Digital White Papers

8 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT 2016 ILTA Knowledge Management Survey Results The top KM challenge our respondents faced in 2016 was change management, with budgetary constraints and size of their team following close behind. Other big challenges were lack of IT support, low lawyer contribution and difficulty meeting demand and seing priorities. On the bright side, no one selected "threatened/looming obsolescence" as a response. Areas of Focus In 2016, most responding organizations were focused on either implementing or upgrading their intranet or portal. Other primary areas of focus included developing a KM strategy and developing models and precedents. Several respondents also cited KM promotion, innovation and document management among their key 2016 priorities. Of the many tools that organizations reported having in place, KM was identified as fully responsible for enterprise search; databases for models, precedents, research and opinions; and intranet maer and practice pages. Although a striking majority of responding organizations report not yet having artificial intelligence, logic engines and machine learning, and Web 2.0 tools, the ones that do have them report that the KM department is fully responsible or is sharing responsibility for these tools. KM also appears to lead or play a prominent role in innovation strategy and initiatives at a majority of the surveyed organizations. Most of the participating organizations have developed some client-facing KM initiatives, with the most popular being full-featured extranets or other client access to content through a secure site. More organizations also appear to be delving into designing custom applications to address specific clients' needs. It will be interesting to watch how this trend progresses. The Future Looking ahead, our respondents nearly unanimously predict that KM's role and importance will continue to grow in the coming years. Most believe that KM's focus will increasingly shi to innovation, machine learning and artificial intelligence, process improvement, and pricing and legal project management. As one respondent so aptly observes, KM will "continue to grow and change; it's why KM is so fascinating." Hear, hear. GINEVRA SAYLOR Ginevra Saylor is National Director of Knowledge and Innovation at the global law firm Dentons, where she develops the Canada region's knowledge management strategy and initiatives and leads the practice support lawyers and business intelligence, information services, information resources, business process and intranet teams. Ginevra designs new projects and practice tools to leverage and build the firm's knowledge base, supervises and enhances established knowledge management programs and databases, and works with the firm's practice groups and administrative departments to enhance their business processes, matter management and overall efficiency and effectiveness. She is a member of ILTA's conference committee, editor of ILTA's KM Blog and coordinator of ILTA's annual KM white paper. Contact her at ginevra.saylor@ dentons.com.

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