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How Cloud Can Be Used to Facilitate Data Management in Organizations
01//23
Knowledge management and data management are essential foundations in any organization. Data and knowledge can keep organizations running smoothly, or without a proper system, it can create chaos. With the help of technology and salaries, innovations organizations can develop, move, implement, and fix data management systems. With information coming at us at a million bits, organization stations can harness solutions like the cloud. Services like Amazon's Web Services allow the organization to tackle data management and knowledge management for their users using the cloud. AWS and other system cloud providers can be used to facilitate data management in an organization like police departments and the public sector.
First, we must clarify that there are different approaches to a knowledge management system. Because knowledge management deals with many sources of information types, I'd like to start by defining knowledge management as "The deliberate and systematic coordination of an organization's people, technology, processes, and organizational structure in order to add value through reuse and innovation. Knowledge management is achieved through the promotion of creating, sharing, and applying knowledge as well as through the feeding of valuable lessons learned and best practices into corporate memory in order to foster continued organizational learning." (Dalkir. 2017 p. 521). There are many moving components to a KM system, and within those is an organizational structure. When I think about someone building a structure, I picture many people doing different jobs to complete the design. You need light, you call an electrician, you need cabinets, you call a carpenter, and you'll reach a plumber for running water. Within all this, you have a construction supervisor with the blueprints for all the moving parts of the structure. I'd like to refer to Amazon Web Services as that construction supervisor for this blog.
Amazon Web Services offers innumerable services to any organization looking for something. AWS offers these products as a cloud solution. AWS GovCloud gives organizations an opportunity to use many tools that can be manipulated and employed for data and knowledge management. "Cloud storage services (e.g., Amazon S3, Elastic Block Store or EBS) offer virtually unlimited storage with high fault tolerance which provides potential solutions to address Big Data storage challenges" (Yang et la, 2017. P. 7). With cloud solutions, an organization like police departments can reimagine their data management strategy for a better knowledge management solution.
In this scenario, we examine the South African Police Services and their knowledge and data management strategy. There are a few steps the South African Police Services take when investigating crimes "crime investigation include but not limited to opening a case by presenting a statement which is captured in a docket, registering case docket to obtain a case number, allocate a case to a detective, apply a 24-hour docket inspection and transfer the case to the court." (Ngqondi et la, 2019. P.281) These are just the initial steps in the Process; the detective will still need to follow up with the suspect or victim. From the initial stages of capturing the data and then passing it down to the following Process of knowledge transfer, the South African Police Services, like many other organizations, used pen, paper, and an office for data management. There is absolutely nothing wrong with knowledge transfer via pen and paper. But one of the critical goals for every organization should be the improvement of knowledge retention and transfer. Especially a police department that deals with sensitive information.
The South African Police Services had a strategy in place that had many limits. One of those limits was data not being obtainable when needed. "Currently the access of SAPS data is limited by geographical boundaries whereby it is accessible in one location, and further limited by investigation silos in terms of sectional units." Having these kinds of restrictions can block the transfer of knowledge. "KM is one of the approaches that make such organizations more efficient and effective" (Rathi. Given. 2017. P,734). To get a good organizational culture, one has to implement a proper knowledge management system. Implementing AWS cloud services can help with the Process that will help the South African Police Services and other public safety organizations better collaborate in all stages of their strategy.
"Cloud computing services are used for information collaboration and sharing as the attitude of users is above traditional technology devices." (Ratten. 2016, p. 936). The Process that an organization can develop in the cloud is endless. Since so many new tools and companies are developing their own cloud services, police departments and public sector organizations take advantage to make their data process and knowledge more accessible. "Cloud or utility computing provides numerous services via networked media devices, which enables the sharing of information resources for interaction between groups of individuals and organizations" (Ratten. 2016, p. 936). AWS offer solutions in infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, software as a service (AWS Cloud Products. 2020).
Knowledge transfer is essential in many police departments. Some public safety organizations use Neptune, an Amazon Web Service database system. "Information discovery like this is critical because when police begin investigating a human trafficking" (Marinus Analytics. 2020). Discovery of knowledge is the culture organization should strive for. Implementing Neptune has allowed police departments to gather and share information on human trafficking. All the data is stored on databases in the cloud. All that the police departments see is valuable information for them to do their job successfully.
