Biographical Information

Articles by Art Murray, D.Sc.

A System of Systems … With a Twist

Many long-standing technologies such as swarm intelligence, biomimicry, neural networks, and the like are now being stitched together. Think of what could happen if each of those technologies interacted not only with each other but also with the environment at large, its living and artificial elements, as an integrated whole.

Life in the Virtual Trenches

Immersive Learning - The applications in education are obvious. But you can build use cases for almost any domain.

Scarcity Versus Abundance

The Knowledge Age we've been talking about for so long has finally arrived. The potential for scarcity is real, but so is the potential for overflowing abundance. Let's bring every tool in our KM arsenal to bear, along with our decades of experience, and help make it happen.

Knowledge Through Motion

Although large bodies of research have identified mind-body-environment connections, much of this research remains untapped and underutilized.

252 Million Walas

There are 195 countries in the world. How many more entrepreneurial innovation hotspots are out there, waiting to be tapped and awakened? In our high-tech, virtual world, all of the steps Pakistan has taken can be replicated virtually anywhere, regardless of your country's size, GDP, or location. Imagine the possibilities ...

Trees, chains, and brains

Today's AI has many different flavors and architectures, along with massive amounts of memory and processing capacity. We could probably make better use of this computational power by looking at how we can improve the quality of our queries and, as a result, make better quality decisions.

Inefficient at the speed of light

While process mining started years ago as a mainly data-driven exercise, its stated goal is to be knowledge-driven. Given KM's multidisciplinary scope, we can play a major role in achieving that goal. Any process, no matter how simple, has the potential to reach across an entire business ecosystem, including all stakeholders. This seems like a perfect match for collaborative workflow, AI/ML, knowledge graphs, human sensemaking, and many of the other arrows in our KM quiver.

What is Bharat and why should you care?

Knowledge should always be considered as accretive, not something that's "here today, gone tomorrow."

Pushing the boundaries of knowledge curation

Knowledge democratization occurs in two directions, seemingly engaged in an endless tug of war: acquisition and dissemination.

The flip side of generative AI: Extractive AI

Extractive AI takes a more comprehensive and transparent approach to machine intelligence.

8 billion and counting

The message is clear: No single person or committee or group can weave the best paths through the infinite maze of possible event chains. Only humans and machines working together, side by side, can produce a better result than would ever be possible from either one alone.

The fun side of future tech

Everything about the future doesn't have to be so frightening or serious. Instead, let's take a break from all of that and look at the fun side of what lies ahead.

Are you data-driven or knowledge-driven?

We no longer need to blindly accept the output of even the most sophisticated AI/ML platforms. In fact, we should not consider any artifact, whether produced by humans or machines, as valid knowledge unless it contains not only supporting data and analyses, including provenance, but also an explanation of the underlying plausibility.

Extraordinary times demand extraordinary leadership

The emergence of hybrid work environments post-COVID has resulted in the accelerated introduction of technologies and methods that increasingly enable the adaptive, democratic enterprise.

Look to the skies for KM opportunities

Then there's the inevitable demand for more automation, from the flight planning and clearance process to the operation of the air vehicles themselves. No human or group of humans could possibly keep track of so many constantly changing variables

Return on … Infrastructure???

As our physical and IT infrastructure continues to grow in size, complexity, and vulnerability, people and the knowledge they possess will play an ever-increasing role.

Three trends in ’23

The combined human and computing clouds will drive our core KM processes of search, collaboration, and discovery to new heights.

The final frontier

Given the rapid expansion of satellite communication webs in support of IoT, the volume of data will continue to explode.

Dispatches from the edge

Edge-of-chaos decisioning means being continually informed on the critical elements needed to make better, faster decisions.

Fusion, fission, or something else?

When it comes to applying KM, the key is identifying and connecting the dots in meaningful and synergistic ways.

Thinking fast—and faster

If you're going to achieve consistent, effective high-speed decision making, it can't involve a protracted review by upper management.

The way of the scenario

The Delphi technique has become less effective in recent years, especially in crisis situations in which conditions, assumptions, and other variables are changing faster than the group is able to respond.

Making the jump to hyperdrive

The new, all-digital workforce will be made from a combination of AI, machine learning, computer vision, naturallanguage understanding, robotics, and more.

The critical part of critical infrastructure

Whether we're talking about infrastructure to support the flow of goods or the flow of knowledge, all require energy, and lots of it.

The coming blue wave

It should come as no surprise that topping the list of requirements to create and sustain a vibrant blue economy are innovation, learning, and collaboration.

Beyond sustainability

We need to look at the major challenges we're facing as we enter the millennium's third decade from the perspective of the global economy as a wholly integrated system.

The enterprise of the future: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow

Today, much of the knowledge we need is readily available. The problem is having the courage and fortitude to properly act on it.

At long last, the conference of the future

In past epochs, usually when a civilization is at or near its peak, the architecture of prominent structures masterfully blends the physical and the cognitive.… we need to be thinking along the same lines as we build platforms for interacting in an increasingly virtual world, including virtual conferences.

