AquaLog : an ontology-driven question answering system for organizational semantic intranets

The semantic web vision is one in which rich, ontology-based semantic markup will become widely available. The availability of semantic markup on the web opens the way to novel, sophisticated forms of question answering. AquaLog is a portable question-answering system which takes queries expressed in natural language and an ontology as input, and returns answers drawn from one or more knowledge bases (KBs). We say that AquaLog is portable because the configuration time required to customize the system for a particular ontology is negligible. AquaLog presents an elegant solution in which different strategies are combined together in a novel way. It makes use of the GATE NLP platform, string metric algorithms, WordNet and a novel ontology-based relation similarity service to make sense of user queries with respect to the target KB. Moreover it also includes a learning component, which ensures that the performance of the system improves over the time, in response to the particular community jargon used by end users.

Intelligence agents (knowledge management)

Reports some insights into knowledge management (KM) derived from UK one-day workshops with six businesses, three non-profits and one public sector organization. Lists the four questions posed to participants and discusses the themes which emerged, e.g. the need for a KM strategy to make raw information more useable, KM performance measurement etc. Stresses the need for commitment from a top-level champion and a wide range of employees to make this work and identifies three types of solutions for improving KM strategy: technological (e.g. databases and intranets), people (e.g. motivation, retention, training and networking) and processes (e.g. procedural instructions and balancing formal/informal knowledge sharing methods). Finds that accountants and senior managers do not generally see KM as very important but argues that management accountants are suitable knowledge champions who could develop explicit links between KM and organizational performance.

Knowledge management systems:finding a way with technology

Purpose - To consider the role of technology in knowledge management in organizations, both actual and desired. Design/methodology/approach - Facilitated, computer-supported group workshops were conducted with 78 people from ten different organizations. The objective of each workshop was to review the current state of knowledge management in that organization and develop an action plan for the future. Findings - Only three organizations had adopted a strongly technology-based "solution" to knowledge management problems, and these followed three substantially different routes. There was a clear emphasis on the use of general information technology tools to support knowledge management activities, rather than the use of tools specific to knowledge management. Research limitations/implications - Further research is needed to help organizations make best use of generally available software such as intranets and e-mail for knowledge management. Many issues, especially human, relate to the implementation of any technology. Participation was restricted to organizations that wished to produce an action plan for knowledge management. The findings may therefore represent only "average" organizations, not the very best practice. Practical implications - Each organization must resolve four tensions: Between the quantity and quality of information/knowledge, between centralized and decentralized organization, between head office and organizational knowledge, and between "push" and "pull" processes. Originality/value - Although it is the group rather than an individual that determines what counts as knowledge, hardly any previous studies of knowledge management have collected data in a group context.

Utilising Intranet technologies in construction sector SMEs:building up knowledge bases for extreme weather event risk management

Intranet technologies accessible through a web based platform are used to share and build knowledge bases in many industries. Previous research suggests that intranets are capable of providing a useful means to share, collaborate and transact information within an organization. To compete and survive successfully, business organisations are required to effectively manage various risks affecting their businesses. In the construction industry too this is increasingly becoming an important element in business planning. The ability of businesses, especially of SMEs which represent a significant portion in most economies, to manage various risks is often hindered by fragmented knowledge across a large number of businesses. As a solution, this paper argues that Intranet technologies can be used as an effective means of building and sharing knowledge and building up effective knowledge bases for risk management in SMEs, by specifically considering the risks of extreme weather events. The paper discusses and evaluates relevant literature in this regard and identifies the potential for further research to explore this concept.