Reframing a Novel Decentralized Knowledge Management Concept as a Desirable Vision: As We May Realize the Memex

Abstract

Proposing a major (though envisaged synergetic) shift in the knowledge management (KM) paradigm needs to convince a skeptical audience. This article attempts such a feat and motivates its conceptual considerations by fusing a wide scope of theoretical KM-related foundations in response to current KM unsustainabilities and emerging enabling technologies. The envisioned workflows, infrastructure, affordances, and impact resulting from the progressing design science research and prototyping efforts are consolidated and reframed, guided by a five-step visioneering process and twelve triple-criteria-clusters combining innovative, technological, and vision-related qualities. Inspired by Bush’s “Memex”, a desirable vision never realized since its suggestion three quarters of a century ago, the novel KM system (KMS) pursues the scenario of a mutually beneficial co-evolution between individual and institutional KM activities. This article follows up on the unsatisfactory and unsustainable state of current KM affairs suffering from accelerating information abundance, invisible work, structural interdisciplinary holes, lacking personal tools, and widening opportunity divides. By portraying a potentially transformative and game-changing technology, the crafting and drafting of a desirable, sustainable, and viable KMS vision assures transparency and can be more easily shared with a critical mass of stakeholders as a prerequisite for creating the respective future KM reality. The drafting of the “Desirable Sustainability Vision” is envisaged to assist a currently accepted KMS start-up project and investment.

From Academic Design Science Research to Start-up: Building a Digital Platform Ecosystem to Promote a Sustainable Knowledge Co-Creating Community

“…It very much resembles the manner in which Design-Knowledge (DK) Base advocators are trying to promote the quantitative and qualitative cumulative development and evolution of DSR knowledge (Figure 2, col.2) (Vom Brocke et al, 2020). Together with the two methodologies (Suh, 1995;Schmitt, 2021b) applied at the earlier academic stage (Figure 2, col.3,4), these problem-solving and design-supporting approaches all fit a more general iterative pattern which applies to both academic and entrepreneurial innovations.…”

Toward a System Theory of Corporate Sustainability: An Interim Struggle

“…The sustainability visions are composed of two components: Content and attributes [107]. Although the sustainability vision theory [107] has been internationally endorsed by various studies [108][109][110][111][112][113], it can still be refined as follow.…”

Projectability and Heritage Management of Design Knowledge: A Grass-Roots Artefact Perspective of a Longitudinal Research Project for Knowledge Management System Innovation

“…Accompanying articles have been presented and published to inform and get feedback in respect to the continually evolving PKMS design and artifacts (including anticipated technological, societal, organizational, and individual impact) contributing to the recent crafting and drafting of a desirable and viable KMS/Sustainability Vision [14].…”

“…Figure 3 provides a bird's eye perspective of the PKMS as-what has been referred to as-a Digital Platform Ecosystem (DPE) [14,16]. It "depicts individual social actors (left) with their decentralized Personal KMS devices as members of the PKMS user community.…”

“…It may also be repurposed as learning assets to foster personal learning environments (PLE) which comprise self-developmental activity spaces which encourage the reusing, remixing, and sharing of learning resources [17]. Adding to the broader DPE context are further interactions with organizational knowledge and learning management systems (OKMS, LMS) (top-middle-and-right)" [14]. The areas termed knowledge worker, technology, extelligence, ideosphere, and society refer to five of six PKMS ecosystems (plus institutions, Figure 2, method 5) which are also assisting in positioning workflows (Figure 2, methods 4, 6, and 7) and PKMS publications, and in creating supportive educational frameworks.…”