Knowledge+Ecologies

A presentation by Vanessa Lawrence of the Ordnance Survey in the UK demonstrated an interesting and elegant solution to the problem of creating a knowledge ecology - in this case, on geographical data, but the principles can surely be applied to other domains too.



The Editorial, EJKM, vol 7, no.1 sums up some of the issues ...

This special edition of the journal is a selection of the best papers from the recent European Conference on Knowledge Management, held at Southampton Solent University in 2008. Several of the papers addressed the shift to what is increasingly being called knowledge ecologies, within the more general field of digital ecologies (see IEEE 2009)

**Vanessa Lawrence's keynote speech** on Ordnance Survey: **[|Underpinning Great Britain with Geographic Information]** set the tone for the conference, and set the standard for key aspects of knowledge management and knowledge ecologies.

The Ordnance Survey (OS) is an exemplary case study of how to create well mapped data and maximise its use in today's digital ecologies. This case study combines the best aspects of interoperability at the level of data with the best aspects of dynamic, complex and even open systems at the level of information and knowledge creation and exchange. Intelligently mapped data is at the heart of the OS topological information system, creating uniquely identified data objects which are the building blocks for the four layers of the Master Map: topography, address, integrated transport, and imagery.

More importantly from a knowledge management point of view, this integrated Master Map crosses seamlessly from data base management, to information systems, to traditional knowledge management and into knowledge ecologies. A range of commercial and community organisations can build on the Master Map, using elements from it, to create their own maps from their own perspectives, such as housing, health care, flood management, or policing. These different, user generated derivative maps create a knowledge ecology, which is a dynamic, flexible, and adaptable set of meta mappings (literally and figuratively) or what might be called 'map ups', which people can read, write and contribute to, link to, and mash up with their own data.

The intelligent data is itself dynamic and changing, and in a ""mobile, transient society and economy where location is a dynamic resource within business"" (Lawrence op. cit.), the data has to be accurate and constantly updated. The figures are impressive: 460M data fields, 1.8M changes per annum, 0.5M updates per annum, of which 99.9% are updated or added within 6 months of completion on the ground, and a potential resolution of 20mm for information on reticulation. The Open Space initiative, for non commercial use only, provides a base and a framework for social mapping or map ups. In the first year it involved 900 developers and 156k visitors. The Explore programme allows people to create routes, tag points of interest, and share pictures, news and events.

Lawrence summed up the Ordnance Survey approach as the challenge to ""establish principles to make information sources accessible and connectable"", an elegantly simple framework for knowledge management in the service of knowledge ecologies.

Cross posted to here ...