Key Milestones in the Evolution of Knowledge Management: What Is Next?

The history of knowledge management (KM) is often categorized into three early eras: the first era focused on tools and technologies to ensure valuable knowledge was shared and preserved. The second era emphasized knowledgeable people and how to better connect them. The third era brought the focus to bear on content and the findability of valuable knowledge. What came next? World events such as 9/11 and the COVID-19 pandemic intensified awareness of and need for effective KM. The introduction of the knowledge management standard, ISO 30401, in 2018 is a more recent key milestone. What is next? More holistic and more inclusive KM is one important direction for the field. KM scalability beyond individuals, groups, and organizations spreading to interorganizational and societal KM is another important direction for the evolution of KM. Finally, more research needed to better integrate artificial intelligence (AI), support remote work, cope with increasing information overload, formulate key KM competencies and training approaches, as well as leverage KM to enhance innovation (in addition to improving efficiency). This essay discusses and integrates a number of perspectives and key studies from the KM community but presents a predominately personal view and position on the future evolution of KM.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada Kimiz Dalkir

1. Kimiz Dalkir

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Editors and Affiliations

1. Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania Constantin Bratianu
2. International Burch University, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Meliha Handzic
3. University of Padova, Padova and Venice International University, Venice, Italy Ettore Bolisani

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Dalkir, K. (2023). Key Milestones in the Evolution of Knowledge Management: What Is Next?. In: Bratianu, C., Handzic, M., Bolisani, E. (eds) The Future of Knowledge Management. Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning, vol 12. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38696-1_3

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