This lecture starts with a definition of data. Then we present characterizations for information, knowledge and competency. An initial characterization for knowledge works very well for technical areas, but it has to be extended for purely intellectual areas such as History. We make a survey of the literature, and compare our characterizations with those of other authors. We show that competency is the confluence of a knowledge area with a skill. This leads to a matrix representation, where each cell may contain a degree of competency, knowledge or information. We present 2 systems we developed to collect competencies of Information Technology professionals, and how they are used to do competency management, which is a section of knowledge management. Our systems, designed to select professionals for building competency centers and project teams, have found a much wider and important application: the personal dissemination of knowledge. Thus, it provides the base for a practical knowledge management system.
Speaker: Prof. Valdemar W. Setzer Dept. of Computer Science, University of São Paulo, Brazil When: Thursday, 8 th of November 2001, 4:15 pm (s.t) Where: HS 8, University Klagenfurt
Curriculum Vitae
Valdemar Setzer was a Full-Professor of Computer Science at the University of São Paulo when he retired. He continues to teach, orient dissertations and research projects, and also works as a consultant for various companies. He has published 11 books in Brazil and in foreign countries, on programming languages, compiler theory and construction, database systems, object oriented databases, the Internet, and electronic media and education. He has also worked on software engineering and competency management systems. He was one of the pioneers in Brazil on data processing and computer science, as well as on issues concerning the individual and social impacts of computers.