Information Routing Group
Encyclopedia
An 'Information Routing Group' (or 'IRG') is a component of social networks consisting of a semi-infinite set of similar interlocking and overlapping groups. Each IRG contains a group of 3 to 200 individuals (IRGists), and each IRG loosely shares a particular common interest; IRGists exchange information, as a group, a sub group, or individually within that IRG, via lateral communication
. Any IRGist might be in 2 or 3 IRGs peculiar to them but with different IRGists. The idea was proposed in 1984 in the book "The IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome it
" before the advent of the Internet although personal computers plus modems were conceived as mediating contact, and would nowadays be referred to as a Social network service
or a Collaborative innovation network and was intended to foster information and innovation exchange and to enhance group intelligence
and Collective intelligence
.
The paper envisaged that due to the principal of six degrees of separation
specific messages sent by a particular IRGist, IRGist 1 to some or all members of his local IRG could be routed to all relevant but unknown IRGists even though in IRG space they may be geographically and socially remote from the source IRGist, and who may need or appreciate the information (whether or not they are initially aware of the need - Relevance Paradox
) by the process of lateral diffusion
from IRGist 1 to IRGists abc, IRGists pqr, IRGists xyz etc, the number of copies multiplying at each transit, and mainly going to those IRGists likely to be interested.
The paper envisaged the widespread creation of a network of personal computers inter-linked by modem, which was at that time a relatively new concept, and wherein software automatically mediated the exchanges, ranking and rating the information's interest, reliability, relevance, the performance of each other IRG and IRGist, by noting how it was treated and used by the recipient IRGist who would also be able to append a personal rating on various dimensions. This meant the envisaged software in effect impersonated the individual and his preferences, and would do all the forwarding and selecting for him, apart from specific personal messages - much as a newspaper editor sifts and presents a daily quota in a newspaper – the user doesn’t of course have to read all the newspaper or IRG digest, but picks out the bits he is interested in depending on how much time he has on that particular day.
The paper foresaw that users would continuously change by means of key words and rankings which topic was of current interest and set a daily quota of info and the software would deliver up to that limit.
These ideas were subsequently developed and appeared in The IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome it
The paper foresaw that unlike the monologues of newspapers, the IRG network would actually interact with users – perhaps sending them information they weren’t initially aware they needed, (thus solving the Relevance Paradox
) Such sends could be prompted by a question, which may have revealed it ignored certain important considerations.
Of course each user’s software could reach out to other unknown IRGists and perform the same service in response to a submitted query or piece of information. They could do this by sending out an information probe that would be transmitted from IRG to IRG until it reached any potential users – all such transits mediated by impersonator software to pick the most likely route from IRG to IRG and IRGist to IRGist.
In another paper published in the Journal of Information Technology, then edited by Professor Igor Aleksander of Imperial College,( Andrews, D. (1986) Information routing groups – ( Towards the global superbrain: or how to find out what you need to know rather than what you think you need to know, Journal of Information Technology, 1, 1, Feb, 22-35) ) it was described in detail how a sophisticated information economy could develop, with users charging virtual access and transit fees for other IRGist's probes to transit their various IRGs. Thus users could earn credit, simply by being well connected and held in good information stead, ie by building up an electronic reputation (similar to Ebay ratings). These ratings could apply to various parameters - relevance, reliability, rigor etc.
The same impersonation software could organise the IRGists information in the IRG "public" domain area of his own PC, meaning that once an IRGist was identified as a credible expert in a particular area, other, even remote IRGists would have access to his files by means of searching that file space, but note, the search would be assisted by a local context and language changer - see later.
The IRG notion was triggered by the awareness of the various environmental social, medical, health and other difficulties with which human societies and organisations are faced; the fact that organizations and policies often don’t work efficiently or deliver expected results and sometimes delivering counter intuitive and counter productive results.
leading to unintended or unforeseen and often highly undesirable interactions and consequences. It was claimed this often led to the Relevance Paradox
, whereby individuals, not being aware of the relevance of certain information (often relating to unwanted effects in domains outside that individuals knowledge) did not seek the information which could have avoided them making a costly error.
It was claimed that informal lateral communication, in informal IRGs have in the past mitigated or prevented many potential disasters before they happen by throwing up potential unintended consequence
s early on by informal Interlock research
.
IRGs were intended to speed up and automate these pre-existing informal processes by resolving the Relevance Paradox
the transmission of tacit knowledge
and the synchronization of language across different specialties, disciplines, organisations, and departments; something central media and purely hierarchical organizations it was argued cannot readily do.
An examples cited of the failure of lateral communication
to create coherent world views interlock diagram
from which coherent policy and actions can emerge was the then and still occurring extraordinary and not widely appreciated fact that the UK and the USA (with the strange exception of New York city,) wastes heat from power stations equal to and able to replace the entire usage of natural gas for heating, unlike in say Denmark, Russia and Finland, an amazing example of Hierarchical incompetence
given present fears of imminent energy shortages.
