioned above (http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/blooms-taxonomy-knowledge-an... )
Therefore, Knowledge Management (KM) essentially is not management technique but behaving more as an access mechanisms that can be used across any management tool type such as Total Quality Management, Learning Organization, Benchmarking, Process Classification Framework, Business Process Reengineering, Balanced Scorecard, Business Intelligence including Social Media platforms etc. wherein each with their specific functions to be orchestrated under KM’s consciousness. So, here we put KM in incredibly broad meaning as subject with higher level than any other management tool type which is treated only as object ( http://www.scribd.com/doc/28696847/How-to-re-postulating-the-paradigm-of... ) From eastern concept, Knowledge with broad meaning also known as Noor or “Light”
I use the phrase “KNOWLEDGE ‘R’ US”, not “KNOWLEDGE ‘R’ OURS” as the expression of the paradigm of K as well as KM just mentioned above wherein human knowledge from beginning of our life represent human consciousness as well as our personality functioning to lead us in our journey through the path of Physical Realities – Data – Information – Knowledge (narrow meaning) – Wisdom and above . In eastern people beyond Wisdom frequently called as “Ma’rifat”
The overall description in schematic as well as in presentation forms could be accessed through the list of the links below. To get explanation more in details you could visit our gateway links by choosing relevant article(s) or topic(s) at http://delicious.com/mobeeknowledge and/or http://delicious.com/tags/mobeeknowledge?view=all& . And last but not least, just to emphasize from my point of view I’ve recognized at least 10 “symptoms and signs” toward the future of next gen KM – visit http://www.scribd.com/doc/27484344/Ten-Landmarks-Toward-Next-Generation-Knowledge-Management

List of the “KNOWLEDGE ‘R’ US” related links are as follow : (Source Link : http://www.scribd.com/doc/29259487/KNOWLEDGE-R-US )

Human Body Knowing Tools as Human Consciousness Related to Knowledge Management - http://www.scribd.com/doc/28959294/Human-Body-Knowing-Tools-as-Human-Con...
How to re-postulating the paradigm of Knowledge and Knowledge Management - http://www.scribd.com/doc/28696847/How-to-re-postulating-the-paradigm-of...
Road to Next Gen Knowledge Management : “Mobee Knowledge Top Four Articles of the Month” - http://www.scribd.com/doc/28435600/Road-to-Next-Gen-Knowledge-Management-“Mobee-Knowledge-Top-Four-Articles-of-the-Month”
Bloom's Taxonomy (Learning Domains)* related with Knowledge and Knowledge Management (KM)** - http://www.scribd.com/doc/28370204/Bloom-s-Taxonomy-Learning-Domains-rel...
How to convert Knowledge Into Knowledge Management - http://www.scribd.com/doc/28177748/How-to-convert-Knowledge-Into-Knowled...
Ten Landmarks Toward Next Generation Knowledge Management - http://www.scribd.com/doc/27484344/Ten-Landmarks-Toward-Next-Generation-...
The Origin of Knowledge and Knowledge Management derived from DI-KW separated entities model - http://www.scribd.com/doc/26869572/The-Origin-of-Knowledge-and-Knowledge...
Towards Human System Biology-based Next Gen KM - http://www.scribd.com/doc/25765257/Towards-Human-System-Biology-based-Ne...
Knowledge Management System Development Derived From Human System Biology - http://www.scribd.com/doc/25613526/Knowledge-Management-System-Developme...
Explaining Step by Step the Process of Knowledge Management 2.0 Map - http://www.scribd.com/doc/25036410/Explaining-Step-by-Step-the-Process-o...
KM Metrics to Locate Your Achievements in the Universe - http://www.scribd.com/doc/24808191/KM-Metrics-to-Locate-Your-Achievement...
You Are the Knowledge - Hybrid Definition of Knowledge - http://www.scribd.com/doc/24439826/You-Are-the-Knowledge-Hybrid-Definiti...
The Physics of Knowledge - http://www.scribd.com/doc/24339159/The-Physics-of-Knowledge
WEB-BASED KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT 2.0 MAP - http://www.scribd.com/doc/24331515/WEB-BASED-KNOWLEDGE-MANAGEMENT-2-0-MAP

