|
|
| Line 22: |
Line 22: |
| | The IAEA defines knowledge management as: “an integrated and systematic approach for [[Identification|identifying]], [[Acquisition|acquiring]], [[Transformation|transforming]], developing, [[Dissemination|disseminating]], [[Utilization|using]], and [[Preservation|preserving]] the [[Critical knowledge|knowledge that is critical]] to an individual or organization in achieving specified objectives”. | | The IAEA defines knowledge management as: “an integrated and systematic approach for [[Identification|identifying]], [[Acquisition|acquiring]], [[Transformation|transforming]], developing, [[Dissemination|disseminating]], [[Utilization|using]], and [[Preservation|preserving]] the [[Critical knowledge|knowledge that is critical]] to an individual or organization in achieving specified objectives”. |
| | | | |
| − | The knowledge management approach in business is prompted by the combination of three primary elements — people, processes, and technology — operating within a culture that recognizes the importance of knowledge to the success and safety of all (see Fig. 1). These three elements are shortly characterized as: [[File:Components of a KM system.png|thumbnail|right|400px|Fig 1. Primary KM elements and organizational context]] | + | A number of [[KM model | knowledge management models]] have been developed and deployed in the development of [[KM system | KM systems]]. The knowledge management approach favored in business environments is prompted by the combination of three primary elements — people, processes, and technology — operating within a culture that recognizes the importance of knowledge to the success and safety of all (see Fig. 1). These three elements are shortly characterized as: [[File:Components of a KM system.png|thumbnail|right|400px|Fig 1. Primary KM elements and organizational context]] |
| | | | |
| | * KM focuses on people and the organizational culture required to stimulate and nurture the sharing and use of knowledge, on processes or methods to find, create, capture and share knowledge, and on the technologyneeded to store and make knowledge accessible and to allow people to work together without being together | | * KM focuses on people and the organizational culture required to stimulate and nurture the sharing and use of knowledge, on processes or methods to find, create, capture and share knowledge, and on the technologyneeded to store and make knowledge accessible and to allow people to work together without being together |
| Line 36: |
Line 36: |
| | === [[Organizational culture]] === | | === [[Organizational culture]] === |
| | | | |
| − | ==Description 1 ==
| |
| − | ====Common perspectives on knowledge preservation====
| |
| − | Different KP processes can be readily identified within most organizations. Non-experts in the field can
| |
| − | usually relate to and understand these, whether or not their organization has any formalized KP strategy or
| |
| − | programme in place. Most people have a perspective of KP based on the business or work systems and processes
| |
| − | (and their inherent knowledge process needs) that they work with and with which are familiar. Some examples
| |
| − | include:
| |
| | | | |
| − | *The archival perspective: this view of KP is based on objectives and processes associated with traditional digital or paper based [[Document|documents]] or [[Record|records]] of archival and [[Storage|storage]] processes and systems (such as library and records services in many organizations);
| |
| − | *Business process re-engineering (BPR) and the transaction theory perspective: this view of KP emphasizes on-line information systems (also referred to as OMS) such as enterprise application software (EAS),enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, information systems (IS), information and communications technology (ICT), and information management systems (IMS) collectively. These systems enable integrated work flow and cross-functional processes in organizations and support institutional memory by [[Capture|capturing]] and preserving the transactional history of work flow and business processes within a firm;
| |
| − | *Human resource and [[Organizational learning|organizational learning]] perspective: this view of KP focuses on those programmes, processes, and initiatives within a firm that ensure human resource capability is maintained and core competencies are sustained (such as formal training programmes and supporting methods, processes, and technology that facilitate tacit knowledge retention via knowledge transfer and sharing mechanisms);
| |
| − | *Project based perspective: this view of KP focuses on the processes and tools needed to ensure adequate capture of design detail and rationale, project records and documentation, and to safely preserve this information in a repository that will be accessible (and hopefully maintainable) in the future. Most project groups focused on design and engineering use this view. The knowledge preserved will be important and utilized throughout the life cycle of a facility;
| |
| − | *Production process data perspective: this view of KP focuses on operational history data (e.g. data collected from real time monitoring and control systems, system health monitoring data, laboratory information systems, on-line monitoring systems, statistical process control systems, etc.) and is used to support [[Information|information]] and knowledge needed for sustained equipment or production reliability, economics and safety;
| |
| − | *[[Design basis information management|Design basis information maintenance]] perspective: this view of KP focuses on the ongoing maintenance and configuration management of design data, requirements, constraints, assumptions and rationale, change history, etc., as changes are required to maintain a plant (such as maintenance of design manuals, drawings, licensing submittals, safety requirements, safety cases, equipment qualification records, etc.).
