Assessing KBS Construction and Verification Techniques for Knowledge Management Systems

The aim of this research note is to identify some critical areas of knowledge management that may benefit from research results in the development and verification of knowledge-based systems (KBSs). While knowledge management efforts are usually much broader and more loosely defined than traditional KBSs, there are many activities that are analogous to those required for KBSs. In particular, we have found that meta-knowledge (knowledge about knowledge) is beneficial understanding the dynamic aspects of KBSs (e.g., interaction, complexity, completeness, and use of changing heuristics). It is these dynamic aspects of knowledge that play an even larger role in knowledge management systems where organizational process knowledge is often chaotic in nature. The techniques developed for verification and validation of KBSs are applicable to knowledge management systems, although the existence of defined KBS anomalies may have more positive connotations for knowledge management systems.