Can Knowledge Management Help in Poverty-stricken Countries and Crisis Situations

Jennifer Lennon; Hermann Maurer

doi:10.3217/jucs-007-04-0327

JUCS - Journal of Universal Computer Science 7(4): 327-334, doi: 10.3217/jucs-007-04-0327

Can Knowledge Management Help in Poverty-stricken Countries and Crisis Situations

Jennifer Lennon^‡, Hermann Maurer^§

‡ Hypermedia Unit, Department of Computer Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand§ IICM, Graz University of Technology, Austria

Corresponding author: Jennifer Lennon ( jennifer@cs.auckland.ac.nz )

This article is freely available under the J.UCS Open Content License.

Citation: Lennon J, Maurer H (2001) Can Knowledge Management Help in Poverty-stricken Countries and Crisis Situations. JUCS - Journal of Universal Computer Science 7(4): 327-334. https://doi.org/10.3217/jucs-007-04-0327

Abstract

At first sight, knowledge management for poverty-stricken countries appears to be a contradiction in terms. It sounds "high-tech" and not very applicable for "third world" countries that may not possess the necessary infrastructure. However, the aim of the paper is to show that this is not only false but that Knowledge Management (KM) has a big role to play. We begin by giving an introduction to KM systems in general before considering how they may be applied in poverty and crisis situations. We then consider specific functions of these systems before looking at some problems and possible solutions of implementing such a system.

Keywords

knowledge management, databases, environmental issues, poverty, third world, information systems