High value information in engineering organisations

Abstract

The management of information in engineering organizations is facing a particular challenge in the ever-increasing volume of information. It has been recognized that an effective methodology is required to evaluate information in order to avoid information overload and to retain the right information for reuse. By using, as a starting point, a number of the current tools and techniques which attempt to obtain 'the value' of information, it is proposed that an assessment or filter mechanism for information is needed to be developed. This paper addresses this issue firstly by briefly reviewing the information overload problem, the definition of value, and related research work on the value of information in various areas. Then a "characteristic" based framework of information evaluation is introduced using the key characteristics identified from related work as an example. A Bayesian Network diagram method is introduced to the framework to build the linkage between the characteristics and information value in order to quantitatively calculate the quality and value of information. The training and verification process for the model is then described using 60 real engineering documents as a sample. The model gives a reasonable accurate result and the differences between the model calculation and training judgments are summarized as the potential causes are discussed. Finally several further the issues including the challenge of the framework and the implementations of this evaluation assessment method are raised.

Impact of information use architecture on load and usability

“…The attributes of information include commoditization, value, reliability of content, reliability of source, timeliness, general/specific application, subject domain, depth, clarity, and amount (Meadow & Yuan, 1997). The fundamental characteristics of information are: accessibility, usability, currency, context, accuracy, availability and relevance (Zhao, Tang, Darlington, Austin, & Culley, 2007. Arbogast de Hubert-Miller (2006) offers three postulates which attempt to answer the questions of what, why and how information is formed.…”

A characteristic based information evaluation model

“…Empirical work has been done and the framework has been evaluated. Further detailed explanation about this framework can be found in [28]. Further work includes the development of a complete measurement mechanism and definition of each of the information characteristics.…”

Co-design for Government Service Stakeholders

“…Nowadays information and communication technologies (ICT) are the tools that enable people to better handle information [1] -collecting, organizing, and using technology for many communications. Efficiency of service delivery, decrease uncertainty, and improved information dissemination drives this tool development [2].…”