Local Knowledge Base Research Articles

A presença de agentes intermediadores na formação de redes interorganizacionais: uma análise sob a perspectiva temporal

Nos estudos sobre redes interorganizacionais, existem esforços focados em entender a formação de redes, assunto esse que gera interesse dos formuladores de políticas públicas já que se busca no associativismo promovido pelo Estado e pelas iniciativas privadas, substância para impulsionar o desenvolvimento local. Diante disso, o objetivo do estudo foi verificar, por meio da formalização do Arranjo Produtivo Local (APL) de calçados de Birigüi (SP), se a presença desses agentes é essencial para a formação da rede interorganizacional. Como sustentações teóricas foram abordadas: a evolução temporal das redes; a Teoria Institucional aplicada às redes interorganizacionais; o capital social presente nos laços de relacionamento; a presença de agentes intermediários como coordenadores na governança das redes. A estratégia de pesquisa adotada baseou-se em entrevistas com 32% dos gestores das empresas que participavam formalmente do APL e com uma gestora do agente intermediador, além de observação e análises de pesquisas prévias sobre a industrialização de Birigüi. Como resultados verificou-se haver um legado regional que sustenta uma base de know-how para a industrialização de calçados. No entanto, percebeu-se que os interesses dos participantes do APL eram predominantemente comerciais, sem haver um nível de capital social e de institucionalização desenvolvidos a ponto de se criarem, de forma legítima, associações provenientes de vontades das próprias organizações. Sem esse ambiente institucional fortemente construído na região, não se verificou um racional claro para o associativismo, havendo a percepção de que os ganhos oriundos da participação na rede são futuros. Concluiu-se que a coordenação realizada por um agente intermediador tem poder de articulação limitado na formação de redes interorganizacionais se não existir uma institucionalização prévia que envolva, principalmente, valores e normas de capital social. Sem esses pré-requisitos, o agente intermediador pode acabar por ter funções de governança para ações assessórias da rede.

A Query Learning Routing Approach Based on Semantic Clusters

Peer-to-peer systems have recently a remarkable success in the social, academic, and commercial communities. A fundamental problem in Peer-to-Peer systems is how to efficiently locate appropriate peers to answer a specific query (Query Routing Problem). A lot of approaches have been carried out to enhance search result quality as well as to reduce network overhead. Recently, researches focus on methods based on query-oriented routing indices. These methods utilize the historical information of past queries and query hits to build a local knowledge base per peer, which represents the user's interests or profile. When a peer forwards a given query, it evaluates the query against its local knowledge base in order to select a set of relevant peers to whom the query will be routed. Usually, an insufficient number of relevant peers is selected from the current peer's local knowledge base thus a broadcast search is investigated which badly affects the approach efficiency. To tackle this problem, we introduce a novel method that clusters peers having similar interests. It exploits not only the current peer's knowledge base but also that of the others in the cluster to extract relevant peers. We implemented the proposed approach, and tested (i) its retrieval effectiveness in terms of recall and precision, (ii) its search cost in terms of messages traffic and visited peers number. Experimental results show that our approach improves the recall and precision metrics while reducing dramatically messages traffic.

Interactive knowledge capture in the new millennium: how the Semantic Web changed everything

AbstractThe Semantic Web has radically changed the landscape of knowledge acquisition research. It used to be the case that a single user would edit a local knowledge base, that the user would have domain expertise to add to the system, and that the system would have a centralized knowledge base and reasoner. The world surrounding knowledge-rich systems changed drastically with the advent of the Web, and many of the original assumptions were no longer a given. Those assumptions had to be revisited and addressed in combination with new challenges that were put forward. Knowledge-rich systems today are distributed, have many users with different degrees of expertise, and integrate many shared knowledge sources of varying quality. Recent work in interactive knowledge capture includes new and exciting research on collaborative knowledge sharing, collecting knowledge from Web volunteers, and capturing knowledge provenance.

A multi-strategy knowledge interoperability framework for heterogeneous learning objects

This paper presents a knowledge exchange framework that can leverage the interoperability among semantically heterogeneous learning objects. With the release of various e-Learning standards, learning contents and digital courses are easy to achieve cross-platform sharing, exchanging, and even reorganizing. However, knowledge sharing in semantic level is still a challenge due to that the learning materials can be presented in any form, such as audios, videos, web pages, and even flash files. The proposed knowledge exchange framework allows users to share their learning materials (also called “learning objects”) in semantic level automatically. This framework contains two methodologies: the first is a semantic mapping between knowledge bases (i.e. ontologies) which have essentially similar concepts, and the second is an ontology-based classification algorithm for sharable learning objects. The proposed algorithm adopts the IMS DRI standard and classifies the sharable learning objects from heterogeneous repositories into a local knowledge base by their inner meaning instead of keyword matching. Significance of this research lies in the semantic inferring rules for ontology mapping and learning objects classification as well as the full automatic processing and self-optimizing capability. Focused on digital learning materials and contrasted to other traditional technologies, the proposed approach has experimentally demonstrated significantly improvement in performance.

