The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged just about every business and industry over the past 18 months or so, but it has also given businesses a great opportunity to expand their organizational intelligence and decision-making, speakers said during today's opening keynote of the 25th annual KM World conference, which this year is being held virtually. It is within this unsteady business climate that companies need to place a premium on intuition and experiential learning, said Jay Liebowitz, a visiting professor at the Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University and the main keynote speaker. He also emphasized the need for companies need to react more quickly and collaboratively. A big part of that is creating greater synergies between corporate knowledge and other technologies and processes, Liebowitz said. For knowledge management to survive, it needs to continue to learn and borrow from other technologies, like cognitive computing, analytics, process mining, and strategic intelligence, Liebowitz said.

Some people believe that the expert system field is dead, yet others believe it is alive and well. To gain a better insight into these possible views, the first three world congresses on expert systems (which typically attract representatives from some 45-50 countries) are used to determine the health of the global expert system field in terms of applied technologies, applications, and management. This article highlights some of these findings. An excellent way to gain a global perspective on expert system technology, applications, and management is to examine the world congresses on expert systems (sponsored by the International Society for Intelligent Systems in Rockville, Maryland). The World Congress on Expert Systems was established to bridge the gap between the academician and the practitioner and concentrate on expert system work being performed throughout the world.

Some people believe that the expert system field is dead, yet others believe it is alive and well. To gain a better insight into these possible views, the first three world congresses on expert systems (which typically attract representatives from some 45-50 countries) are used to determine the health of the global expert system field in terms of applied technologies, applications, and management. This article highlights some of these findings.