Knowledge Collaboration, Learning and Web 2.0 ... What's Next?

Hi Folks:

This is my first serious test of asking a question via Web 2.0. I've asked this same question via Facebook, LinkedIn and now my blog. I'm trying to expand my own knowledge base as I consider new programs for my company. I've got actual budget for 2008, but I'm concerned about adding "same old / same old". Thus my question ... I'll use your answers in an engineering strategy meeting later next week. Thanks.

• If one is trying to encourage engineering knowledge transfer and learning at one's corporation ... and you are already using internal blogs, wikis and tagging tools / social networks ... what would you do next? Are there "specific" online resources, tools or courses in which you would invest for engineering knowledge sharing and learning? Why?

Either post your answers in the comment section, of contact me privately via email. Thanks.
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Update #1 on November 13th:

Folks have asked for an update on how my research is proceeding ... a fair question. Although my goal is getting useful ideas, one interesting aspect of my search is I used three different social networks, my blog, LinkedIn, and Facebook. This blog and LinkedIn Questions far exceeded FaceBook in terms of generating useful discussion and links. Even though I am a member of the largest Web 2.0 / Enterprise 2.0 groups in Facebook, I found little interaction via that resource (I did have fun wasting time on other Facebook features only ... added "My Map").

From my vantage point, have I solved my problem? No, but I've been pushed in some interesting directions. One LinkedIn Question post in answer to my question commented ...

"Since your question referred to engineering and there have already been a number of good answers, I'll focus the "what's next?" part of your question a bit further into the future. What's next for engineering is that remote autonomous sensors (on robots, UAV's, satellites, whatever) will be able to autonomously digest and analyze the constant (huge) stream of sensor data. These "intelligent" sensors will give automatically give robust diagnostics, prognostics and reports, which are directly sent to these Web2.0 sites such as Twitter, MediaWiki and more."  (Christiaan Erik Rijnders)

Christian's answer led me to do some research on "intelligent sensors" and "intelligent search agents". Although the concept of intelligent search agents has been around for some time, there is new MIT research on the topic which I'm still assimilating:

• A Goal Oriented User Interface for Personalized Semantic Search

In the end, no one suggested traditional learning sources. Given this audience, perhaps I should not be surprised. I've also been contacted by some folks who represent various knowledge management tools. The companies range from small to large.

Here are two other closing comments:

• John Hunter posted about my search in the American Society of Engineering Education Blog. That was neat.  Hopefully we'll get more input from this group.
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• A anonymous commenter to this post noted: "Is some form of reward and recognition appropriate for those that choose to be knowledge sharers. Some people have the 'knowledge is power' ethos and will happily take knowledge for their own gains but not reciprocate." This person also provided an intriguing link to a journal article on the same subject: Inside Knowledge

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Update #2 on November 13th:

I just received another response to my LinkedIn question. Amanda Smith gave me some excellent ideas, and also a link to a very interesting NASA expertise locator project (i.e. finding the correct technical people in a large dispersed organization). You may wish to view my LinkedIn question and all the reponses
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Per the comment about knowledge sharing! Given I've blogged, created screencasts, search engines, wikis, etc ... I guess I am contributor! Oh yes ... here's how I wasted my time on Facebook! (see image)
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Comments

[Dennis D. McDonald]

Here are some questions to ask:

1. Are you satisfied with how the tools are being used?
2. Are there particular problems or issues in your organization that need attention that might be addressed with support of the use of these tools?
3. Are you satisfied with the cross-group communication and collaboration that is happening through the use of these tools?
4. Do you have specific programs or projects in the organization where use of the tools seems less than hoped for? Why?
5. Do you have a formal innovation process that is being enabled through use of these tools?
6. Have you used the tools enough to have a handle on "best practices" that can be used to jump-start new projects or initiatives?
7. Have you been surprised at anything that has happened during the adoption of these tools?

Dennis D. McDonald
Alexandria, Virginia USA
http://www.ddmcd.com

[A Reader]

Is some form of reward and recognition appropiate for those that choose to be knowledge sharers. Some people have the 'knowledge is power' ethos and will happily take knowledge for their own gains but not recipricate.

http://www.ikmagazine.com/xq/asp/txtSearch.Incentives/exactphrase.1/sid.0/articleid.972490FF-8417-4A8A-ACAE-108CF36905C1/qx/display.htm

[Tony Karrer]

I've been wanting to involve myself in this discussion, but have not had time. Any results?

[Cindy Larson]

Have you considered organizational network analysis to look at the patterns of communication?

[Mike DePalma]

Hi Rich, sounds like you have a vast knowledge-base to work with. That's awesome! Is there interoperability between the blogs, wikis, and social networks? I'm imagining the following situation: Employee A reads the RSS feed of a blog, which contains a link to further information within the wiki. Employee B is in a group within the social network, and is updated whenever a member within his/her group posts a new blog entry OR wiki entry that contains specific keywords. It seems that creative uses of tags could tie the whole system together. Perhaps a system of shared tags that employees can subscribe to that inform them of updates within any knowledge repository?

Also, how are new employees introduced to procedures for knowledge sharing? A Moodle server could help by providing an introduction to major topics (kind of like a "best of" for the blogs and wikis). Later, it could evolve into separate courses for specific departments/projects.

If you really want to be extreme, you could always use Twitter or an instant messaging service like Meebo to provide updates to what every employee is working on "right now". It could be an avenue for questions, comments, or for simply project management and tracking. Of course, it could always lead to wasting a lot of time messaging other employees as well!

[John Hunter]

FYI, I posted a link to this on the American Society for Engineering Education blog - http://blogs.asee.org/engineeringand/engineering-learning-and-web-20/