Other examples cited were the construction of large dams, where frequently the increased value of the water and power is more than offset by the extra cost of chemical fertilizer (needed due to loss of seasonal silting, the use of any power to create that fertilizer, the creation of disease epidemics e.g. Schistosomiasis
( see Charnock, Anne (1980) Taking Bilharziasis out of the irrigation equation. New Civil Engineer, 7 August) and the loss of food production downstream due to traditional fishing grounds based on the loss of silts previously deposited in the deltas.
Another aspect dealt with in the book "The IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome it
" was the problem of universal languages and referencing systems and the effect of jargon on insulating specialist groups, and preventing inter departmental, inter organizational communication and collective world view development. Specialist get stuck in sub worlds partly due to the isolation brought about by the specialist languages and associated thought processes they develop, making outsiders difficult to hear, understand or take seriously.
There is not and cannot be, any universal language and categorization systems understood and used by all, and attempts to define and build them inevitably lead to massive problems of disambiguation. The IRG approach to this, was that at least initially, if individuals laterally communicated across boundaries then human IRGists would develop cross boundary languages - this is after all how language continuously develops largely through dialogue.(Language development is quintessentially an informal process of the development of tacit knowledge
) By extension, the IRG impersonator software would simply do the same thing - an incoming article from a remote system, would have keywords automatically attached local to the domain it was now in, thus solving the language disconnect and cataloguing problem.
Whilst the Internet, discussion groups, blogs, email have to some extent tacked some of the issue raised in the various articles / books written around the IRG concept, by no means all.
For example Google queries still only returns you the information you think you need - you can still be the victim of the relevance paradox.
Systems like Google, and Wikipedia, superb for what they do, do not tackle the language aspect - users simply have to know exactly the words they are looking for on Google, or Wikipedia - otherwise they can only locate information they want with difficulty.
Email on its own, still tends to predominantly promote internal communications, not across boundaries.
Information Routing Groups are related to the notion of and predates the Collaboratory
and are much more general.
Modern actually existing versions of IRGs are for example Linkedin
which operates on precisely the principles laid out in "The IRG Solution" and the Claverton Energy Group, currently assembling a global energy solution diagram.
Lateral communication
-Organizational communication:In organizations and organisms, lateral communication works in contrast to traditional top-down, bottom-up or hierarchic communication and involves the spreading of messages from individuals across the base of a pyramid....
. Any IRGist might be in 2 or 3 IRGs peculiar to them but with different IRGists. The idea was proposed in 1984 in the book "The IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome it
The IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome it
The IRG Solution is a book written by David Andrews and published in 1984.-Synopsis:The book, written in 1984, developed from a number of research papers at the Open University Energy Research Group, and an article appearing in the Guardian Newspaper which attempted an information- and...
" before the advent of the Internet although personal computers plus modems were conceived as mediating contact, and would nowadays be referred to as a Social network service
Social network service
A social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities. A social network service consists of a representation of each user , his/her social...
or a Collaborative innovation network and was intended to foster information and innovation exchange and to enhance group intelligence
Group intelligence
Group intelligence refers to a process by which large numbers of people simultaneously converge upon the same point of knowledge.Social psychologists study group intelligence and related topics such as decentralized decision making and group wisdom, using demographic information to study the...
and Collective intelligence
Collective intelligence
Collective intelligence is a shared or group intelligence that emerges from the collaboration and competition of many individuals and appears in consensus decision making in bacteria, animals, humans and computer networks....
.
The Original Conference Paper
The idea was first presented in a paper at a conference celebrating the joint Centenary of the Institute of Electrical Engineers with the Society of Information Scientist and the Library Association at the IEEE London Headquarters, ( Library Association Record to a seminar run jointly by IEE and the LA on 'Biblionic man', held at the IEE on 26 November 1980, David Andrews) then of the Open University Energy Research Group. (Full reference presently unavailable)The paper envisaged that due to the principal of six degrees of separation
Six degrees of separation
Six degrees of separation refers to the idea that everyone is on average approximately six steps away, by way of introduction, from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, "a friend of a friend" statements can be made, on average, to connect any two people in six steps or fewer...
specific messages sent by a particular IRGist, IRGist 1 to some or all members of his local IRG could be routed to all relevant but unknown IRGists even though in IRG space they may be geographically and socially remote from the source IRGist, and who may need or appreciate the information (whether or not they are initially aware of the need - Relevance Paradox
Relevance Paradox
The relevance paradox describes an attempt to gather information relevant to a decision, which fails because the elimination of information perceived as distracting or unnecessary and thus detrimental to making an optimal decision, also excludes information that is actually crucial.-Definition:In...
) by the process of lateral diffusion
Lateral diffusion
Lateral diffusion is the process whereby information can be spread from one node in a social network to another, often in a selective way, and can rapidly traverse an entire population, but preferentially to those nodes likely to be interested, or needing to know. Messages or information are also...
from IRGist 1 to IRGists abc, IRGists pqr, IRGists xyz etc, the number of copies multiplying at each transit, and mainly going to those IRGists likely to be interested.
