Information Systems

Essentials, Sixth Edition

Chapter 7

Knowledge Management and

Specialized Information Systems

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Principles and Learning Objectives

• Knowledge management allows organizations to

share knowledge and experience among managers

and employees

– Discuss the differences among data, information, and

knowledge

– Describe the role of the chief knowledge officer (CKO)

– List some of the tools and techniques used in

knowledge management

Principles and Learning Objectives

(continued)

• Artificial intelligence systems form a broad and

diverse set of systems that can replicate human

decision making for certain types of well-defined

problems

– Define the term artificial intelligence and state the

objective of developing artificial intelligence systems

– List the characteristics of intelligent behavior and

compare the performance of natural and artificial

intelligence systems for each of these characteristics

– Identify the major components of the artificial

intelligence field and provide one example of each

type of system

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Principles and Learning Objectives

(continued)

• Expert systems can enable a novice to perform at

the level of an expert but must be developed and

maintained very carefully

– List the characteristics and basic components of

expert systems

– Outline and briefly explain the steps for developing

an expert system

– Identify the benefits associated with the use of

expert systems

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Principles and Learning Objectives

(continued)

• Multimedia and virtual reality systems can reshape

the interface between people and information

technology by offering new ways to communicate

information, visualize processes, and express ideas

creatively

– Discuss the use of multimedia in a business setting

– Define the term virtual reality and provide three

examples of virtual reality applications

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Principles and Learning Objectives

(continued)

• Specialized systems can help organizations and

individuals achieve their goals

– Discuss examples of specialized systems for

organizational and individual use

Why Learn About Knowledge

Management and Specialized

Information Systems?

• Knowledge management and specialized

information systems are used in almost every

industry

• Learning about these systems:

– Will help you discover new ways to use information

systems in your day-to-day work

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Knowledge Management Systems

• Data consists of raw facts

• Information:

– Collection of facts organized so that they have

additional value beyond the value of 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

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Knowledge Management Systems

(continued)

• Knowledge management system (KMS):

– Organized collection of people, procedures,

software, databases, and devices

– Used to create, store, share, and use the

organization’s knowledge and experience

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Knowledge Management Systems

(continued)

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Overview of Knowledge Management

Systems

• Explicit knowledge:

– Objective

– Can be measured and documented in reports,

papers, and rules

• Tacit knowledge:

– Hard to measure and document

– Typically not objective or formalized

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Data and Knowledge Management

Workers and Communities of Practice

• Data workers:

– Secretaries, administrative assistants, bookkeepers,

etc.

• Knowledge workers:

– Create, use, and disseminate knowledge

– Professionals in science, engineering, or business

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Data and Knowledge Management

Workers and Communities of Practice

(continued)

• Chief knowledge officer (CKO):

– Top-level executive who helps the organization use a

KMS to create, store, and use knowledge to achieve

organizational goals

• Communities of practice (COP):

– Group of people dedicated to a common discipline or

practice

– May be used to create, store, and share knowledge

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Obtaining, Storing, Sharing, and Using

Knowledge

• Knowledge workers:

– Often work in teams

• Knowledge repository:

– Includes documents, reports, files, and databases

• Knowledge map:

– Directory that points the knowledge worker to the

needed knowledge

Obtaining, Storing, Sharing, and Using

Knowledge (continued)

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Technology to Support Knowledge

Management

• Effective KMS:

– Is based on learning new knowledge and changing

procedures and approaches as a result

• Microsoft offers a number of knowledge

management tools, including Digital Dashboard

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

An Overview of Artificial Intelligence

• Artificial intelligence (AI):

– Computers with the ability to mimic or duplicate the

functions of the human brain

• Many AI pioneers:

– Predicted that computers would be as “smart” as

people by the 1960s

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Artificial Intelligence in Perspective

• 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

The Nature of Intelligence

• Turing Test:

– Determines whether responses from a computer with

intelligent behavior are indistinguishable from those

from a human being

• Characteristics of intelligent behavior include the

ability to:

– Learn from experiences and apply knowledge

acquired from experience

– Handle complex situations

– Solve problems when important information is

missing

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

The Nature of Intelligence (continued)

• Characteristics of intelligent behavior include the

ability to (continued):

– Determine what is important

– React quickly and correctly to a new situation

– Understand visual images

– Process and manipulate symbols

– Be creative and imaginative

– Use heuristics

The Brain Computer Interface

• Brain Computer Interface (BCI):

– Idea is to directly connect the human brain to a

computer and have human thought control computer

activities

• If successful:

– The BCI experiment will allow people to control

computers and artificial arms and legs through

thought alone

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

The Major Branches of Artificial

Intelligence

• AI is a broad field that 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 a human expert

The Major Branches of Artificial

Intelligence (continued)

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Robotics

• Developing mechanical devices that can:

– Paint cars, make precision welds, and perform other

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

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

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

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Natural Language Processing and

