Technological aspects and KPIs of a KM System at the European Space Operations Centre

Paper number

IAC-12,D5,2,10,x13940

Author

Mr. Raul Cano Argamasilla, Terma GmbH at ESA/ESOC, Germany

Coauthor

Mr. Siegmar Pallaschke, Consultant, Germany

Coauthor

Ms. Roberta Mugellesi-Dow, European Space Agency (ESA), Germany

Coauthor

Mr. Damiano Guerrucci, European Space Agency (ESA), Germany

Year

2012

Abstract

When you ask to someone unfamiliar to Knowledge Management (KM) if he knows what it is about, a very common answer is something similar to "yes, this is about the wikis, isn't it?". Of course, there is much about wikis or technology, but there is also a focus in the organization and, what is more important, the people. Notwithstanding, the weight of technology is such that even if the other two aspects (people, organization) are implemented correctly, the success of the overall KM system will depend strongly on an appropriate technological platform.

The paper will describe the approach followed at ESA/ESOC in which the role of two important core practices in KM is fostered. On the one hand, a critical practice is to facilitate the access to information. Our KM group has chosen to provide the service of a search engine to index every repository that is being used in the workplace. On the other hand, we have chosen to boost the Communities of Practice by setting the KM Portal, a platform from which every staff or contractor can build teams based on their needs, share valuable information and, in general, create a self-organized community.
However, as it is expected, no organization would accept easily spending its resources in such activities if the results are obscure or intangible. There are many examples in the literature about how to implement KM, however, there is still no consensus about how to measure the success of the initiatives taken. The reason of that roots in several causes. The first one is the inherent difficulty in the definition of knowledge: where does it start and where does it ends? what is a KM methodology? how can we measure knowledge management if the concept of knowledge is still controversial? The second reason lays in the fact that the measurement indicators, that is to say, the KPIs, vary highly depending on the context where they are applied. Therefore, as each business will use their own KPIs tailored to their needs, there is still a long way until a reusable list of KPIs will be created, if it is created at all.

In summary, the proposed paper will outline the technological elements implemented within the ESA/ESOC KM system, their characteristics and their interdependencies. Additionally, the KPIs for these elements will be described- They are required for measuring the applicability and the success of these elements.

Abstract document

IAC-12,D5,2,10,x13940.brief.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-12,D5,2,10,x13940.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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