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ESPRIT N o 29065 Public Report

ESPRIT N o 29065 Public Report. This project is supported by the European Commission within the ESPRIT Programme: Project number 29065. ESPRIT Project 29065 “Know Web ”. Web in Support of Knowledge Management In Company.

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ESPRIT N o 29065 Public Report

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  1. ESPRIT No 29065Public Report This project is supported by the European Commission within the ESPRIT Programme: Project number 29065

  2. ESPRIT Project 29065 “Know Web” Web in Support of Knowledge Management In Company This project is supported by the European Commission within the ESPRIT Programme: Project number 29065

  3. Project programme • Euros 400,000, 18 months extended to 27 months • Six partners: 3 Users; 3 Academic/Developers • Three countries: UK, Finland, Slovakia • Focus: Development and pilot testing of knowledge management systems in different user environments • Context: Need for efficient management and manipulation of corporate knowledge for increased competitiveness

  4. Six partners • Luton Business School, UK • Marketing Assessments Limited, UK • Technical University of Kosice, Slovakia • IFBL Slovakia s.r.o, Slovakia • University of Vaasa, Finland • Oy Botnia Retail Data Ab, Finland • "Flags courtesy of www.theodora.com/flags used with permission"

  5. Partners in detail Luton Business School, University of Luton Role – Co-ordinator and academic partner Luton Business School is the business faculty of one of England’s newest universities. The university is characterised by its pioneering approach to education and it operates one of the most comprehensive modular credit schemes in the UK for study at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The university is strongly vocational and it has substantial experience developing, winning and managing international funded projects

  6. Partners in detail Marketing Assessments Limited Role – User partner Marketing Assessments Limited provides support and training for all types of industrial and commercial organisations, including SMEs. Involved with a large number of companies providing marketing, management, IT consultancy and training services. This includes all aspects of business development, market and customer research, strategic planning, the creation and implementation of marketing plans and the evaluation of activities.

  7. Partners in detail Technical University of Kosice Role –Academic and developer partner The Department ofCybernetics and Artificial Intelligence at the Technical University of Kosice is a centre of research and education in cybernetics, artificial intelligence, control theory and related fields. It offers degrees at masters and doctoral levels. It focuses on equipping students for careers in industry or university research. The university is an important provider of higher education in the East Slovakia region.

  8. Partners in detail IFBL Slovakia s.r.o. Role – User partner Internet Fair Business Line (IFBL) is a commercial V.A.N. service provider. Its mission is to promote the penetration of e-commerce into SMEs and the public sector and to help them become active members of the global market. IFBL is the only company dealing with e-commerce in Slovakia, and is also responsible for developments in electronic commerce in the Czech Republic. It has interests in a number of business areas such as radio.

  9. Partners in detail University of Vaasa Role – Academic and developer partner The Department of Information Technology and Production Economics has a strong academic bias towards Information & Communication Technologies. Programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels include software engineering, information systems and multimedia systems. Research interests include; designing IT strategies for local government; genetic algorithms; computers in education and development of data management in SMEs;

  10. Partners in detail Oy Botnia Retail Data Ab Role – User partner The company has a broad range of technical know-how in both industrial and business computer applications. Particular areas of specialisation include software engineering, electrical engineering and business management. It has a number of subsidiary companies providing software and solutions for the retail market and industry. Subsidiary Oy Winpos Ab supplies and supports a dedicated software product for point of sale, Winpos.

  11. Know Web context • Knowledge becoming the most important asset • Many related challenges to businesses • Increased knowledge intensity of products • Shortened life cycle of knowledge • Increasing mobility of professionals • Geographically distributed organisations • Powerful need to harness all knowledge sources and manage knowledge distribution for greater competitiveness

  12. Know Web objectives • Objective 1 Supporting knowledge management within a company (including capture, update and retrieval of knowledge) • Objective 2 Supporting distributed groups to share information and knowledge within the company.

