Thursday December 7, 4:00 am ET
Autonomy and Arup Win at the International Information Industry Awards 2006
CAMBRIDGE, England and SAN FRANCISCO, California, December 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Autonomy Corporation plc (LSE: AU. or LSE: AU.L), a global leader in infrastructure software for the enterprise, today announced that Arup, a global firm of designers and business consultants providing a diverse range of professional services to clients around the world, has won the Best Innovation in Knowledge Management category at the International Information Industry Awards 2006 for their Autonomy-powered KM platform. The award recognizes any project that has shown exceptional innovation in the field of knowledge and information management, reaping specific and quantifiable benefits for the organization.
Knowledge Management made Practical
8 Dec 2006
6 Dec 2006
News: Webex and Geolearning Launch new learning Managment System
WebEx and GeoLearning Target Learning Management Systems Market with Affordable On-Demand SolutionMonday December 4, 8:05 am ET
New Learning Manager by GeoLearning Provides Powerful Learning Capabilities in Easy-to-Use On-Demand Service for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- According to Forrester research, today's competitive market puts constant pressure on companies to keep employees highly trained and productive(1). To manage this challenge, many companies are acquiring learning management systems (LMS) to help them create and manage training materials and courseware. Analyst firm Bersin & Associates projects the potential market for LMS to be $3 billion once fully penetrated, with small and medium-sized businesses representing $1.2 billion of the market(2).
Visit http://www.webex.com for
New Learning Manager by GeoLearning Provides Powerful Learning Capabilities in Easy-to-Use On-Demand Service for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- According to Forrester research, today's competitive market puts constant pressure on companies to keep employees highly trained and productive(1). To manage this challenge, many companies are acquiring learning management systems (LMS) to help them create and manage training materials and courseware. Analyst firm Bersin & Associates projects the potential market for LMS to be $3 billion once fully penetrated, with small and medium-sized businesses representing $1.2 billion of the market(2).
Visit http://www.webex.com for
Potential problems with knowledge management systems- a legal perspective
Interesting article about the potential liabilities to consider when implmenting KM Systems.
Bits & Bytes: Potential problems with knowledge management systems
Written by Alan Gahtan
Monday, 27 November 2006
Articles are frequently written about knowledge management or document management systems to highlight their advantages.I won't bore you with yet another. Instead, I thought I would review some of the potential liability concerns surrounding their implementation and use.A document management system, and particularly version control features can be a real benefit when multiple lawyers need to work on the same document. For example, a partner may need to review a draft prepared by an apprentice, or other specialists in the firm may need to review specific sections of the same document.Better indexing may also make it easier to find a particular document worked on in the past when only limited information about the associated transaction can be remembered.However, easy access to precedents and sample agreements may also make it easier for other lawyers in the firm to pull up a document for use on a transaction where they lack sufficient experience. This has been known to happen when someone having a slow billable month gets a call from a client needing help in another practice area. An un-annotated contract used by someone lacking the proper experience, on the other hand, can be a disaster waiting to happen.Relying solely on the results generated by a document management system can also be a problem even for practitioners in the same practice area. While a document management system may help identify the most recent draft of a document, that draft may have been heavily negotiated and may not be the best version to start with on a new transaction.So, an important rule is to always speak to the author of a document before using it.While these practice management issues can be a concern, they can typically be managed. The more important concern is the potential of generating liability for the firm either as a direct target, or indirectly if the firm's client is sued or suffers damages due to the actions of the firm's legal practitioners. The top two potential sources are copyright infringement and breach of confidentiality obligations.Legal contracts, like other literary works, are protected by copyright. Many comprehensive agreements could cost tens of thousands of dollars to develop. A small portion may have been negotiated (and therefore changed) for a particular transaction but the remainder would likely still be protected as a copyrighted work of its author. Taking such a document, stripping out the confidential client information, and providing it to another client (even with further modifications) may expose the new client (and the firm) to liability for copyright infringement if discovered.Also, in many transactions, the agreement may constitute, or may even be specifically designated as, the confidential information of one or each of the parties. Properly worded confidentiality provisions typically contain an express prohibition on any use or disclosure of the confidential information to any other person except on a need-to-know basis.The specific lawyer negotiating a transaction can be presumed to have a "need to know." But how does one argue that another lawyer in the same firm who may wish to look at the agreement for a different purpose (for example, developing a precedent for a competitor of a client's supplier) have a need to know? Could putting such a contract on a document management system and indexing it so that it can be easily "leveraged" by others in the firm cause the firm's client to breach their confidentiality obligation to the other side?Consider if a firm represents a customer in a transaction with a particular supplier and then is asked to negotiate a similar agreement for another customer with the same supplier. If the supplier subsequently discovers that same exact language or unique terms being requested by another customer, represented by the same law firm, it may be sufficient proof of unauthorized access and use.Even if the contract contains a general limitation on the client's liability to the other side, the client's liability for breach of confidentiality obligations may have been excluded. The confidentiality breach may also entitle the other party to terminate the contract "for cause" as a means of breaking what may have become a disadvantageous arrangement for other business reasons. So even if the other party's damages are difficult to ascertain or prove, if they are able to successfully use the confidentiality breach as a means for terminating their contract with the firm's client, the firm can end up with a liability exposure to its client.Implementing a good knowledge management system can provide lots of benefits to a firm. It's important to consider, however, the legal issues surrounding their use and not focus solely on what they can do from a technical perspective.
