A Knowledge Model for Automatic Configuration of Traffic Messages

This paper describes a knowledge model for a configuration problem in the do-main of traffic control. The goal of this model is to help traffic engineers in the dynamic selection of a set of messages to be presented to drivers on variable message signals. This selection is done in a real-time context using data recorded by traffic detectors on motorways. The system follows an advanced knowledge-based solution that implements two abstract problem solving methods according to a model-based approach recently proposed in the knowledge engineering field. Finally, the paper presents a discussion about the advantages and drawbacks found for this problem as a consequence of the applied knowledge modeling ap-proach.

Terminological Importation for Adapting Reusable Knowledge Representation Components in the KSM Environment

This paper describes the adaptation approach of reusable knowledge representation components used in the KSM environment for the formulation and operationalisation of structured knowledge models. Reusable knowledge representation components in KSM are called primitives of representation. A primitive of representation provides: (1) a knowledge representation formalism (2) a set of tasks that use this knowledge together with several problem-solving methods to carry out these tasks (3) a knowledge acquisition module that provides different services to acquire and validate this knowledge (4) an abstract terminology about the linguistic categories included in the representation language associated to the primitive. Primitives of representation usually are domain independent. A primitive of representation can be adapted to support knowledge in a given domain by importing concepts from this domain. The paper describes how this activity can be carried out by mean of a terminological importation. Informally, a terminological importation partially populates an abstract terminology with concepts taken from a given domain. The information provided by the importation can be used by the acquisition and validation facilities to constraint the classes of knowledge that can be described using the representation formalism according to the domain knowledge. KSM provides the LINK-S language to specify terminological importation from a domain terminology to an abstract one. These terminologies are described in KSM by mean of the CONCEL language. Terminological importation is used to adapt reusable primitives of representation in order to increase the usability degree of such components in these domains. In addition, two primitives of representation can share a common vocabulary by importing common domain CONCEL terminologies (conceptual vocabularies). It is a necessary condition to make possible the interoperability between different, heterogeneous knowledge representation components in the framework of complex knowledge - based architectures.

Using Electronic Documents for Knowledge Acquisition and Model Maintenance

Knowledge acquisition and model maintenance are key problems in knowledge engineering to improve the productivity in the development of intelligent systems. Although historically a number of technical solutions have been proposed in this area, the recent experience shows that there is still an important gap between the way end-users describe their expertise and the way intelligent systems represent knowledge. In this paper we propose an original way to cope with this problem based on electronic documents. We propose the concept of intelligent document processor as a tool that allows the end-user to read/write a document explaining how an intelligent system operates in such a way that, if the user changes the content of the document, the intelligent system will react to these changes. The paper presents the structure of such a document based on knowledge categories derived from the modern knowledge modeling methodologies together with a number of requirements to be understandable by end-users and problem solvers.

GESTÃO DO CONHECIMENTO: UM ESTUDO SOBRE A RELAÇÃO ENTRE A LIDERANÇA TRANSFORMACIONAL, A CONVERSÃO DO CONHECIMENTO E A EFICÁCIA ORGANIZACIONAL

Este estudo teve como objetivo principal analisar a relação entre a Liderança Transformacional, a Conversão do Conhecimento e a Eficácia Organizacional. Foram considerados como pressupostos teóricos conceitos consolidados sobre os temas desta relação, além de recentes pesquisas já realizadas em outros países e contextos organizacionais. Com base nisto identificou-se potencial estudo de um modelo que relacionasse estes três conceitos. Para tal considera-se que as organizações que buscam atingir Vantagem Competitiva e incorporam a Knowledge-Based View possam conquistar diferenciação frente a seus concorrentes. Nesse contexto o conhecimento ganha maior destaque e papel protagonista nestas organizações. Dessa forma criar conhecimento através de seus colaboradores, passa a ser um dos desafios dessas organizações ao passo que sugere melhoria de seus indicadores Econômicos, Sociais, Sistêmicos e Políticos, o que se define por Eficácia Organizacional. Portanto os modos de conversão do conhecimento nas organizações, demonstram relevância, uma vez que se cria e se converte conhecimentos através da interação entre o conhecimento existente de seus colaboradores. Essa conversão do conhecimento ou modelo SECI possui quatro modos que são a Socialização, Externalização, Combinação e Internalização. Nessa perspectiva a liderança nas organizações apresenta-se como um elemento capaz de influenciar seus colaboradores, propiciando maior dinâmica ao modelo SECI de conversão do conhecimento. Se identifica então na liderança do tipo Transformacional, características que possam influenciar colaboradores e entende-se que esta relação entre a Liderança Transformacional e a Conversão do Conhecimento possa ter influência positiva nos indicadores da Eficácia Organizacional. Dessa forma esta pesquisa buscou analisar um modelo que explorasse essa relação entre a liderança do tipo Transformacional, a Conversão do Conhecimento (SECI) e a Eficácia Organizacional. Esta pesquisa teve o caráter quantitativo com coleta de dados através do método survey, obtendo um total de 230 respondentes válidos de diferentes organizações. O instrumento de coleta de dados foi composto por afirmativas relativas ao modelo de relação pesquisado com um total de 44 itens. O perfil de respondentes concentrou-se entre 30 e 39 anos de idade, com a predominância de organizações privadas e de departamentos de TI/Telecom, Docência e Recursos Humanos respectivamente. O tratamento dos dados foi através da Análise Fatorial Exploratória e Modelagem de Equações Estruturais via Partial Least Square Path Modeling (PLS-PM). Como resultado da análise desta pesquisa, as hipóteses puderam ser confirmadas, concluindo que a Liderança Transformacional apresenta influência positiva nos modos de Conversão do Conhecimento e que; a Conversão do Conhecimento influencia positivamente na Eficácia Organizacional. Ainda, concluiu-se que a percepção entre os respondentes não apresenta resultado diferente sobre o modelo desta pesquisa entre quem possui ou não função de liderança.