@2010 Md Santo

KM & Communications

Using the African Dilemma Tale in facilitation

storytelling — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:39:14 -0700

The following story was developed for an Africa healthcare organisation in order to give people a picture of “where we are” following interviews conducted in the discovery phase of a change project. The story is designed as a point of feedback and reflection and is deliberately left as a cliff-hanger in the African storytelling tradition; what happens next is dependent on the listeners who are challenged to tell the rest of the story. In old Africa, these stories are called African Dilemma Tales. Such stories may be allegorical – many of the things described may not actually have happened and the characters might not be real. The story is designed to create a shared understanding that we are all involved in a process and that our values, attitudes and beliefs create the experience of the complex system we call an organisation. The story also allows us to talk about complex realities in a new way. The story below was read out and circulated by the organisation’s leadership figure in a formal ceremony.

Once upon a time in a small, beautiful kingdom in Africa, a group of leaders saw that their people were facing terrible suffering. They wanted to help and between them had many skills, but they were faced with many obstacles – hands that should have been extending help were bound. Webs of confusion slowed them in their place of work. There was dissent between them and splinter groups formed. Much of their supporters were scattered. Some of the leaders had forgotten their Great Work. Worst of all, the fire around which they gathered to talk, had gone out. And even though there was help available from allies, they were so burdened and constrained that it was difficult to make use of the help offered to them.

Every time news came in from the mountain, they felt worse. The suffering was increasing. Parents were dying. Children were dying. Young people, who should have been strong and energetic looked lost and without hope for the future.

“This can’t continue”, someone said and several others heard, repeating the phrase. Though tired and lacking motivation, the wisdom of their ancestors whispered in their dreams.fireside

“Build a fire,” the whispers said. “Gather round and talk this thing through until you find solutions”.

Someone found a few twigs and put a match to them. Someone else came with more twigs and a few of the leaders started talking about their difficulties and found that all their problems were similar. Soon others arrived, bearing more firewood. As they talked and the flames leaped up, more arrived, until a great fire could be seen from afar. The leaders talked and talked until they all understood what the difficulties were and then began to plan how each would be overcome. Their supporters drew closer to the fire, heard the discussion and were glad, so glad, that some started to dance and sing. The people of the kingdom could see the fire and hear the singing from afar and their spirits rose. Something was happening at last…TO BE CONTINUED….

The style of the African Dilemma Tale is an interesting approximation of 'real life' because. if you think about it, what happens next is always up to you. In the dilemma tale above, listeners were asked to respond to the question 'So what happens next in this story?'

From “Art & Science of Change – A Resource for Management and Leadership” – (ISBN-978-0-9802550-3-4) available – Available from Ubuhibi Media – http://www.ubuhibi.com/art.and.science.of.change

KM & Communications

1 Giant Leap - communication through rhythms

storytelling — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:10:27 -0700

African drums and drumming circles are often used for teambuilding and end of year functions in corporations...They are interesting in that it gets participants aware that there are ways of communicating other than voice. We often use African musical instruments in workshops where we ask participants to communicate a message to other individuals and the group just by using the instrument (no talking allowed!) then we try and decode with voice what the message might have been. Have you ever thought of using African rhythms in facilitation work?

Bamako Mali- Festival? Dense Bamako Danse

KM & Communications

Using video in change work

storytelling — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 02:29:35 -0700

Video can be used to great effect in change and KM projects in order to 'tell the story' in powerful ways. This short video was used in a change project to encourage users to move to FOSS (Free and Open Source Software). The video was also part of a competition where users could enter to describe the moment when that"saw the light" about FOSS. In this way the story is told and emphasized using a variety of media.

KM & Communications

KMAfrica.com KnowledgeHub Greetings

KMAadmin — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:16:07 -0700

Zulu culture, language & traditions

Knowledge for Health - www.k4health.org

K4Health — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:59:44 -0700

The mission of K4Health is to increase the use and dissemination of evidence-based, accurate and up-to-date information to improve health service delivery and health outcomes worldwide. CKM4Health's current knowledge management activities include:

Collectively developing “toolkits” of up-to-date and evidence-based resources that make information easy to find and easy to use;
Adapting existing toolkit knowledge resources for local and regional use;
Developing new toolkit resources—articles, guides, curricula, fact sheets, job aids, and eLearning courses;
Encouraging feedback about toolkit resources through discussion boards;
Sponsoring global, regional, and country-level forums;
Providing free online and offline eLearning courses on a variety of health topics; and
Supporting virtual networks among health care professionals, communities of practice, and technical working groups.

