I was recently asked a very thought provoking question about the importance of social networking to knowledge management? Social networking is having a wide and varied impact on ITSM as a whole. As with all new and emerging technologies,  organizations must develop strategies on how social networking will be incorporated into their environment. Policies must be established that define what will and will not be allowed in the corporate arena. Within the knowledge management process,  many organizations are embracing the use of social networking technologies but doing so with caution. Once knowledge is posted on the web, it can take on a life of it’s own. There must be internal security policies that insure that proprietry knowledge does not become available to the public. These policies should address the appropriate use of the technology as well as appropriate staff behavior.  Policies and procedures should also be defined for filtering, validating and controlling any knowledge tha

My students often ask about new advances in Knowledge Management. While Knowledge Management is not a new topic, it seems that there are still many challenges in implementing and managing this important process. I was discussing this topic with an academic colleague last week, Dr. Stuart Diaz Galup of Florida Atlantic University. He explained that "Knowledge Management" is often confused with "Information Management". I thought that was a very astute observation. According to ITIL V3, "information" puts data in context; "knowledge" adds experience, ideas, insights and value to information. So how can organizations evolve into managing "knowledge" instead of "information? Dr. Galup's observation brought me back to thinking about social networking and Knowledge Management. The introduction and acceptance of Wikis ( wikipedia ) has encouraged collaborative knowledge in that individuals can contribute their expertise to create or u