Alan Gahtan is a Toronto-based technology lawyer. His web site is www.gahtan.com/alan
Bits & Bytes: Potential problems with knowledge management systems
Written by Alan Gahtan
Monday, 27 November 2006
Articles are frequently written about knowledge management or document management systems to highlight their advantages.I won't bore you with yet another. Instead, I thought I would review some of the potential liability concerns surrounding their implementation and use.A document management system, and particularly version control features can be a real benefit when multiple lawyers need to work on the same document. For example, a partner may need to review a draft prepared by an apprentice, or other specialists in the firm may need to review specific sections of the same document.Better indexing may also make it easier to find a particular document worked on in the past when only limited information about the associated transaction can be remembered.However, easy access to precedents and sample agreements may also make it easier for other lawyers in the firm to pull up a document for use on a transaction where they lack sufficient experience. This has been known to happen when someone having a slow billable month gets a call from a client needing help in another practice area. An un-annotated contract used by someone lacking the proper experience, on the other hand, can be a disaster waiting to happen.Relying solely on the results generated by a document management system can also be a problem even for practitioners in the same practice area. While a document management system may help identify the most recent draft of a document, that draft may have been heavily negotiated and may not be the best version to start with on a new transaction.So, an important rule is to always speak to the author of a document before using it.While these practice management issues can be a concern, they can typically be managed. The more important concern is the potential of generating liability for the firm either as a direct target, or indirectly if the firm's client is sued or suffers damages due to the actions of the firm's legal practitioners. The top two potential sources are copyright infringement and breach of confidentiality obligations.Legal contracts, like other literary works, are protected by copyright. Many comprehensive agreements could cost tens of thousands of dollars to develop. A small portion may have been negotiated (and therefore changed) for a particular transaction but the remainder would likely still be protected as a copyrighted work of its author. Taking such a document, stripping out the confidential client information, and providing it to another client (even with further modifications) may expose the new client (and the firm) to liability for copyright infringement if discovered.Also, in many transactions, the agreement may constitute, or may even be specifically designated as, the confidential information of one or each of the parties. Properly worded confidentiality provisions typically contain an express prohibition on any use or disclosure of the confidential information to any other person except on a need-to-know basis.The specific lawyer negotiating a transaction can be presumed to have a "need to know." But how does one argue that another lawyer in the same firm who may wish to look at the agreement for a different purpose (for example, developing a precedent for a competitor of a client's supplier) have a need to know? Could putting such a contract on a document management system and indexing it so that it can be easily "leveraged" by others in the firm cause the firm's client to breach their confidentiality obligation to the other side?Consider if a firm represents a customer in a transaction with a particular supplier and then is asked to negotiate a similar agreement for another customer with the same supplier. If the supplier subsequently discovers that same exact language or unique terms being requested by another customer, represented by the same law firm, it may be sufficient proof of unauthorized access and use.Even if the contract contains a general limitation on the client's liability to the other side, the client's liability for breach of confidentiality obligations may have been excluded. The confidentiality breach may also entitle the other party to terminate the contract "for cause" as a means of breaking what may have become a disadvantageous arrangement for other business reasons. So even if the other party's damages are difficult to ascertain or prove, if they are able to successfully use the confidentiality breach as a means for terminating their contract with the firm's client, the firm can end up with a liability exposure to its client.Implementing a good knowledge management system can provide lots of benefits to a firm. It's important to consider, however, the legal issues surrounding their use and not focus solely on what they can do from a technical perspective.
