Expanding search with knowledge intelligence    

The limitations of traditional enterprise search are apparent to most organizations while user expectations are higher than ever before.

Put simply, everyone wants search to work like Google. While this is possible, it requires new technologies such as AI, machine learning, and natural language processing—as well as new business practices—to deliver intelligent enterprise search capabilities at scale.

KMWorld held a webinar with John Lewis, Ed.D., CKO, SearchBlox; Ed Downs, senior product marketing manager, Sinequa; and David Seuss, CEO, Northern Light, who discussed enabling knowledge discovery with AI-powered search solutions.

Knowledge discovery is the systematic process of extracting knowledge from large sets of structured and unstructured data using sophisticated algorithms/methods. It uses intelligent language processing (NLP) to interpret content and infer relationships between information to make intelligent recommendations. It also provides analytical tools to analyze and tune search results to improve outcomes and user experience. It can augment employee productivity, enhance analytical skills, enable insights, and accelerate decision-making abilities, according to Downs.

However, there are growing challenges to knowledge discovery including not knowing where information is stored, too many disconnected systems, and difficulty finding information.

Intelligent search can augment knowledge discovery, Downs said. The foundation of intelligent search should include ubiquitous content ingestion, automated curation at scale, and contextual insights for each employee.

Companies should also invest in neural search, recommended Downs. Neural search represents the first significant improvement in search technology in over a decade. It is a new approach to retrieving information based on the application of advanced machine learning for natural language understanding (NLU).

According to Lewis, the most popular hyperlink on the internet is the back button. This is because users are encountering a page that’s loading too slow or the content is not engaging. The inability to search and find answers is also the reason why people will leave a website.

To prevent poor user experiences, he suggested automatically fixing content before searching. SearchBlox can automatically add metadata to increase findability without making changes to the original content.

Smart FAQs is an Information retrieval system designed to find documents and answers, Lewis said. The tool can increase conversions, mitigate service calls, and increase productivity.

Northern Light co-sponsored the IDC study on what IDC calls Intelligent Knowledge Networks, Seuss explained. The objective of the study was to research the latest practices and trends around Intelligent Knowledge Networks.

The top reason for deploying a knowledge management system was for a digital transformation initiative, followed by the consolidation of systems, and then forming a remote or hybrid workforce.

There is no well-defined process for capturing knowledge but an intelligent knowledge network builds on the previous one as their success should ensure that insights are accurate, actionable, and lead to better business decisions and measurable business improvements, according to Seuss.

He recommended Northern Light SinglePoint, which is an intelligent knowledge network application that captures, synthesizes, and shares, market research and CI intelligence insights.

An archived on-demand replay of this webinar is available here.