An examination into the role of knowledge management and computer security in organizations

Organisations develop their computer security procedures based on external guidelines such as ISO 17799 with very little provision to incorporate organisational knowledge in their security procedures. While these external guidelines make recommendations as to how an organisation should develop and implement best practices in computer security they often fail to provide a mechanism that links the security process to the organisational knowledge. The result is that often, security policies, procedures and controls are implemented that are neither strong nor consistent with the organisation's objectives. This study has examined the role of Knowledge Management in organisational Computer Security in 19 Australian SMEs. The study has determined that although the role of knowledge management in organisational computer security is currently limited, there appears to be evidence to argue that the application of knowledge management systems to organisational computer security development and management processes will considerably enhance performance and reduce costs. The study supports that future research is warranted to focus on how existing computer security standards and practices can be improved to allow for a stronger integration with organisational knowledge through the application of knowledge management systems

Using ICT tools to manage knowledge: a student perspective in determining the quality of education

Within the e-learning context of a university, technology has the potential to facilitate the knowledge interaction between the source (instructor) and the recipient (students). From a literature review, it can be concluded that prior studies have not explored the types of channels that encourage knowledge transfer in this environment. For example, how explicit knowledge travels through the e-learning environment and goes through interaction processes and is received and acquired is largely unknown. According to Alavi & Leidner (2001), Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can help speed up the processes of transferring knowledge from those who have knowledge to those seeking knowledge. Within the university context, technologies such as email, Internet, IRC chat, bulletin boards and tools such as WebCT and BlackBoard have the potential to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and act as a link between source and recipient. Effective knowledge transfer has to consider effective knowledge acquisition, which are therefore inexplicably linked. Nonaka's spiral model addresses knowledge acquisition through spiraling processes in which an individual would be able to convert tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge and vice versa. According to Nonaka & Takeuchi (1995) there are four types of interaction, which give way to the conversion of one form of knowledge into another, namely tacit-to-tacit, tacit-to-explicit, explicit-to-tacit and explicit-to-explicit. In an academic environment, this can be studied as the source, either transferring tacit or explicit knowledge, and similarly as the recipient, receiving knowledge either in tacit or explicit form. Nonaka & Takeuchi (1995) also refer to this as the SECI model, where SECI stands for Socialisation, Externalisation, Combination and Internalisation. This 'Research in Progress' reports the outcomes of a study undertaken to understand how and to what extent knowledge spiraling processes and accompanying characteristics of SECI can be ICT-enabled to contribute towards the studying and learning processes for university education. A survey instrument was developed for this purpose and it is currently undergoing peer-review and other customary validity and reliability tests. Once the instrument is validated, it will be administered on about 50 tertiary students. It is hoped that the results obtained from this survey will be reported in the QIK 2005 conference

Digital Transmission : an Innovative Strategy to Improve Quality in Education.

In 2000 the Australian government, recognising the need for educational equality for Australian Indigenous people has commissioned a taskforce to identify various factors affecting Indigenous Education. One of the factors identified by the task force included the need for strategies to deliver quality education to various Indigenous communities. Research studies conducted on the delivery of education highlight the importance of the Internet for the flexible delivery of education. However, government reports indicate that Australian Indigenous communities have problems in utilising this technology for reasons such as access, infrastructure, training, etc. Therefore a new model based on the recently introduced digital technology may be tested for delivering quality education to Indigenous communities. This paper provides a discussion of the impact and influence of digital transmission in facilitating the delivery of quality educational resources for Indigenous Australians. For the purposes of discussion, a model architecture is formed and a number of issues based on this architecture are considered. These issues include data transmission, delivery mechanisms, regulations and the pricing of realising such services. The focus of the paper is to provide discussion of quality educational services to a wide range of Indigenous audiences

An exploratory qualitative study to identify factors that influence the use of electronic patient journey boards in Queensland health

Technology in the healthcare and use of Information and Communication technologies (ICT) in healthcare is on the rise among the developing economies. In spite of some limitations and limited use of ICT in the healthcare domain, ICT is expected to grow in the Australian Healthcare system. This research paper provides preliminary findings on views expressed by users regarding the use of Electronic Patient Journey Boards (EPJBs) in Queensland Health. Initial data was collected through a qualitative approach in order to understand the views of health professionals regarding EPJBs. This was achieved through interviews, brainstorming sessions and focus groups held with healthcare professionals who have used the EPJB and those who will be using EPJBs in the future. This qualitative data was analysed through the lens of three key critical variables, namely people, processes and technology. The preliminary findings show that these three variables are critical for the success of the use and implementation of EPJBs in the healthcare domain. Furthermore, this research paper was also able to identify factors that will have a significant influence on the implementation of a technology in a healthcare setting. This study is limited to Queensland Health and needs further research to test the findings of the study in order to apply the findings more generally

