January 01, 2004

knowledge management, army style...

The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer :: FusionNet puts soldiers, equipment in place
By Justin Willett

..."Eighty-five percent of an organization's knowledge is stored in the peoples' ... heads."

Though the Army has tried to deal with this problem through the use of tools such as "leader books" and "continuity books," Warner said automating information would make institutional knowledge more accessible.

"For example, deployment is a big deal," Warner said. "What if the NCO who was the unit's 'deployment expert' had transferred to another post?"

The answer: With FusionNet any soldier with proper clearance and training could step into the situation and have access to the information and tools needed to plan and execute a successful deployment. A concept paper titled FusionNet at War says it would be easy to implement.

The system could run on already existing notebook and desktop computers, and training soldiers to use the system would take only 15 minutes to two hours, depending on the complexity of the user's role.

Warner said installing FusionNet on existing computers would be analogous to installing a new release of the Microsoft Office system, but far more beneficial.

"We're on the path to show the Department of Defense and Department of the Army that this can be done relatively easy and relatively inexpensively," Warner said...

K-Collector Topics: Knowledge Management simple vs complex Microsoft
January 1, 2004 11:26 PM | google it! | threadorati
Comments

I remain amazed that the US military, the guys who bought you command and control, are so good at understanding the need and the evolving practice of accesing the distributed intelligence of everyone. Have you read Hope is Not a Method by General Gordon Sullivan?

Posted by: Rob Paterson at January 2, 2004 08:13 AM

no i have not read the sullivan book, do you recommend it? i am heartened that someone sees the value of finding innovative ways to access group intelligence and institutional memory. when i blogged these two military pieces last evening i was reflecting on the tenacity of the armed services in searching out these types of institutionalized memory and workable collaboration systems. now i just wish this tenacity would spread... (^:

Posted by: judith at January 2, 2004 10:58 AM

from the news i have been tracking it would appear that the US military is quite ahead of the curve in their commitment to fully functional knowledge and collaboration systems.

Posted by: judith at January 6, 2004 09:09 PM