  13. Know Web tools and methodologies • The Know Web Toolkit – operating on the electronic document management System (EDMS) and involving the following functional modules: • Organisational memory module – to capture and represent knowledge • Tools for management of organisational memory • Mechanism for retrieval of knowledge/information relevant to the given task • A tool for management of efficient (internal and external) communication flows • Methodology – development of best managerial practices and training activities

  14. The Know Web approach • Based on needs analysis of user partners • Know how of developer partners in knowledge engineering and Web technologies • Know how of academic partner in soft systems implementation • Prototyping and assessing organisational memories and integrating software into working practices • Development, evaluations, feedback, improvements

  15. Exploitation • Deliverables positioned within Internet and Web technology market • Predicted high growth rate • Results exploitable at several overlapping levels: • The Know Web “engine” and tools. • Consultancy and training for conceptual modelling and domain model building. • A “final product” with the “engine” and “front end”. • Implementation methodology and training

  16. Dissemination channels • Product marketing • Consultancy • Training and educational activities • Conferences • Journal articles • The Internet • Press releases • CDs

  17. Know Web software system

  18. Know Web assumptions • The Know Web software system is based on the assumption that significant part of experiences and knowledge people acquire in work-related activities in a company are scattered in various documents, rather than stored in well-organised and well-structured knowledge bases.

  19. Priority application areas Companies, particularly those: • working with knowledge-intensive applications that require extensive and rich communication within the company, • where sharing of knowledge and rapid access to the knowledge relevant to the solved task is a critical factor of success in the market, and • which have geographically distributed offices.

  20. Know Web functionality • Storage of documents (of different formats) together with their context knowledge • Ability to access them in a user-friendly way. • The system is equipped with a set of tools for: • preparing the documents to be stored, • defining, viewing, browsing, and editing domain model, • enriching documents by association links to the relevant knowledge concepts, • defining a context attached to the stored documents, • storing and retrieving documents, browsing stored knowledge, etc.

  21. Know Web system constituents 1. Document store – where physical documents are stored, 2. Organisational memory consisting of: a) Association file management system – for maintenance of document contexts (e.g. association links from a document or its parts to the concepts within the domain model), b) Domain model – as a core of the system, 3. User interface – for an efficient and user-friendly communication with Know Web.

  22. Know Web test beds Large organisations might have the financial and personnel resources to develop systems for managing corporate knowledge appropriate to their own needs. However, smaller enterprises, notably in the SME sector, might find themselves unable to compete without an affordable solution to the management of company knowledge. Thus, whilst the Know Web product is not exclusively for SMEs, the organisations that provided the test beds for the Know Web software solution are all within this sector.

  23. Activities of the Know Web project • The development of Know Web has been via a series of workpackages, each with a specific focus, each with a responsible partner and a series of key deliverables. • In most cases, lead partners are supported by other members of the Know Web Consortium. • These workpackages are outlined in the next series of slides. • Each has a specific identifier

  24. Know Web work packages... • WP1 Conceptual and functional analysis. Design of the Know Web system: • WP1.0 Glossary of terms • WP1.1 Requirements analysis • WP1.2 Development framework • WP1.3 Know Web modules design • WP1,4 Organisational requirements identification • The tasks in this work package were oriented towards specifying a common framework for further work in the project

  25. ...Know Web work packages... • WP2 Design of the Know Web Server • The tasks in this work package relate to development of a repository for organisational memory. Specific tasks included: • WP2.1 Know Web Server module analysis • WP2.2 Design of knowledge sources representation • WP2.3 Interface to external knowledge sources

  26. ...Know Web work packages... • WP3 Design of the Know Web Client: • The tasks in this work package were to help manage and update the organisational memory to sustain its currency • WP3.1 Know Web Client module analysis • WP3.2 Management of internal knowledge sources • WP3.3 Communication with email system

  27. ...Know Web work packages... • WP4 Design of the Retrieval module • The tasks in this work package related to the retrieval of information requested from the organisational memory • WP4.1 Retrieval module analysis • WP4.2 Search and retrieval components • WP4.3 Interface to the retrieval component