Clinical factors and technological barriers as determinants for the intention to use wireless handheld technology in healthcare environment: An Indian case study

Abstract]: Traditional technology adoption models identified ‘ease of use’ and ‘usefulness’ as the dominating factors for technology adoption. However, recent studies in healthcare have established that these two factors are not always reliable on their own and other factors may influence technology adoption. To establish the identity of these additional factors, a mixed method approach was used and data were collected through interviews and a survey. The survey instrument was specifically developed for this study so that it is relevant to the Indian healthcare setting. We identified clinical management and technological barriers as the dominant factors influencing the wireless handheld technology adoption in the Indian healthcare environment. The results of this study showed that new technology models will benefit by considering the clinical influences of wireless handheld technology, in addition to known factors. The scope of this study is restricted to wireless handheld devices such as PDAs, smart phones, and handheld PCs Gururajan, Raj and Hafeez-Baig, Abdul and Gururajan, Vijay

A program for collaborative research in ageing and aged care

There is renewed interest in the application of information management and technology (IM&T) to ageing and aged care. This interest is driven by increases in the percentage of older people in the populations of developed countries, moves towards extending the independence of older people and encouraging more care to be delivered in the home and in the community. These trends are expected to stimulate the development and application of those technologies which will be essential as an enabling infrastructure for the changes. There is a need for assistance in the practical steps of evaluating technology, development and implementation of information standards, encouraging and enabling adoption of IM&T, and the development of rigorous financial cases for investment incorporating how benefits aims to be realised. There is also a need for the development of specific strategy for information management in aged care. All of these require a stronger research base including the development of methodologies, experimentation and learning through demonstrator projects. This paper outlines an active and collaborative research program for ageing and aged care informatics to support the development, implementation and evaluation of IM&T

A discussion on the role of knowledge management in aged care

[Abstract]: Knowledge Management is a new tool in the Information Systems area and in recent years many articles have been written to highlight the importance of different forms of knowledge, how to capture, integrate and then benefit from them. In aged care, knowledge management can play a vital role as medical history needs to be carried over through different stages of a patient’s life to guarantee service. This discussion paper provides a brief introduction to the role of knowledge management in the aged care domai

A case study approach to investigate academic perspective on knowledge and knowledge transfer issues

[Abstract]: This research in progress study was conducted to satisfy two specific objectives. First to research the use of ICT used by academics within their work environment and second to investigate the human behaviours in the knowledge transfer process based on literature developed from theory. An appropriate research strategy had to be employed when the nature of the research is theory building and that the research propositions are seeking insights. For this purpose academics from University of Southern Queensland were considered. Focus group technique was employed to collect data from academics. The analysis of data indicated that while ICT tools are useful in disseminating knowledge to some extent, they are not that effective in creating the knowledge. A surprise factor that emerged was the lack of support for training factors as the group felt this is not important given the maturity of users in IT. Similarly, email and the Internet were considered to be knowledge collectors than knowledge transfer tools. The group also highlighted that knowledge can be categorised into administrative, procedural, organisation, personal and product knowledge

Online Community of Practice (CoP) as a collectivist learning tool for a culturally diverse postgraduate student group

Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals that many overseas students were enrolled in Australian Tertiary education in 2004, indicating 8.6% increase in overseas students from 2003. While higher education institutions, typically universities, are increasingly reliant on fee paying students, academics are struggling to meet the educational needs of an increasingly diverse student group. Many students’ educational experience involved teaching and learning method and assessment expectations considerably different to that expected at Australian universities, especially at the post-graduate level. This, in turn, requires a different approach to teaching and learning to assist them to be able to succeed in what is a new and foreign educational environment. This study reports the use of an online Community of Practice (CoP) and group assessment to both support Asian students’ transition from one educational system to another as well as continuing to meet the needs of western educated students. Results to date are very encouraging. Keywords: Assessment, Cultural Diversity, Communities of Practice, Learning Groups, Plagiarism, Academic misconduc