I-Space (conceptual framework)

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title: "I-Space (conceptual framework)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["knowledge-management"] description: "Framework by Max Boisot for knowledge management" topic_path: "general/knowledge-management" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-Space_(conceptual_framework)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Framework by Max Boisot for knowledge management ::

::callout[type=note] a framework by Max Boisot for knowledge management ::

The Information Space or I-Space is a conceptual framework relating the degree of structure of knowledge (i.e. its level of codification and abstraction) to its diffusibility (i.e. how, why, and at what rate it spreads) as that knowledge develops.

History

The model was developed by Max Boisot, and the I-Space framework has been acknowledged as an early influence on the development of the Cynefin framework.

Use

This results in four different types of knowledge.

• Public knowledge, such as textbooks and newspapers, which is codified and diffused.
• Proprietary knowledge, such as patents and official secrets, which is codified but not diffused. Here barriers to diffusion have to be set up.
• Personal knowledge, such as biographical knowledge, which is neither codified nor diffused.
• Common sense – i.e. what ‘everybody knows’, which is not codified but widely diffused.

Representation

The I-Space model is commonly shown as a cube with three axes: abstraction, codification and diffusion. This cube as such spans a three-dimensional "information space". The curve draws a social learning cycle, showing how as knowledge is increasingly moved from concrete experiential Zen type knowledge (insights which can occur suddenly, often equated with a kind of enlightenment) to codified highly abstract (expert language etc.), where it is increasingly easy for it to diffuse independently of the knowledge holder. Once internalised it moves back to the concrete.

References

References

1. (2002). "Complex Acts of Knowing: Paradox and Descriptive Self Awareness". Journal of Knowledge Management.
2. Boxer, P, [https://www.asymmetricleadership.com/2006/04/03/managing-over-the-whole-governance-cycle/ "Managing over the whole Governance Cycle"], Asymmetric Design, April 2006
3. Snowden, D (2010) [http://cognitive-edge.com/blog/part-one-origins-of-cynefin/ "The origins of Cynefin (part 1)"] {{Webarchive. link. (2018-10-11 Cognitive Edge March 2010)

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::