Title :
Agent-based modeling of knowledge flows: illustration from the domain of information systems design
Author :
Nissen, Mark E. ; Levitt, Raymond E.
Author_Institution :
Naval Postgraduate Sch., Monterey, CA, USA
Abstract :
Knowledge management (KM) represents a topic of considerable current interest. However, the majority of extant KM research treats knowledge as a static object that can be acquired, stored and retrieved through information technology. Two fundamental problems emerge from this current majority view: (1) many scholars view knowledge as distinct from information, and (2) very little attention is paid to the dynamics of knowledge - a phenomenon which many scholars term "knowledge flows." In this article we build upon a steady stream of research in computational organization theory to develop agent based models of knowledge flows. Such models draw from emerging theory for multidimensional representation of the knowledge flow phenomenon, and they enable the dynamics of enterprise knowledge flows to be formalized and simulated through computational models. We illustrate this research approach and modeling environment through formal representation and simulation of knowledge flows from the domain of information systems design.
Keywords :
information systems; knowledge management; knowledge representation; software agents; agent modeling; computational agent model; computational organization theory; enterprise knowledge flow; formal representation; information system design; information technology; knowledge dynamics; knowledge flow simulation; knowledge management research; multidimensional knowledge representation; Cameras; Computational modeling; Information retrieval; Information systems; Information technology; Knowledge management; Management information systems; Multidimensional systems; Pattern analysis; Visualization;
Conference_Titel :
System Sciences, 2004. Proceedings of the 37th Annual Hawaii International Conference on
Print_ISBN :
0-7695-2056-1
DOI :
10.1109/HICSS.2004.1265599