Do I know where I am going and why? : Connecting social knowledge for governance and urban action

Abstract

This paper seeks to expand our focus to understand how communities can assemble and manage knowledge to support more rational decisions regarding government services and actions in the community environment. We focus on the knowledge transfer interface between communities and urban councils, with a view to extending theoretical understanding of such transfers, and the socio-technical knowledge support systems interfacing between action groups and councils. Utilizing theory from several previous domains we discuss how science does not exist in a vacuum. It is surrounded by philosophy, theology (although not always popular to recognise today) and art as a beginning. These diverse areas have undergone parallel developments and as they do so the tools and techniques to investigate and explore these areas have also progressed in parallel. Following the movement of the modern western world this paper utilizes a broad comparison using science, branches of mathematics, philosophy and art, with additional comparisons with theology. Knowledge management - an often abused expression - is more than just data collection, in- formation presentation, or simple pathways beyond this. Rather it involves the efficient juxtaposition of background information and the value adding of presentation to enhance explicit understanding in a dynamic manner. This paper goes one step further than normally considered, by investigating approaches to cognition in the data management areas and human cognition requirements and advantages. As society evolves, the requirements for successful presentation of data evolve, and yet the raw data amounts can also be effectively presented in new and more compressed manners. So the total information presented can actually increase exponentially and may become easier to understand. Finally explicit modern examples are utilised to demonstrate the effect of the altered approaches through the distinct time periods and a simple juxtaposition of the technological tools available in each period are utilised to enhance the data presentations. The end results are considered and the effect that the technology may have made to the recording and use of the data and it's transmission as data, information or knowledge evaluated, and a suggested model for overall efficiency of knowledge management presented in conclusion