Data, Infomation, Knowledge - Capture, Manage & Create

Data, Information, Knowledge are they not all the same?

Companies are now realising that they are more than the bricks and morta that house the enterprise. There seams to be an item missing in the company ledger, but how do you define it and what do you define?

• We see the result of its present but cannot touch it.
• We can sell the results of it but can not see it.
• Our bottom line seams to have a bearing on it but we can not taste it.

The item is knowledge, but knowledge in itself is intangable but the results of it ends up being new processes, products and services. The results are measurable but how to measure the intangable?

In trying to comprehend what it is that they should be looking for you must first understand what it is. There is noise about knowledge capture and knowledge management, but what should be captured and what should be managed. The enterprise has its databases, document storage and filing systems. Doesn't the IT department look after these things?

Well yes they do but they don't own the knowledge. It is a culture and an idea and it requires change in the way we work and think. Its not being the expert as they only become barriers. The power is in the viral effect and the spreading of the knowledge and experience. The more that information, knowledge and experience is spread within our environements the more it has to offer.

The real question is... are you infectious with the information you have??