Knowledge wins in the new economy

Information Management Journal, Mar/Apr 2002 by Groves, Shanna

Just as "no man is an island, entire of itself," business cannot survive in isolation, business strategists say. For an organization to survive in today's economy, there must be a focus on intellectual assets, collaboration, and knowledge management, reveals a recent study by Gartner Inc. The Gartner report also suggests that effective use of knowledge and collaboration will be at the forefront of business success and that relying on new technology growth alone will not suffice.

The Enron collapse and terrorist attacks of 2001 are lessons in why knowledge and collaboration are so vital. Both events failed to exploit information that would have provided better decisionmaking. As a result, government spending on information exploitation is now skyrocketing, and this is expected to spur development of soft technologies that aid in collecting information and building knowledge. When intangibles are the primary source of shareholder value, it is essential that intellectual assets are effectively managed and that information is properly disclosed, the report states.

Gartner predicts these business areas will also receive new focus over the next few months:

Content management. Customer relationships will be the focus, as many businesses will likely shift more power from vendors to buyers with Web content management.

The e-workplace. Tightened travel budgets and the need for information security are compelling organizations to focus more on IT infrastructure in the workplace. In order to protect company information from hackers and other intruders, employers will be more apt to implement and enforce new e-mail and Internet usage policies among employees. Reduced spending on corporate travel is bringing new life to Web conferencing and mobile devices.