Resource-Constrained Innovation for Emerging Economies: The Case of the Indian Telecommunications Industry

A daunting challenge that enterprises face today is how to design and diffuse innovations to effectively tap into local demand in emerging country markets. Although extant literature focuses on the dominant innovation models of multinational enterprises from developed countries, little attention is directed to carefully examining the alternative models of innovation offered by local players from emerging markets. The aim of our study was to gain an in-depth insight toward understanding ¿what kind of innovation models effectively suit emerging markets needs"? Using the case of an indigenous enterprise, Centre for Development of Telematics from India, we demonstrate how the emphasis on developing affordable and locally sustainable products has provided an alternative model of resource-constrained innovation in the telecommunications sector. The three critical factors for innovation were identified as: entrepreneurial leadership and vision; modular designs to meet user demands of affordability, functionality, and operability through architectural innovation; and exploitation of the local knowledge base and the creation of local innovation clusters. Our study provides insights into the labor-intensive, but capital-sensitive, processes involved in shaping and managing technology development and diffusion to meet the unique demands of mass markets in emerging economies.

Concessions and Conservation: A Study of Environmentalism and Anti-environmentalism among Commodity Farmers

Concessions and Conservation: A Study of Environmentalism and Anti-environmentalism among Commodity Farmers

Machine reasoning about anomalous sensor data

We describe a semantic data validation tool that is capable of observing incoming real-time sensor data and performing reasoning against a set of rules specific to the scientific domain to which the data belongs. Our software solution can produce a variety of different outcomes when a data anomaly or unexpected event is detected, ranging from simple flagging of data points, to data augmentation, to validation of proposed hypotheses that could explain the phenomenon. Hosted on the Jena Semantic Web Framework, the tool is completely domain-agnostic and is made domain-aware by reference to an ontology and Knowledge Base (KB) that together describe the key resources of the system being observed. The KB comprises ontologies for the sensor packages and for the domain; historical data from the network; concepts designed to guide discovery of internet resources unavailable in the local KB but relevant to reasoning about the anomaly; and a set of rules that represent domain expert knowledge of constraints on data from different kinds of instruments as well as rules that relate types of ecosystem events to properties of the ecosystem. We describe an instance of such a system that includes a sensor ontology, some rules describing coastal storm events and their consequences, and how we relate local data to external resources. We describe in some detail how a specific actual event—an unusually high chlorophyll reading—can be deduced by machine reasoning to be consistent with being caused by benthic diatom resuspension, consistent with being caused by an algal bloom, or both.

Placing the choice between exploration and exploitation in context: a study of geography and new product development

AbstractBeginning with seminal research on organizational learning and continuing with the exploration versus exploitation and regional economics literatures, knowledge search has become central to innovation research. Drawing from these contributions, we examine the impact of a firm's geographic location munificence on benefits received either from exploiting its local knowledge base or from exploring for new knowledge beyond its local geographic boundaries. Results indicate that firm geographic context moderates the relationship between search strategies and new product development. In particular, firms located in munificent geographic locations benefit from geographically localized and international searches, while firms in less munificent geographic locations benefit from balanced and domestic search strategies. Copyright © 2009 Strategic Management Society.

Knowledge Generation and Innovation in Manufacturing Firms in China

This paper explores and measures the knowledge generation process through identifying and examining the latent factor structure of the individual, managerial and cognitive dimensions of knowledge generation and investigating how these factors may relate to each other and to product innovation in the context of firms in China. We applied exploratory factor analysis and conducted a survey in Jiangsu province which is a main location of manufacturing activity and a large recipient of investment in science and technology in China. We found that individual and managerial factors included individual depth of knowledge, organizational commitment, academic orientation and managerial features, while cognitive factors involved developing a global and local knowledge base and engaging in imitative, embodied and/or minimalist learning strategies. The study also uncovered close associations between the depth of knowledge of individuals and their ability to develop a global knowledge base and between a minimalist learning strategy and the existence of a local knowledge base.

“Just-in-Case” Answers: The Twenty-FirstCentury Vertical File

“Just-in-Case” Answers: The Twenty-FirstCentury Vertical File

Local Knowledge in Visually Mediated Practice

Visualization tools such as maps, models, and computer images are used increasingly as means of involving people more effectively. We examine how a visualization tool in the form of a map-based model may shape the knowledge local people bring to the planning table. The analysis was guided by the concept of mediated action as it has been developed in sociocultural theory. We found that local knowledge was conditioned by a complexity of factors, including the dynamic of actions that develop around the tool and the way of looking imposed by map-based representation. The suggestion being made is that visualization tools, although bringing people closer to the planning process, also disconnect them from their local knowledge base.