  28. ...Know Web work packages... • WP5 Design of the Communication module • The tasks in this work package were oriented towards the development of communication between the Know Web system and external sources e.g. Internet • WP5.1 Communication module analysis • WP5.2 Communication layer • WP5.3 Email interface module • WP5.4 Ontology-based domain glossaries

  29. ...Know Web work packages... • WP6 Integration of the Know Web system • The task in this work package integrated the system elements into one system. This comprised the Know Web Server and Know Web Client • WP6.1 Know Web integration and testing

  30. ...Know Web work packages... • WP7 Development of pilot applications • This work package involved the development of individual pilot applications for testing in real business environments by user partners, aided by developers • WP7.1 Know Web in Educational Activities and Consultancy (a test bed for the SME sector) • WP7.2 Know Web in Retail Chains (2 applications) • WP7.3 Know Web in Electronic Commerce (2 applications) • WP7.4 Know Web in Educational Libraries (additional application)

  31. ...Know Web work packages... • WP8 Managerial framework • This work package involved the development of the methodology for introducing knowledge management systems supporting organisational learning and the design of a training package: • WP8.1 Managerial practices • WP8.2 Training activities

  32. ...Know Web work packages... • WP9 Evaluation of the project • The tasks in this work package related to the evaluation of the pilot applications, subsequent implementation of improvements, and the exploitation and dissemination of the project results • WP9.1 Evaluation of the pilot applications • WP9.2 Implementation of the improvements • WP9.3 Exploitation plan • WP9.4 Security issues

  33. ...Know Web work packages. • WP10 Management of the project • This work package was a continuum and involved both the management of the project, liaison with other RTD projects and regular reports to the EC Project Officer • WP10.1 Management of the project and inter-project collaboration

  34. Pilot applications • There were six pilot applications over four main applications. • Retail (2) • E-commerce (2) • Educational Libraries • SME (Education).

  35. Know Web in an SME environment... • The internal pilot application of Oy Botnia Retail Data Ab involved the use of a database (SQL Server) where final documents are stored, and from which documents may be retrieved. The potential advantages of a Know Web enhanced database are: • improvements to internal efficiency, with speedier retrieval; • faster customer response, due to the availability of on-line information; • improved competitor information and end-user feedback, which helps inform product range decisions; • improved marketing, due to more accurate customer information.

  36. ...Know Web in an SME environment. • The document entered by a user was linked to a group of contexts. In order to find quickly the right contexts where to link the documents a number of individual concept conditions were created. The only document types in this application are Word and HTML. However, news-articles and other printed material are often scanned and then pasted into a Word document. Explanations are attached before the document is stored into the Know Web space.

  37. Know Web in retail chains... • The second application run by Oy Botnia Retail Data Ab was a simulation of retail chains. • The potential advantages of a Know Web enhanced system in this case were: • internal efficiency improvements • faster customer response; • improved marketing; • sales and profit analyses related to disturbances.

  38. ...Know Web in retail chains... • A database was used to store final documents. For entering ordinary documents such as problem reports or scanning in competitor information the Know Web software was used, and only Word and HTML documents are supported. The Winpos point-of-sales software was linked to the Know Web system. The end-of- day routines in the Winpos Point-of-Sales automatically generate shop-specific HTML documents, which are also automatically introduced to the Know Web space, and also automatically linked to some predefined concepts via templates.....

  39. ...Know Web in retail chains. • Certain date-related information dynamically generates new instances in the domain model. One example of a document being stored automatically is the shop-report. That is sales, profit, and payment information summarised for a shop. Another example is the department report, which contains sales amount, quantities and profit for the main article groups of a company. The standard functionality of Know Web is used for querying.

