HUMINT OR WEBINT? Concept Study on Possible Routes for Improving Knowledge Discovery within Organizations

Abstract

The history of science is replete with instances of constant sociological and economic challenges posed by technical breakthroughs. On the other hand, one could equally argue that it had been sociological factors which fomented such breakthroughs. Both interpretations lead to the same effect, the increased complexity of the information sphere confronting us everyday. A number of researchers such as Shannon have argued an entropic effect for information. Some psychologist have suggested that our history from the standpoint of information dexterity could be interpreted by the degree of interaction of individual intelligence with collective intelligence as represented by institutions, such as universities or constructs, such as the web. Social Network Tools could be seen as just another challenge in dealing with complexity of our information sphere. The primary question is whether there is a criticality of information mass that leads to discovery and whether it is still a process driven by individuals or communities? A Human Intelligence (HUMINT) approach would mean designing modalities for the information worker to serve as an agent for such discovery. The Web Intelligence (WEBINT) approach would mean designing modalities for communities in which a complex system is constructed to ensure an expected, and therefore, quantifiable level of discovery. Borrowing heavily from the concept of Multiple Intelligences, the paper indicates that perhaps new pedagogical models need to be defined to address the issue as well as a mixed approach to information handling to facilitate such discovery within organizations, especially technical universities.