Alan Gahtan is a Toronto-based technology lawyer. His web site is www.gahtan.com/alan
News: Open Source ECM: Alfresco Selected Pioneer at The World Economic Forum Announces Technology Pioneers 2007
The World Economic Forum Announces Technology Pioneers 2007: Alfresco Selected
LONDON -- (MARKET WIRE) -- December 04, 2006 -- The World Economic Forum today announced 47 Technology Pioneers for 2007. Alfresco Software has been selected as one of these Technology Pioneers. The Technology Pioneers were nominated by the world's leading venture capital and technology companies. The final selection from 225 nominees was made by a panel of leading technology experts appointed by the World Economic Forum. Technology Pioneers 2007 are invited to attend the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum to be held in Davos, Switzerland from 24-28 January 2007.
Alfresco Software (www.alfresco.com) is an open source enterprise content management (ECM) system that brings the disruptive power of the open source model to the $3.9 billion ECM industry. Alfresco's co-founder John Newton, CTO and Technology Pioneer representative, who also co-founded the market leader Documentum, has had a big influence on the ECM industry. Alfresco is freely available content management software that controls and accesses content, such as web pages, images, or documents, throughout the enterprise. With cost advantages of open source, even small or poorly funded organizations, including those in the developing world, can meet regulatory requirements, serve customers and citizens, and discover important research.
"We are proud to have won this award recognizing Alfresco's technology, the global power of open source and the importance of managing content in economic development," said John Newton. "We hope to use the opportunities created by this award to gain greater visibility to how information can help solve some of the world's most pressing problems and how sharing and retaining knowledge can level the playing field for companies outside of the developed world."
Technology Pioneers are companies that have been identified as developing and applying highly transformational and innovative technologies in the areas of energy, biotechnology and health, and information technology. This year's class of companies has been selected not only because of the cutting-edge work undertaken by these organizations, but also because their work has potential long-term impact on business and society.
The companies' products include microscopic pill cameras, bio sensors that localize landmines, implantable medical devices for the treatment of brain tumours, mobile television service, blog search engines, open source webrowsers, video headsets, thin-film diamond coatings, solar air-conditioner equipment, paper batteries for music-playing greeting cards, and even an automatic and compacting trash bin powered by solar energy.
Highlighted Links
Alfresco Software
Over half (27) of the Technology Pioneers 2007 are US-based companies, with 13 located in California. The United Kingdom boasts six Technology Pioneers 2007; the Netherlands, India, Israel and Singapore boast two each; Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland have one each.
"The competition to become a Technology Pioneer has been more intense than ever. It is evident that technology and innovation is playing a key role in the shifting power equation at a global level. Driving this shift is the tremendous amount of innovation taking place outside of traditional hubs. The wide geographic spread of this year's Technology Pioneers is a testament to this trend. We are pleased to welcome these exciting companies to our Community of Technology Pioneers, and look forward to engaging these industry leaders of the future into the community of the World Economic Forum," said Peter Torreele, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum.
To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be involved in the development of life-changing technology innovation and have the potential for long-term impact on business and society. In addition, it must demonstrate visionary leadership, show all the signs of being a long-standing market leader -- and its technology must be proven. Previous Technology Pioneers have included Autonomy, Cambridge Silicon Radio, Encore Software, Google, Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Napster.
Go to www.weforum.org/techpioneers/2007 for the entire list of Technology Pioneers and interviews with the CEOs of the selected companies.
The selection criteria include:
1) Innovation. The company's technology must be truly innovative. A new version or repackaging of an already well-accepted technological solution does not qualify as an innovation. The innovation should be recent -- not more than two years old. The company should invest significantly in R&D.
2) Potential Impact. This company's technology must have the potential to have a substantial long-term impact on business and society in the future.
