Information Supply Chain: A Unified Framework for Information-Sharing

To balance demand and supply of information, we propose a framework called “information supply chain” (ISC). This framework is based on supply chain management (SCM), which has been used in business management science. Both ISC and SCM aim to satisfy demand with high responsiveness and efficiency. ISC uses an information requirement planning (IRP) algorithm to reason, plan, and satisfy needers with useful information. We believe that ISC can not only unify existing information-sharing methods, but also produce new solutions that enable the right information to be delivered to the right recipients in the right way and at the right time. 1 The Information Supply Chain Framework Information-sharing refers to activities that distribute useful information among multiple entities (people, systems, or organizational units) in an open environment. Sharing information should consider four questions: 1) what to share, 2) whom to share with, 3) how to share, and 4) when to share. Better answering these questions can greatly improve information-sharing results: avoiding overload or deficiency, reducing sharing cost, and being more responsive. To address those questions and achieve better information-sharing results, we propose a framework called “information supply chain” or ISC. The ISC framework is based on studies of supply chain management (SCM), which has been widely used in management science. A supply chain fulfills its customer’s demand by a network of companies, mainly including suppliers, manufactures, and distributors. Fig. 1a shows a typical supply chain. A supply chain has two primary targets: to balance demand and supply and to improve efficiency and responsiveness. These are also the primary goals for sharing information. We, therefore, envision that the well studied SCM framework can work for information-sharing. Similar to a supply chain, an information supply chain 1 (ISC) fulfills users’ information requirements by a network of information-sharing agents (ISA) that gather, interpret, and satisfy the requirements with proper information. Fig. 1b shows an information supply chain. 1 An ISC is different from the information flow of a supply chain. Information Supply Chain: A Unified Framework for Information-Sharing 423