DK

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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Characteristics of Artificial Intelligence:

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

  • 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

    • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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