Development of the DORI-TBI: An Investigation to Develop a New Screening Measure to Determine Consultation with a School-Based Brain Injury Resource Team

Brain injury is the leading cause of disability and death in children in the United States. Student re-entry into the school setting following a traumatic brain injury is crucial to student success. Multidisciplinary teams within the school district comprised of individuals with expertise in brain injury are ideal in implementing student specific treatment plans given their specialized training and wide range of expertise addressing student needs. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop and initially validate a quantitative instrument that school personnel can use to determine if a student, identified as having a traumatic brain injury, will benefit from district-level consultation from a brain injury team. Three studies were designed to investigate the research questions. In study one, the planning and construction of the DORI-TBI was completed. Study two addressed the content validity of the DORI-TBI through a comparison analysis with other referral forms, content review with experts in the field of TBI, and cognitive interviews with professionals to test the usability of the new screening tool. In study three, a field administration was conducted using vignettes to measure construct validity. Results produced a valid and reliable new screening instrument that can aid school-based teams to more efficiently utilize district level consultation with a brain injury support team.

Sociopathic knowledge bases : correct knowledge can be harmful even given unlimited computation /

"College of Engineering, UILU-ENG-89-1757."

Hybrid knowledge representation in a blackboard KBS for liquid retaining structure design

This paper highlights the importance of design expertise, for designing liquid retaining structures, including subjective judgments and professional experience. Design of liquid retaining structures has special features different from the others. Being more vulnerable to corrosion problem, they have stringent requirements against serviceability limit state of crack. It is the premise of the study to transferring expert knowledge in a computerized blackboard system. Hybrid knowledge representation schemes, including production rules, object-oriented programming, and procedural methods, are employed to express engineering heuristics and standard design knowledge during the development of the knowledge-based system (KBS) for design of liquid retaining structures. This approach renders it possible to take advantages of the characteristics of each method. The system can provide the user with advice on preliminary design, loading specification, optimized configuration selection and detailed design analysis of liquid retaining structure. It would be beneficial to the field of retaining structure design by focusing on the acquisition and organization of expert knowledge through the development of recent artificial intelligence technology. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The influence of perceptions of social identity on information technology-enabled change

Growth in the sophistication of information technology (IT) has led to the increasing importance of information accessibility in the workplace. The pervasiveness of the resultant knowledge-based economy has centered attention on issues of employee group identity. In this article we explore how employee perceptions of group membership guide the change outcomes of an organization implementing new information technology. Using a social identity framework, we investigate the salient intergroup relationships of two groups of employees (management and IT implementation teams) and how employees use their different group memberships to reframe positions of authority or knowledge around technology change. We discuss the extent to which perceptions of social identity legitimate institutional structures already in place despite the potential of new technology.

Managing knowledge in tourism planning: How to assess your capability

This paper explores the theme of strategic planning in a State Tourism Organization (STO) from a knowledge management perspective. It highlights the value of knowledge in strategy making and the importance of an organisation's knowledge management agenda in facilitating a strategic planning process. In particular, it considers the capability of an STO to implement knowledge management as the key to a successful strategic planning exercise. In order to develop greater insight into the factors that impact on planning competence, the key aim of this paper is to develop a framework on which the capability of a STO to implement a knowledge-based agenda in strategic planning can be assessed. Research on knowledge management in the field of tourism is limited and there is little practical account of the application of knowledge management principles in tourism planning. Further, there is no apparent tool or instrument that allows for the assessment of an STO's capability to implement knowledge management in planning initiatives. Based on a literature review, a three-point framework of assessment is developed. The three elements of the framework are identified as: 1. Integration of knowledge management objectives with strategic imperatives; 2. A planning approach that balances top-down (outcome focused) with bottom-up (process focused) planning processes; and 3. Organisational capacity, including leadership, people and culture, process, technology, content and continuous improvement. The framework is tested through application to a practical case study - a planning initiative undertaken by a leading tourism STO in Australia. The results demonstrate that the framework is a useful means to evaluate organisational capability in knowledge-led strategic planning exercises and would be of practical value as a point of reference for future knowledge- based strategic planning projects. Copyright © by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

