Information Sharing, Knowledge Management, and the Federal Challenge (Peter Goodstein)

"Organizations collect a vast amount of information from many sources. Much of this information stays within the "collection stovepipes" because discovery and dissemination are tightly controlled by the collectors"

Wow...that's a solid quote to walk in to. This plays very heavily into my job, as we're beginning to try to 'de-silo' the sub departments within departments, so that knowledge and information flows readily and ably.

Security and Privacy (inhibitor) - Potential inhibitor to open/free knowledge sharing. The Need-To-Know information culture has lef to inhibiting practices. Information should stay in the collection stovepipes because discovery and dissemination are tightly controlled by the collectors.

Attribute Based Access (enabler) - A user's credentials are presented at log on. Permitted information is accessed based on the person's profile. This is contrasted with a network based access, which basically means if you can get on the network, you can see anything. (Att Based Access is just like Epic).

Overall Enablers to Information Sharing - Need to move to a more collaborative information sharing environment. provide a "sanitized" product of a restricted information. Enable free flow of information by employing Attribute-Based Access, Automated Consumer Authorization, Transparent Audit Trails, and Data Security. Finally, reward collectors and consumers for removing barriers to information sharing.

Data Stewardship - Ensures that data assets are understandable, trusted, accessible, and interoperable. Data stewards promote information sharing by reducing disincentives like excessive classification and unnecessary security stumbling blocks.

"Information only becomes knowledge in the hands of someone who know that to do with it." (Peter Drucker)

All in all, I'm glad I ducked out of the session I was going to attend and jumped into this one. Very interesting, speaks to many facets of what I deal with on a daily basis. While we didn't necessarily arrive at an overall solution, this definitely got me thinking, and that's good.