  40. Know Web + Contact 2000... • This pilot application run by IFBL involved the monitoring and administration of business transactions. IFBL uses a Windows-based software package, CONTACT 2000 (C2K) as the basic Electronic Data Management System (EDMS). The main aim of this pilot application of the Know Web system was to enhance C2K’s functionality, with the result of manipulating and interpreting knowledge instead of data..

  41. ... Know Web + Contact 2000... • The following were identified as desirable outcomes: • reduction of misunderstanding of specific terms, with a consequent increase in the speed of data interchange, and improved communication; • avoidance of the loss of important data; • common shared structure of business data which avoids the necessity for sophisticated retrieval mechanisms; • consistency checks, so establishing similarity between data should detect existence of obsolete data, etc; • improved business data and periodical trend analyses • easier and quicker publishing of data into shared space

  42. ... Know Web + Contact 2000. • The C2K software itself does not fully support sharing of the data in the network. Local C2K structures of particular users are (or at least can be) incompatible, which can result in misunderstandings, lost of important data, etc. Minimal additional requirements are needed to switch from standard C2K to enhanced C2K with Know Web. Users just exploit pre-defined structures (prescripts and templates for introducing new data; queries and conditions for retrieving data). The pre-defined structures are designed by an administrator, and can be changed only by users with proper user rights.

  43. Know Web for electronic libraries... • This pilot, also run by IFBL, was a domain-oriented electronic library. Textual documents stored within the C2K software are structured by corresponding business activities. However, this is limiting, especially if there is a need to manipulate with the documents according to content or meaning..

  44. ... Know Web for electronic libraries. • The following were identified as desirable outcomes: • storage of retrieved (from WWW, local drive, or LAN) documents in a uniform way; • an easily created, maintained, accessed, and retrievable repository of resources for a specified field; • easy import and export of documents, particularly those with C2K data, and especially for web-authoring purposes

  45. Know Web in educational libraries... • This pilot run by the Technical University of Kosice was designed to build a collection of bibliographical references via storage to the Know Web software. The significant gain of this approach is in the advanced search capability. Bibliographical entries may be retrieved not only through the standard search fields (author, title, keywords, etc), but also by the concepts of a shared ontology.

  46. ...Know Web in educational libraries... • The system is implemented as an Internet application. The interface is exposed to the user through a web browser client. The bibliographical references are entered in a standard web form. In addition, the submitter can attach a set of concepts of the shared ontology. A brief note can be added to the bibliographical entry as well. The assigned concepts should describe the content of the literary source being referenced. This data is then submitted to the Know Web system

  47. ...Know Web in educational libraries. • When the system is used by a group of users it allows them to exchange knowledge about their information sources. A lecturer for example can share sources concerning a specific topic to students through “concepts”. Students can find the relevant sources by looking the bibliographical entries linked to the relevant concepts that were discussed at the lecture. The department is able to monitor the publication activity of the academic community. Everybody can easily have an overview of who is publishing about what topics.

  48. Know Web for SMEs... • The aim of this pilot run by Marketing Assessments Limited was to produce a generic front-end for Know Web, so that Know Web could be utilised with usual industry applications, such as email and email attachments. This means that the product would be applied in different businesses, so specific potential benefits cannot be listed, as they may be different for each business. However, the generic aims of trying to obtain more intelligent information in a more intelligent way still apply.

  49. ... Know Web for SMEs... • This ‘generic’ pilot application is aimed at small businesses that require an intelligent information storage system. The software application is part of a larger package that will be offered to businesses, this package will also include a substantial amount of consultancy and training. The MAL pilot application uses the base, unmodified, Know Web software system for the server and administrative tasks. The Know Web client will be used for developing the domain model and for creating any templates that are required.

  50. ...Know Web for SMEs. • Within the time-scale of the project there had been problems developing a satisfactory interface for this pilot application. Thus, although the domain modelling process was carried out, full testing and evaluation of the system was not possible within the funded period of the project. • An interface, based on a new approach has now been developed and work is continuing with co-operation between the two Know Web partners involved. • The application will be evaluated, improved and fully assessed for market potential.

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