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Office of Global Health funds the K4Health project, which is implemented by The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Communication Programs (CCP), Family Health International (FHI), and Management Sciences for Health (MSH).

Further information and toolkits are available on K4Health website

KM & Communications

GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE TOWARDS 2012

Md Santo — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:40:15 -0700

GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE TOWARDS 2012 or “CONTINUUM OF PHYSICAL REALITY WITH KNOWLEDGE AND BEYOND : GREAT TURNING FROM MIND BRAIN TO CONSCIOUSNESS DNA” (see the Attachment) showing global trends towards 2012 in which the domain of Knowledge evolved in continuum universe as emergent behavior within human body as complex (adpative) system, having consciousness and free will (mind and value) as well as behaving dynamically as subject

A brief description about the sentence ..."After Singularity between Human Mind and Technology reaching its peak (in 2012 ?)"... :
"Singularity" here means the phenomenon of the race between smartness of Human and Technology (Machine) which is at present occured exponentially and exponentially at very tremendous speed and will reaching its peak around the year 2012. To cope this situation, Human as Complex Adaptive System will migrate or making "great turning" from Brain as "center of play making in science or scientific knowledge" (locus of Mind) to the DNA as "new center" (locus of Consciousness). This migration or "great turning" will give impressive impact on how Human manage the Science and Technology. In this circumstances, it will appropriate if we put or coin a new term called as "Knowledgeable Science" which is entirely different with Scientific Knowledge as commonly used. (Consciousness) DNA as new vital locus will certainly has a higher level than the (Mind) Brain as former human vital locus.

To get more comprehensive insight, should you visit also :

http://isivivane.com/kmafrica/forum.hybrid.definition.of.knowledge - "We are the knowledge: a hybrid definition of knowledge"
http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/next-generation-of-knowledge - "NEXT GENERATION OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT (KM)"
http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/five-basic-implications-of-n... - "FIVE BASIC IMPLICATIONS OF NEW PARADIGM OF KNOWLEDGE"
http://mobeeknowledge.ning.com/forum/topics/knowledge-towards-2012-great - "KNOWLEDGE TOWARDS 2012 : GREAT TURNING FROM MIND BRAIN TO CONSCIOUSNESS DNA"

Tourism Knowledge SIG

Harnessing Knowledge to Promote HIV Prevention in Southern Africa

K4Health — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:43:12 -0700

New HIV infections have been reduced by 17% over the past eight years, according to a joint report released today from UNAIDS and WHO. Needless to say, there is much to be proud of as we mark the 21st anniversary of World AIDS Day. However, as we take time today to reflect on the struggles and successes of the past three decades, it’s important we also prepare for the battles to come.

Executive Director of UNAIDS Michel Sidibé said, “The good news is that we have evidence that the declines we are seeing are due, at least in part, to HIV prevention.” He added, “However, the findings also show that prevention programming is often off the mark and that if we do a better job of getting resources and programs to where they will make most impact, quicker progress can be made and more lives saved.”

To help program managers and others hit that mark, K4Health in partnership with the USAID/Southern Africa Regional Program (RHAP) is strengthening knowledge management (KM) initiatives in the region. The Knowledge for Health Southern Africa (K4HSA) program will facilitate knowledge capturing, synthesis, and sharing among audiences who work in the response against HIV/AIDS across Southern Africa. Something that we believe will promote the use and scale-up of best practices, lead to better results, and ultimately save more lives.

We have also identified local partners to participate in the regional KM initiative, and alliances and synergies have been developed with partners, including AIDSPortal, Soul City, Soul Beat, PSI, and UNAIDS. SAfAIDS was also identified to become the operational partner of K4HSA in the region.

In addition to our work in Southern Africa, K4Health is excited to announce the publication of two toolkits related to HIV prevention, including:

* Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (http://www.k4health.org/node/361)
* Multiple and Concurrent Partnerships (http://www.k4health.org/toolkits/MCP)

We also have toolkits on condom use and family planning and HIV integration in the pipeline.

Our toolkits (http://www.k4health.org/toolkits) are developed from the collaborative efforts of working groups worldwide, and they capture the best knowledge surrounding a particular topic. They also allow individuals to comment and suggest other resources, including grey literature. By facilitating virtual collaboration, we hope to tap into the online collectivism around HIV prevention and create the best repositories of information that live on and evolve for people on the front lines.

