As I organize my thoughts around this month’s editorial, I am struck by the notion of knowledge improvement. The articles and columns contained within the issues of Structural Engineering & Design promote new ideas and offer many opportunities for expanding one’s knowledge. In this issue alone, you can learn about new projects (see page 10 and page 32) and new products — including structural steel shapes (see page 8) and engineered wood (page 28) — as well as innovative design strategies such as a point cloud-to-BIM approach (page 24) and green roofing innovations (page 22).

As simple a concept as “improvement” appears to be, the volumes of information available can be overwhelming. How to administer improvements to your knowledge from information is in itself a hot topic.

According to still-relevant comments made by Neil Fleming in an address to faculty “Coping with a Revolution: Will the Internet Change Learning?” delivered in 2001 at Lincoln University in Canterbury, New Zealand, information is not knowledge. Therefore, the simple process of collecting information does not constitute increasing your knowledge. Fleming concludes, “Only when we do some work on information do we shift it to knowledge.” Hence, the way we use information and organize it into the context of our being is what gives us knowledge.

Knowing this, then, how do you improve your knowledge? It would appear that by processing more relevant information, one could increase knowledge. But I also would argue that as the volume increases, so too must the system expand for managing the larger volume. This is where knowledge management comes in.

Knowledge management — at either a personal or organizational level — is a big topic, probably too big to address here. However, the key points to be aware of, according to CIO.com’s Meredith Levinson, include the following: Knowledge management is the process through which organizations generate value from their intellectual and knowledge-based assets. Most often, generating value from such assets involves codifying what people (employees, partners, and customers) know, and sharing that information among other people or groups (employees, departments, and even with other companies) in an effort to devise best practices. Levinson declares that it is important to note that while knowledge management is often facilitated by technology, technology by itself is not knowledge management.

Many of these concepts — specifically as they relate to AEC business and information technology systems — are discussed annually at the AEC Technology Strategies conference. Scheduled for June 8-10, 2011, at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif., this three-day event is a gold mine of technological solutions for AEC businesses, including new strategies for managing technology and using IT to drive firm growth and productivity. See page 39 or visit www.aectechstrategies.com for more details. Organizers are currently accepting session proposals for this event; please email a one-page proposal including session title and brief description by Feb. 11 to Amy Walsh at awalsh@stagnitomedia.com.

Also, for those striving for continuous knowledge improvement in their firms, applications for the Best Firms To Work For ranking lists will be posted this month. This annual program evaluates best practices of participating firms against each other using corporate and employee satisfaction data. Our new website www.bestfirmstoworkfor.com contains more details about the ranking program and you can also learn more about the Best Firms To Work For Summit. Scheduled for Sept. 28-30 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, the event is a must-attend for gleaning knowledge from the best in the business. Session proposals also are being accepted for this event; contact organizers through April 29.

As I alluded to at the top of this page, this issue contains an abundance of relevant information. I hope that you are able to use it so that it becomes knowledge, and furthermore, manage that knowledge effectively to improve both yourself and your firm!

Jennifer Goupil, P.E.,
jgoupil@stagnitomedia.com,
www.twitter.com/JGoupilPE