In this volume, Rudi Studer and his team deliver a self-contained compendium about the exciting field of Semantic Web services, starting with the basic standards and technologies and also including advanced applications in eGovernment and eHealth. The contributions provide both the theoretical background and the practical knowledge necessary to understand the essential ideas and to design new cutting-edge applications.

In this volume, Rudi Studer and his team deliver a self-contained compendium about the exciting field of Semantic Web services, starting with the basic standards and technologies and also including advanced applications in eGovernment and eHealth. The contributions provide both the theoretical background and the practical knowledge necessary to understand the essential ideas and to design new cutting-edge applications.

In this book, we present a collection of papers around the topic of Agent- Mediated Knowledge Management. Most of the papers are extended and - provedversions of work presented at the symposium on Agent-Mediated Kno- edge Management held during the AAAI Spring Symposia Series in March 2003 at Stanford University. The aim of the Agent-Mediated Knowledge Management symposium was to bring together researchers and practitioners of the ?elds of KM and agent te- nologiestodiscussthebene?ts, possibilitiesandadded-valueofcross-fertilization. Knowledge Management (KM) has been a predominant trend in bu- ness in recent years. Not only is Knowledge Management an important ?eld of applicationfor AIandrelatedtechniques, suchasCBRtechnologyforintelligent lessons-learned systems, it also provides new challenges to the AI community, like, for example, context-aware knowledge delivery. Scaling up research pro- typestoreal-worldsolutionsusuallyrequiresanapplication-drivenintegrationof several basic technologies, e.g., ontologies for knowledge sharing and reuse, c- laboration support like CSCW systems, and personalized information services. Typical characteristics to be dealt with in such an integration are: - manifold, logically and physically dispersed actors and knowledge sources, - di?erent degrees of formalization of knowledge, - di?erent kinds of (Web-based) services and (legacy) systems, - con?icts between local (individual) and global (group or organizational) goal

There are two main approaches to knowledge management (KM), the process-centred approach which treats KM as an interpersonal communication process and the product-centred approach which focuses on the artefacts for knowledge, i.e. the documents, their creation and reuse in corporate computer-based systems. Knowledge Asset Management presents a knowledge asset-centric approach which fuses the previous two approaches together. It provides a conceptual framework to guide managers in the planning and development of the initiative and presents a methodology for organisations to: define and document their knowledge management strategy.- audit and design business processes that enhance and facilitate corporate learning.- facilitate knowledge sharing between people in the organisation.- measure and evaluate the quality and value of the organisation's intellectual capital. The book also introduces a way for developing an intranet-based environment to support: the collection and classification of internal and external information.- reuse of stored knowledge using flexible and customisable knowledge navigators and advanced search mechanisms including keyword and concept-based searching (e.g. visualization of the information space).- collaboration via on-line workspaces. Knowledge Asset Management gives an in-depth look at the technologies and methodologies required for knowledge management. Written by four highly experienced consultants in the field, the books also includes case studies showing how the principles work in practice. "One of the rare books today on Knowledge Management that addresses the leveraging of an organization's intellectual assets by using an integrative and holistic approach. Well worth reading!" Michael Stankosky, Professor of Knowledge Management and Co-founder/co-director of the Institute for Knowledge Management, The George Washington University "This book is a useful illustration of Knowledge Management implementation principles: it synthesizes theoretical and pragmatic approaches to the subject and does a competent job of embracing the various dimensions of a Knowledge Management initiative." Daniele Chauvel, Director, European Center for Knowledge Management; Business School Marseille-Provence "For those organisations who wish to take a strategic view of knowledge management, this book shows how they can take KM to the next level - not driven by a technology solution but based on the strategy and needs of the business." Marc Auckland, Chief Learning Officer and Head of the BT Academy, BT "The KM method proposed in this book enables enterprises to exploit their knowledge more effectively by making it easily available to employees and by facilitating the exchange and integration of information used by knowledge workers in a variety of business situations" Ciro Maddaloni, SOGEI S.p.A., Gruppo Telecom Italia.

A new economy is emerging. An economy that is transforming the fundamental rules of business. An economy based on exploiting knowledge and innovation. An economy where knowledge is the main source of wealth for regions, nations, enter prises and people. This new economy is based on economic values far removed from those of the industrial economy. Value has shifted towards intangibles and in particular towards increasing value by incorporating knowledge into services and products. The advent of this new economy is rapidly changing the role and structure of global business. Winning enterprises are those best able to harness the benefits and opportunities of information and communication technology, capitalize on their knowledge base and move at the speed of the market. Knowledge management lies at the heart of the European Community's competi tiveness strategy. The European Commission facilitates and supports applied research in knowledge management through its Information Society Technologies (1ST) programme, a major theme of research and technological development within the European Union's Research and Technology Development Framework Programme. Specifically, the New Methods of Work and Electronic Commerce action of the 1ST programme supports long-term applied research in areas combin ing technological innovation with new work practices and advanced business and work models.

Erfolgreiches Wissensmanagement ist in die tagliche Arbeit integriert. Wissensmanagement muss deshalb als integraler Bestandteil von Geschaftsprozessen und deren Gestaltung betrachtet werden. Wissen ist fur ein Unternehmen relevant, wenn es die Geschaftsprozesse verbessert. Das Buch beschreibt fundiert und eingangig praxisrelevante Techniken und Vorgehensweisen, mit deren Hilfe relevantes Wissen identifiziert, gesichert und gezielt zur Bearbeitung von Prozessaktivitaten bereitgestellt werden kann.

Erfolgreiches Wissensmanagement setzt voraus, dass es in die tagliche Arbeit integriert ist, wie sie durch die Geschaftsprozesse eines Unternehmens vorgegeben wird. Wissensmanagement muss deshalb als integraler Bestandteil von Geschaftsprozessen und deren Gestaltung betrachtet werden. Wissen ist fur ein Unternehmen relevant, wenn es die Geschaftsprozesse verbessert. In diesem Buch werden praxisrelevante Techniken und Vorgehensweisen beschrieben, mit deren Hilfe relevantes Wissen identifiziert, gesichert und gezielt zur Bearbeitung von Prozessaktivitaten bereitgestellt werden kann.