Kostas Kafentzis

Knowledge services on the semantic web

Developing infrastructures for trading knowledge services using semantic technologies.

Inter-organizational networks for knowledge sharing and trading

Although companies are increasingly developing complex networks of connections with their partners and customers and shifting their focus towards expanding the knowledge management concept externally, research addressing the management of knowledge across organizational borders is rather sparse. Our aim in the present paper is to develop a typology of cross-organizational networks of information and knowledge flows. In order to arrive at such a typology we examine two issues. The first concerns the locus of control on the processes that enable knowledge flow. The second refers to the tradability of the streams of knowledge that flow among organizational entities. We examine four types of knowledge networks: “knowledge communities”, “knowledge chains”, “knowledge supplies” and “knowledge markets”. For each type of knowledge network, we examine its distinct characteristics, study related examples, consider the associated research challenges and analyze an indicative case.

Knowledge marketplaces: strategic issues and business models

An increasing number of enterprises are getting interested in exploiting their knowledge assets outside the organizational borders and in augmenting their knowledge network. A first generation of electronic knowledge marketplaces has been developed in order to provide the platforms for knowledge exchange and trading at inter‐organizational level. This paper develops a framework to evaluate the strategic issues, business models, roles, processes, and revenue models of knowledge trading platforms, and provides a detailed analysis of five existing knowledge marketplaces based on this framework. Finally, a set of conclusions is drawn on what issues should be addressed in a knowledge marketplace in order to eliminate the risks and gain the trust of its targeted customers.

Challenges and Directions in Knowledge Asset Trading

This paper addresses the area that is at the intersection of Knowledge Management and Electronic Commerce. This area refers to the exchange and trade of explicit and implicit knowledge at an inter-organisational level. Electronic knowledge marketplaces are currently emerging to address the opportunities and risks found in the purchase and selling of knowledge at the business-to-business (B2B) environment, the need for supporting long-lasting relationships of knowledge exchange and the requirement for facilitating virtual community contexts where knowledge seekers can find suitable knowledge providers and knowledge providers can advertise and sell their available knowledge. The paper describes the business challenges associated with the design of Internet-based knowledge marketplace. INKASS, a European IST project, has stimulated this work and has provided real-life verification on the arguments raised and on the positions adopted herein.

Knowledge provision with intelligent e-services

Interorganizational knowledge networks and knowledge marketplaces have emerged to enable organizations to share or commercially exploit their knowledge outside narrow organizational borders. The materialization of these structures requires concrete and sound mechanisms for the efficient external provision of knowledge stored in knowledge repositories within the organization. In our approach, we employ semantic Web services as a vehicle for publishing knowledge repositories. We propose “knowledge provision services” as a means for efficient retrieval and composition of knowledge objects from knowledge repositories of various organizational contexts regardless of the environment within which they are delivered. In this direction, we have extended OWL‐S with a knowledge object ontology, which represents knowledge objects in a generic, application‐neutral way, and we have developed an infrastructure for the publication, discovery, composition, and delivery of Knowledge Provision Services founded on the Web services architecture.

A Framework for Analysis and a Review of Knowledge Asset Marketplaces

An increasing number of enterprises are getting interested in exploiting knowledge, tacit or explicit, lying outside their organizational borders and augmenting the knowledge network of their organizations. A first generation of knowledge e-marketplaces has arisen to provide the platforms for knowledge exchange and trading in an inter-organizational level. This paper develops a framework to evaluate the business models, roles, processes, and revenue models of knowledge trading platforms and provides a survey of six existing knowledge marketplaces based on this framework. Finally, a set of conclusions is drawn on what issues should be addressed in a knowledge marketplace in order to eliminate the risks and gain the trust of its targeted customers.

An Ontology-Based Architecture for Knowledge Commerce

Inter-organizational knowledge networks and knowledge marketplaces have emerged in order to enable organizations to share or commercially exploit their knowledge outside narrow organizational borders. The materialization of these structures requires concrete and sound mechanisms for the efficient external provision of knowledge stored in knowledge repositories and for the conclusion of agreements among parties that will specify the terms and conditions of knowledge transactions. In our approach, we propose ‘Knowledge Services’ and k-UDDI, enhanced by reference ontologies we have developed, as a means to enable the publication, discovery, negotiation and invocation of web services that carry knowledge objects from knowledge repositories of various organizational contexts regardless of the environment within which they are delivered.

An Adaptive Knowledge-Based Approach for Detecting Fraud across Different e-Government Domains

Fraud detection and prevention systems are based on various technological paradigms but the most prevailing one is rule-based reasoning. However, most of the existing rule-based fraud detection systems consist of fixed and inflexible decision-making rules which limit significantly the effectiveness of such systems. In this paper we present a fraud detection approach which combines the technologies of knowledge-based systems and adaptive systems in order to overcome the limitations of traditional rule-based reasoning. Our approach is supported by an integrated generic methodology for addressing fraud in various e-government domains and organizations through a number of well defined steps that ensure the efficient application of the approach. It is supported also by a generic ontological framework based on which different domain specific fraud knowledge models can be built and through which the generic character and adaptability of our approach is ensured.