Would you like to learn more about the integration of HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health? Visit our resource page (http://www.hivandsrh.org/) to see the featured resources, events, or join a discussion. Our funder USAID also released a very informative newsletter, “Working Together in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS,” (http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/home/News/enewsletter/index....) that we encourage you to visit.

Philippe LeMay, Deputy Director
http://www.k4health.org

Fireside Chat

Using questions in knowledge work

storytelling — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:32:03 -0600

KM professionals and facilitators need to understand and appreciate the role and power of questions in knowledge work. Further, we need to be able to apply questions in order to create and discover knowledge. There are some compelling reasons for this including:

Questions are strong attractors in the chaos of ideas, they gather, focus, attract and energize the conversation.
Only? questions have the power to beak our current midsets, they set in motion the deep relection needed to alter our beliefs.
It is the place and the space 'between not knowing and our desire to know' where we are most attentive, self-aware and alive. Questions hold the key to this special area.
Compelling and quality questions drive knowledge creation and expansion in a fundamental way. Knowledge emerges around good questions.
Questions energize and glue our conversation, draw people into the circle to participate and gather diverse opinions.
Questions keep the conversation moving forward, awaken dormant discourse and may be used to guide the subject back on course.

(from Verna Allee)

Questions of clarification

After some material exists in a conversation or dialogue, a questioner may seek to understand the others "frame of reference." Further (according to Hayakawa), the questioner "seeks to avoid. All implications of skepticism or challenge or hostility." The questioner often restates in his or her words what they think they heard and ask the original speaker to confirm that account. There are other more specific question of clarification that may lead from an agreement that the two now have a shared frame of reference.

Purpose questions

Why do we do this? Why did you say that? The motivation or cause is sought.

Prompting questions

"Prompt the interviewee and keep the conversation on track with such questions as, `What do you do first?' `Then what?' and so on, until you come to, "What do you do last?'

Attitude questions

How do you feel about what happened? What way do you see the world? Does that look good to you? What are your preferences in this matter?

Commitment questions

Who's with me on this? Can I count on you? The questions of accountability and responsibility are here. Will you be accountable? Will you share responsibility?

Affirming questions

Was that as good for you as it was for me? Wasn't that fun? Isn't this very good?

Questions of uniqueness or Example questions

Can you give me an illustration of that? Some more concrete way of describing it? Instances, cases, and models are sought here. Hayakawa cites Irving Lee for this category in which you might find questions such as, "Exactly what kind of synthetic plastic did you use in making that product?" Hayakawa says that such questions "are designed to prevent the functional deafness which we induce in ourselves by reacting to speakers and speeches in terms of the generalizations that we apply to them." They ask for the "particular characteristics"

Disagreeing Questions or Questions of Protest

The listener or reader sees the situation another way and asks a question to discern whether the other is aware of another viewpoint. They are often phrased with a negative, "Are there not other ways of looking at this problem?" "Have you dismissed the framework suggested by the previous speaker?" the person seeks clarification but also wishes to announce at the least their disagreement and in some cases the gist of their p.o.v.

Rhetorical questions

Rhetorical questions are meant not to be answered, but to provoke thought. They are as the Latin author Quintillian categorized them:

interrogatio - the question which requires no answer because it expresses a truth which cannot be denied
rogatio - the question to which we immediately supply our own answer
quaestitio - "a string of questions uttered in rapid succession for emotional emphasis"
percontatio - "an enquiry addressed to another in a tone of amazement in which it is hard for the other person to figure out how to reply"

Hypothetical

"The use of `would' in a question makes it hypothetical, a possibility for the audience to consider. Here are some examples of hypothetical questions: "What would you do if we had an earthquake right now?" and "How would you handle it if you discovered one of your employees abusing drugs?" Such questions lead the trainer into explaining how the forthcoming training session will provide answers."

Polling

"Polling questions often begin, `How many of you...?' Some examples: `How many of you give good instructions?' and `How many of you have performed CPR?' "

Review questions

These are questions that challenge others to tell what their intake was after some session, class, conversation, or instruction. For example, what do you/we now mean by a CoP?

Summarizing questions

Is there anything that we didn't get to? What did you like best? What is your opinion of this subject now?

Questions, the route to inquiry?