Connecting Sustainable Agriculture to Rural Development: The Case of Pasture-Based Dairy Grazing

When economic rural development projects include a vision and goals for sustainable agricultural systems the capacity to achieve economic and social viability is increased. In this paper we offer a case study of how a group of Ohio dairy graziers have transformed their own and neighboring farms into economically successful pasture-based dairies and impacted farm communities in their region and beyond. Their success is a community development story that connects the building of technical and social infrastructures to create new rural economic opportunities. Some of the distinct characteristics of this grass roots ecosystem management model are citizen leadership, development of community through pasture walk groups, and the continual search and exchange of information and science to build the local knowledge base and capacity to adjust practices to localized conditions.

Local agro-ecological knowledge and its relationship to farmers’ pest management decision making in rural Honduras

Integrated pest management (IPM) has been widely promoted in the developing world, but in many regions its adoption rates have been variable. Experience has shown that to ensure IPM adoption, the complexities of local agro-production systems and context-specific folk knowledge need to be appreciated. Our research explored the linkages between farmer knowledge, pest management decision making, and ecological attributes of subsistence maize agriculture. We report a case study from four rural communities in the highlands of southeast Honduras. Communities were typified by their agro-environments, IPM training history, and levels of infestation by a key maize pest, the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda Smith). Although variable, infestation levels generally did not justify pest management intervention. Consequently, crop losses from this pest were considered of low importance and most farmers proceeded in a rational fashion by refraining from action in their fields. Farmers attributed the low degree of pest infestation predominantly to abiotic causal factors (rainfall, temperature). The role of natural enemies in controlling this pest (i.e., biological control) was deemed of low importance by farmers; nevertheless, a broad array of such organisms was mentioned by farmers as operating in their maize crop. Farmers’ knowledge of natural enemies only partially matched scientific knowledge and was associated with the ecological features of their respective field settings. Local knowledge about natural enemies was mainly restricted to abundant and easily observable predatory species. Farmers who were knowledgeable about biological control were also familiar with a larger variety of pest management alternatives than uninformed farmers. Management options covered a wide range of curative techniques, including conservation biological control. Farmers who relied on insecticides to manage pest outbreaks knew less about biological control and pesticide alternatives. In contrast, farmers who received IPM training mentioned more types of natural enemies and were familiar with a broader range of alternative pest management tactics. Our research suggests that IPM training modifies local knowledge to better fit its environmental context. This paper provides insights in the environmental context of local agro-ecological knowledge and its linkage with pest management decision making. It also constitutes a basis for modifying IPM extension programs to deliver locality-specific technologies while strengthening the local knowledge base.

Multinational knowledge spillovers with decentralised R&D: a game-theoretic approach

This paper provides a theoretical model of the trade-offs that an MNE faces when organising its R&D as decentralised or centralised. R&D decentralisation avoids having to adapt centrally developed innovations to local markets, being able to use the specific know-how of the subsidiary. In addition R&D subsidiaries can be used to source locally available external know-how. At the same time, however, R&D internationalisation intensifies the spillover of valuable know-how to competitors located in the foreign markets. The analysis demonstrates the importance of the intensity of competition in the local market in determining the size of both the benefits and costs of R&D decentralisation. It shows that when R&D is undertaken abroad in association with production, the local knowledge base is not unequivocally a pulling factor attracting R&D investments by foreign MNEs, depending on the level of local competition. The paper also shows that efficiency in reverse intra-company technology transfers is a critical factor in benefiting from technology sourcing. The results thus illustrate the complementarity of efficient internal and external knowledge management systems. In addition the model suggests that, with a fall in the cost of intra-company technology transfers, relative market size loses importance as a locational factor for R&D decentralisation.

The terrestrial arthropods of Mauritius: a neglected conservation target

Entomology in Mauritius has historically been linked with the agricultural and medical fields but concern should now be directed towards the conservation of native forest insects given that they are key components of the local ecosystem. Despite its young age, small size and remoteness, the island has a well-developed native insect fauna with a high proportion of endemic species. A majority of the insect orders are represented on the island. We document the current state of knowledge for Mauritian arthropods, with particular focus on the Coleoptera. This is the most diverse order locally with 1,032 species. In addition, it is the best catalogued historically, providing a framework for future conservation studies to evaluate the current status of this group. We explore the current threats facing the native insect fauna and highlight the needs for concern on this vital component of local biodiversity. We recognize that the initial step for conserving the native insects will depend largely on the establishment of a local taxonomic knowledge base with international expert input.