Voice Recognition

• Processing that allows the computer to understand

and react to statements and commands made in a

“natural” language, such as English

• Voice recognition:

– Converting sound waves into words

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

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

and learn to recognize patterns

• Neural network program:

– Helps engineers slow or speed drilling operations to

help increase drilling accuracy and reduce costs

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Other Artificial Intelligence Applications

• 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, a process, or another

program

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

An Overview of Expert Systems

• Computerized expert systems:

– Use heuristics, or rules of thumb, to arrive at

conclusions or make suggestions

• The U.S. Army:

– Uses the Knowledge and Information Fusion

Exchange (KnIFE) expert system to help soldiers in

the field make better military decisions

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

When to Use Expert Systems

• People and organizations should develop an expert

system if it can:

– Provide a high potential payoff or significantly reduce

downside risk

– Capture and preserve irreplaceable human expertise

– Solve a problem that is not easily solved using

traditional programming techniques

– Develop a system more consistent than human

experts

When to Use Expert Systems

(continued)

• People and organizations should develop an expert

system if it can (continued):

– Provide expertise needed at a number of locations at

the same time or in a hostile environment that is

dangerous to human health

– Provide expertise that is expensive or rare

– Develop a solution faster than human experts can

– Provide expertise needed for training and

development

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Components of Expert Systems

• Expert system:

– Consists of a collection of integrated and related

components

• Knowledge base:

– Stores all relevant information, data, rules, cases,

and relationships used by expert system

– Creates knowledge base by:

• Using rules

• Using cases

Components of Expert Systems

(continued)

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

The Inference Engine

• Purpose:

– To seek information and relationships from the

knowledge base

– To provide answers, predictions, and suggestions,

like a human expert

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

The Explanation Facility

• Allows a user or decision maker to understand how

the expert system arrived at certain conclusions or

results

• Example:

– A doctor can find out the logic or rationale of a

diagnosis made by a medical expert system

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

The Knowledge Acquisition Facility

• Provides convenient and efficient means of

capturing and storing all components of knowledge

base

• Knowledge acquisition software:

– Can present users and decision makers with

easy-to-use menus

The Knowledge Acquisition Facility

(continued)

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

The 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

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

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 or experience in the design,

development, implementation, and maintenance of

an expert system

• Knowledge user:

– Person or group who uses and benefits from the

expert system

Participants in Developing and Using

Expert Systems (continued)

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Expert Systems Development Tools

and Techniques

• Theoretically, 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

Expert Systems Development Tools

and Techniques (continued)

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Multimedia and Virtual Reality

• Use of multimedia and virtual reality:

– Has helped many companies achieve a competitive

advantage and increase profits

• The approach and technology used in multimedia:

– Is often the foundation of virtual reality systems

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Overview of Multimedia

• Multimedia is:

– Text and graphics

– Audio

– Video and animation

– File conversion and compression

• Designing a multimedia application:

– Requires careful thought and a systematic approach

– Requires that the end use of the document or file be

carefully considered

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Overview of Virtual Reality

• 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

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Interface Devices

• To see in a virtual world:

– Often the user wears a head-mounted display (HMD)

with screens directed at each eye

• Haptic interface:

– Relays sense of touch and other sensations in a

virtual world

– Most challenging to create

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Forms of Virtual Reality

• Immersive virtual reality

• Applications that are not fully immersive:

– Mouse-controlled navigation through a 3D

environment on a graphics monitor

– Stereo projection systems

– Stereo viewing from the monitor via stereo glasses

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Virtual Reality Applications

• Medicine:

– VR program called SnowWorld helps treat burn

patients

• Education and training:

– Virtual technology has also been applied by the

military

• Business and Commerce:

– Boeing used virtual reality to help it design and

manufacture airplane parts and new planes

• Entertainment:

– Movies use CGI to bring realism to the silver screen

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Specialized Systems

• Segway:

– Uses sophisticated software, sensors, and gyro

motors to transport people

• Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags:

– Contain small chips with information about products

or packages

– Can be quickly scanned to perform inventory control

Specialized Systems (continued)

• Game theory:

– Involves the use of information systems to develop

competitive strategies for people, organizations, or

even countries

• Informatics:

– Combines traditional disciplines, such as science

and medicine, with computer systems and

technology

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Summary

• Knowledge:

– Awareness and understanding of a set of information

• Knowledge workers:

– People who create, use, and disseminate knowledge

• Artificial intelligence:

– Broad field that includes:

• Expert systems, robotics, vision systems

• Natural language processing, learning systems, and

neural networks

Information Systems Essentials, Sixth Edition

Summary (continued)

• Expert system consists of a collection of integrated

and related components

• Inference engine:

– Processes the rules, data, and relationships stored

in the knowledge base

• Virtual reality system:

– Enables one or more users to move and react in a

computer-simulated environment

Summary (continued)

• Virtual reality:

– Can refer to applications that are not fully immersive

• Specialized systems:

– Segway

– Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags

– Game theory