Think of some sets of questions that explore: 1) What you would like to know? 2) Something you would like to say? 3) Can you be of assistance? 4) Going on a journey of discovery? 5) Imagine the possibilities?

KM for Conflict & Change Management

GM Crop Information

KMAadmin — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:52:24 -0600

When GM crops and foods were first introduced in the late 1990s, some scientists raised concerns that genetic modification was imprecise and unpredictable and could result in harm to health and the environment. They warned that:

GM could create foods that are toxic, allergenic and less nutritious than their non-GM counterparts
GM crops could damage vulnerable wild plant and animal populations
GM plants cannot be recalled, but as living organisms will propagate, transmitting any damaging properties from generation to generation
GM crops could cause irreversible alterations to the food supply, with serious consequences for the environment and human and animal health.

Subsequent events and a growing body of scientific evidence have shown each of these concerns to be valid but the biotech industry and its supporters have engaged in a global PR, marketing and lobbying campaign to promote this technology in order to undermine the concerns and attack those raising them.

GM information

GMWatch sends out regular bulletins that provide news and comment on GM foods and crops, with particular emphasis on exposing the PR behind the global push for GM technology.
Spinprofiles documents the PR and propaganda activities of PR firms engaged in managing and manipulating public perception, opinion and policy. SpinProfiles also includes profiles on think tanks, front groups funded by industry and "industry-friendly experts" who work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations or other special interests.
Greenpeace International Genetic Engineering Campaign has details on the latest campaigns with easy and quick-to-do email actions to help keep food supplies free from GM contamination.
Friends of the Earth International is the place to find details on the latest FoE global campaigns and downloadable reports on GM food and crops.
Biosafety Information Centre, run by the Third World Network, has information and downloadable briefing papers on biosafety problems with GM crops and foods worldwide.
Bioscience Resource Project has science stories on GM crops and food. Includes critiques of corporate 'junk' science, exposures of conflicts of interest, and news on the persecution of whistleblowers.
Ban GM Food is a campaign-oriented website geared to Europe. It has details of how to take action and downloadable leaflets that people can print out at home and distribute. Emphasis is on scientifically accurate and well-referenced information.
GM Contamination RegisterBecause no official body is keeping track of GM contamination events worldwide, GeneWatch UK and Greenpeace have stepped into the gap with this up-to-date register.
Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Application of Science and Technology is a group of scientists and medics who campaign for a ban on GM foods.
Will GM crops deliver benefits to farmers? is an informative web page on farmers' experiences and agronomic research on GM crops.
EcoNexus "offers a rigorous scientific critique of genetic engineering (GE) and genetically modified organisms, and more recently of agrofuels (biofuels), synthetic biology and other new technological applications".
ISIS – Institute of Science in Society is the place to go for science in the service of social and environmental sustainability. This website and the associated print magazine, Science in Society, frequently break news about new insights and developments that take years to become widely accepted knowledge.
Ban Terminator Terminator Technology is an unpopular development in GM that makes GM crops produce sterile seeds. This website has news about the research and worldwide campaigns against Terminator.

KM & Communications

Youth Development Communications Project : Intergenerational knowledge transfer

KMAadmin — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:40:12 -0600

The KM and communications SIG wants you to think about this question:

What do you know now that you wish you had known when you were 18?

In this SIG project, we'll co-operate to find ways of creating and communicating compelling stories about this question to African Youth in a way that is meaningful and life-changing. We will use electronic media to distribute the campaign so your ideas for video, posters, banners and designed rituals are possible.

To Co-operate Add comments under this post to this SIG. We are also looking for designers and movie makers to submit their ideas.

Audience 16-30year old from all over Africa.

Media Video, radio, posters, banners, web media (.jpg, .pdf .txt (stories))

Language English, French, Portuguese, Arabic

Objectives To conscientise the audience about knowledge, traditional & indigenous knowledge, key know-how you need for sustainability and success and where it is to be found, knowedge-based business opportunities, thinking skills, innovation

First cut message Self empowerment, don't wait 'till you are older to learn these things, take charge of your story now, take charge of your destiny, "You cannot create until you have a golden highway in the mind (Steve Biko)", how do YOU define success?

