KnowMap creators believe in bringing you new and refreshing editorials written by guests. This issue our guest is Dr. Richard Rowe, who has graciously allowed us to print this motivating article.

Guest Editorial

Richard Rowe, Ph.D., President, Chairman and CEO of RoweCom

The Century of the Mind

"Citius, Altius, Fortius."

By now, just about everyone around the globe is becoming familiar with that three-word Latin phrase. At the very least, people are familiar with a rough translation of it. In English, it means "Swifter, Higher, Stronger", and it is the official motto of the Olympic Games.

Over the past few months, Olympic fever gripped the world and all eyes were focused 'Down Under'. The Sydney, Australia Summer Games are a memory now and the athletes have returned to their homelands, some with gold, silver or bronze in tow. Yet even as you read this, athletes from every competing country -- from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe -- are already intensely training for 2004. In the end, it is their passion that continues to fuel the Olympic flame. As they push themselves, they will push the limits of human ability and constantly strive to run more swiftly or jump a little higher all in the pursuit of reaching their maximum potential and perhaps obtaining a place on the top step of the champions' podium.

The Olympic motto can be applied in a very broad way to the modern and highly complex world of knowledge management. Like Olympic athletes, organizations and employees also continuously strive to reach their goals faster and better than before. With each passing day, our own skill of how best to manage knowledge is growing with ever-increasing rapidity.

We all understand that in order to compete successfully; today's businesses must keep up to the pace of the fast-moving digital world. This rapid-fire tempo is constantly felt on all rungs of the corporate ladder. It remains true that the most highly advantaged organizations are those that are swimming with the current and accepting the ever-changing complexity of the world of knowledge management, or KM, as it is also known. Those in the know understand that real knowledge management comes with finding an effective method of retrieving only the most essential pieces of information, in the least amount of time, as easily and effectively as possible, while spending the least amount of money.

This process requires strong partnerships, both at the individual employee's level and at the highest corporate rung, as people and workplaces share acquired knowledge in a highly sophisticated, digitally connected world. With complete information management solutions in place, we can all spend less time actually gathering information and more time leading our clients, co-workers and associates to it; or perhaps even more importantly, showing them how to find it as effectively as we can. As Alvin Toffler predicted, the illiterates of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but rather those who do not have the ability to learn and relearn as the world's information and knowledge changes.

The shift is toward electronic-based information and it's certainly no secret that more and more raw data will ultimately become readily available online in the future. This trend has already generated the need for faster and more compact computers that allow for the rapid retrieval of information almost anywhere at any time of day or night. Devices that were purely the creation of the minds of science-fiction writers less than two decades ago are now a reality. Today, an individual can order almost anything, get a real-time traffic update, or look up who won the gold in the marathon event in Sydney online through their wireless phone with just the simple touch of a few buttons.

And while technology has evolved rapidly, the world has likely just seen the tip of the iceberg. In fact, our current era will be marked by three revolutions-computer, communications and convenience. The speed and convenience of the retrieval of any piece of information will be transformed beyond our current comprehension within just five to ten years. With technology being what it is, and the knowledge management industry driving the demand, it's no longer just a matter of how, but when.

In five to ten years, digital convenience will grow exponentially and the access to usable knowledge will drive enterprise. The benefit is that our work will move from the manual to the mental, allowing us and computers to do the tasks we are best suited to perform. Moreover, personalization and interactivity will become one of the most critical elements of knowledge management. The need for even greater ease of use will fuel a major revolution that will see the emergence of incredibly user-friendly tools and software applications enabling small groups and large organizations alike to share, trade or even sell some or all of their "intellectual capital". The foundation for this has already been laid out and as newer, faster and cheaper technology is introduced to the world, the trend will propagate and advance further still.

Of course, all of these advancements in knowledge management mean that a few challenges will need to be addressed. Not the least of these is the question of information credibility and accuracy. Once again however, KM practitioners will be called upon to work with the leaders of the digital world to pan the waters for information gold. Each organization must work diligently to ensure that everything in its digital databases is of the highest intellectual value and serves the primary purpose of its target audience. That purpose is to increase knowledge and to ultimately lead an individual or organization to wisdom.

None of these inevitable improvements to the knowledge management universe will happen overnight. Progress will depend largely upon the combined efforts of all those working in IT departments, information facilities, libraries, research and marketing organizations, educational institutions and countless other areas where the instantaneous access to information is integral to success. Improvements will come, and with each evolutionary step taken, the digitized world will arrive, bringing with it even more knowledge needing to be filtered, organized and redistributed by companies, such as RoweCom, to the anxiously waiting world.

Knowledge management is far and away one of the most important facets of doing business in today's world. Individuals and organizations that keep pace will grow with their knowledge and will avail themselves of the information they need, when they need it, where they need it, and with the greatest of ease.

Make no mistake; we are continuously getting faster and stronger - perhaps even better -- at what we do than those who came before us. Still, like the athletes currently hard at work to make their Olympic dreams a reality, it would be shortsighted of us to believe that we have reached the apex of our abilities or that we have discovered all the tools we will ever need to compete and survive in our wired world. The road to the gold medal for wisdom is in front of us all. Only those who have trained properly will reach the end of that road and earn a place on the top of the winners' podium.

Citius, Altius, Fortius indeed!


ISSN 1499-1209	© Stanford Solutions