Sharing knowledge for enterprise success requires entrepreneurial skills, new ways of thinking and operating, continuous learning, and change. There are many new tools available to help, but it is the people and the culture of an organization that determines its ultimate success. Wilkinson interviewed 200 of today’s top entrepreneurs, including the founders of Airbnb, LinkedIn, eBay, PayPal, Yelp, Dropbox, Tesla Motors, SpaceX, Chipotle, Under Armour, Spanx, Jetblue, and Revolution Foods, to distill what it takes to go from startup to scale in our rapidly changing economy. As leaders reinvent their approaches to digital transformation for organization survival in this economy, they can learn these fundamental skills, practice them, and pass them on. Join our accomplished researcher and speaker as she shares her framework and provides ways to master the skills that underlie entrepreneurial success.

The information industry is abuzz with excitement about emerging and maturing technologies often grouped under the ubiquitous yet nebulous rubric of AI, or with nascent disruptive technologies such as blockchain, which may be poised to migrate from the confines of cryptocurrencies and cultivate business applications in other diverse activities such as records management. The growth of big data applications has produced a tectonic shift across the information landscape, challenging enterprises to rationalize the collision between information science and data science. Within some industries linked data, ontologies, and the semantic web have had a major impact, whereas in other industries these technologies are perceived as academic or over-engineered. As practicing taxonomists, information users and organizers, our fundamental goal is to organize enterprise knowledge and make information searchable and discoverable. How do we decide which technologies are fit-for-purpose for our specific enterprise? What tools and techniques should we be working with today, versus those we need to be aware of for potential adoption tomorrow? Clarke surveys industry trends before honing-in on common practical applications and tools that taxonomists and others need to do their job.

KMWorld magazine is proud to sponsor the KMWorld 2018 Promise & Reality Awards which are designed to celebrate the success stories of knowledge management. See page 31 for details. The global Intranet Innovation Awards, run by Step Two, uncover and share leading edge intranets. Focusing on individual enhancements that demonstrate business value, the Intranet Innovation Awards help every team deliver a better site.

While it may not occur to us on a daily basis, there is a widespread cultural tendency toward quick decisions and quick action. This pattern has resulted in many of society’s greatest successes, but even more of its failures. We have begun to reward speed over quality, and the negative effects suffered in both our personal and professional lives are potentially catastrophic. Pontefract proposes a return to balance between the three components of productive thought—dreaming, deciding, and doing—combining creative, critical, and applied thinking. “Open thinking” is a cyclical process in which creativity is encouraged; critiquing leads to better decisions; and thoughtful action delivers positive, sustainable results. Get tips and techniques to use in your organization!

Sriram surfaces ideas on how the world’s biggest and most innovative companies transform customer and employee experiences. Learn how the best and brightest organizations take a human-first approach to finally meet the transformational promise of Big Data by delivering moments of clarity to employees and customers alike through engaging digital experiences.

Becoming information-driven enables key stakeholders within an organization to leverage all available enterprise data and content to gain the best possible understanding of the meaning and insights it carries. Connecting enterprise data along topical lines across all available sources provides people with the collective knowledge and expertise of the organization in context. This is especially valuable for data-intensive companies that are geographically dispersed with lots of content in multiple data repositories. By connecting people with relevant knowledge and expertise, the overall performance of the organization increases. Parker discusses the challenges preventing data-intensive organizations from becoming “information-driven” how insight engines help organizations solve these challenges and multiply the business benefits, and the current state and the future possibilities of insight engines.

Organizations can use game design techniques to fully engage customers, partners, and employees. When it is well-implemented, gamification can transform a work culture by cultivating deep emotional connections, high levels of active participation, and long-term relationships that drive knowledge-sharing, learning and business value. Enterprises can utilize strategy games, simulation games, and role-playing games as a means to teach, drive operational efficiencies, and innovate. Find out how organizations have embraced social collaboration using playful design to reap tremendous value; grab tips and tools to build a learning culture; and learn how to engage your community!

Semantic enhanced artificial intelligence is based on the fusion of semantic technologies and machine learning. Our leader in the field discusses six core aspects of semantic-enhanced AI and why semantics should be a fundamental element of any AI strategy. He looks into concrete examples and shares how to increase precision of machine learning tasks by semantic enrichment. Semantic AI is the next-generation artificial intelligence. Understand how machine learning (ML) can help to extend knowledge graphs, and in return, how knowledge graphs can help to improve ML algorithms. This integrated approach ultimately leads to systems that work like self-optimizing machines after an initial setup phase, while being transparent to the underlying knowledge models.

Answers are the key exchange between customer and provider in support, service, and sales, yet that intersection is wrought with friction when information isn’t readily available, context is unknown, and time is of the essence. AI-driven technologies such as natural language processing, machine learning, and text analytics can help reduce the friction and create more satisfying experiences for both customer and vendor, across any touchpoint, ensuring the most precise answer is delivered every time. Johnson explores how and shares real-world outcomes from Fortune 1000 companies.

Participate in our popular interactive knowledge café, where you can share your KM challenges with colleagues and KM practitioners. Each table has a KM industry mentor and topic; you will have time to visit at least three different tables during the morning. Meet and learn in this intimate networking atmosphere with thought leaders and practitioners of the KM industry!

Based on the Cynefin framework, a leading sensemaker tool built on a foundation of complex adaptive theory, this facilitated exploration into knowledge systems and flows is designed specifically for government practitioners and provides a pragmatic means to recognize that different types of systems require different leadership strategies. Used extensively in the Agile, Lean, and Kanban Communities, This Tool Bridges The Gap Between It And Both Strategic And Operational Leadership. Combining quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods, it can be applied to areas such as strategy development in a complex environment, industry/market/culture assessment; customer satisfaction and loyalty; operational and/or organizational resilience; early detection of weak signals in organizations, cultures, populations, or marketplaces; and organizational culture and change through self-descriptive awareness. Switching from a fail-safe design mindset to one based on safe-to-fail experimentation creates a more resilient approach to managing uncertainty. Join this exploration and get an overview of methods and models; techniques to support decision making and strategy development in complex, uncertain, and changing environments; practical, real-world success stories and case studies from projects around the world; insights into dealing with a chaotic world; and lots of resources for further reading.

AI is on the highest rung of the IT agenda. But how does it support professionals’ needs for insights in decision-making? Mayer looks at text analytics, the particular strand of AI that deals with language, the essential vehicle for professional knowledge. Through examples of its impact in insurance, media and the sciences, he illustrates “the art of the possible” and how you can make AI part of your knowledge practice’s roadmap.

The intersection of knowledge sharing and new ways of learning and training is having an impact on how connected your employees feel to your organization at large. Moneypenny demonstrates how using video, social networks, and content collaboration together empowers knowledge practitioners and experts and people across the organization to engage with each other. Foster a culture of curiosity and share learning and best practices, while improving employee experience.

What are the chances of three thought leaders meeting in the same room, at the same terminal, in the same airport, in the same city by coincidence? Hear their story and many more as they discuss the impact of social media, organizational culture, machine learning, demographics and more!