Learning to play Pac-Man: An evolutionary, rule-based approach

Pac-Man is a well-known, real-time computer game that provides an interesting platform for research. We describe an initial approach to developing an artificial agent that replaces the human to play a simplified version of Pac-Man. The agent is specified as a simple finite state machine and ruleset. with parameters that control the probability of movement by the agent given the constraints of the maze at some instant of time. In contrast to previous approaches, the agent represents a dynamic strategy for playing Pac-Man, rather than a pre-programmed maze-solving method. The agent adaptively "learns" through the application of population-based incremental learning (PBIL) to adjust the agents' parameters. Experimental results are presented that give insight into some of the complexities of the game, as well as highlighting the limitations and difficulties of the representation of the agent.

GESTÃO DO CONHECIMENTO TÁCITO: ESTUDO DE CASOS MÚLTIPLOS NA ÁREA DE DESENVOLVIMENTO DE PRODUTOS DE EMPRESAS DO SETOR AUTOMOBILÍSTICO DO ABC PAULISTA.

O presente estudo buscou a compreensão dos motivos que levam as empresas pesquisadas do setor automobilístico a gerir o conhecimento tácito, mediados pela gestão do conhecimento, na área de gestão de desenvolvimento de produtos. As questões de pesquisa que este estudo objetivou responder foram: Como empresas estudadas utilizam o conhecimento tácito para se tornarem mais eficientes e eficazes nas atividades/ operações? De que forma o conhecimento tácito é percebido na organização por parte dos funcionários e gestores? Para responder a estas perguntas houve a investigação de duas empresas do setor automobilístico, na área de desenvolvimento de produtos. Como base teórica para o desenvolvimento do presente estudo autores como Davenport e Prusak (1998), Nonaka e Takeuchi (1997) e Choo (2006) orientam esta pesquisa. A pesquisa abrange duas empresas do ramo automobilístico na região do ABC Paulista, com equivalência no número de funcionários e porte. Dentre os entrevistados há funcionários e gestores de áreas de gestão de projetos e produtos. A metodologia aplicada ao estudo foi de caráter qualitativo por meio de pesquisa exploratória-descritiva, sendo que o método de coleta de dados se deu a partir de entrevistas semiestruturadas. O estudo investigou quais as práticas usadas para a conversão do conhecimento, fatores facilitadores e fatores dificultadores para a conversão do conhecimento e as principais contribuições da aplicação das práticas e iniciativas voltadas gerir o conhecimento tácito, sob a ótica dos gestores e funcionários. Através do presente estudo pode-se verificar que existe a preocupação com a gestão do conhecimento nas empresas estudadas e que há práticas diversas relativas ao conhecimento tácito e que as formas de disseminação deste conhecimento são distintas. Algumas das práticas são os cursos de especialização, brainstorming e lesson learned e conversas informais. Nos fatores facilitadores há a troca de informação entre os pares, reuniões semanais, equipes multidisciplinares/ multifuncionais. Nos fatores dificultadores há a indicação de questões comportamentais, acúmulo de funções e tempo para partilhar informações.

GESTÃO DO CONHECIMENTO: UM ESTUDO SOBRE A RELAÇÃO ENTRE A LIDERANÇA TRANSFORMACIONAL, A CONVERSÃO DO CONHECIMENTO E A EFICÁCIA ORGANIZACIONAL

