Home / Themes / Innovative comm... / Events and E-co... / E-conference nr... / E-conference 20... / knowledge management defined
knowledge management defined
Laxman Kharal - Monday 21 March 2005"Knowledge management is the process of identifying and developing knowledge nodes in the infinite knowledge field, connecting the nodes together to have a common knowledge outcome, and directing the outcome to achieve certain task" - Laxman Kharal, Nepal.
Introduction of the author:
The author is the chief of National Information Management Project/Section (NMIP) of the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage of His Majesty’s Government of Nepal. The definition of KM presented here is as being realized in connection with developing a model for the introduction of knowledge management principles in the national sector database development and management being undertaken by the NMIP.
Re: knowledge management defined
Peter - Wednesday 23 March 2005Dear Laxman
What methods and tools will these nodes use in the management of knowledge? And does knowledge then also include data and information? (see my understanding of knowledge as being located in individuals' brains.
Greetings, Peter
KM defined
Laxman Kharal - Thursday 24 March 2005Dear Peter Bury,
Thank you for your questions. The need to define knowledge management precisely was realized as very essential by us due to the tendency of being confused primarily because of the need of interdisciplinary perspective in knowledge management. Our definition of KM as “the process of identifying and developing knowledge nodes in the infinite knowledge field, connecting the nodes together to have common knowledge outcome, and directing the outcome to achieve certain task” is what is guiding us as thing are now with us.
To answer your question - does knowledge then also include data and information – the answer is No and Yes. No because knowledge resides primarily in the minds of people. And yes in the sense that tacit knowledge related primarily with mind are converted into explicit knowledge by writing them down, which to the writer is perfectly in the knowledge form and for a new reader may be in the form of information, but with the potential of being turned into knowledge (after being combined with understanding and capability). So the information which is at the lower level in the data-information-knowledge-wisdom hierarchy has seeds of knowledge in it. And in the similar way data have seeds for information. Our definition attempts to make a bridge through this puzzle by incorporating the term “knowledge field” which is supposed to pervade everything including data and information.
The knowledge node (depending on its domain) can be anything in the knowledge field such as: an event, data, information, knowledge, wisdom, the focal point in the knowledge field of an organization; and the focal point in the knowledge field of a network.
I am afraid whether the discussion is becoming very vague and loosing its importance. To share a few lines on some practical aspects, what we are attempting to do is creating sectoral (a) database on coverage and impact; (b) information-base through documentation and (c) knowledgebase - documentation of: shared knowledge and digested (?) information.