Disruptive innovation: No better time

With the push to move more functions online, disruptive technologies such as robotic process automation are rendering old skill sets obsolete, while at the same time creating the need for new ones.

Building the enterprise of the future: If not now, when ?

It should be plainly clear that we need knowledge management now more than ever. You can be sure that the COVID-19 crisis won't be the last crisis to come our way. And the next one might be even more severe because our supporting systems have taken some serious hits.

Enterprise of the future update: More disruption ahead

The concept of a phyle has experienced a resurgence, driven in part by the frustration people are feeling about being forced into making binary choices regarding the groups with which they want to be identified: public versus private, capitalist versus socialist, and liberal versus conservative.

Deep project management

Given the increased negative media exposure that comes from project failure, organizations need more tightly integrated, intelligent project management systems, in addition to people who have the requisite skills. This need will grow as systems continue to become more complex and timelines more tightly compressed.

Boosting knowledge worker engagement through mentoring

If your employees aren't engaged, knowledge simply can't flow to the extent that's needed in order to compete in the global economy.

Bringing adult supervision to machine learning and AI

Human and machine knowledge governance has many moving parts. No governance means leaving things to chance. Too much governance means clogging up the system and slowing things down to a crawl. The trick is achieving the right balance based on your organization's size, goals, strategy, and risk profile.

The future of food: a fresh look

There's a growing demand for the ability to facilitate the integration of knowledge generated by widely diverse communities from multiple disciplines.

Trends for the ’20s

Providing the right information to the right people at the right time can only be accomplished through greater openness.

Crossing the epistemic divide

As the world races ahead, purely data-driven approaches will become less attractive. Instead, we need to start gaining a deeper understanding of how to bridge the great divide which separates the artificial and the natural.

From just-in-time to just-ahead-of-time

Through our many decades of research into the knowledge sciences, we've determined that if AI is ever going to live up to its promises, it needs an architecture that integrates three levels of functionality: memory, awareness and anticipation.

No one left behind

It's inexcusable for anyone with a serious disability to have to wait for technology to catch up. It's here already. It's the user community that needs to catch up. And we KM'ers need to be right out in front.

Getting back to basics

From outright survival to the innate human desire for peace and prosperity, there's no shortage of needs.

The high cost of not sharing

Assembling and exchanging the necessary situational knowledge in a way that protects civil rights and privacy remains an enormous challenge.

What not to worry about

There's still plenty of thinking, innovating and discovery that needs to be done. Use machines as your tools, not as your master.

No more excuses

All you need is an idea, an internet connection and some experienced guidance and mentoring.

Building the high-trust enterprise

In a low-trust organization, people are afraid to share what they know. Knowledge flows are stifled.

The future of law enforcement

We'll focus on the information processing and decision-making aspects of policing.

A framework for change

Building and sustaining an enterprise of the future requires a robust planning process. One of the challenges, especially with long-term strategic planning, is the tendency to focus on activities. Start with what needs to be done today and work toward a future goal.

Assessing and mitigating risk

The hidden world of deep semantics

By uncovering the rules of aggregation of the basic elements of human speech, we can move smartly toward "less is better" in our approach to semantic analysis.

Workforce of the future update

Folks from all walks of life have decided to live and work in an untethered, "free range" world.

The world of intangible asset valuation

You can't even begin to address the chaos in the global market if you don't first get a grip on what's inside your organization, especially your brain trust.

Big opportunities in small data

Once in place, small data rule sets are more stable and less complex than those typically associated with big data.

The coming leap in human intelligence

Human-like robots are popping up everywhere. From the factory floor to product packaging and delivery. From restaurants to the battlefield. From patient care to camel racing. And countless other places.

Welcome to Curation 2.0

Keeping organizational knowledge relevant and up-to-date requires adult supervision.

Four global shifts to keep in mind

Instead of worrying about how to keep machines from taking over the world, we should let technology evolve and look for ways to expand human intelligence.

All aboard the blockchain express

You can see where all of this is going. Just-in-time is giving way to just-ahead-of-time.

From the real to the virtual and back

In previous articles, we've shown that intangible asset values typically outweigh their tangible counterparts by about four to one. We don't expect this ratio to flip anytime soon. But those crusty old tangibles have been staging a comeback. The new technology of 3-D printing is getting help from a few "old-timers" like open source software and collaborative computing.

Creating the future through disruptive innovation

Over a decade ago, two predictions stood out: Digital currencies would be in play by 2015, and space tourism would be firmly in place by 2020.

Building the world trade center of the future

Topping out at a symbolic 1,776 feet, the new World Trade Center (WTC) tower in New York City is a bold statement of economic resilience and mankind's ability to look to the future.

Logistics at the speed of thought (almost)

If you're wearing your KM goggles, you should begin seeing the many intricate connections that make up the complex world of manufacturing and logistics. More importantly, you should also be looking for ways to increase the speed by which a thought becomes an idea that leads to an innovation that becomes a product....