3) Growth and Sustainability. The company should have all the signs of being a long-term market leader and should have well-formulated plans for future development and growth.
4) Proof of Concept. The company must have a product on the market or have proven practical applications of the technology. Companies in "stealth" mode and companies with untested ideas or models will not qualify.
5) Leadership. The company must have visionary leadership that plays a critical role in driving the company towards reaching its goals.
6) Status. The company must not currently be a Member of the World Economic Forum. This criterion applies to the parent company -- thus wholly owned subsidiaries of large firms are not eligible.
Alfresco was launched in January 2005, by John Newton, co-founder of Documentum, and CEO John Powell, former COO of Business Objects, to transform the ECM market. Alfresco successfully brought the first versions of its software to market in 6 months and has evolved very quickly with releases that have significant scalability, stability and robustness, due in large part to the large number of people downloading and testing the system. Many Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies now use Alfresco in production with mission critical applications such as document management, contract management, intranet information distribution, records management and corporate web sites.
About the World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (http://www.weforum.org), based in Geneva, Switzerland, is an independent organization committed to improving the state of the world. Funded by the contributions of 1,000 of the world's foremost corporations, the Forum acts in the spirit of entrepreneurship in the global public interest to further economic growth and social progress. The Forum serves its members and society by creating partnerships between and among business, political, intellectual and other leaders of society to define, discuss and advance key issues on the global agenda. Incorporated in 1971 as a foundation, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit, and is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. In 1995 the Forum was awarded NGO consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
LONDON -- (MARKET WIRE) -- December 04, 2006 -- The World Economic Forum today announced 47 Technology Pioneers for 2007. Alfresco Software has been selected as one of these Technology Pioneers. The Technology Pioneers were nominated by the world's leading venture capital and technology companies. The final selection from 225 nominees was made by a panel of leading technology experts appointed by the World Economic Forum. Technology Pioneers 2007 are invited to attend the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum to be held in Davos, Switzerland from 24-28 January 2007.
Alfresco Software (www.alfresco.com) is an open source enterprise content management (ECM) system that brings the disruptive power of the open source model to the $3.9 billion ECM industry. Alfresco's co-founder John Newton, CTO and Technology Pioneer representative, who also co-founded the market leader Documentum, has had a big influence on the ECM industry. Alfresco is freely available content management software that controls and accesses content, such as web pages, images, or documents, throughout the enterprise. With cost advantages of open source, even small or poorly funded organizations, including those in the developing world, can meet regulatory requirements, serve customers and citizens, and discover important research.
"We are proud to have won this award recognizing Alfresco's technology, the global power of open source and the importance of managing content in economic development," said John Newton. "We hope to use the opportunities created by this award to gain greater visibility to how information can help solve some of the world's most pressing problems and how sharing and retaining knowledge can level the playing field for companies outside of the developed world."
Technology Pioneers are companies that have been identified as developing and applying highly transformational and innovative technologies in the areas of energy, biotechnology and health, and information technology. This year's class of companies has been selected not only because of the cutting-edge work undertaken by these organizations, but also because their work has potential long-term impact on business and society.
The companies' products include microscopic pill cameras, bio sensors that localize landmines, implantable medical devices for the treatment of brain tumours, mobile television service, blog search engines, open source webrowsers, video headsets, thin-film diamond coatings, solar air-conditioner equipment, paper batteries for music-playing greeting cards, and even an automatic and compacting trash bin powered by solar energy.
Highlighted Links
Alfresco Software
Over half (27) of the Technology Pioneers 2007 are US-based companies, with 13 located in California. The United Kingdom boasts six Technology Pioneers 2007; the Netherlands, India, Israel and Singapore boast two each; Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland have one each.
"The competition to become a Technology Pioneer has been more intense than ever. It is evident that technology and innovation is playing a key role in the shifting power equation at a global level. Driving this shift is the tremendous amount of innovation taking place outside of traditional hubs. The wide geographic spread of this year's Technology Pioneers is a testament to this trend. We are pleased to welcome these exciting companies to our Community of Technology Pioneers, and look forward to engaging these industry leaders of the future into the community of the World Economic Forum," said Peter Torreele, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum.
