KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN THE WEALTH OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

The large daily amount of new data, information and knowledge means that fast access to those that are critical for individual organization is of utmost importance for a competitive advantage. Knowledge management is the key factor in achieving this goal and consequently in a development of a successful organization. This approach to handling organisation's knowledge assets includes various elements and processes and has several supportive infrastructure elements, one of them being information technology. Implementation of knowledge management nowadays implies, or is even unimaginable without the use of at least some of this technology. Because of its importance, there is a wealth of information technology solutions for knowledge management aimed at various purposes and types of organizations, covering some aspects or offering integrated solution. This paper gives an overview of literature covering the research of use of information technology for knowledge management. It also gives a presentation of available information technology according to knowledge management processes related to knowledge creation, acquisition, storage, sharing and application, as well as according to other criteria, such as size of the organization and information technology aspects. Described elements for information technology categorisation are put into mutual relation. Various possibilities and benefits that information technology provides for knowledge management, and taking into account combination of aforementioned criteria should guide the knowledge management system development in an organization. Approach to each organization as an individual with its own specificities is a path to a solution that will enable optimal information technology support for managing knowledge.