Taking the enterprise of the future to the next level

When we began our journey in search of the enterprise of the future eight years ago, one of the first things we did was build the four-pillar framework, which has pretty much held to this day. The four pillars are: new business ecosystems and strategies (leadership); new organizational designs (organization); new living, working and learning environments (learning); and technology infrastructure nexus (technology).

A report from the trenches

Getting into an ongoing cycle of rapid innovation and learning is the only formula for sustained growth in the foreseeable future.

Pushing the boundaries of the knowledge sciences

Our purpose was to awaken, enliven and re-establish the knowledge sciences as the core foundation upon which we can gain the greatest benefit from the amazing discoveries awaiting us...

Rethinking ROI: The Metrics of Intangible Assets

What is the true value of intangible assets like intellectual capital and in an enterprise, and what is the ROI (return on investment) for knowledge management. Here are two intangible asset valuation methods that will likely get the attention of the folks sitting both in the c-suite and on the board of directors.

Smart hospitals: Transformational medicine for the knowledge age Part 1

"The next challenge is bringing expert knowledge along with patient data directly to the point of decision"...

Smart farms: feeding the world's 7 billion minds

We don't really have a robust, systematic approach for capturing, sharing, applying and growing knowledge about farming. At least not on a grand scale...

The Future of the Future: Global knowledge entrepreneurship in action

The Future of the Future
Getting serious about economic resilience

The Future of the Future
A look at the coming decade: opportunities and challenges

Crowdsourcing is taking on an increasingly important role in society, approaching something we might instead refer to as crowdleading...

The Future of the Future: Report from the trenches: progress & challenges

The Future of the Future:
Making the leap from the desktop to virtual space

The Future of the Future:
Core values steady the course in a volatile world

The Future of the Future: Building the university of the future today

The Future of the Future:
An opportunity for real change, Part 2

The Future of the Future:
An opportunity for real change

The future of the future: Rise of the knowledge librarian

Corporate librarians used to devote years acquiring and cataloging physical document collections. All those serials and monographs, outdated by the time they arrived from the printers, are simply not that competitive anymore. Knowledge is not static. It must be continually refreshed through venues such as open discussion and brainstorming. That calls for a new kind of library. ..

The Future of the Future:
From nomads to knowmads:
Knowledge cities rise from the desert sands

The Future of the Future: Incubating the next-generation enterprise

We've got to create an infrastructure that allows the rapid flow of specialized knowledge in a way that new ideas can be moved into the marketplace, quickly and easily...

The Future of the The Future: What life will be like, starting today

The Future of the The Future: Turning problems into opportunities

The Future of the Future:EOF update: report from the trenches

I've always liked to keep one foot in the academic world and one in the "real" world. Universities are good at developing theory, which provides foundational principles on which we can base our business decisions, actions and observations. In previous articles, we've presented a simple theoretical framework, which has proven to be successful across a wide range of organizations. It consists of the four pillars of leadership, organization, learning and technology. Let's take a look at how each of these pillars has been playing out, and how you can benefit from what we've learned so far.

The Future of the Future: Goodbye, knowledge worker…
Hello, knowledge entrepreneur

The Future of the Future:
Out of Africa: the next billion minds

Human civilization began in Africa. My tribe got out early, more than 50,000 years ago. I guess that explains why I'm always among the first to leave a party. According to genetic ancestry researcher Spencer Wells, my haplogroup, M168, crossed the Arabian Peninsula and proceeded to populate the other five continents. A haplogroup is a large clan of people who share a common ancestor, as indicated by a unique genetic marker.

The Future of the Future: Government as a knowledge enterprise

We've spent a good deal of space in this column looking at how business needs to transform itself to compete in the global knowledge economy. This month, let's take a look at how the same trends are forcing major changes in government.

The Future of the Future: Boundary-less living, working and learning

Competing in a billion-mind economy means totally rethinking how you live, work and learn. That applies to you as an individual as well as to the organizations to which you belong. In the enterprise of the future, living, working and learning environments are converging in an unprecedented way.

A billion-mind economy

Competing in the global knowledge economy means that your organization must learn and innovate as fast as change in the marketplace.

The Future of the Future: Overcoming resistance to change

The Future of the Future: Breaking the lessons-learned barrier

A key ingredient in fast learning is capturing and sharing lessons-learned. That means continually assessing what's working, what's not working and finding ways to improve.

The Future of the Future: Breaking free of the technology trap

The Future of the Future: Building the Enterprise of the Future means no more secrets

...making the transformation from a knowledge-hoarding organization to a knowledge-sharing enterprise...

The Future of the Future: Breaking free of old mindsets

The Future of the Future: Making knowledge-informed decisions in a flat world

The Future of the Future: The role of ITIL in building the enterprise of the future

Transforming the enterprise

The Future of the Future: Building the enterprise of the future: a framework for transformation

The enterprise of the future