Distributed Knowledge Management is an approach to Knowledge Management based on the principle that the multiplicity (and heterogeneity) of perspectives within complex organizations should not be viewed as an obstacle to knowledge exploitation, but rather as an opportunity that can foster innovation and creativity. Despite a wide agreement on this principle, most current KM systems are based on the idea that all perspectival aspects of knowledge should be eliminated in favor of an objective and general representation of knowledge. In this chapter we propose a Peer-to-Peer architecture (called KEx), which embodies the principle above in a quite straightforward way: (i) each peer (called a K-peer) provides all the services needed to create and organize "local" knowledge from an individual's or a group's perspective, and (ii) social structures and protocols of meaning negotiation are defined to achieve semantic coordination among autonomous peers (e.g., when searching documents from other K-peers).

Spurred by the recent global economic crisis, Social Innovation (SI) has gained increasing attention in the European Commission (EC) agenda. However it remains a heterogeneous and ill-defined concept, whose boundaries are unclear.Presently within EC discussions, it encapsulates a variety of concepts from social enterprises to societal change.Adopting an ethnographic methodology, this analysis provides insight into the contrasting official "front-stage" and the "back-stage" views, constraints and practices by which SI has been adopted and promoted by the EC. While the "frontstage" perspective is more intentionally based on the official situations, documents, and statements, the "back-stage" is informed by both the ethnographic analysis and its relationship with the "front-stage" perspective. The main finding of the analysis is that SI might be presumably seen as the only way to align the Commission's conservative-liberal policy, which is rooted in the Lisbon Agenda, with the pressing social demands which stem from the 2008 financial crisis.However, this analysis also indicates that, rather than a novel policy stream, SI can also be seen as a policy compromise that can be used to detract from debates around the need to develop a full-fledged EU Social Policy; more deeply, detract the policy debate from facing a thorough reflection on our society and development model. The analysis will also provide an overview of the risks associated with current thinking viewed from the perspective of EU players operating in the socio-political domain.

Distributed Knowledge Management is an approach to knowledge management based on the principle that the multiplicity (and heterogeneity) of perspectives within complex organizations is not be viewed as an obstacle to knowledge exploitation, but rather as an opportunity that can foster innovation and creativity. Despite a wide agreement on this principle, most current KM systems are based on the idea that all perspectival aspects of knowledge should be eliminated in favor of an objective and general representation of knowledge. In this paper we propose a peer-to-peer architecture (called KEx), which embodies the principle above in a quite straightforward way: (i) each peer (called a K-peer) provides all the services needed to create and organize "local" knowledge from an individual's or a group's perspective, and (ii) social structures and protocols of meaning negotiation are introduced to achieve semantic coordination among autonomous peers (e.g., when searching documents from other K-peers). A first version of the system, called KEx, is implemented as a knowledge exchange level on top of JXTA.

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a new institutional perspective of knowledge Management technology adoption through an empirical study of a knowledge intensive firm.Design/methodology/approachThe research involved collection of qualitative data about knowledge management practices. The analysis was carried out over a six month period by means of ethnographic research and a series of interviews. It focused mainly on the personnel involved in Knowledge Management initiatives within two information technology units of a telecommunication firm.FindingsThis article proposes a new institutional perspective of knowledge management as an alternative of the instrumental point of view. The authors argue that knowledge management initiatives are better understood if considered as rational myths instead of rational choices.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper has some limitations. First, the research is based on a single case study; secondly, the authors acknowledge the difficulty in having full access to decision‐making rooms or corridors “of power” where institutional pressure is exerted. To improve the theoretical framework and the methodological approach, both qualitative and quantitative analyses are recommended.Originality/valueWhy do organizations, even in the face of the poor results produced by knowledge management initiatives, continue to invest financial and organizational resources in knowledge management related technologies? This article proposes that this apparently irrational behaviour can be explained when evaluating knowledge management initiatives, rather than in their instrumental value, as symbolic means to legitimate the organization in an environment where the management of knowledge is said to be a core feature of modern organizations.

Matching algorithms automatically discover semantic relations between two autonomously developed conceptual representations of two overlapping domains. Typical examples of such conceptualizations are electronic market catalogues (e.g., UNSPSC and ECL@SS) and web directories (e.g., GOOGLE and YAHOO!). The objective of this paper is the description of a use case in which matching algorithm has been used to re-classify into UN-SPSC the catalogue of the office equipment and accessories used by a worldwide telecommunication company to classify their suppliers. On the basis of this experience we are envisaging new application of the algorithm in the area of demand aggregation, and we will conclude the paper by briefly describing a future application in this area.