Knowledge Management: Everyone Benefits by Sharing Information

FHWA's knowledge cycle examines the four basic elements of the knowledge management: find/create, organize, share, and use/reuse. Under "find/create," especially as it operates in a transportation organization, knowledge is gained through a variety of means, including publications, conferences and meetings, project experiences, research, and industry expertise. In the next step in the cycle, "organize," the knowledge is filtered and catalogued, and links to the outside are created. Then the information is shared for wide availability, making use of high-tech computer tools such as the Internet and other techniques such as conferences, journal articles, and the natural communication channels created in a collaborative work environment.