| |
| − |
| |
| − | It is not uncommon for individuals within an organization that has not implemented any coordinated,
| |
| − | company wide KP policies and programmes to view KP quite differently (and sometimes quite narrowly),
| |
| − | depending upon which of these processes primarily involve them, and the associated perspectives.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Source:''' [[Comparative Analysis of Methods and Tools for Nuclear Knowledge Preservation]]
| |
| − |
| |
| − | == Description 2 ==
| |
| − | Within the KM context, it is obvious that nuclear KP plays a vital role. Preserving existing [[Nuclear knowledge|nuclear knowledge]], specialist expertise, and in general preventing the loss of vital technical and historical information is
| |
| − | starting to be recognized as strategically important to the nuclear industry, in particular for nuclear facilities. As
| |
| − | such, the development of KP approaches and tools based on innovative approaches, including the use of modern
| |
| − | information technology, are becoming a necessity.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The IAEA has formalized the definition of knowledge preservation to state (see Refs [1, 13]): “a process of
| |
| − | maintaining an organizational system of knowledge and capabilities that preserves and stores perceptions, actions
| |
| − | and experiences over time and secures the possibility of recall for the future.”
| |
| − |
| |
| − | In this report, KP is viewed as including the processes required to [[Capture|capture]], understand, archive, retrieve and
| |
| − | protect [[Explicit knowledge|explicit]] and [[Tacit knowledge|tacit knowledge]] and to maintain accessibility and readability of it as technology evolves for as
| |
| − | long as the knowledge remains useful. KP can be seen as a process of maintaining an organizational system of
| |
| − | knowledge and capabilities that preserves and stores perceptions, actions and experiences over time and secures the
| |
| − | possibility of recall for the future. The preservation of knowledge is an important phase within the KM cycle, from
| |
| − | creation to implementation (see Fig. 1). KP, as a component of KM, plays an important role in supporting the entire
| |
| − | management system, which ensures the effectiveness of industrial business processes. The main factors and driving
| |
| − | forces of such a management system are human resources, organizational structure and responsibilities, IT,
| |
| − | leadership, and cooperative culture.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | [[File:Fraunhofer.PNG|thumb|right|500px|Fig. 1. [[Fraunhofer reference model]] for knowledge management]]
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Organizations that intentionally manage their experiences for them to be available for the future have to master three basic processes of knowledge management:
| |
| − | *Select from the large number of organizational events, persons or experts and processes only those worth preserving;
| |
| − | *Store their experience in a suitable form;
| |
| − | *Ensure the setting up and operation of organizational memory.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | The preservation of tacit knowledge assumes the [[Maintenance|maintenance]] of core competencies, specialized expertise,
| |
| − | and experience within an organization or industry. This is often referred to as [[Retention|knowledge retention]] and focuses on
| |
| − | the human aspects of KM. The preservation of explicit knowledge, on the other hand, by definition assumes a
| |
| − | knowledge repository or organizational memory system (OMS). A knowledge repository is a place to store and
| |
| − | from which to retrieve explicit knowledge. A set of file folders are an example of a low technology knowledge
| |
| − | repository. A high technology knowledge repository might be an OMS in the form of a database. Thus, KP
| |
| − | underlies all aspects of KM, including the creation or generation of new knowledge (e.g. capturing knowledge as it
| |
| − | is produced).