KM & Communications

Wet-Africa Communication

KMAadmin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:12:59 -0600

This is part of a brochure created for the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York City 22-25 September, 2009 by water organisation www.wet-africa.org - the graphic on the front is a tracing of the network of springs and streams from Bruma Lake in Johannesburg to Hartebeespoort Dam. This riverine network includes the Braamfontein spruit and the Jukskei river that flows past Alexandra Township. Designed by Eugenie Banhegyi of www.storytelling.co.za studio

KM & Communications

Culture and Postmodernism

storytelling — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:00:34 -0600

Postmodernism is a term used by philosophers, social scientists, art and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary art, culture, economics and social conditions that are the result of the unique features of late 20th and early 21st century life. These features include phenomena such as globalisation, consumerism, branding, the fragmentation of authority, and the knowledge economy. An important characteristic of postmodernism is that we now have myriad different symbols and metaphors through which we can view the world – these include politics, religion, consumerism, science, art etc... Anything that cannot be physically sensed, such as social justice or one's concept of God, must be referred to by metaphor and symbol. The result is that meaningful communication about issues such as families, politics, sexuality, crime & violence without the use of shared metaphors and symbols is impossible. Some common metaphors in use today include:

Religion and God
Science & Evolution
Romance and sexuality
Capitalism
Racism, supremacy and exclusivity
Psychology and "new age"
Power, entitlement, dominance and submission
Artistic and aesthetic worth
Traditional political categories (Left, Right, Centre, Independent etc.)
Wealth, poverty, disability and security
Philosophy

Your views and beliefs about the world most likely centre around some of these metaphors. For example, if you see the world in terms of cause-effect and experimentation, you are oriented toward science. If you experience the world as a place of wonder and beauty, you will be oriented towards art and aesthetic.

People who share metaphors can communicate effectively and work together constructively. People who do not share common metaphors experience communication difficulties and find it extremely difficult to see each other with anything beyond fear and hostility. Due to this lack of communication between groups, most discussions around important issues quickly degenerate due to the absence of real understanding.

Fireside Chat

Family Planning Around Environmentally Sensitive Regions in Madagascar

carol — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 01:02:47 -0600

In January 2005, USAID/Madagascar requested the Health Communication Partnership (HCP) to assist the Government of Madagascar, specifically its National AIDS Control Committee (SE/CNLS), to develop a behavior change communication strategy targeting HIV prevention among youth and young adults. The Ankoay, or Eagle, approach was launched in April 2005 through the National Scouting Federation which unites six scouting organizations. The Ankoay program was assessed by the SE/CNLS after one year of implementation and was judged a national “best practice” in HIV prevention among youth.

In August 2007, through additional funding from USAID/Madagascar, AED launched Ankoay Doré, a second level of activities designed for youth groups that had successfully completed the Ankoay program. The initial Ankoay Doré approach added hygiene activities to HIV prevention. In early 2008, through C-Change, the Ankoay Doré model was expanded to include adolescent reproductive health and environmental activities. This report describes the accomplishments achieved by the C-Change activity through February 2009.

C-Change Madagascar Ankoay Dore Final Report - March 2009.pdf 418.78 KB
http://www.c-changeprogram.org/resources/fp-environmentally-sensitive-re...

KM & Communications

FAO Water Communications

KMAadmin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:42:03 -0600

This resource includes a number of posters from the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation) that help conscientise communities about water, water scarcity, water in food production etc. The FAO site is available here . The FAO also has a dedicated youtube channel available on FAO YouTube Website

KM & Communications

Change at hand: Web 2.0 for development

KMAadmin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:18:37 -0600

Web 2.0 tools and approaches are radically changing the ways we create, share, collaborate and publish digital information through the Internet. Participatory Web 2.0 for development – or Web2forDev for short – is a way of employing web services to intentionally improve information-sharing and online collaboration for development. Web 2.0 presents us with new opportunities for change – as well as challenges – that we need to better understand and grasp. This special issue shares learning and reflections from practice and considers the ways forward for using Web 2.0 for development.

PART I: OVERVIEW

Change at hand: Web 2.0 for development
The two hands of Web2forDev: a conference summary

PART II: STUDIES OF WEB 2.0 TOOLS

Exploring the potentials of blogging for development
Web 2.0 tools to promote social networking for the Forest Connect alliance
Promoting information-sharing in Ghana using video blogging
Mobile phones: the silver bullet to bridge the digital divide?

