The Information Space or I-Space is a

conceptual framework A conceptual framework is an analytical tool with several variations and contexts. It can be applied in different categories of work where an overall picture is needed. It is used to make conceptual distinctions and organize ideas. Strong concept ...

relating the degree of structure of knowledge (i.e. its level of codification and

abstraction Abstraction is a process where general rules and concepts are derived from the use and classifying of specific examples, literal (reality, real or Abstract and concrete, concrete) signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" ...

) to its

diffusibility Diffusion is the net movement of anything (for example, atoms, ions, molecules, energy) generally from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Diffusion is driven by a gradient in Gibbs free energy or chemical p ...

(i.e. how, why, and at what rate it spreads) as that knowledge develops.

History

The model was developed by Max Boisot, and the I-Space framework has been acknowledged as an early influence on the development of the Cynefin framework.

Use

This results in four different types of knowledge. * Public knowledge, such as textbooks and newspapers, which is codified and diffused. * Proprietary knowledge, such as patents and official secrets, which is codified but not diffused. Here barriers to diffusion have to be set up. * Personal knowledge, such as biographical knowledge, which is neither codified nor diffused. *

Common sense Common sense () is "knowledge, judgement, and taste which is more or less universal and which is held more or less without reflection or argument". As such, it is often considered to represent the basic level of sound practical judgement or know ...

– i.e. what ‘everybody knows’, which is not codified but widely diffused.

Representation

The I-Space model is commonly shown as a

cube A cube or regular hexahedron is a three-dimensional space, three-dimensional solid object in geometry, which is bounded by six congruent square (geometry), square faces, a type of polyhedron. It has twelve congruent edges and eight vertices. It i ...

with three

axes Axes, plural of ''axe'' and of ''axis'', may refer to * ''Axes'' (album), a 2005 rock album by the British band Electrelane * a possibly still empty plot (graphics) See also * Axis (disambiguation) An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics ...

: abstraction, codification and diffusion. This cube as such spans a three-dimensional "information space". The curve draws a

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

learning cycle A learning cycle is a concept of how people learn from experience. A learning cycle will have a number of stages or phases, the last of which can be followed by the first. John Dewey In 1933 (based on work first published in 1910), John Dewey desc ...

, showing how as knowledge is increasingly moved from concrete experiential

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

type knowledge (insights which can occur suddenly, often equated with a kind of enlightenment) to codified highly abstract ( expert language etc.), where it is increasingly easy for it to diffuse independently of the knowledge holder. Once internalised it moves back to the concrete.Snowden, D (2010
"The origins of Cynefin (part 1)"
Cognitive Edge March 2010

History

Use

Representation

See also

References

Further reading