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Is Web 2.0 the answer to knowledge sharing?

September 22, 2008 — 3:07pm ET | By Ron Miller
Tools
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Wiki
Web 2.0
Knowledge Sharing
knowledge management

We've been hearing about knowledge management for years, but it's a concept that has never gained much traction inside the enterprise. It's entirely possible, however, that Web 2.0 tools could be the answer to knowledge sharing. In fact, a post on InformationWeek, suggests that Web 2.0 tools could be a way to store institutional memory, especially in the face of an aging Baby Boomer workforce about to leave many organizations. Using a Wiki, for example, people can write down work-arounds, information about clients and other knowledge that otherwise would be difficult to share.

The question is whether companies have begun to take Web 2.0 or the impending brain drain very seriously. It seems certain that tools such as Wikis could provide a platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing if only companies would take advantage of them. If you haven't started looking at these types of tools yet, you really need to be thinking how Web 2.0 tools can help your company to share information better.

What do you think? Can Web 2.0 provide a way to share knowledge and preserve institutional memory?

For more information:
- read Conry-Murray's blog post on InformationWeek

Related Articles:
Getting started with Web 2.0

Comments (2) | Post a comment

Comments

By Josh Cohen | Posted 1:41pm | September 24, 2008

Collaborative knowledge management isn't anything new. There have been products offering so called Web 2.0 functionality since the late 90s like Intraspect (now Vignette Collaboration), eRooms (now part of ECM's Documentum suite), and the venerable Lotus Notes. The term Wiki is just another word for knowledge base.

However, there are some major differences. The first generation of collaboration were commercial and were more formal in their approach...particularly in the areas of taxonomy and metadata...and strict in their security. Wikis tend to be open source applications with a more "hey kids let's put on a show" attitude.

I have found the biggest obstacles to knowledge management, no matter the vehicle, is an organization's willingness to share. If a department, company, or industry tends to knowledge hoarding, the type of solution doesn't matter.

Joshua Cohen
Freelance ECM Consultant

By rmiller | Posted 3:47pm | October 8, 2008

Hey Josh:
Nice to hear from you and I'm so pleased that you are a reader. Thanks for the comment and for sharing your insight and knowledge on this subject. I hope you'll continue contribute to the discussion here. And for the record, I agree. Getting people to share is one of the biggest obstacles.

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