PART III: ISSUE-BASED STUDIES

Anti social-computing: indigenous language, digital video and intellectual property
Tools for enhancing knowledge-sharing in agriculture: improving rural livelihoods in Uganda
Ushahidi or ‘testimony’: Web 2.0 tools for crowdsourcing crisis information
Web 2.0 for Aboriginal cultural survival: a new Australian outback movement

PART IV: THEORY AND REFLECTION ON PRACTICE

Circling the point: from ICT4D to Web 2.0 and back again
Web 2.0 tools for development: simple tools for smart people
The Web2forDev story: towards a community of practice

PART V: TIPS FOR TRAINERS

Web 2.0 tools: a series of short introductions

Each introductory guide provides a brief description of the Web 2.0 tool and how it can be used for development purposes, along with links to further information and where applications can be downloaded online (more information also in e-participation):

Blogging
Micro-blogging and Twitter
Wikis
Online social networking
RSS feeds
Tagging
Social bookmarking
Glossary of Web 2.0 terms

This special issue is co-published with the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

KM & Communications

AIDAS Model of marketing

storytelling — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:17:07 -0600

AIDA or AIDAS is an acronym used in marketing that describes a common list of phases in the purchasing cycle. When you are marketing a product or service, ensure you provide points of contact for customers during these phases:

A - Attention (or Awareness): attract the attention of the customer/market.
I - Interest: raise interest by focusing on and demonstrating advantages and benefits (instead of focusing on features)
D - Desire: convince customers/market that they want and desire the product or service and that it will satisfy their needs.
A - Action: lead customers/market towards taking action and/or purchasing.
S - Satisfaction: satisfy the customer with the goal of them becoming repeat customers who give referrals to a product or service

A model such as AIDAS provides a general understanding of how to target a market effectively and may be used in marketing intangibles and stimulating community action as well as tangible goods and services. It is also easy to use to explain to non-advertising and marketing types. The model also suggests at some level that the customer experience needs to be guided and managed throughout.

KM & Communications

If you want to travel fast, travel alone. If you want to travel far, travel together

KMAadmin — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:13:11 -0600

KM & Communications

The Art and Science of Semiotics

storytelling — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 06:32:56 -0600

Semiotics (also called semiotic studies or semiology) is the study of sign processes (semiosis), or signification and communication, signs and symbols, both individually and grouped into sign systems. It includes the study of how meaning is constructed and understood. One attempt to formalize the field was notably led by the Vienna Circle and presented in their International Encyclopedia of Unified Science, in which the authors agreed on breaking the field, which they called "semiotic", into three branches:

Semantics: Relation between signs and the things they refer to, their denotata.
Syntactics: Relation of signs to each other in formal structures.
Pragmatics: Relation of signs to their impacts on those who use them.

Semiotics is frequently seen as having important anthropological dimensions, for example Umberto Eco proposes that every cultural phenomenon can be studied as communication. However, some semioticians focus on the logical dimensions of the science. They examine areas belonging also to the natural sciences - such as how organisms make predictions about, and adapt to, their semiotic niche in the world (see semiosis). In general, semiotic theories take signs or sign systems as their object of study: the communication of information in living organisms is covered in biosemiotics or zoosemiosis.

Syntactics is the branch of semiotics that deals with the formal properties of signs and symbols. More precisely, syntactics deals with the "rules that govern how words are combined to form phrases and sentences.". Charles Morris adds that semantics deals with the relation of signs to their designata and the objects which they may or do denote; and, pragmatics deals with the biotic aspects of semiosis, that is, with all the psychological, biological, and sociological phenomena which occur in the functioning of signs.

The importance of signs and signification has been recognized throughout much of the history of philosophy, and in psychology as well. Plato and Aristotle both explored the relationship between signs and the world, and Augustine considered the nature of the sign within a conventional system. These theories have had a lasting effect in Western philosophy, especially through Scholastic philosophy. More recently, Umberto Eco, in his Semiotics and philosophy of language, has argued that semiotic theories are implicit in the work of most, perhaps all, major thinkers.

Current Applications of Semiotics

Some current applications of semiotics include:

It represents a methodology for the analysis of texts regardless of modality. For these purposes, "text" is any message preserved in a form whose existence is independent of both sender and receiver;
It can improve ergonomic design in situations where it is important to ensure that human beings can interact more effectively with their environments, whether it be on a large scale, as in architecture, or on a small scale, such as the configuration of instrumentation for human use.

