Knowledge Management: The Foundation of Economy and Society

Test copy of the proposal on semantic-mediawiki.org, used to test Template:AgendaDay26. Time slot and status are test values from the draft program.

Knowledge Management: The Foundation of Economy and Society (Keynote, 45 min, In-person, Accepted)

Speakers: Simon Colnar · Start: 2026/11/12 13:00:00 · Conference: MediaWiki Users and Developers Conference Fall 2026

This keynote explores why preserving critical, often tacit knowledge takes more than documentation, and how collaborative knowledge platforms and AI can help organizations capture, share and reuse it. As organizations face demographic changes, workforce transitions, and rapid technological advancements, preserving critical knowledge and organizational memory is becoming increasingly important for their long-term resilience. Much of an organization's most valuable knowledge remains tacit, embedded in employees' experience, relationships, and judgment, making it particularly vulnerable when people leave. This keynote explores why knowledge retention within the scope of knowledge management must move beyond documentation and traditional repositories toward continuous processes of identifying, capturing, transferring, and embedding critical knowledge into daily organizational practices. Particular attention will be given to how collaborative knowledge platforms and emerging AI technologies can support organizational learning, facilitate knowledge sharing, and make knowledge more accessible and reusable. The keynote highlights why knowledge management is not merely a technological or organizational function, but a fundamental capability for building resilient organizations and knowledge-based present and future societies.