Standards Development

Scope

This document gives recommendations on how to implement a knowledge management system. It also includes a description of the terms and concepts used in BS ISO 30401.

Purpose

There is rapidly increasing recognition for the crucial role that knowledge management (KM) plays in an organisation’s business strategy. For example, BS ISO 9001:2015 ‘Quality Management Systems’ lays out requirements for how organisations should prioritise knowledge (clause 7.1.6) and BS ISO 44001:2017 ‘Collaborative business relationship management systems. Requirements and framework’ states that organisations should manage knowledge creation and sharing in collaborative business relationships (Clause 8.3.4). Furthermore, in 2019 CILIP (The Library and Information Association) launched a new Knowledge Management Chartership programme, confirming knowledge managers’ parity with other information professionals. More recently, the national lockdown has forced workers to rapidly adjust to remote working, and highlighted the need for organisations to instil effective KM systems which allow their workers to access and share knowledge no matter the environment they are in.

BSI is considered a leader in knowledge management, having published BS ISO 30401:2018 ‘Knowledge management systems. Requirements’. This standard has enjoyed heathy sales since publication and attracted interest, comments and questions particularly from those who are new to the concept of a KM system. By the nature of BS ISO 30401’s status as a Management System Standard, the document sets out the requirements that a KM system shall meet, but it does not provide any kind of guidance as to the rationale behind the requirements or how they could be met in practice and context. Providing a guidance standard on how to implement BS ISO 30401 will help it fulfil its potential as a helpful resource for practitioners and/or as tool for standardisation of good practice.

The proposed standard will cover the following:

• It will expand on the KM principles laid out in BS ISO 30401 and provide detail on how a KM system covers the different ‘layers’ of KM (Philosophy / Strategy / Tactics).

• For each of the 55 ‘shall’ requirements in BS ISO 30401, it will explain the relevant terms, concepts and intent of the requirement.

• Pulling all the guidance together, it will provide examples of how KM can be applied in different organisational contexts.