Another vital part of knowledge and data management is being able to access the knowledge when you need it, not when its best convenient for others. "case analysis through manual practices is time-consuming because there are in most cases not being prepared for accessibility" (Ngqondi et la, 2019. P.281). Data can be detected and created in real-time by switching to cloud solutions. "The possibility of interaction that was previously hard because of geographic and time restrictions has led to cloud computing services being hailed as one of the major technological innovations currently revolutionizing the knowledge economy." (Ratten. 2016, p. 936).
Planning the right strategy is necessary to keep a flowing of knowledge and data. The purpose of knowledge and getting it from the cloud is to process and use it. "Public organizations should establish specific plans or roadmaps to guide their development. By ensuring that these plans hone in on the weak points identified by the big data readiness framework, organizations in the Dutch public sector can swiftly develop their big data alignment, organizational maturity and organizational capabilities." ( Klievink. Et la, 2017. p 277).
"Real-time monitoring of cloud resources is crucial for a variety of tasks including performance analysis, workload management, capacity planning and fault detection." (Yang et la, 2017. P. 29). If you plan ahead, you can have a system in place that can detect missing, false, and unnecessary information. Because some information can touch multiple Processes and go through many hands. It's crucial to have a system in place that will help with data management then and there rather than later when someone else needs it. "The challenge of storing of the complainant statement only is that in the event of different kinds of disasters, the crime investigation team will lose the evidence supporting the statement thus making it difficult for the detectives to proceed with the investigation." (Ngqondi et la, 2019. P 283).
"These are steps in the data value chain that take it from raw data in the environment to actionable knowledge for decision-makers." (Klievink. Et la, 2017. p 270). There are many processes that take place in data management. Introducing new data should be easy and valuable to obtain. Keeping knowledge and data systems flowable and seamless in order for those leaders and organization managers makes for valuable systems. It's the organization as a whole that need to succeed in the transfer of knowledge. Part of a bigger system is data management.
Technology plays a big part in knowledge management, and the cloud certainly helps with all aspects of data management. "Cloud computing also provides a controlled environment which determines who accesses which data, when and how, i.e., an officer assigned to investigate high-jacking and vehicle theft cannot access files of murder or assault charges." (Ngqondi et la, 2019. P 283).
Cloud touches all parts of the system, from the strategy, culture, Process, management, and politics. I don't believe there is a bigger contributor to data management or knowledge management other than the human. "The cloud carriers will use any type of internet connection, either Wi-Fi, broadband, or mobile internet, to log into the mobile or electronic application installed on them. Users will access data stored on data center through the mobile or electronic application installed on their cloud carriers." (Ngqondi et la, 2019. P 286). What sets the technology apart from any other tools is that it can also help those needing access to knowledge. It can be more like a safety person in construction. "The type of data stored on the data center are police files and database storing information about users and type of action that they are allowed to perform on police data according to their credentials." (Ngqondi et la, 2019. P 286).
"The benefits of cloud computing services are in the online software and virtual hardware services that can enable organizations to outsource the maintenance and updating of their own infrastructures." (Ratten. 2016, p. 936). Cloud solutions like Amazon Web Service have all types of solutions for knowledge and data management systems to use.
"By employing more experts in the various professions concerning data, in-house expertise on data-intensive activities can be improved, to the benefit of current data activities as well as the big data readiness of the organization and successful utilization of big data applications in future." (Klievink. Et la, 2017. p 278). Getting the right people to the job is critical to getting everyone on the same page. Getting a factual system in place could set a police department or public safety organization up for success. It will never be enough to have a system without the right person.
Sharing is caring, and Amazon Web Services helps with this with its access from anywhere in the world and most devices. You can share and reuse knowledge to your specific needs. "[t]he power of technology in supporting knowledge management (KM) activities is widely recognized" (Rathi. Given. 2017. P,720). Cloud is elegantly bound with all types of technology equipment. Things like police in cars and body cameras could be used to transfer knowledge. You can physically see what happened or did not happen in some cases.
It really depends on what the police department has and its budget that will determine what kind of systems it may have. "The choice of a particular tool is dependent on such factors as organizational size or existing technology infrastructure" (Rathi. Given. 2017. P,720). In certain police departments, getting the city council to think about knowledge consumption can be a struggle. But other people might have a say in what can and can't be done. Working around certain obstacles is part of the Process and blueprints.
