Abstract
This conceptual, interdisciplinary paper will start by introducing the commencement of a new era in which human society faces continuously accelerating technological revolutions, named the Post Accelerating Data and Knowledge Online Society, or ‘Padkos’ (“food for the journey; prog; provisions for journey”—in Afrikaans) for short. In this context, a conceptual model of sustainable development with a focus on knowledge management and sharing will be proposed. The construct of knowledge management will be unpacked into a new three-layer model with a focus on the knowledge-human and data-machine spheres. Then, each sphere will be discussed with concentration on the learning and decision- making processes, the digital supporting systems and the human actors’ aspects. Moreover, the recombination of new knowledge development and contemporary knowledge management into one amalgamated construct will be proposed. The holistic conceptual model of knowledge management for sustainable development is comprised by time, cybersecurity and two alternative humanistic paradigms (Homo Technologicus and Homo Sustainabiliticus). Two additional particular models are discussed in depth. First, a recently proposed model of quantum organizational decision-making is elaborated. Next, a boundary management and learning process is deliberated. The paper ends with a number of propositions and several implications for the future based on the deliberations in the paper and the models discussed and with conclusions.
Highlights
Technology luminaries and economists are suggesting that we are amid the 4th industrial revolution, and we will be possibly facing the fifth society in the near future [2]
Reviewing the literature of artificial intelligence, machine learning and new knowledge creation while using the modified version of an integrative literature review [54] strongly suggested the addition of an additional layer for knowledge management, one that is concentrated on data and digital machines [55,56]
The fusing of the physical and digital worlds resulting in a cyberphysical system [145,146] which still requires human interaction, and transitioning to the up-and-coming fusing with the biological world [147] bringing us closer to the realization of Homo Technologicus and/or Homo Sustainabiliticus [6] is only mounting the prominence of data systems and data analytic techniques
Summary
Technology luminaries and economists are suggesting that we are amid the 4th industrial revolution (see example at [1]), and we will be possibly facing the fifth society in the near future [2]. There are no times in betweenness that will allow the individual and/or society to adjust, and that if humanity wants to survive as a species (which is already questionable-see the Sustainabilism paper [6]), as individuals and as a humanistic society, there is a need to develop a different new mechanism. Such a society is defined here as the Post Accelerating Data and Knowledge Online Society, or ‘Padkos’ (“food for the journey; prog; provisions for journey”—in Afrikaans) for short.
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