knowledge infrastructure
We talk about knowledge management and systems for knowledge (like knowledge graphs) a lot these days. Especially with the rising interest in #semantics, #metadata, #taxonomies and #ontologies, thanks to AI.
But what makes for knowledge that is operational and actionable?
Less often discussed is knowledge infrastructure.
Fundamental to knowledge management and knowledge repositories, as derived from the field of library and information science, is a service—oriented approach.
Knowledge infrastructure is focused on creating systems that deliver information and knowledge that is accurate and satisfies the requirements of:
⚪️ Creators: those who generate knowledge (researchers, experts, content authors, data producers)
⚪️ Products: the formal outputs of knowledge (e.g., documents, datasets, models, applications, platforms, chatbots/AI assistants)
⚪️ Distributors: systems and platforms that make knowledge available (repositories, databases, APIs)
⚪️ Disseminators: communicators and interpreters (educators, marketers, dashboards, wikis)
⚪️ Users: individuals or systems that apply the knowledge (decisionmakers, AI agents, learners, stakeholders)
Let’s put this into perspective. Without supporting knowledge infrastructures, knowledge becomes a one-off, relegated to silos or single use instances.
We see this with products. When we manage knowledge as a product, we fail to cast a wider net, assuming successes based on metrics that are localized to the product rather than distributed to be inclusive of all signals, input and output.
If knowledge is not managed as infrastructure, we create anti-patterns for the business and AI systems. A recognizable symptom of these anti-patterns are silos.
I’ll be publishing an article soon about knowledge infrastructure, and what it takes to build and manage a knowledge infrastructure program.
#ai #ia #knowledgeinfrastructure
For reference, excerpt from Richard E Rubin’s MLS textbook, Foundations of Information and Library Science in comments 👇👇👇 | 42 comments on LinkedIn
knowledge infrastructure