To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be involved in the development of life-changing technology innovation and have the potential for long-term impact on business and society. In addition, it must demonstrate visionary leadership, show all the signs of being a long-standing market leader -- and its technology must be proven. Previous Technology Pioneers have included Autonomy, Cambridge Silicon Radio, Encore Software, Google, Millennium Pharmaceuticals and Napster.
Go to www.weforum.org/techpioneers/2007 for the entire list of Technology Pioneers and interviews with the CEOs of the selected companies.
The selection criteria include:
1) Innovation. The company's technology must be truly innovative. A new version or repackaging of an already well-accepted technological solution does not qualify as an innovation. The innovation should be recent -- not more than two years old. The company should invest significantly in R&D.
2) Potential Impact. This company's technology must have the potential to have a substantial long-term impact on business and society in the future.
3) Growth and Sustainability. The company should have all the signs of being a long-term market leader and should have well-formulated plans for future development and growth.
4) Proof of Concept. The company must have a product on the market or have proven practical applications of the technology. Companies in "stealth" mode and companies with untested ideas or models will not qualify.
5) Leadership. The company must have visionary leadership that plays a critical role in driving the company towards reaching its goals.
6) Status. The company must not currently be a Member of the World Economic Forum. This criterion applies to the parent company -- thus wholly owned subsidiaries of large firms are not eligible.
Alfresco was launched in January 2005, by John Newton, co-founder of Documentum, and CEO John Powell, former COO of Business Objects, to transform the ECM market. Alfresco successfully brought the first versions of its software to market in 6 months and has evolved very quickly with releases that have significant scalability, stability and robustness, due in large part to the large number of people downloading and testing the system. Many Fortune 1000 companies and government agencies now use Alfresco in production with mission critical applications such as document management, contract management, intranet information distribution, records management and corporate web sites.
About the World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (http://www.weforum.org), based in Geneva, Switzerland, is an independent organization committed to improving the state of the world. Funded by the contributions of 1,000 of the world's foremost corporations, the Forum acts in the spirit of entrepreneurship in the global public interest to further economic growth and social progress. The Forum serves its members and society by creating partnerships between and among business, political, intellectual and other leaders of society to define, discuss and advance key issues on the global agenda. Incorporated in 1971 as a foundation, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit, and is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. In 1995 the Forum was awarded NGO consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
Social search - KM thinking
In his blog, Denham Grey takes a look at the new wave of social search forms. Its an intersting article that highlights many of the new forms and ways that infomation retrieval is heading towards being more socially centric.
Social search - KM thinking
Social search is touted as the next big thing for improving information retrieval, relevance and awareness. Let's take a look.
What exactly is Social Search?There is no clear answer as the field is emerging and changing at a rapid pace. Here is one early definition: "..a collection of Internet wayfinding tools informed by human judgment. That judgment takes place in the form of tags, click-through activity, search history, and other actions". Source These technologies are being applied to bookmarks, images, tags, blogs, bibliographies.
Social search comes in many favors. New engines are riding the web2.0 wave making it difficult to evaluate progress in this heaving landscape.
Subscribing to a Flickr, del.icio.us, diigo or technorati tag via RSS - allows you to connect to a community, annotate, scan for recency, popularity or some rating measure as applied to posted images, bookmarks, URL links or blog posts. This brings new finds directly into your aggregator helping keep you up-to-date and raising your awareness.
Scanning or searching Digg or Wink - helps you quickly zero in on news, posts and items others have rated as interesting, worthwhile or can be used for finding experts.
Social search engines such as Eurekster, Prefound, Searchles, Gravee, Collarity, Zimbio, .... claim to use collaborative filtering, relevance rankings, community activity & behavior, 'collections', unique ranking scores to improve search returns, provide a 'personal touch', guide inquiry and add 'meaning' to those coded search algorithms the big boys use.
AffordancesWhat do we need to make social search really work?
Dedicated community - people who share your interests, are sincere, active, honest and helpful - not always easy to find and maintain.
Visual help and tools to refine a search - Quintura looks interesting with their interactive keyword clouds.
Permanent URL - so individual searches can be stored, shared and updated.
Ranking or scoring mechanism - simple but intelligent enough to prevent obvious spamming and gaming.
RSS feeds - so you are alerted when rankings change, a repeated search yields new findings or friends provide annotations.
