Knowledge Management Software Inspired by Ecosystems

Innovation: Industry

7vortex

2015

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Living systems obtain information from their environment and use it to find mates and resources, and to escape threats. Some reactions to gathered information are instinctual or innate behaviors, not based on previous experiences. But other reactions are based on previous experiences, which means that, at some level, the living system is learning. Learning can involve a living system passing information to another living system, or a living system obtaining information and using it in a feedback loop. That information can include knowledge, experience, behavior, and skills. Learning takes place when information that is new to the recipient is used to modify existing behavior or skills. The making and use of tools by some species of birds and mammals is a learned behavior. If a chimpanzee uses a stick to successfully get ants out of an ant mound and continues to do so, it has learned that behavior. If another chimpanzee observes this technique and replicates it, it has learned from the first chimp.

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Encode/Decode

Organisms are constantly taking in new information, processing it, and storing that information as memories. Sensory information and stimuli such as sounds, smell, time, and spatial organization are encoded along with our memories. Whether we’re learning a new skill or repeating a task we’ve done before, we can easily call upon and decode that information when we need it.

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Cooperate Within an Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a community of organisms (plants, animals, and microbes) interacting with one another and the nonliving components of their environment (such as air, water, and mineral soil). This interaction can be passive or active, and can cooperatively enhance the functioning of the ecosystem as a whole. For cooperation to contribute to maintaining communities within an ecosystem, it must be beneficial to at least some members of the community. Cooperation consists of symbiotic relationships, such as mutualism (in which two or more species in an ecosystem benefit) and commensalism (in which one species benefits and the effect on others is neutral). An example of a commensal relationship is that between bromeliad plants and trees: bromeliads live on trees without harming them. Bromeliads have mutualistic relationships with other species, including insects, frogs, and worms. The plants capture water in their base, forming a pond that these organisms join. The nutrients that these organisms excrete in their droppings nourish the bromeliad.

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Cooperate/Compete Between (Eco)systems

Whether it’s sharing resources or fighting over them, different ecosystems have a lot to offer (and take) from one another. Explore the different ways nature competes and cooperates.

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7vortex is an interactive graph database that helps create knowledge ecosystems.

Benefits

Visual narratives

Applications

Systems thinking
Ecosystem mapping

UN Sustainable Development Goals Addressed

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities

The Challenge

Traditional databases arrange data in rows, columns and tables. This limits the ability to see relationships between the data and gather meaningful insights.

Innovation Details

Unlike traditional databases, 7vortex has a flexible structure defined by interconnected relationships between knowledge records. These interactions help to create a more visual narrative that addresses the complexity of a system and helps to create a more integrative approach/strategy.

Learn more about the impact 7vortex can have on healthcare.

The relationships (interactions) between knowledge records can be visually categorized in terms of the different energy exchanges. Photo: 7vortex.

Biological Model

Organisms within an ecosystem interact with one another in many different ways. These interactions play an important role in organism survival as well as the function of the ecosystem. Organisms can affect one another directly, through a shared resource, or indirectly. Some interactions are harmful to the organisms involved, whereas others provide benefits for one or both of the organisms.

See Related Strategy

mount kilimanjaro is seen in the background of a savanna landscape in africa during golden hour

Biological Strategy

Ecosystems Have Stability and Resiliency

Savanna ecosystem

Savannahs have functional stability and resiliency due to unique properties of species and their interaction at system level.

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