In conclusion, Data Management is a big part of knowledge creation, management, and usability. Amazon Web Services offers many tools to help any organization and, in this case, police departments. Implementing the right tools, implying the right people to keep up with these tools, makes data management easier to maintain for an organization. AWS offers government-specific solutions accessible only here in the United States. Knowledge management and technology in today's world go hand in hand. Amazon Web Services has many solutions to help in any aspect or step in data management organization.
First, we must clarify that there are different approaches to a knowledge management system. Because knowledge management deals with many sources of information types, I'd like to start by defining knowledge management as "The deliberate and systematic coordination of an organization's people, technology, processes, and organizational structure in order to add value through reuse and innovation. Knowledge management is achieved through the promotion of creating, sharing, and applying knowledge as well as through the feeding of valuable lessons learned and best practices into corporate memory in order to foster continued organizational learning." (Dalkir. 2017 p. 521). There are many moving components to a KM system, and within those is an organizational structure. When I think about someone building a structure, I picture many people doing different jobs to complete the design. You need light, you call an electrician, you need cabinets, you call a carpenter, and you'll reach a plumber for running water. Within all this, you have a construction supervisor with the blueprints for all the moving parts of the structure. I'd like to refer to Amazon Web Services as that construction supervisor for this blog.
Amazon Web Services offers innumerable services to any organization looking for something. AWS offers these products as a cloud solution. AWS GovCloud gives organizations an opportunity to use many tools that can be manipulated and employed for data and knowledge management. "Cloud storage services (e.g., Amazon S3, Elastic Block Store or EBS) offer virtually unlimited storage with high fault tolerance which provides potential solutions to address Big Data storage challenges" (Yang et la, 2017. P. 7). With cloud solutions, an organization like police departments can reimagine their data management strategy for a better knowledge management solution.
In this scenario, we examine the South African Police Services and their knowledge and data management strategy. There are a few steps the South African Police Services take when investigating crimes "crime investigation include but not limited to opening a case by presenting a statement which is captured in a docket, registering case docket to obtain a case number, allocate a case to a detective, apply a 24-hour docket inspection and transfer the case to the court." (Ngqondi et la, 2019. P.281) These are just the initial steps in the Process; the detective will still need to follow up with the suspect or victim. From the initial stages of capturing the data and then passing it down to the following Process of knowledge transfer, the South African Police Services, like many other organizations, used pen, paper, and an office for data management. There is absolutely nothing wrong with knowledge transfer via pen and paper. But one of the critical goals for every organization should be the improvement of knowledge retention and transfer. Especially a police department that deals with sensitive information.
The South African Police Services had a strategy in place that had many limits. One of those limits was data not being obtainable when needed. "Currently the access of SAPS data is limited by geographical boundaries whereby it is accessible in one location, and further limited by investigation silos in terms of sectional units." Having these kinds of restrictions can block the transfer of knowledge. "KM is one of the approaches that make such organizations more efficient and effective" (Rathi. Given. 2017. P,734). To get a good organizational culture, one has to implement a proper knowledge management system. Implementing AWS cloud services can help with the Process that will help the South African Police Services and other public safety organizations better collaborate in all stages of their strategy.
"Cloud computing services are used for information collaboration and sharing as the attitude of users is above traditional technology devices." (Ratten. 2016, p. 936). The Process that an organization can develop in the cloud is endless. Since so many new tools and companies are developing their own cloud services, police departments and public sector organizations take advantage to make their data process and knowledge more accessible. "Cloud or utility computing provides numerous services via networked media devices, which enables the sharing of information resources for interaction between groups of individuals and organizations" (Ratten. 2016, p. 936). AWS offer solutions in infrastructure as a service, platform as a service, software as a service (AWS Cloud Products. 2020).
Knowledge transfer is essential in many police departments. Some public safety organizations use Neptune, an Amazon Web Service database system. "Information discovery like this is critical because when police begin investigating a human trafficking" (Marinus Analytics. 2020). Discovery of knowledge is the culture organization should strive for. Implementing Neptune has allowed police departments to gather and share information on human trafficking. All the data is stored on databases in the cloud. All that the police departments see is valuable information for them to do their job successfully.
Another vital part of knowledge and data management is being able to access the knowledge when you need it, not when its best convenient for others. "case analysis through manual practices is time-consuming because there are in most cases not being prepared for accessibility" (Ngqondi et la, 2019. P.281). Data can be detected and created in real-time by switching to cloud solutions. "The possibility of interaction that was previously hard because of geographic and time restrictions has led to cloud computing services being hailed as one of the major technological innovations currently revolutionizing the knowledge economy." (Ratten. 2016, p. 936).