An intuitive back-channel and community directory - to converse around results, rankings and relevance.
Critical mass - there is a tipping point when social search offers greater value, improved relevance and increased awareness - no single engine is there yet.
So is your search social- yet?
Social search - KM thinking
Social search is touted as the next big thing for improving information retrieval, relevance and awareness. Let's take a look.
What exactly is Social Search?There is no clear answer as the field is emerging and changing at a rapid pace. Here is one early definition: "..a collection of Internet wayfinding tools informed by human judgment. That judgment takes place in the form of tags, click-through activity, search history, and other actions". Source These technologies are being applied to bookmarks, images, tags, blogs, bibliographies.
Social search comes in many favors. New engines are riding the web2.0 wave making it difficult to evaluate progress in this heaving landscape.
Subscribing to a Flickr, del.icio.us, diigo or technorati tag via RSS - allows you to connect to a community, annotate, scan for recency, popularity or some rating measure as applied to posted images, bookmarks, URL links or blog posts. This brings new finds directly into your aggregator helping keep you up-to-date and raising your awareness.
Scanning or searching Digg or Wink - helps you quickly zero in on news, posts and items others have rated as interesting, worthwhile or can be used for finding experts.
Social search engines such as Eurekster, Prefound, Searchles, Gravee, Collarity, Zimbio, .... claim to use collaborative filtering, relevance rankings, community activity & behavior, 'collections', unique ranking scores to improve search returns, provide a 'personal touch', guide inquiry and add 'meaning' to those coded search algorithms the big boys use.
AffordancesWhat do we need to make social search really work?
Dedicated community - people who share your interests, are sincere, active, honest and helpful - not always easy to find and maintain.
Visual help and tools to refine a search - Quintura looks interesting with their interactive keyword clouds.
Permanent URL - so individual searches can be stored, shared and updated.
Ranking or scoring mechanism - simple but intelligent enough to prevent obvious spamming and gaming.
RSS feeds - so you are alerted when rankings change, a repeated search yields new findings or friends provide annotations.
An intuitive back-channel and community directory - to converse around results, rankings and relevance.
Critical mass - there is a tipping point when social search offers greater value, improved relevance and increased awareness - no single engine is there yet.
So is your search social- yet?
News: IBM outlines ‘information as a service’ strategy
IBM outlines ‘information as a service’ strategy
By Graeme Burton
Computer giant IBM has been fleshing out its ‘information as a service’ strategy – a blend of enterprise content management (ECM), database and service-oriented architecture (SOA) technology – for the first time since the completion of its $1.6bn purchase of FileNet.
The idea, says Alyse Passarelli, director of worldwide data services in the IBM Information Management division, is to provide a single interface for organisations into both structured and unstructured data.
That interface will be provided by IBM’s Information Server product, which is based on technology grubbed from its acquisition of data-quality software provider Ascential.
It provides knowledge workers with access to a disparate range of information in the same way that an application server provides different applications with access to backend databases. Part of that strategy involves providing full support for native XML within the latest release of IBM’s DB2 database. Source: Inside Knowledge
By Graeme Burton
Computer giant IBM has been fleshing out its ‘information as a service’ strategy – a blend of enterprise content management (ECM), database and service-oriented architecture (SOA) technology – for the first time since the completion of its $1.6bn purchase of FileNet.
The idea, says Alyse Passarelli, director of worldwide data services in the IBM Information Management division, is to provide a single interface for organisations into both structured and unstructured data.
That interface will be provided by IBM’s Information Server product, which is based on technology grubbed from its acquisition of data-quality software provider Ascential.
It provides knowledge workers with access to a disparate range of information in the same way that an application server provides different applications with access to backend databases. Part of that strategy involves providing full support for native XML within the latest release of IBM’s DB2 database. Source: Inside Knowledge
Law In Business: The change agents
Interesting article in Legal week by Catherine Flutsch. The article brings out the challennges of establishing KM in organisations and the people managment characterstics required to establish the necessary culture. Enjoy...