COLLECTIVE LEARNING BY ARTISANAL SUBCONTRACTORS IN A PHILIPPINE FURNITURE CLUSTER

This paper stresses the importance of subcontractors for the circulation of knowledge in industrial clusters. In studies on collective learning processes in clusters it often remains unclear who is involved and in which area a local knowledge base is built up. This study contributes to filling this gap by unravelling the learning process and focusing on how learning takes place at the level of artisanal subcontractors. Empirical evidence from two sub-sectors in the furniture cluster in Pampanga (the Philippines) is used to identify learning processes among subcontractors, indicating how knowledge is transferred along the value chain and diffused among them. The paper demonstrates that knowledge hardly trickles down from exporters, but that subcontractors are a major source of feedback to them. However, despite possessing the key strategic product knowledge, the subcontractors’ absence of knowledge in other areas (i.e. technical, managerial and market knowledge) weakens their bargaining position in this cluster.

How to Analyze the Regional Economy With Occupation Data

Occupation is an important aspect of the regional economy because regional competitiveness has become increasingly dependent upon local knowledge bases and worker quality. It has been forgotten, however, in most regional economic analysis. This study proposes a new approach that utilizes occupation data available in the public domain in analyzing the regional economy. The study defines occupation clusters and presents three occupation analysis approaches (i.e., overview analysis, occupation cluster analysis, and occupation-based industry-targeting analysis). The Cleveland metropolitan area is used for the illustration of analysis techniques.

The Role of Information Technologies in Indigenous Knowledge Management

More and more communities and organisations around the world are realising the value and significance of Indigenous knowledge and the importance of preserving it for future generations. Indigenous Knowledge Centres (IKCs) are being established globally, but particularly in Australia, Africa, Latin America and Asia. The capture and preservation of Indigenous knowledge is being used to revitalise endangered cultures, improve the economic independence and sustainability of Indigenous communities and to increase community-based involvement in planning and development. In parallel with the increasing recognition of the value and relevance ofIndigenous knowledge to today's world and the need to preserve it, is recognition of the role that information technologies (IT) can play in its capture, management and dissemination. This chapter provides an overview of the current state of IT tools, services, and projects relevant to Indigenous knowledge management. In particular it describes information technology tools being developed at DSTC (in consultation with numerous Indigenous and '; cultural organisations) that have been designed to enable Indigenous .'. communities to capture, control and share their knowledge within local knowledge bases according to their unique, specific local needs. Finally this chapter identifies unresolved issues that will require further collaborative research and development and cooperation between Indigenous communities, researchers and software developers. Indigenous Knowledge Capture Indigenous knowledge, also referred to as traditional or local knowledge, refers to the large body of knowledge and skills that has been developed outside the formal educational system. IK is embedded in culture and is unique to a given location or society. It is the basis for decision-making of communities in food, security, human and animal health, education and natural resource management.

Wireless valley, silicon wadi and digital island––Helsinki, Tel Aviv and Dublin and the ICT global production network

Hyper-capitalism in global information and communication technology (ICT) markets during the late 1990s created a new global production network, shaped by multinational corporations, international capital flows, and a flourishing of high-tech entrepreneurship. Each of the cities considered here benefited substantially from this growth, but their positions as nodes in the ICT global production network differed markedly, as did their ability to appropriate the value they generated. In Dublin, value creation was based largely on inward technology and capital flows, although indigenous Dublin-based software companies did demonstrate their ability to compete internationally. ICT development in Helsinki and Tel Aviv drew more strongly on the local knowledge base, and benefited from changes in national regulatory and political conditions. In Helsinki, public and private R&D investments supported the highly effective globalisation strategy of Nokia to create a strongly localised, vertically-integrated and strongly specialised sector. Value creation in the more diverse Israeli ICT sector was also based primarily on locally developed technology, university R&D and the commercialisation of technology developed initially for military applications. By the end of the 1990s, the resulting ICT node in Tel Aviv was grounded in the local knowledge-base, technologically diverse, strongly entrepreneurial and globally oriented.

Unlocking the power of the Grid

The Grid, it is widely agreed, is the next big thing in computing, but a consensus on what exactly it is can be harder to come by. Grid computing implies the idea of accessing computational resources over a network, the Internet, untroubled by low-level concerns about where these resources might be located. Almost inevitably, the US is in the lead, with NASA's Information Power Grid (IPG) providing the world's most credible example of a functioning Grid. The objective of the IPG is to facilitate the interconnection of computing systems across a number of NASA sites, allowing, for example, the multi-site simulation of a whole space shuttle design. The paper discusses the e-Science Programme. The UK e-Science Grid represents a technical challenge, operating across nine separate centres, each with their own IT policies. Each of the centres on the e-Science Grid provides a local knowledge-base of Grid expertise, implementing currently available public-domain Grid middleware, including the Globus Toolkit, and developing a portfolio of industrial projects.