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(Knowledge) Community Networks

Ramon Sangüesa, Ph. D

Centre for Internet ApplicationsTechnical University of Catalonia, BCN

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Overview: from KM to K-Community networks

• Knowledge Management• Some tools• Some experiences• Implications for Community

Networks and CN research

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KM

• The main goal of knowledge management is the detection of potentially useful knowledge in a group, typically a company, with respect to this group’s goals in order to empower its members, to make them better learners and to improve and increase the overall ability for organizational learning

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Knowledge Sources

Individuals

Groups(CoPs/Project Teams)

Documents

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KM Cycle

Internalize

Detect

Make Explicit

Organize/Represent

Law

Legal

Case

Distribute/Transfer

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KM Components

• A bundle of:– Human-resources related

methodologies– Learning methods– Information Technology – Knowledge Engineering

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KM processes (I)

• Knowledge mapping– What do we know?– Who knows it? Who knows who knows it?

• People• Groups (Communities of Practice)

• Knowledge RepresentationBuilding shared vocabularies and taxonomiesBuilding knowledge bases

Concepts, relations, cases-solutions, best-practicesTagging, Indexing

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KM processes (II)

• Knowledge access/distribution– Who should access it?– Intranets, repositories, distributed knowledge

bases, collaborative environments, intelligent searching, proactive agents

• Learning– Tutoring environments– Putting knowledge into practice– Evaluating it

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A moment to think...

• Which are the goals of a Community Network?– To be more “competitive” than other

networks? (!)– To “learn faster”?

• What type of knowledge it generates?

• Which form?

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KM Tools

• Complementary views– Knolwedge evolves from the interaction

between people and documents• What you write is what you know• What you read is what you are interested in

– Knowledge results from interaction among people with common goals and problems

• Your solution may be useful to someone else• Someone else may know something of help to

you

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KM tools: document-centered view

• It is important to manage documents correctly so as to:

• Tag them consistently according to shared taxonomies so as to ease knowledge access and distributing

• Relate documents to people• Structure documents as “cases” such as “best

practices”, “best solutions”, etc.

• Oriented towards formal groups (projecte-centered groups)– Common prescripted goals, vocabulary, and

practices

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KM tools: people-centered

• Find patterns of interaction that may reveal “knowledge producers” or “knowledge buddies”– Enhance collaboration– Enhance communication– Enhance knowledge sharing

• Evolution from groups with common interests towards teams with common goals– Awareness technologies (expertise location

+collaboration+coomunication)

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KM and Community Networking

• Implications of KM-view of networks– Shift from ensuring access to

improving learning– Giving value to knowledge assets of

the community

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Some Examples: Knowledge Mappers

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See-K (trivium)

Name of the map

Associated objects (competencies, levels)

Arbor

PME

Profils

PMI

Trivium

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The strategic chartCompetencies

0/0 Michel Authier0/0 François Astorg0/0 Franck Valetas0/0 Vincent Duret0/0 Caroline de Bischop0/0 Yves Kergall0/0 Gabriel Gendre

0/0 Mobiliser les compétences0/0 Faire une prestation0/0 Optimiser les ressources matérielles0/0 Améliorer la performance des équipes0/0 Faire appliquer le règlement0/0 Fabriquer des outils0/0 Organiser un espace de production0/0 Organiser la mobilité - Externaliser0/0 Diffusion de rapports0/0 Former à l'informatique0/0 Faire une fiche technique0/0 Former au management0/0 Faire de la formation0/0 Faire de la formation technique0/0 Clore un contrat

collaborators.

• Relate collaborators to competencies

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Document Atlas

All strategic charts

Dossier des collaborateurs, Rapports de missions…Descriptifs de Projets...

Arbor & Sens

Trivium

Pme

Membres

Activités

Ressources

Collab.

Commandes

Postes

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Documentary chartsKeywords in documents CV, project descritpion

courses

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The Collaboratory

• Find/Contribute documents relevant to you

• Get knowledge relevant to you• Relate people and documents• Reveal networks of knowledge

producers and possible partners• Communicate with them

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Ask to see new recommendations

See old recommendations

Contribute an url

Contribute a document

Vote for itVote against it

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Differences with corporate KM

• Goals– Cooperation against competition

• No proper “working environment”, “working routines” or “rules”

• Semi-structured knowledge• Incentives

– No wages– No pecuniary rewards

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Commonalities with KM• Finding “pockets of knowledge” valuable to

the community • Integrating knowledgeable people (elderly

people, for example)• Rewarding sharing of knowledge• Creating a community knowledge memory• Awareness of the community potential• Empowering the community• At a higher level: locating partner

communities

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Some examples

• Parthenay– Maison Connaissances

• Campiello (http://klee.cootech.disco.unimib.it/~campiello/)

• PrairieNetwork

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Opportunities for Research

• Which are the types of knowledge?• Which are the paterns for k-

creation?• Incentives?• Values?• The city as a set of K-communities