Law In Business: The change agents
A knowledge management practitioner not only needs the right skills — they also need the right personality, writes Catherine Flutsch
At the end of last year’s European Knowledge Management Thought Leaders’ Forum, chairperson Victoria Ward remarked that working in knowledge management can be utterly exhausting. This stimulated a huge amount of discussion among delegates about the personal challenges of being a knowledge management practitioner and what strategies, if any, fellow delegates found successful in addressing those challenges. It seemed a pity to bring the conference to a close in the midst of such animated conversation. At this year’s forum, held in London at the end of September, it was again encouraging to see such a wide variety of industries represented. Organisations that were represented included Fujitsu, Rolls-Royce, the British Nuclear Group, Nestle, Ericsson, Mars, the Department of Health, the BBC, Lucent, Siemens Medical Solutions, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Bird & Bird. Most of the presentations and case studies at the forum outlined organisational barriers (such as those mentioned below) to effective knowledge management and the strategies used by knowledge management practitioners to overcome them. This year, as one of the chairs of the forum, I wanted to build into the final session an opportunity for the delegates to discuss the personal challenges of being knowledge management practitioners and what strategies, if any, they use to address those challenges. At the end of the session, I asked each table to write down the salient points covered in their discussion. While not a rigorous or scientific survey, the results were somewhat unexpected to me. Despite the varied industries represented, almost all of the delegates faced the same major challenge — the need for sustained, high energy levels, persistence and self belief to get, and maintain, buy-in from the people in their organisation, whose support is vital for knowledge management to make a positive difference to their organisation. Without this buy-in, typically demonstrated by direct reporting lines from the knowledge management team to the CEO/managing partner/man-aging committee, an appropriate knowledge management strategy cannot be formulated. Gretta Rusanow, in her work, Knowledge Management and the Smarter Lawyer, says buy-in at this level, "ensures that knowledge management is viewed as impacting all aspects of the firm and is directly linked to driving business objectives". The challenge identified by the delegates seemed to reflect the overall tone of the forum, which is that employees in delegates’ organisations broadly understand that managing their know-how appropriately may be the key to achieving competitive advantage. However, the organisations have much less of a consensus on what constitutes the appropriate management of their know-how. To address this issue, many of the delegates are wielding leadership tools (such as charisma, salesmanship, role-modelling, negotiation) to create their knowledge management strategies and programmes and to obtain consensus that those strategies/programmes are the most effective way to use knowledge for competitive advantage in their organisations. Therefore, delegates’ written comments showed that a successful knowledge management practitioner needs to have: . high energy levels; . persistence; . optimism; . a thick skin when it comes to taking flack; . a pragmatic approach when coping with political pressure; . a very sensitive approach to colleagues; and . the ability to celebrate every success. I discussed these results with Sally Gonzalez, director of Navigant Consulting, who commented that all these qualities are the essential personal characteristics of a successful change agent. A successful knowledge management practitioner needs to be a change agent with at least the skills identified by the forum delegates if they are to be robust enough to help an organisation overcome any barriers to a pro-sharing culture. In professional services organisations, such barriers can include high billable hour targets, structural silos and certain types of senior executive/ partner compensation models. All of these have been historically successful solutions and, therefore, can be deeply ingrained in the culture of an organisation. Some commentators go so far as to say that crisis and failure are the only ways to destroy those barriers. The delegates’ written opinions on this point reflect the general view taken in the ever-increasing amount of literature about the management tools necessary to effect organisational change. However, the literature often seems to me to yield an unspoken orthodoxy that anybody, as long as they are using appropriate management tools, can learn to effect this type of change. It was interesting to me, therefore, to see anecdotal evidence from forum delegates concluding that successful change and successful knowledge management requires not only the right tools used at the right time, but used by the right kind of person. Catherine Flutsch is head of knowledge management at Bird & Bird.
