Ch 7 - Knowledge Management and Specialized Information Systems 

• Knowledge Management Systems recap: Data consists of raw facts

• Information: collection of facts organised so they have additional value beyond the facts themselves

• Knowledge: awareness and understanding of a set of information and the ways that information can be made useful to support a specific task or reach a decision

• Knowledge Management Systems (KMS): is an organised collection of people, procedures, software, databases, and devices.

  • Used to create, store, share, and use the organisation’s knowledge and experience

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• Explicit Knowledge: is objective, can be measured and documented in reports, papers, and rulers

• Tacit Knowledge: hard to measure and document, typically not objective or formalised

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• Data and Knowledge Management workers:

  • Data workers: secretaries, administrative assistants, bookkeepers
  • Knowledge workers: create, use, and disseminate knowledge

• Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO): top-level executive who helps the organisation use a KMS to create, store, and use knowledge to achieve organisational goals

• Communities of Practice (COP): group of people dedicated to a common discipline or practice. May be used to create, store, and share knowledge

  • Knowledge repository: includes documents, reports, files and databases
  • Knowledge map: directory that points the knowledge worker to the needed knowledge
  • Effective KMS: is based on learning new knowledge and changing procedure and approaches as a result

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• Overview on Artificial Intelligence:

  • Artificial Intelligence: computers with the ability to mimic or duplicate the functions of the human brain
  • Artificial intelligence systems: include the people, procedures, hardware, software, data, and knowledge needed to develop computer systems and machines that demonstrate characteristics of human intelligence
  • Turing Test: determines whether responses from a computer with high intelligence are distinguishable from a human being

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• Characteristics of Artificial Intelligence:

  • Determine key factors
  • React quickly and correctly to new situation
  • Understand visual imagine
  • Process and manipulate symbols
  • Creative and imaginative

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• Brain Computer Interface:

  • Brain computer interface (BCI): idea is to directly connect the human brain to a computer and have thought control computer activities

  • The BCI experiment will allow people to control computers and artificial arms and legs through thought alone

    • AI includes:

    • Expert systems and robotics

    • Vision systems and natural language processing

    • Learning systems and neural networks

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  • Expert systems: hardware and software that stores knowledge and makes inferences, similar to human expert

  • Consists of a collection of integrated and related components

  • Robotics: mechanical devices that can perform tasks that require a high degree of precision

  • Manufacturers use robots to assemble and paint products

  • Contemporary robotics: combine both high precision machine capabilities and sophisticated controlling software

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• Vision Systems: Hardware and software that permit computers to capture, store, and manipulate visual images and pictures

  • Effective at identifying people based on facial features

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• Natural language processing: processing that allows the computer to understand and react to statements and commands made in a “natural” language

• Voice recognition: converting sound waves into words

• Learning systems: combination of software and hardware that allows the computer to change how it functions or reacts to situations based on feedback it receives

• Learning systems software: requires feedback on results of actions or decisions

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• Neural Networks: computer system that simulates functioning of a human brain
  • Can process many pieces of data at the same time
  • Neural network program: helps engineers slow or speed drilling operations to help increase accuracy/reduce costs
• Genetic Algorithm: approach to solving complex problems in which a number of related operations or models change and evolve until the best one emerges
• Intelligent Agent: programs and a knowledge base used to perform a specific task for a person, process, or another program

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• Computerised expert systems: systems that use heuristics (techniques) to arrive at conclusions or make suggestions

  • Expert systems should be introduced in organisations if it can:

  • High payoff/reduce risk

  • Capture and preserve irreplaceable expertise

  • Solve a problem not easily solved using traditional programming techniques

  • More consistent system than human experts

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• Components of Expert System:

  • Knowledge base: stores all relevant information, data, rules, cases, and relationship used by expert system
  • Created by using rules and cases

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• Inference Engine: seeks information and relationships from the knowledge base

  • Provides answers, predictions, and suggestions like a human expert

• Explanation Facility: allows user or decision maker to understand how the expert system arrived at certain conclusions or results

• Knowledge Acquisition facility: provides convenient and efficient means of capturing and string all components of knowledge base

• Knowledge acquisition software:

  • Can present users and decision makers with easy to use menus

• User Interface: permits decision makers to develop and use their own expert systems

  • Main purpose: to make development and use of an expert system easier for users and decision makers

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• Participants in developing and Using Expert Systems:

  • Domain Expert: person or group with the expertise or knowledge the expert system is trying to capture

  • Knowledge engineer: person who has training in the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of an expert system

  • Knowledge user: person or group who uses and benefits from the expert system

  • Expert systems can be developed from any programming language

  • Expert system shells and products: collections of software packages and tools used to design, develop, implement, and maintain expert systems

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• Multimedia and Virtual Reality:

  • They have helped many companies achieve a competitive advantage ad increase profits. The approach and technology used in multimedia is often the foundation of virtual reality systems

  • Multimedia is:

  • Text and graphics

  • Audio

  • Video and animation

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• Virtual reality system: enables one or more users to move and react in a computer-simulated environment

• Immersive virtual reality: user becomes fully immersed in an artificial, 3D world that is completely generated by a computer \n

• Interface devices:

  • Haptic interface: relays sense of touch and other sensations in a virtual world
  • Most challenging to create

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• Specialised systems:
  • Game theory: uses information systems to develop competitive strategies for people, organisations, or even countries
  • Informatics: combines traditional disciplines, such as science and medicine, with computer systems and technology

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