Semiotics is only slowly establishing itself as a discipline to be respected. In some countries, its role is limited to literary criticism and an appreciation of audio and visual media, but this narrow focus can inhibit a more general study of the social and political forces shaping how different media are used and their dynamic status within modern culture. Issues of technological determinism in the choice of media and the design of communication strategies assume new importance in this age of mass media. The use of semiotic methods to reveal different levels of meaning and, sometimes, hidden motivations has led some[who?] to demonise elements of the subject as Marxist, nihilist, etc. (e.g. critical discourse analysis in Postmodernism and deconstruction in Post-structuralism).

KM & Communications

Want more?

storytelling — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:27:57 -0600

KM & Communications

Want to enjoy life?

storytelling — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:26:07 -0600

KM & Communications

Want to be your own boss?

storytelling — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:23:31 -0600

KM & Communications

How to improve customer service quality using RATER - Responsiveness, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy and Reliability

storytelling — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:23:00 -0600

A number of research projects have suggested key areas to attend to if you are interested in improving the level of the service that you provide. These models suggest that of good customer service includes Responsiveness, Assurance, Tangibles, Empathy and Reliability or RATER for short. While there are commonly acceptable meanings for these terms, it is important that organisational participants be provided an opportunity to create their own definitions and meanings specifically in the context of your organisation.

Responsiveness means:

Prompt service to customers
Willingness to help customers
Readiness to respond to customers' requests
Going out of the way to make customers happy
And specifically in our organisation, responsiveness means to perform well on ________________________

Assurance means:

Employees who instill confidence in customers
Making customers feel safe in their transactions
Employees who are consistently courteous
Employees who have the knowledge to answer customer questions
And specifically in our organisation, reliability means to perform well on ________________________

Tangibles Means:

Modern equipment
Visually appealing facilities, uniforms, memory devices
Employees who are neat and have a professional appearance
Visually appealing materials associated with the service
Convenient business hours
And specifically in our organisation, tangibles means to perform well on ________________________

Empathy Means:

Giving customers individual, personal attention
Employees who deal with customers in a caring fashion
Having the customer's best interest at heart
Employees who understand the needs of their customers
And specifically in our organisation, empathy means to perform well on ________________________

Reliability Means:

Delivering services as promised
Dependability in handling customers' service problems
Performing services right the first time
Providing services at the promised time
Keeping customers informed about when services will be performed
And specifically in our organisation, reliability means to perform well on ________________________

KM & Communications

Thinking Skills

storytelling — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:38:10 -0600

We oftentimes tend to focus on the latest technologies and Gizmos but all too often the person behind the technology - you - is overlooked. It seems that while the education system is reasonably good at telling you about the world around you, it is not terribly effective about teaching you about yourself and what happens in your brain/mind/body/nervous system. Therefore, I believe that a study of thinking skills should form part of each PKM practitioner's personal growth plan.

I have taught thinking skills to a variety of audiences over the years ranging from school children to engineers and boards of directors in listed companies through our thoughtformz thinking skills project - the course outline includes:

Module 1: Perception What’s really going on? Insights from biology and the nature of its relationship to information. What do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt? Can it survive analysis? How to evaluate the data:story ratio in your knowledge. Differences between analytical and analogical thinking.
Module 2: Language, Reality and Culture Words, meaning, personal narratives, metaphors and mythologies. Power relationships and culture. Leadership as storytelling. Narrative Medicine.
Module 3: The biology of thought Analogical & Analytical thinking and your nervous system. How thinking processes and consciousness are impacted by foodstuffs and substances. Smart, conscious nutrition.
Module 4: Learning, Forgetting and Change New insights into memory, learning and change. Management of change. Holding on and letting go. Rituals and rites of passage and transformation.
Module 5: Your thinking skills toolbox Useful metaphors, thinking skills, uncommon awareness, models, tools, narratives and software necessary to navigate the future. Ideas you can take and immediately implement in your own context.

One of the exercises that we provide is to get participants to become deliberate about writing their own lifestories according to the lifeline exercise attached. Storytelling or the oral tradition is very much associated with Africa and here we adopt the view that a human being is the creation of his or her own story. Reminding people of their own authority is empowering to people. See what happens when you become deliberate about your story. The attached exercise has been created specially for teachers from the Gauteng Department of Education as part of a lifeskills programme we have developed.

KM & Communications