Author: Catherine Flutsch
Source: Legal Week
Start Date: 23/11/2006
End Date: 18/01/2007
Law In Business: The change agents
A knowledge management practitioner not only needs the right skills — they also need the right personality, writes Catherine Flutsch
At the end of last year’s European Knowledge Management Thought Leaders’ Forum, chairperson Victoria Ward remarked that working in knowledge management can be utterly exhausting. This stimulated a huge amount of discussion among delegates about the personal challenges of being a knowledge management practitioner and what strategies, if any, fellow delegates found successful in addressing those challenges. It seemed a pity to bring the conference to a close in the midst of such animated conversation. At this year’s forum, held in London at the end of September, it was again encouraging to see such a wide variety of industries represented. Organisations that were represented included Fujitsu, Rolls-Royce, the British Nuclear Group, Nestle, Ericsson, Mars, the Department of Health, the BBC, Lucent, Siemens Medical Solutions, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Bird & Bird. Most of the presentations and case studies at the forum outlined organisational barriers (such as those mentioned below) to effective knowledge management and the strategies used by knowledge management practitioners to overcome them. This year, as one of the chairs of the forum, I wanted to build into the final session an opportunity for the delegates to discuss the personal challenges of being knowledge management practitioners and what strategies, if any, they use to address those challenges. At the end of the session, I asked each table to write down the salient points covered in their discussion. While not a rigorous or scientific survey, the results were somewhat unexpected to me. Despite the varied industries represented, almost all of the delegates faced the same major challenge — the need for sustained, high energy levels, persistence and self belief to get, and maintain, buy-in from the people in their organisation, whose support is vital for knowledge management to make a positive difference to their organisation. Without this buy-in, typically demonstrated by direct reporting lines from the knowledge management team to the CEO/managing partner/man-aging committee, an appropriate knowledge management strategy cannot be formulated. Gretta Rusanow, in her work, Knowledge Management and the Smarter Lawyer, says buy-in at this level, "ensures that knowledge management is viewed as impacting all aspects of the firm and is directly linked to driving business objectives". The challenge identified by the delegates seemed to reflect the overall tone of the forum, which is that employees in delegates’ organisations broadly understand that managing their know-how appropriately may be the key to achieving competitive advantage. However, the organisations have much less of a consensus on what constitutes the appropriate management of their know-how. To address this issue, many of the delegates are wielding leadership tools (such as charisma, salesmanship, role-modelling, negotiation) to create their knowledge management strategies and programmes and to obtain consensus that those strategies/programmes are the most effective way to use knowledge for competitive advantage in their organisations. Therefore, delegates’ written comments showed that a successful knowledge management practitioner needs to have: . high energy levels; . persistence; . optimism; . a thick skin when it comes to taking flack; . a pragmatic approach when coping with political pressure; . a very sensitive approach to colleagues; and . the ability to celebrate every success. I discussed these results with Sally Gonzalez, director of Navigant Consulting, who commented that all these qualities are the essential personal characteristics of a successful change agent. A successful knowledge management practitioner needs to be a change agent with at least the skills identified by the forum delegates if they are to be robust enough to help an organisation overcome any barriers to a pro-sharing culture. In professional services organisations, such barriers can include high billable hour targets, structural silos and certain types of senior executive/ partner compensation models. All of these have been historically successful solutions and, therefore, can be deeply ingrained in the culture of an organisation. Some commentators go so far as to say that crisis and failure are the only ways to destroy those barriers. The delegates’ written opinions on this point reflect the general view taken in the ever-increasing amount of literature about the management tools necessary to effect organisational change. However, the literature often seems to me to yield an unspoken orthodoxy that anybody, as long as they are using appropriate management tools, can learn to effect this type of change. It was interesting to me, therefore, to see anecdotal evidence from forum delegates concluding that successful change and successful knowledge management requires not only the right tools used at the right time, but used by the right kind of person. Catherine Flutsch is head of knowledge management at Bird & Bird.
Author: Catherine Flutsch
Source: Legal Week
Start Date: 23/11/2006
End Date: 18/01/2007
5 Dec 2006
Public Knowledge Cafe to be hosted by David Gurteen and Raksha Sukhia in Hong Kong Dec 14
We are absolutely delighted that the The Hong Kong Polytechnic University has kindly offered to host one of my Knowledge Cafes in Hong Kong on the evening of Thursday 14th December. The event is free and runs from 6:00pm until about 8:30pm and drinks and light refreshments will be provided by the Polytechnic.
Raksha Sukhia and David Gurteen to host knowledge Cafe's in Hong Kong
Raksha Sukhia, along with David Gurteen will host two Knowledge Cafe's at this year’s Asia Pacific International KM Conference to be held in Hong Kong Dec 11-13. The Hong Kong Knowledge Management Society . For more about this exciting conference visit the conference website.
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