Linked Data in Product Development

Abstract: Product development is an information intensive process, which relies heavily on the division of labor. Thus, product development is not only of high cognitive, but also of high social complexity. Employees in product development possess different “thought worlds” of the product, its components and its development process, that is, they see the product differently. These different “thought worlds” cause communication – and consequently collaboration, which is the topmost success factor in product development – to break down.

For product development to function efficiently, these different “thought worlds” have to be bridged. The use of controlled vocabularies and product development process reference models is an important key on how to achieve this. Employees can use the controlled vocabulary and the corresponding process reference model as a “discursive anchor” to explicate and to harmonize their “thought worlds”. This can result in higher efficiency and effectiveness in product development by fostering inter-departmental collaboration.

Presenter CV: Kai Holzweissig has an educational background in Informatics (PhD) and Cognitive Science (MSc). During his time at University he was awarded scholarships from SIEMENS AG and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. From 2007 to 2011 Kai worked at the Project Management Office at Daimler Trucks. Since 2011 he works for the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Daimler’s central IT department. Kai’s technical interests include: Contextual Informatics, Interaction Design, Social Software Theory and Linked Data. Kai is a lecturer for Interactive Systems at Reutlingen University.

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