Este estudo teve como objetivo principal analisar a relação entre a Liderança Transformacional, a Conversão do Conhecimento e a Eficácia Organizacional. Foram considerados como pressupostos teóricos conceitos consolidados sobre os temas desta relação, além de recentes pesquisas já realizadas em outros países e contextos organizacionais. Com base nisto identificou-se potencial estudo de um modelo que relacionasse estes três conceitos. Para tal considera-se que as organizações que buscam atingir Vantagem Competitiva e incorporam a Knowledge-Based View possam conquistar diferenciação frente a seus concorrentes. Nesse contexto o conhecimento ganha maior destaque e papel protagonista nestas organizações. Dessa forma criar conhecimento através de seus colaboradores, passa a ser um dos desafios dessas organizações ao passo que sugere melhoria de seus indicadores Econômicos, Sociais, Sistêmicos e Políticos, o que se define por Eficácia Organizacional. Portanto os modos de conversão do conhecimento nas organizações, demonstram relevância, uma vez que se cria e se converte conhecimentos através da interação entre o conhecimento existente de seus colaboradores. Essa conversão do conhecimento ou modelo SECI possui quatro modos que são a Socialização, Externalização, Combinação e Internalização. Nessa perspectiva a liderança nas organizações apresenta-se como um elemento capaz de influenciar seus colaboradores, propiciando maior dinâmica ao modelo SECI de conversão do conhecimento. Se identifica então na liderança do tipo Transformacional, características que possam influenciar colaboradores e entende-se que esta relação entre a Liderança Transformacional e a Conversão do Conhecimento possa ter influência positiva nos indicadores da Eficácia Organizacional. Dessa forma esta pesquisa buscou analisar um modelo que explorasse essa relação entre a liderança do tipo Transformacional, a Conversão do Conhecimento (SECI) e a Eficácia Organizacional. Esta pesquisa teve o caráter quantitativo com coleta de dados através do método survey, obtendo um total de 230 respondentes válidos de diferentes organizações. O instrumento de coleta de dados foi composto por afirmativas relativas ao modelo de relação pesquisado com um total de 44 itens. O perfil de respondentes concentrou-se entre 30 e 39 anos de idade, com a predominância de organizações privadas e de departamentos de TI/Telecom, Docência e Recursos Humanos respectivamente. O tratamento dos dados foi através da Análise Fatorial Exploratória e Modelagem de Equações Estruturais via Partial Least Square Path Modeling (PLS-PM). Como resultado da análise desta pesquisa, as hipóteses puderam ser confirmadas, concluindo que a Liderança Transformacional apresenta influência positiva nos modos de Conversão do Conhecimento e que; a Conversão do Conhecimento influencia positivamente na Eficácia Organizacional. Ainda, concluiu-se que a percepção entre os respondentes não apresenta resultado diferente sobre o modelo desta pesquisa entre quem possui ou não função de liderança.

Improving the use of visual interactive simulation as a knowledge elicitation tool

Knowledge elicitation is a well-known bottleneck in the production of knowledge-based systems (KBS). Past research has shown that visual interactive simulation (VIS) could effectively be used to elicit episodic knowledge that is appropriate for machine learning purposes, with a view to building a KBS. Nonetheless, the VIS-based elicitation process still has much room for improvement. Based in the Ford Dagenham Engine Assembly Plant, a research project is being undertaken to investigate the individual/joint effects of visual display level and mode of problem case generation on the elicitation process. This paper looks at the methodology employed and some issues that have been encountered to date. Copyright © 2007 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Benchmarking the knowledge competitiveness of the globe's high performing regions:a review of the World Knowledge Competitiveness Index

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the way in which the knowledge competitiveness of regions is measured and further introduces the World Knowledge Competitiveness Index (WKCI) benchmarking tool. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology consists of an econometric analysis of key indicators relating to the concept of knowledge competitiveness for 125 regions from across the globe consisting of 55 representatives from North America, 45 from Europe and 25 from Asia and Oceania. Findings – The key to winning the super competitive race in the knowledge-based economy is investment in the future: research and development, and education and training. It is found that the majority of the high-performing regional economies in the USA have a knowledge competitive edge over their counterparts in Europe and Asia. Research limitations/implications – To an extent, the research is limited by the availability of comparable indicators and metrics at the regional level that extend across the globe. Whilst comparative data are often accessible at the national level, regional data sources remain underdeveloped. Practical implications – The WKCI has become internationally recognized as an important instrument for economic development policymakers and regional investment promotion agents as they create and refine their strategies and targets. In particular, it has provided a benchmark that allows regions to compare their knowledge competitiveness with other regions for around the world and not only their own nation or continent. Originality/value – The WKCI is the first composite and relative measure of the knowledge competitiveness of the globe's best performing regions.

World knowledge competitiveness index 2002:benchmarking the globes high-performing regions

The World Knowledge Competitiveness Index 2002 is the first composite and relative measure of the knowledge economies of the globe's best performing regions. It represents an integrated and overall benchmark of the knowledge capacity, capability and sustainability of each region and the extent to which this knowledge is translated into economic value and transferred into the wealth of the citizens of each region. This publication has over 50 pages and covers the following sections: The Economics of Knowledge Competitiveness The Rankings - World Knowledge Competitiveness Index Human Capital Components Knowledge Capital Components Regional Economy Outputs Knowledge Sustainability Components Driving Knowledge-Based Growth