Research and Knowledge objectives
The following: According to the terms of reference of programmes 1-5 (SASMAS, BMSTE, ASTE, TIM, LDPPLGD respectively)
Knowledge Mapping and Knowledge repositories
The term “knowledge repository” appears commonly in the literature of knowledge management, especially in association with commercially available knowledge management products. It refers to a system or system architecture that houses and manages a collection of corporate intellectual assets: a bootstrapping process that will “make it easy for everyone to store, organize, access, and analyze the majority of human information online."
Generally speaking, repositories promote the preservation, sharing, retrieval and reuse of data. For example, avoid reproducing mistakes or previous works by keeping lessons from past and justification for decisions (e.g. product rationales), reduce the time of search for information, improve information circulation, integration of different know-how and learning of employees, and thus, the enterprise ability to react and adapt to changes. Repositories storing knowledge on a domain or, such as yellow pages, information on users, firms or product, may be accessible and updatable from the Word-Wide Web (Web).
A repository allows the centralisation and structuration of otherwise scattered information. For example, it is difficult to find annotations on a document on the Web and more generally knowledge related to a given object, e.g. what users of a product think of it, what kinds of solutions there are to a certain problem, and which tools implement each kind of solution. This is because the Web is not structured as a semantic network and natural language users are not yet able to extract knowledge from documents to build this semantic network.
Document repositories which allow their users to provide documents, annotate others' documents and relate them by hypertext links, e.g. newsgroups and current Web-based shared annotation servers (e.g. ComMentor and HyperNews), are a first step toward centralisation but only allow searches by navigation between documents.
As opposed to repositories of static documents, a knowledge repository can support the storage, structuration and merge of different knowledge sources into a semantic network, and thus allow the retrieval of pieces of knowledge via their inter-relations. A knowledge repository does not necessarily aim at automatically solving problems but rather at supplying the user relevant information that s/he will then interpret and use according to his/her needs. The number of formal aspects taken into account by the knowledge retrieval and checking procedures of the repository may be reduced in order to handle efficiently large amounts of information (e.g. for a yellow page like repository).
- In general the design and implementation of a knowledge repository is an attempt to achieve two objectives: (1) to integrate disparate knowledge structures and facilitate the creation of topic maps; and (2) to promote user interactions with knowledge structures for more effective searching, browsing, and navigation.
The design and development of the technology transfer knowledge repository will be driven by the following principles:
- Optimal consultation
- Exhaustiveness
- User-friendly
- Maximum efficiency
- Maximum access
The MKI knowledge repository will be designed and developed in close consultation with all relevant stakeholders: both knowledge producers and knowledge users. It will aim to be the most complete, accurate and exhaustive knowledge repository of its kind in South Africa. It will be designed in such a manner that a range of users (from the general public to academics) can use it. The knowledge repository will aim for maximum efficiency by avoiding duplication of effort and sharing resources with other knowledge producer. Finally, maximum access to all the functionalities of the knowledge repository will be strived through. One way in which this will be achieved is through optimal use of open source methodologies.