Relationship mapping for proactive growth of knowledge networks

Interactions between colleagues in the modern workplace are becoming increasingly complex. Collaboration occurs through informal networks of employees as well as formal reporting structures. However, these informal networks can be unreliable, and are hidden from those outside the network. The Instant knowledge project will improve the handheld information devices used by many in today's workplace to make informal networks more effective. By extracting useful information from mobile communications and using social network analysis techniques, information about communicants' relationships can be inferred. Quantifying properties of these relations enables a social network map to be built. This social map will be used as a basis for developing technologies which enable the exchange of contact information among users, providing them with a communications architecture which better supports work through informal networks than existing infrastructure