The Enterprise Knowledge Market

by Jeremy Thomas

September 2007

Emerging markets produce high quality goods and services at low costs.

Companies must therefore innovate to remain competitive (Rod Boothby).

The capacity of 1000’s of knowledge workers to

innovate is far greater than that of a few executives (Rod Boothby).

A knowledge worker is a professional who applies his or her intellectual capacities to the

acquisition, processing, management, and

communication of knowledge. (translationbureau.gc.ca)

Enterprise 2.0 connects knowledge workers so they can share ideas, collaborate and innovate.

Enteprise 2.0 flattens hierarchies and removes

contribution barriers. Output from troops in the trenches is directly visible to Generals on the hilltop.

Knowledge workers participate in an Enterprise 2.0

ecosystem because of the principles of the Invisible Hand (Adam Smith – the Wealth of Nations)

A knowledge worker “…intends only his own gain”, he seeks recognition which can ultimately lead to promotion and a pay raise.

And these “selfish” contributions make the

enterprise as a whole better off.

How, then, are knowledge workers recognized for the work they do?

The Enterprise Knowledge Market (EKM)

The EKM discovers information assets in blogs, wikis, legacy content repositories – the entire enterprise

information landscape.

An information asset is “a component or product of an information system that can be defined,

scoped, and managed for reuse” (nsw.gov.au)

Blog posts, wiki pages, project plans and detailed

design documents are all example information assets.

The EKM then converts information assets into information commodities.

An information commodity can be thought of as a knowledge “…item produced for exchange” (

wikipedia).

Information commodities are initially

valuated based on:

“Page Rank”Subscriber CountDownload CountAge

Then they’re left at the mercy of collective intelligence.

Knowledge workers “buy” or “sell” commodities in the EKM based on the value they derive from them.

Think Digg.com.

A commodity’s value rises and falls with each buy/sell transaction.

The EKM showcases enterprise information commodities and their value index:

Over time, the enterprise (a.k.a. “the market”) adjusts the value index of information commodities to reflect the

actual value the enterprise derives from them.

As a result useful information assets and genuinely

innovative ideas are given visibility.

Visibility leads to recognition

Knowledge workers compete for recognition.

Competition fuels participation.

Participation more quality information assets

increased probablility of innovative ideas

surfacing.

Innovation increased economic viability

happy enterprise.