People Power, Thinking & Tech

People are at the core of knowledge sharing—the key to high-functioning organizations along with all types of thinking including design, customer-focused, creative, critical, complex and more. And, of course, supporting technologies such as collaborative, cognitive computing and AI are enabling incredible strides in knowledge sharing, decision making and satisfying customers, but they are also disrupting many industries.

The theme for KMWorld 2017, which will be held Nov. 6 to 9 at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C., is People Power, Thinking & Tech. It focuses on culture, people processes, different types of thinking and technologies supporting organizations as they excel in their industries. A 2016 study by KPMG showed that “while many organizations are aware of evolving digital solutions and their potentially positive impacts at a high level, most are slow to address or fully embrace these technologies.” Despite the need to embrace digital technologies, organizations face many challenges in moving forward including “a lack of strategic vision for addressing digital disruption, the limits and needs of legacy IT systems, and cultural resistance to change.”

The conference will offer opportunities to talk and learn about leading-edge practices, streamlining information and knowledge flows, gaining knowledge to build a strong organization, collaborating with experts and colleagues, exploring social media and networking and improving taxonomies and content management.

KMWorld 2017 and its co-located events—Taxonomy Boot Camp, Enterprise Search & Discovery, SharePoint Symposium & the new Text Analytics Forum—will showcase organizations that have creative digital solutions for their future, are addressing digital disruptions in new and exciting ways, have made solid progress in changing the culture of their enterprises, and know how to utilize their people, thinking styles and technologies to charge forward in their industries.

Keynote speakers will address topics that echo those themes. They include:

• People & Tech: The Future of Knowledge Sharing—John Seely Brown, independent co-chair of the Deloitte Center for the Edge.
• The Netflix Taxonomy: A Human Face to Algorithmic Personalization—Mike Hastings, director of enhanced content at Netflix.
• Text Analytics for Non-Experts—David Clarke, CEO of Synaptica.
• Woo, Wow, and Win: KM for Customer Delight—by authors Tom Stewart, executive director of National Center for the Middle Market, and Patricia O’Connell, president of Aerten Consulting.
• Revolutionizing With AI-Powered Search—Mike Raley, VP of marketing at Coveo.
• Text Analytics Market Insights—Seth Grimes, principal consultant of Alta Plana.
• KM Buy-in: Proven Practices—Stan Garfield, author of Proven Practices for Promoting a Knowledge Management Program.
• How Search is Driving Data Access in a Hybrid World—Will Hayes, CEO of Lucidworks.
• SharePoint & Your New Digital Workplace—Tony Byrne, founder of Real Story Group.
• Cognitive Search & Analytics: What It Is & Why You Should Care—Scott Parker, senior product marketing manager, Cognitive Search & Analytics, Sinequa.
• Creating Unified Views of Data with Semantic Graphs—Joe Hilger, COO of Enterprise Knowledge.
• KM in the Age of Digital Transformation: Magic Sauce for a Successful Future—Jeanne Holm, senior technology advisor to the mayor, assistant general manager at City of Los Angeles.

KMWorld 2017 features a range of in-depth workshops on Monday Nov. 5 by industry leaders, experts and authors: workshops for newcomers and for those wanting to learn more about intranets, search, SharePoint, learning, collaboration and social KM. Other workshop topics include strategies and techniques for change management; improving knowledge sharing and transfer; knowledge mapping; and demonstrating the value of KM, innovation, text analytics and design thinking.

The various conference tracks will focus on KM Strategies & Practices: People; Digital Workspace of the Future; Social Collaboration; KM Strategies & Practices: Processes; KM Tools & Technologies; Learning, Change & Culture; KM Strategies & Practices: Value & Management; Innovation, Future-Proofing and Cognitive Tech; and Content, Knowledge & Learning from Failure.

To be successful, organizations must look at things from different perspectives, be flexible and fast, able to easily transfer and share knowledge, deal with zettabytes of data, innovate, engage and impact communities and customers in positive ways. KMWorld 2017 offers many opportunities for interaction with speakers, colleagues and KM product and service suppliers. From the opening reception in the Enterprise Solutions Showcase on Monday evening, a networking reception on Tuesday evening, communities of interest gathering on Wednesday evening and the popular Knowledge Café on Thursday morning, attendees can have meaningful conversations with the diverse conference community.

To join the conversation with speakers and colleagues at KMWorld 2017 and related events, register at kmworld.com/Conference/2017/Registration.aspx.

To check out the KMWorld 2017 program, go to kmworld.com/Conference/2017/Program.aspx.