Kimiz Dalkir

Kimiz Dalkir
Director, School of Information Studies, McGill University
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Dr. Dalkir is an Associate Professor and Director of the School of Information Studies at McGill University.  She has a Ph.D. in Educational Technology, an MBA in Management Science and Management Information Systems and a B.Sc. in Human Genetics. Dr. Dalkir wrote Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice (MIT Press, 3rd Ed published 2017), which has had an international impact on KM education and on KM practice.  She recently published Intelligent learner modeling in real-time and co-edited Utilizing Evidence-Based Lessons Learned for Enhanced Organizational Innovation and Change.  Dr. Dalkir’s recent research focused on success factors for collaboration in a shared economy for the aeronautical sector as well as the application of KM processes to archival research.  Prior to joining McGill, Dr. Dalkir was Global Practice Leader KM for Fujitsu Consulting and she worked in the field of knowledge transfer and retention for 17 years with clients in Europe, Japan and North America.

 

Title: Knowledge Management in a Post-Truth World

Abstract: In a post-truth world, objective facts have less influence on opinions and decisions than emotions and personal beliefs (1). People deliberately select those facts and data that support their preferred conclusions and classify any information that contradicts their beliefs as “false news (2)”.  This is not a recent problem but the Internet and social media allow information sharing at an incredible speed (practically real-time) and over a much greater geographic range (almost worldwide). There is also increasingly a crowd-sourcing approach to gathering information. PEW Research notes most people read news through their social networks rather than independent news reports (3). This creates an overall false balance as people tend to seek out information that is compatible with their existing views and values.

How can KM help in a post-truth world? KM can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of fact checking (e.g. through a news filtering agents that identify false news much as we identify junk email). One example is a new tool introduced by Facebook (4) . KM provides a framework where credibility and trust are critical to sharing information and knowledge with others (5). Finally, KM can ensure relevant experiential knowledge as well as validated information is created, shared, disseminated and preserved in order to better inform decision and policy-making.

  1. Oxford Dictionary https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/post-truth
  2. Keene, J. (2018). Post-truth politics and why the antidote isn’t simply ‘fact-checking” and truth. The Conversation. Retrieved Oct. 5, 2018 from: http://theconversation.com/post-truth-politics-and-why-the-antidote-isnt-simply-fact-checking-and-truth-87364.
  3. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/04/key-trends-in-social-and-digital-news-media/
  4. https://www.forbes.com/sites/amitchowdhry/2017/03/05/facebook-fake-news-tool/#4ff0edcd7ec1
  5. Dalkir, K. (2017). Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice. 3rd Edition. Boston, MA: MIT Press.