E-COGNOS project IST-2000-28671 Methodologies, tools and architecture for electronic, consistent knowledge management across projects and between enterprises in the construction sector Paris, September 30, 2003
Background Lisbon council, 2000: By 2010, Europe to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more jobs and greater social cohesion IST call for proposals on knowledge management («New methods of work») Construction industry (10% of GDP and 10% of civilian employment) Enter the knowledge society
Consortium End-users Derbi, IT subsidiary of OTH (F) Hochtief (D) Taylor Woodrow (UK) YIT (Fin) Research Centres CSTB also an information provider (F) University of Salford ISI (UK)
ORGANIZE Indexer service SHARE Disseminator service Profiler servier ADAPT COLLECT Maintenance service Extractor service IDENTIFY CREATE USE Searcher service Discoverer service Knowledge Cycle
Outputs The main project outputs include: The eckmi: an integrated infrastructure and a set of KM services The e-cognos ontology server The e-cognos ontology Industrial prototypes A set of models, best practice guides and business recommendation reports regarding knowledge management within industry.
The e-ckmi architecture KM Services e-ckmi API e-cognos User Portal / Manager e-ckmi Kernel e-ckmi API e-cognos Repository External Services
The e-cognos Solution e-ckmi 1 2 e-ckmi Kernel ecoser e-ckmi e-cognos Ontology 3 Available under the Gnu General Public License
ecognos KM Portal Architecture Knowledge Discovery Knowledge Cleansing Knowledge Extraction Knowledge Indexing ecognos Core Services Knowledge Distribution Knowledge Maintenance Search, Summarisation & User Profiling tools ecognos API Abstraction, Mapping tools ecognos interface End-user applications Expertise Directories External Data Repositories Etc.
Functions appreciated by the users Single entry point to multiple data sources Clustering (creation of document relationships) through an ontology Guided search through an ontology Favorites : Creating a Knowledge Base and sharing it Summariser
Practical Example Excel A pair Concept/Description per Language Same Code: synonyms (same meaning) in the taxonomy.
Practical Example Excel
Practical Example Excel XML bcxml EXCEL spreadsheet Converter XLS XML bcxml Meta-Schema XML bcxml Generator bcxml Compliant taxonomy
Taylor Woodrow Taylor Woodrow Developments Taylor Woodrow Construction An international housing and development company. Housing, property and construction Includes a Specialist engineering and consultancy at TW s Technology Centre Environmental, sustainability, geotechnical and building services
Towards Zero Defects By analysing the nature of defects, and the point in the programme when they are first identified, Taylor Woodrow s Technology Centre provides the knowledge and technical support required to address the causes of defects earlier in the construction process. A Help Desk is available to provide rapid access to the database of information covering all aspects of construction technology.
The As Is Position - Technical Many different knowledge management systems in place EDMS Internet Via Google e-learning Other File Servers? User Intranet (including knowledge domains) But the users have to look in many places and have difficulty finding what they need
The To Be Position - Technical EDMS Internet Via Google e-learning Other File Servers e-ckmi Intranet (including knowledge domains) User The e-cognos System can provide a single point of entry search tool
The As Is Position - Organisation and Culture Structural Issues Decentralised organisation - project structure Consortia based - clients, partners, sub-contractors Local discretion - e.g. EDMS, file servers in use Many documents not available to the e-cognos system (file structures, privacy etc) Cultural Issues We will decide what is of value to use For some competitive/blame culture against knowledge sharing Tacit knowledge Word of mouth consult the expert culture Conclusion - effective use of the e-cognos system depends on developing a knowledge sharing culture
The To-Be Position Aspirations of Staff Provide access to the majority of documents of likely interest, i.e. many more than can be obtained by the specific search engines currently available to members of staff Achieve an 80% or better success rate in finding a specific document Support general searches with the ease and versatility of a Google search Enable staff to assess both the relevance and the quality of each document Provide a means of searching for people with particular forms of expertise, and Achieve all the above with the minimum disruption to the document development and filing practices of members of staff Subsidiary objectives might be :- To provide a means of locating documents that are not available in electronic form, and To provide a point of access to websites on the Internet.
The To Be Position The need for integrated solutions Technical: Agreement for the need for a single point of entry Need to be equal to Google Define scope and user interface for groups of users Provide route to experts Company Culture: Local discretion - Make it of value to to specific users Word of Mouth - Provide a route to experts Give benefit without major changes in working practice Show benefits of providing access to documents Develop trust in knowledge sharing Conclusion - need for a technical solution but has to be integrated with development of a knowledge sharing culture if it is to be accepted and used.
The To-Be Position System Components Other Systems e-ckmi Human Roles Intranet: Tayweb Search Engine User User User Internet: Websites Internet: Website Internet: Website Internet: Website EDM systems: Athena EDM system: Documentum EDM system: ProjectWise Ontology Server Knowledge Store Documents User Profiles Database of knowledge renditions E-CKMI Portal: Web Browser Search for Knowledge Manage Knowledge Representations Manage System Upload Knowledge Representation System Manager Knowledge Manager User/ Information Owner User/ Information Owner
Lessons learned It takes time to populate the system with Knowledge (conditioning of the system by linking, ranking, commenting etc. the documents), especially for the first users. But the additional effort is acceptable Added value for newcomers The variety of data sources creates challenges for optimizing searches
e-cognos and Business Benefits The Benefits: No changes to business process but e-cognos to enrich knowledge acquisition of knowledge workers to enable them to improve the business process The Process: Determine as is position of KM in companies Define beneficial use of the e-cognos system ( to be ) Establish migration path to obtain to be
Conclusions e-cognos can provide an important benefit as a single point of entry It will only be effective within a shared knowledge working practice This requires:- Specification of the e-cognos system to give local value Evolutionary movement towards a knowledgesharing culture The route to achieving and spreading an integrated technical and cultural development is through a evolutionary migration path
Where to get more information www.e-cognos.org Public deliverables List of publications E-CKMI package Core Platform Ontology Server Ontology