ICI chief pioneers knowledge management system

NEWS Knowledge management has become a defining force in the chemicals industry, according to a top development director at ICI Acrylics. In a video interview with Silicon.com, David Bott, global product development director at the company, discussed his inside perspective on the sector and the role knowledge management software will play in the future. Bott said: "As the specialised chemicals business gets more competitive, we regularly rely more and more on knowledge. Knowledge of what we've done in the past, knowledge of what are competitors are up to and knowledge of what our customers require in the fields they work in." ICI has recently implemented a knowledge management system across some of its operations and plans to roll it out worldwide in the near future. Bott said that ICI employees have been gradually eased into a culture of information sharing and explained how technology is used for the dissemination of data. "We've used Lotus software to share information for years so most people are familiar with it," he said. Another method the company has used to move people into the information sharing culture is to encourage them to learn from a handful of enthusiasts who are using the system already. Once people see how it is used they want to get to grips with it themselves, according to Bott. The full interview can be viewed on the Pharmaceutical/Petrochemical Channel today.