Planning the right strategy is necessary to keep a flowing of knowledge and data. The purpose of knowledge and getting it from the cloud is to process and use it. "Public organizations should establish specific plans or roadmaps to guide their development. By ensuring that these plans hone in on the weak points identified by the big data readiness framework, organizations in the Dutch public sector can swiftly develop their big data alignment, organizational maturity and organizational capabilities." ( Klievink. Et la, 2017. p 277).
"Real-time monitoring of cloud resources is crucial for a variety of tasks including performance analysis, workload management, capacity planning and fault detection." (Yang et la, 2017. P. 29). If you plan ahead, you can have a system in place that can detect missing, false, and unnecessary information. Because some information can touch multiple Processes and go through many hands. It's crucial to have a system in place that will help with data management then and there rather than later when someone else needs it. "The challenge of storing of the complainant statement only is that in the event of different kinds of disasters, the crime investigation team will lose the evidence supporting the statement thus making it difficult for the detectives to proceed with the investigation." (Ngqondi et la, 2019. P 283).
"These are steps in the data value chain that take it from raw data in the environment to actionable knowledge for decision-makers." (Klievink. Et la, 2017. p 270). There are many processes that take place in data management. Introducing new data should be easy and valuable to obtain. Keeping knowledge and data systems flowable and seamless in order for those leaders and organization managers makes for valuable systems. It's the organization as a whole that need to succeed in the transfer of knowledge. Part of a bigger system is data management.
Technology plays a big part in knowledge management, and the cloud certainly helps with all aspects of data management. "Cloud computing also provides a controlled environment which determines who accesses which data, when and how, i.e., an officer assigned to investigate high-jacking and vehicle theft cannot access files of murder or assault charges." (Ngqondi et la, 2019. P 283).
Cloud touches all parts of the system, from the strategy, culture, Process, management, and politics. I don't believe there is a bigger contributor to data management or knowledge management other than the human. "The cloud carriers will use any type of internet connection, either Wi-Fi, broadband, or mobile internet, to log into the mobile or electronic application installed on them. Users will access data stored on data center through the mobile or electronic application installed on their cloud carriers." (Ngqondi et la, 2019. P 286). What sets the technology apart from any other tools is that it can also help those needing access to knowledge. It can be more like a safety person in construction. "The type of data stored on the data center are police files and database storing information about users and type of action that they are allowed to perform on police data according to their credentials." (Ngqondi et la, 2019. P 286).
"The benefits of cloud computing services are in the online software and virtual hardware services that can enable organizations to outsource the maintenance and updating of their own infrastructures." (Ratten. 2016, p. 936). Cloud solutions like Amazon Web Service have all types of solutions for knowledge and data management systems to use.
"By employing more experts in the various professions concerning data, in-house expertise on data-intensive activities can be improved, to the benefit of current data activities as well as the big data readiness of the organization and successful utilization of big data applications in future." (Klievink. Et la, 2017. p 278). Getting the right people to the job is critical to getting everyone on the same page. Getting a factual system in place could set a police department or public safety organization up for success. It will never be enough to have a system without the right person.
Sharing is caring, and Amazon Web Services helps with this with its access from anywhere in the world and most devices. You can share and reuse knowledge to your specific needs. "[t]he power of technology in supporting knowledge management (KM) activities is widely recognized" (Rathi. Given. 2017. P,720). Cloud is elegantly bound with all types of technology equipment. Things like police in cars and body cameras could be used to transfer knowledge. You can physically see what happened or did not happen in some cases.
It really depends on what the police department has and its budget that will determine what kind of systems it may have. "The choice of a particular tool is dependent on such factors as organizational size or existing technology infrastructure" (Rathi. Given. 2017. P,720). In certain police departments, getting the city council to think about knowledge consumption can be a struggle. But other people might have a say in what can and can't be done. Working around certain obstacles is part of the Process and blueprints.
In conclusion, Data Management is a big part of knowledge creation, management, and usability. Amazon Web Services offers many tools to help any organization and, in this case, police departments. Implementing the right tools, implying the right people to keep up with these tools, makes data management easier to maintain for an organization. AWS offers government-specific solutions accessible only here in the United States. Knowledge management and technology in today's world go hand in hand. Amazon Web Services has many solutions to help in any aspect or step in data management organization.