Intelligent Advisory Systems for Managing and Disseminating Information

Bibliographic Data

ID6361968
AuthorsSusan G Hadden (corresponding author)
Year1986
Volume46
Pages572-572
Publication date1986-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePublic Administration Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-3352 • E-ISSN: 1540-6210
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2307/975579
OpenAlexW2038775614
LanguageEN
Citations received7

The revolution in information is reflected in the increased use of terms such as management information systems, support systems, and processing. Despite their differences, these terms have in common a notion that information or data is something to be so that it can be brought to bear on various organizational decisions. Data needs to be managed because there is so much of it that (1) it may overwhelm the user, (2) it may be hard to find when needed, or (3) its very existence may be forgotten. The ability to overcome these problems has derived from more sophisticated hardware and associated userfriendly software. One element that is missing from these discussions of information and data is the knowledge that makes the data meaningful. The summary reports and graphics are important because the final user-the manager or decision maker-has in mind patterns or sets of conditions that call forth particular responses. For example, if the decision maker receives a graph whose shape is a line descending from left to right, he/she assumes a continued decrease in the dependent variable and decides accordingly. A different choice is made if the graph bounces up and down. This paper describes an alternative computer technology that draws on the techniques of artificial intelligence to embody knowledge as well as data in the computer. The utility of this approach lies in its ability to manage information by embodying the patterns that determine outcomes; in other words, it elicits from the user (or an associated database) only the information actually necessary for the choice at hand. Because it allows the computer readily to manipulate words as well as numbers, this technology can embody knowledge that is verbal, fuzzy, or otherwise not readily incorporated in conventional databases. The technology, which I call intelligent advisory systems or IASs, can assist decision makers in achieving managerial consistency and speed. It also has important implications for the ways in which knowledge is disseminated and used in organizations. This analysis proceeds as follows: the first section introduces IAS technology, the second section considers three potential IAS contributions, and the third section returns to the theme of knowledge in organizations. * Intelligent advisory systems (IASs) are computer programs that use the techniques of artificial intelligence to mimic human expertise. This paperfocuses on two contributions of IASs to managing and disseminating information in and among public organizations. First, IASs can serve as user-friendly front-ends for existing databases. More important, however, is their ability to manage data by employing the system's knowledge about the subject and the database to conduct the most efficient possible searches of the data and to interpret the results of those searches. Second, IASs serve as a means of making expertise held by only one member of an organization available to other members or of making expertise held by one public organization available to other organizations. They can serve to teach new staff, upgrade the expertise of existing staff, and ensure consistency among different staff. Although the scope of IASs is presently limited by technology and our understanding of human cognition, the benefits they can provide within their proper sphere are large enough to merit serious attention

Advisory committee · Business · Dissemination · Information Dissemination · Political science · Public relations · Telecommunications · World Wide Web · Big Data and Business Intelligence · Computer Science · Public Administration

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