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Source:''' [[Comparative Analysis of Methods and Tools for Nuclear Knowledge Preservation]]
| |
| − |
| |
| − | == Description 3 ==
| |
| − | The preservation of knowledge is an important building block within the [[Knowledge management|knowledge management]] field. Organizations that intentionally manage their experiences for them to be available for the future have to master three basic processes of knowledge management:
| |
| − | *select, from the large number of organizational events, persons or experts and processes, only those that are worth preserving;
| |
| − | *store their experience in a suitable form;
| |
| − | *ensure the setting up and operation of the organizational memory.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Source: ''' [[Planning and Execution of Knowledge Management Assist Missions for Nuclear Organizations]]
| |
| − |
| |
| − |
| |
| − | == Description 4 ==
| |
| − | ===Challenges of preservation===
| |
| − | Organizations that do not pay attention to [[Preservation|KP]] may face negative consequences (such as suffering losses or
| |
| − | even worse, bankruptcy) if [[Critical knowledge|critical knowledge]] required by an organization is not preserved. In the case of the
| |
| − | nuclear industry, if critical knowledge associated with regulation, construction, design, maintenance, operation and
| |
| − | [[Decommissioning|decommissioning]] is not preserved it can lead to incidents, accidents and other significant events. An example is the
| |
| − | Okiluto-3 EPR NPP currently being constructed in Finland. The project experienced construction and welding
| |
| − | problems because critical knowledge associated with methods and quality assurance had been lost among local
| |
| − | contractors in Finland. This resulted in delays in construction.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | One of the questions being raised concerning the [[Nuclear renaissance|'nuclear renaissance']] is the availability of critical knowledge
| |
| − | required to forge large pressure vessels and steam generators. Recent surveys of suppliers indicate this capability
| |
| − | has been lost in many countries because there was a long period of time in which no new reactors were built. It is
| |
| − | believed that organizations which pay attention to KP and make it a part of their objectives tend to keep a
| |
| − | competitive edge. This is likely the reason that more mature organizations are now concerned about the
| |
| − | preservation of institutional memory. An underlying benefit of KP is that it helps to improve work processes and
| |
| − | therefore aids in transforming a regular organization into a ‘learning organization’.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Depending on an organization’s level of [[Maturity|KM maturity]] (i.e. the phase of development in KM processes), it may
| |
| − | need to embark on KP as a means of preserving critical knowledge to secure its future.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ====Primary objective of KM====
| |
| − | At first, the primary
| |
| − | objective of an organization is to preserve its most explicit knowledge in archival form. As an organization matures,
| |
| − | the preservation of [[Implicit knowledge|implicit]] and [[Tacit knowledge|tacit knowledge]] will become more dominant, leading to preservation of process
| |
| − | knowledge (work flow).
| |
| − |
| |
| − | ====Main objective of KM====
| |
| − | The main objective of all KP efforts is to develop a KP mechanism in which knowledge is
| |
| − | being preserved as it is created. In this way all types of knowledge — including explicit, implicit and tacit — will
| |
| − | be captured. In order to achieve this, different methods and tools must be employed.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | First, the nuclear industry is a maturing industry within which recent high attrition rates have highlighted the
| |
| − | vulnerability of nuclear organizations (''In the context of this report, a nuclear organization is any organization the primary activities of which are directly related to nuclear energy and/or nuclear material, such as NPP fuel fabrication and/or reprocessing, nuclear research and/or research reactor facilities, radioactive waste management organizations, etc.'') to the loss of critical tacit knowledge, indicating that measures aimed at knowledge retention are needed. There is concern in the industry over the ‘pipeline’, or supply, of new and
| |
| − | adequately skilled workers due to a lack of university level programmes specifically targeting nuclear knowledge
| |
| − | and skills. There is also the recognition that it takes many years of on-the-job training to build the competencies and
| |
| − | expertise needed to perform in many positions within the nuclear industry. Second, many ageing nuclear facilities
| |
| − | will soon require either refurbishing or decommissioning, and this need will arise at the same time that new projects
| |
| − | are being planned and launched, creating a high demand for specialized nuclear skills. Third, there is recognition
| |
| − | that licensing basis information, including [[Design basis information management|design basis information]], and plant [[Configuration management|configuration information]] is critical
| |
| − | to the continued safe and economic operation of many nuclear facilities (meaning such material must be kept up to
| |
| − | date, accurate and correct). Finally, there is a keen awareness that other industries are doing more in the area of KP
| |
| − | and have thus been benefiting from these initiatives and best practices.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Nuclear facilities and institutes constitute a particularly challenging environment from a KP perspective.
