A knowledge market is a mechanism for distributing
knowledge resources.
There are two views on knowledge and how knowledge
markets can function.
One view uses a legal construct of intellectual
property to make knowledge a typical scarce
resource, so the traditional commodity market
mechanism can be applied directly to distribute
it.
An alternative model is based on treating
knowledge as a public good and hence encouraging
free sharing of knowledge.
This is often referred to as attention economy.
Currently there is no consensus among researchers
on relative merits of these two approaches.
== History ==
A knowledge economy include the concept of
exchanging knowledge-based products and services.
However, as discussed by Stewart (1996) knowledge
is very different from physical products.
For example, it can be in more than one place
at one time, selling it does not diminish
the supply, buyers only purchase it once,
and once sold, it cannot be recalled.
Further, knowledge begets more knowledge in
a never-ending cycle.
Understanding of knowledge markets is beginning
to emerge.
As would be expected, they are very different
in form from traditional markets.Knowledge
markets have been variously described by Stewart
(1996) and Simard (2000) as a mechanism for
enabling, supporting, and facilitating the
mobilization, sharing, or exchange of information
and knowledge among providers and users.This
transactional approach assumes that knowledge-based
products or services are available for distribution,
that someone wants to use them, and that the
primary focus of the market is to connect
the two.This perspective is appropriate when
the market has limited or no interest or control
over either the production or use of the content
being exchanged, as is the case for most traditional
markets.
A provider-user perspective is also appropriate
for emerging social networking "ideagoras"
(Tapscott and Williams, 2006), in which the
primary function of the market is to match
existing solutions with problems and problems
with those who can find solutions.
From a production perspective, processes for
creating wealth through the use of intellectual
capital are explained by Nonaka (1991) and
Leonard (1998).
At the marketing end of the spectrum, a number
of authors, including Bishop (1996), May (2000),
and Tapscott et al. (2000) describe the architecture
and processes necessary to succeed in a digital
economy.
Knowledge markets may also be sequential in
nature.
Simard (2006) describes a cyclic end-to-end
knowledge-market model comprising nine stages
that embed, advance, or extract value into
knowledge products and services along a knowledge
services value chain.
The first five stages are internal to a knowledge
organization (production and transfer) while
the last four stages are external (intermediaries,
clients, and citizens).
Because the value chain is cyclic, it can
be used to model either a supply (post-production
evaluation ) or a demand (pre-production evaluation)
approach to knowledge markets.
== Knowledge services ==
Knowledge services is an emerging concept
that integrates knowledge management, a knowledge
organization, and knowledge markets.
Knowledge services are programs that provide
content-based (data, information, knowledge)
organizational outputs (e.g., advice, answers,
facilitation), to meet external user wants
or needs.
Knowledge services are delivered through knowledge
markets.
St. Clair and Reich (2002) describe internal
knowledge services as a management approach
that integrates information management, knowledge
management, and strategic learning into an
enterprise-wide function.
Kalakota and Robinson (2003) and Thomas (2005)
developed service-oriented architectures for
the private sector.
Their focus was to transform traditional retail
businesses by developing enterprise-wide platforms
that support customer services.
RocSearch (2006) takes a broader external
view, referring to a nascent knowledge services
industry that goes beyond traditional cost
and time leveraging advantages of the traditional
consulting sector.
Simard et al. (2007) developed a holistic
systems model of knowledge services for government
S&T organizations.
The model begins with generating new content
and ends with sector outcomes and individual
benefits.
The model is independent of content, issues,
or organizations.
It is designed at a departmental level, but
is scalable both upwards and downwards.
The primary driver is a department’s legal
mandate; a secondary driver is the needs of
clients and residents.
The model can function from either a supply
or demand approach to knowledge markets.
There are two levels of resolution - performance
measurement, and classifying service-related
activities.There are four types of knowledge
services: generate content, develop products,
provide assistance, and share solutions.
24 Knowledge services are modeled as a circular
value chain comprising nine stages that embed,
advance, or extract value from knowledge-based
products and services.
The stages are: generate, transform, manage,
use internally, transfer, enhance, use professionally,
use personally, and evaluate.(Simard, 2007)
described a rich to reach service delivery
spectrum that is segmented into categories
of recipients, with associated levels of distribution,
interactions, content complexity, and channels.
The categories, from rich to reach, are: unique
(once only), complex (science), technical
(engineering), specialized (professional),
simplified (popular), and mandatory (everyone).From
the perspective of knowledge markets, Mcgee
and Prusak (1993) note that people barter
for information, use it as an instrument of
power, or trade it for information of greater
value.
Davenport and Prusak (1998) used a knowledge
marketplace analogy to describe the exchange
of knowledge among individuals and groups.
However, Shapiro and Varian (1999) indicate
that information markets will not resemble
textbook competitive markets with many suppliers
offering similar products but lacking the
ability to influence prices.
Simard (2006) described knowledge markets
as a group of related circular knowledge-service
value chains that function collectively as
a sector, to embed, advance, and extract value
to yield sector outcomes and individual benefits.
=== Examples ===
Fee-based knowledge markets commoditize knowledge
by being based on traditional market mechanisms
that work well for traditional goods.
The buyer posts a request, normally in the
form of a question and sets a price for the
valid answer.
Alternatively, the suppliers of knowledge
(answerers) can post their bids to have the
question answered.Experts-Exchange is fee-based
knowledge market which using a virtual currency
where buyers can offer payment to have their
questions answered.
Mahalo Answers, an extension of the search
engine Mahalo.com, launched on December 15,
2008.
The site also uses a virtual currency ("Mahalo
Dollars").Innocentive is a web-based open
marketplace where firms post scientific problems
and choose rewards.Google Answers was another
implementation of this idea.
This service allowed its users to offer bounties
to expert researchers for answering their
questions.
The Google site was closed in 2006.
Two months later, fifty former Google Answers
Researchers launched paid research/Q&A site
Uclue.
Google also acquired Q&A website Vark.com,
to shut it down a year later.Free knowledge
markets use an alternative model treating
knowledge as a public good.Quora, Stack Overflow,
Ask Metafilter, Yahoo!
Answers, Windows Live QnA, Wikipedia's Reference
Desk, 3form Free Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge
iN, and several other websites currently use
the free knowledge exchange model.
None of these offer more than an increase
in reputation as payment for researchers.ChaCha.com
and Answerly.com both offer subsidized knowledge
markets where researchers are paid to generate
answers despite the service remaining free
to the question asker.
Amazon.com's NowNow previously offered a subsidized
knowledge market for questions asked through
mobile phones and as an experimental feature
in the company's ebook reader, the Amazon
Kindle.
The NowNow service was discontinued November
21, 2008 after an extended private beta period.
== See also
