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Turning information into knowledge: researchers unite to develop new technologies

March 22, 2000

Some of the UK's leading scientists will be joining forces with major industrial companies in a multi-million pound project to develop computer methods and software for the management and manipulation of knowledge in the information
age.

The University of Southampton is the lead partner in an Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (IRC) to be awarded major funding by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The project, known as AKT (Advanced Knowledge Technologies), will be involve the Universities of Southampton, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Sheffield and the Open University. Its director is Professor Nigel Shadbolt of the University of Southampton's Department of Electronics and Computer Science.

The researchers in the AKT consortium-Advanced Knowledge Technologies- include specialists in computer science, artificial intelligence, psychology, linguistics, multimedia and Internet technology. 'Knowledge is clearly the most creative force in the modern economy. Its exploitation has revolutionised communications, services, industries-everything, from the food we eat, to the
medicine we take,' explains Professor Shadbolt. 'With developments in telecommunications and the Internet, we have faster and better access to more and more of it.'

'Despite the importance of knowledge, one of the problems we face is that well-known 21st century malady "information overload".

Information is piled upon us, in databases, on the World Wide Web, and getting the right knowledge-useful information applied to solve a specific problem-is like looking for a needle in a haystack.'

'If knowledge is to be an asset in the knowledge economy, it has to be managed efficiently. The ability to use this knowledge successfully will be the chief source of the UK's competitive advantage in a global economy.'

The AKT consortium will use its funds to undertake fundamental research to investigate the knowledge 'life-cycle', and developcutting-edge technology to support it. The research will focus on six core challenges:

The challenge of knowledge acquisition-how we acquire knowledge in the first place, from experts, from the Web, or from electronic stores of data.
The challenge of modelling knowledge in computers so that it is usable.
The challenge of reusing hard-won knowledge at a later date, rather than having to acquire it afresh.
The challenge of retrieving useful knowledge once it has been captured and stored.
The challenge of knowledge-publishing, presenting it in the right form to the right people.
The challenge of knowledge maintenance, how we keep our stored knowledge up to date, and how we decommission
knowledge that is 'past its sell-by date'.

Notes for editors:
The AKT consortium is led by Professor Nigel Shadbolt (University of Southampton). Other principal investigators are: Professor Wendy Hall (University of Southampton), Professor Marc Eisenstadt and Dr Enrico Motta (Open University), Dr David Robertson and Professor Austin Tate (University of Edinburgh), Professor Derek Sleeman (University of Aberdeen), and Professor Yorick Wilks
(University of Sheffield).

AKT has attracted attention and support from industry both at home and abroad. The consortium worked closely with its industrial collaborators while drafting its proposal to ensure that the research undertaken would be relevant in today's fast-moving marketplace.

Photographs of Professors Shadbolt and Hall can be emailed on request.



For further information:
Professor Nigel Shadbolt, Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton 023 8059 4505. Email,
nrs@ecs.soton.ac.uk

Sarah Watts, External Relations, University of Southampton 023 8059 3807. Email S.A.Watts@soton.ac.uk.

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