| |
| − | Some of the issues faced by the nuclear industry include:
| |
| − | *A [[Complex technology|complex technology base and infrastructure]] (i.e. both from a design basis perspective and from an operations and management perspective);
| |
| − | *Lengthy technology and [[Facility life cycle|facility life cycles]];
| |
| − | *[[Regulatory requirement]] that change over time;
| |
| − | *[[High cost | Highly capital intensive assets]];
| |
| − | *A reliance on multidisciplinary technologies and expertise;
| |
| − | *[[Competing operational objectives]] involving safety, economics, and production;
| |
| − | *[[High hazard|Potentially high hazards]] that must be systematically managed to remain demonstrably and tolerably low risks;
| |
| − | *The ongoing need for coordination of complex physical and human systems.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | Furthermore, stringent requirements for safety, environmental qualification, nuclear quality assurance,
| |
| − | nuclear security and non-proliferation safeguards, as well as equipment/design configuration management must be
| |
| − | met, all within the context of a regulated industry environment.
| |
| − |
| |
| − | For example, KP in nuclear facilities is complicated by the need to maintain knowledge over many decades
| |
| − | and thus ensure the safety of longer term nuclear waste fuel management facilities. Another example is the need to
| |
| − | establish and respect creative and flexible intellectual property license arrangements that allow owner–operators,
| |
| − | design organizations, multilateral research organizations, and technical support organizations to innovate and share
| |
| − | technical information on reactor designs (which are highly proprietary). Existing designs must be maintained,
| |
| − | modified and adapted over time to ensure reliability and safety, to extend equipment life, or to introduce
| |
| − | improvements offered by new technology. Thus proprietary designs and design information must be shared
| |
| − | amongst these parties and must evolve over time. This involves legal issues regarding knowledge utilization,
| |
| − | transfer and generation. Finally, everything is further complicated by the threat of cyber attacks. Knowledge flows
| |
| − | or stores must also address the increased need for security. For these reasons, the role of KP within the nuclear
| |
| − | industry is both particularly important and particularly challenging and underscores the need for an improved KP
| |
| − | strategy. Nuclear KP is relevant to all nuclear organizations and supporting bodies (nuclear power plants, nuclear
| |
| − | research institutes, research reactors, nuclear programmes and research in universities, nuclear regulators, nuclear
| |
| − | design organizations, and nuclear support service organizations).
| |
| − |
| |
| − | '''Source:''' [[Comparative Analysis of Methods and Tools for Nuclear Knowledge Preservation]]
| |
| | | | |
| | ==References== | | ==References== |
Knowledge management is Coordinated, integrated, systemic practices and activities which enable and promote effective knowledge processes and ensure adequate knowledge assets as needed to achieve organizational goals. (Last published: an integrated, systematic approach to identifying, acquiring, transforming, developing, disseminating, using, sharing, and preserving knowledge, relevant to achieving specified objectives)
Knowledge management is by now well established and widely adopted, and documented in a vast body of literature. The IAEA defines Knowledge Management as an integrated and systematic approach for identifying, acquiring, transforming, developing, disseminating, using, and preserving the knowledge that is critical to an individual or organization in achieving specified objectives The KM model adopted contains three primary elements: people, processes and technology.
Knowledge Management emerged as a scientific discipline in the earlier 1990s. Since then, a vast body of literature with fundamental textbooks as well as a large number of Internet links covering a broad range of thoughts on the KM discipline including manifold practical experiences have been established. An overview on many relevant aspects of general (not organization or domain specific) Knowledge Management may be found in Wikipedia.
. The knowledge management approach favored in business environments is prompted by the combination of three primary elements — people, processes, and technology — operating within a culture that recognizes the importance of knowledge to the success and safety of all (see Fig. 1). These three elements are shortly characterized as:
[1] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Knowledge Management for Nuclear Industry Operating Organizations,
IAEA-TECDOC-1510, IAEA, Vienna (2006).
[13] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Nuclear Knowledge Management Glossary, IAEA, Vienna (2005).
,
,
