Synthesizing design and informing science rationales for driving a decentralized generative knowledge management agenda

Abstract

CITATION: Schmitt, U. & Gill, T. G. 2019. Synthesizing design and informing science rationales for driving a decentralized generative knowledge management agenda. Informing Science: the International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline, 22:1-18, doi:10.28945/4264.The original publication is available at https://www.informingscience.orgAim/Purpose: In a world of rapidly expanding complexity and exponentially increasing data availability, IT-based knowledge management tools will be needed to manage and curate available information. This paper looks at a particular tool architecture that has been previously proposed: The Personal Knowledge Management System (PKMS). The specific focus is on how the proposed architecture conforms to design science principles that relate to how it is likely to evolve. Background: We first introduce some recent informing science and design science research frameworks, then examine how the PKMS architecture would conform to these. Methodology: The approach taken is conceptual analysis. Contribution: The analysis provides a clearer understanding of how the proposed PKMS would serve the diverse-client ambiguous-target (DCAT) informing scenario and how it could be expected to evolve. Findings: We demonstrate how the PKMS informing architecture can be characterized as a “social machine” that appears to conform to a number of principles that would facilitate its long-term evolution. Future Research: The example provided by the paper could serve as a model future research seeking to integrate design science and informing science in the study of IT artefacts.https://www.informingscience.org/Publications/4264?Source=%2FJournals%2FInformingSciJ%2FArticles%3FVolume%3D22-2019Publisher's versio