Managing Knowledge in the Three States of Conceptual Discovery, Prototype Invention - Commercial Innovation

This position paper explains that knowledge is generated through three related yet distinct methodologies, each codified within standard practices recognized by trained professionals. The outputs from each methodology are embodied in three different states much like the traditional states of matter: gas, liquid, solid. Effective Information Sharing (IS) and Knowledge Management both require a clear understanding of these distinctions and relationships. National policies designed to generating commercial innovations through public investment in the academic sector are particularly vulnerable to problems arising from confounding these methodologies, their outputs and the transitions between states of knowledge.