Fundamentals of Information

Systems, Fifth Edition

Chapter 7
Knowledge Management and
Specialized Information Systems
 Principles and Learning Objectives

• Knowledge management allows organizations to

share knowledge and experience among their
managers and employees
– Discuss the differences among data, information,
and knowledge
– Describe the role of the chief knowledge officer
(CKO)
– List some of the tools and techniques used in
knowledge management

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 2

 Principles and Learning Objectives
(continued)
• Artificial intelligence systems form a broad and
diverse set of systems that can replicate human
decision making for certain types of well-defined
problems
– Define the term artificial intelligence and state the
objective of developing artificial intelligence systems
– List the characteristics of intelligent behavior and
compare the performance of natural and artificial
intelligence systems for each of these characteristics
– Identify the major components of the artificial
intelligence field and provide one example of each
type of system
Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 3
 Principles and Learning Objectives
(continued)
• Expert systems can enable a novice to perform at
the level of an expert but must be developed and
maintained very carefully
– List the characteristics and basic components of
expert systems
– Identify at least three factors to consider in
evaluating the development of an expert system
– Outline and briefly explain the steps for developing
an expert system
– Identify the benefits associated with the use of
expert systems
Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 4
 Principles and Learning Objectives
(continued)
• Virtual reality systems can reshape the interface
between people and information technology by
offering new ways to communicate information,
visualize processes, and express ideas creatively
– Define the term virtual reality and provide three
examples of virtual reality applications

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 5

 Principles and Learning Objectives
(continued)
• Specialized systems can help organizations and
individuals achieve their goals
– Discuss examples of specialized systems for
organizational and individual use

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 6

 Knowledge Management Systems

• Data consists of raw facts

• Information is a collection of facts
• Knowledge
– Awareness and understanding of a set of information
and the ways that information can be made useful
• Knowledge management system (KMS)
– Organized collection of people, procedures,
software, databases, and devices

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 7

 Overview of Knowledge Management
Systems
• Explicit knowledge
– Objective
– Can be measured and documented in reports,
papers, and rules
• Tacit knowledge
– Hard to measure and document
– Typically not objective or formalized

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 8

 Data and Knowledge Management
Workers and Communities of Practice
• Personnel involved in a KMS:
– Data workers: Secretaries, administrative
assistants, bookkeepers, other data-entry personnel
– Knowledge workers: People who create, use, and
disseminate knowledge
• Communities of practice (COP)
– Used to create, store, and share knowledge

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 9

Obtaining, Storing, Sharing, and Using
Knowledge
• Knowledge repository
– Stores knowledge including documents, reports,
files, and databases
• Knowledge workers
– Use collaborative work software and group support
systems to share knowledge
• Knowledge map
– Points knowledge worker to the needed knowledge

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 10

Obtaining, Storing, Sharing, and Using
Knowledge (continued)

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 11

 Technology to Support Knowledge
Management
• Tools for capturing and using knowledge:
– Data mining and business intelligence
– Enterprise resource planning tools, such as SAP
– Groupware
• Examples of specific KM products:
– IBM’s Lotus Notes, Domino
– Microsoft’s Digital Dashboard, Web Store
Technology, Access Workflow Designer

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 12

 An Overview of Artificial Intelligence

• Artificial intelligence (AI)

– Computers with the ability to mimic or duplicate the
functions of the human brain

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 13

 Artificial Intelligence in Perspective

• Artificial intelligence systems

– People, procedures, hardware, software, data, and
knowledge needed to develop computer systems
and machines that demonstrate characteristics of
intelligence

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 14

 The Nature of Intelligence

• Characteristics of intelligent behavior include the

ability to:
– Learn from experience and apply knowledge
acquired from experience
– Handle complex situations
– Solve problems when important information is
missing
– Determine what is important
– React quickly and correctly to a new situation

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 15

 The Difference Between Natural and
Artificial Intelligence
• Experts have disagreed about the difference
between natural and artificial intelligence
• Creating machines that can reason
– Possible only when we truly understand our own
processes for doing so

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 16

 The Difference Between Natural and
Artificial Intelligence (continued)

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 17

 The Major Branches of Artificial
Intelligence
• AI is a broad field that includes several specialty
areas, such as:
– Expert systems
– Robotics
– Vision systems
– Natural language processing
– Learning systems
– Neural networks

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 18

 The Major Branches of Artificial
Intelligence (continued)

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 19

 Expert Systems

• Hardware and software that stores knowledge and

makes inferences, similar to a human expert

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 20

 Robotics

• Mechanical or computer devices that perform tasks

requiring a high degree of precision
• Contemporary robotics
– Combines high-precision machine capabilities with
sophisticated controlling software
• Future robots
– Will find wider applications in banks, restaurants,
homes, doctors’ offices, and hazardous working
environments

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 21

 Vision Systems

• Hardware and software that permit computers to

capture, store, and manipulate visual images and
pictures
• Used by the U.S. Justice Department to perform
fingerprint analysis
• Can be used in identifying people based on facial
features

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 22

 Natural Language Processing and
Voice Recognition
• Natural language processing
– Allows the computer to understand and react to
statements and commands made in a “natural”
language, such as English
• Voice recognition
– Converting sound waves into words

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 23

 Learning Systems

• Combination of software and hardware that:

– Allows the computer to change how it functions or
reacts to situations based on feedback it receives
• Learning systems software
– Requires feedback on the results of actions or
decisions

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 24

 Neural Networks

• Can simulate the functioning of a human brain

• Can process many pieces of data at the same time
and learn to recognize patterns
• Particular skill of neural nets
– Analyzing detailed trends

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 25

 Other Artificial Intelligence
Applications
• Genetic algorithm
– An approach to solving large, complex problems in
which a number of related operations or models
change and evolve until the best one emerges
• Intelligent agent
– Programs and a knowledge base used to perform a
specific task for a person, a process, or another
program

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 26

 An Overview of Expert Systems
• Computerized expert systems
– Use heuristics, or rules of thumb, to arrive at
conclusions or make suggestions
• Knowledge and Information Fusion Exchange
(KnIFE) expert system
– Used by U.S. Army to help soldiers in the field make
better military decisions

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 27

 When to Use Expert Systems

• Develop an expert system if it can:

– Provide a high potential payoff or significantly reduce
downside risk
– Capture and preserve irreplaceable human expertise
– Solve a problem that is not easily solved using
traditional programming techniques
– Develop a system more consistent than human
experts

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 28

 Components of Expert Systems

• Knowledge base
– Stores all relevant information, data, rules, cases,
and relationships that the expert system uses
• Tools and techniques used to create a knowledge
base:
– Human experts
– Fuzzy logic
– Rules
– Cases

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 29

 Components of Expert Systems
(continued)

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 30

 The Inference Engine

• Seeks information and relationships from the

knowledge base
• Provides answers, predictions, and suggestions the
way a human expert would
• Backward chaining
– Starting with conclusions and working backward to
supporting facts
• Forward chaining
– Starting with facts and working forward to solutions

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 31

 The Explanation Facility

• Allows a user or decision maker to understand how

the expert system arrived at certain conclusions or
results

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 32

 The Knowledge Acquisition Facility

• Provides a convenient and efficient means of

capturing and storing the components of the
knowledge base
• Knowledge acquisition
– Can be a manual process or a mixture of manual
and automated procedures

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 33

 The Knowledge Acquisition Facility
(continued)

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 34

 The User Interface

• Specialized user interface software

– Employed for designing, creating, updating, and
using expert systems
• Main purpose of the user interface is to:
– Make an expert system easier for users and decision
makers to develop and use

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 35

 Participants in Developing and Using
Expert Systems
• Domain expert
– Individual or group with the expertise the expert
system is trying to capture
• Knowledge engineer
– Person who has training or experience in the design,
development, implementation, and maintenance of
an expert system
• Knowledge user
– Person or group who uses and benefits from the
expert system

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 36

 Participants in Developing and Using
Expert Systems (continued)

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 37

 Expert Systems Development Tools
and Techniques
• Expert systems
– Can be developed from any programming language
• Expert system shells
– Collection of software packages and tools used to
design, develop, implement, and maintain expert
systems
– Available for both personal computers and
mainframe systems

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 38

 Expert Systems Development Tools
and Techniques (continued)

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 39

 Applications of Expert Systems and
Artificial Intelligence
• Credit granting and loan analysis
• Stock picking
• Catching cheats and terrorists
• Hospitals and medical facilities
• Employee performance evaluation

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 40

 Virtual Reality
• Immersive virtual reality
– User becomes fully immersed in an artificial, three-
dimensional world that is completely generated by a
computer
• Virtual reality system
– Enables one or more users to move and react in a
computer-simulated environment

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 41

 Interface Devices

• Head-mounted display (HMD)

– Contains a position tracker to monitor the location of
user’s head
• CAVE
– Provides illusion of immersion through projection of
stereo images on floors and walls
• Haptic interface
– Relays sense of touch and other physical sensations

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 42

 Forms of Virtual Reality

• Mouse-controlled navigation through a three-

dimensional environment on a graphics monitor
• Stereo viewing from the monitor via stereo glasses
• Stereo projection systems
• Telepresence systems

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 43

 Virtual Reality Applications

• Virtual reality can be applied in:

– Medicine
– Education and training
– Business and Commerce
– Entertainment

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 44

 Other Specialized Systems

• Segway
– Now being developed by the military to gather
intelligence and transport wounded soldiers to safety
• Game theory
– Use of information systems to develop competitive
strategies for people, organizations, or even
countries
• Informatics
– Combines traditional disciplines, such as science
and medicine, with information systems and
technology
Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 45
 Summary

• Knowledge management system (KMS)

– Organized collection of people, procedures,
software, databases and devices
• Communities of practice (COP)
– Group of people dedicated to a common discipline or
practice
• Artificial intelligence (AI)
– Ability of computers to mimic or duplicate the
functions of the human brain

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 46

 Summary (continued)

• Key components of artificial intelligence

– Expert systems, robotics, vision systems
– Natural language processing, learning systems,
• Expert system
– A collection of integrated and related components
• Developing an expert system
– Determine requirements, identify experts
– Construct expert system components, implement
results, maintaining and review the system

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 47

 Summary (continued)

• Virtual reality system

– Enables one or more users to move and react in a
computer-simulated environment
– Can refer to applications that are not fully immersive
• Specialized systems
– Segway
– Game theory
– Informatics

Fundamentals of Information Systems, Fifth Edition 48