4.2.3 Architecture dimension
Architectures for KM include the ICT architectures, technical procedures and rules, and applications required to enable KM. This goes beyond the traditional emphasis on knowledge being placed within a simple view of KM as a transaction process (knowledge production). It requires consideration of the workflows and systems that align KM to ‘social processes through which people in organisations create and integrate their knowledge’ (McElroy, 2003: 61):
Architecture in KM involves:
- Supporting the development of knowledge in the organisation, at all levels and across all dimensions;
- Designing user interfaces and architectures to enable knowledge to be:
- Shared
- Captured
- Validated
- Discovered
- Searched
- Distributed
- Transferred
- Valued
- Collaboration and communication architecture;
- Creating communities and relationships to exchange knowledge outside the organisations boundaries; and
- Retaining and generating knowledge (wisdom, corporate intelligence and intellectual capital).