The paper envisaged the widespread creation of a network of personal computers inter-linked by modem, which was at that time a relatively new concept, and wherein software automatically mediated the exchanges, ranking and rating the information's interest, reliability, relevance, the performance of each other IRG and IRGist, by noting how it was treated and used by the recipient IRGist who would also be able to append a personal rating on various dimensions. This meant the envisaged software in effect impersonated the individual and his preferences, and would do all the forwarding and selecting for him, apart from specific personal messages - much as a newspaper editor sifts and presents a daily quota in a newspaper – the user doesn’t of course have to read all the newspaper or IRG digest, but picks out the bits he is interested in depending on how much time he has on that particular day.
The paper foresaw that users would continuously change by means of key words and rankings which topic was of current interest and set a daily quota of info and the software would deliver up to that limit.
These ideas were subsequently developed and appeared in The IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome it
The IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome it
The IRG Solution is a book written by David Andrews and published in 1984.-Synopsis:The book, written in 1984, developed from a number of research papers at the Open University Energy Research Group, and an article appearing in the Guardian Newspaper which attempted an information- and...
Impersonator Software
Even if the IRGist doesn't read any of it, his "impersonator" still forwards bits of his daily digest to his other friend and colleague IRGists, all selections individually tailored to their perceived needs, and the feed back received from their remote impersonators.The paper foresaw that unlike the monologues of newspapers, the IRG network would actually interact with users – perhaps sending them information they weren’t initially aware they needed, (thus solving the Relevance Paradox
Relevance Paradox
The relevance paradox describes an attempt to gather information relevant to a decision, which fails because the elimination of information perceived as distracting or unnecessary and thus detrimental to making an optimal decision, also excludes information that is actually crucial.-Definition:In...
) Such sends could be prompted by a question, which may have revealed it ignored certain important considerations.
Of course each user’s software could reach out to other unknown IRGists and perform the same service in response to a submitted query or piece of information. They could do this by sending out an information probe that would be transmitted from IRG to IRG until it reached any potential users – all such transits mediated by impersonator software to pick the most likely route from IRG to IRG and IRGist to IRGist.
In another paper published in the Journal of Information Technology, then edited by Professor Igor Aleksander of Imperial College,( Andrews, D. (1986) Information routing groups – ( Towards the global superbrain: or how to find out what you need to know rather than what you think you need to know, Journal of Information Technology, 1, 1, Feb, 22-35) ) it was described in detail how a sophisticated information economy could develop, with users charging virtual access and transit fees for other IRGist's probes to transit their various IRGs. Thus users could earn credit, simply by being well connected and held in good information stead, ie by building up an electronic reputation (similar to Ebay ratings). These ratings could apply to various parameters - relevance, reliability, rigor etc.
The same impersonation software could organise the IRGists information in the IRG "public" domain area of his own PC, meaning that once an IRGist was identified as a credible expert in a particular area, other, even remote IRGists would have access to his files by means of searching that file space, but note, the search would be assisted by a local context and language changer - see later.
The IRG notion was triggered by the awareness of the various environmental social, medical, health and other difficulties with which human societies and organisations are faced; the fact that organizations and policies often don’t work efficiently or deliver expected results and sometimes delivering counter intuitive and counter productive results.
Claims
Andrews claimed that they were caused in large part by the failure for active professionals within and across different organizations, or even within the same organization to communicate laterally (failure of lateral communicationLateral communication
-Organizational communication:In organizations and organisms, lateral communication works in contrast to traditional top-down, bottom-up or hierarchic communication and involves the spreading of messages from individuals across the base of a pyramid....
leading to unintended or unforeseen and often highly undesirable interactions and consequences. It was claimed this often led to the Relevance Paradox
Relevance Paradox
The relevance paradox describes an attempt to gather information relevant to a decision, which fails because the elimination of information perceived as distracting or unnecessary and thus detrimental to making an optimal decision, also excludes information that is actually crucial.-Definition:In...
, whereby individuals, not being aware of the relevance of certain information (often relating to unwanted effects in domains outside that individuals knowledge) did not seek the information which could have avoided them making a costly error.
It was claimed that informal lateral communication, in informal IRGs have in the past mitigated or prevented many potential disasters before they happen by throwing up potential unintended consequence
Unintended consequence
In the social sciences, unintended consequences are outcomes that are not the outcomes intended by a purposeful action. The concept has long existed but was named and popularised in the 20th century by American sociologist Robert K. Merton...
s early on by informal Interlock research
Interlock research
Interlock research is a concept used to overcome the gaps in individual or group knowledge of which they are unaware of and which would result in incorrect action being taken, or important action not taken, leading to unintended consequences. It is based on the notion that no individual or group...
.
IRGs were intended to speed up and automate these pre-existing informal processes by resolving the Relevance Paradox
Relevance Paradox
The relevance paradox describes an attempt to gather information relevant to a decision, which fails because the elimination of information perceived as distracting or unnecessary and thus detrimental to making an optimal decision, also excludes information that is actually crucial.-Definition:In...
the transmission of tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge is knowledge that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalising it. For example, stating to someone that London is in the United Kingdom is a piece of explicit knowledge that can be written down, transmitted, and understood by a recipient...
and the synchronization of language across different specialties, disciplines, organisations, and departments; something central media and purely hierarchical organizations it was argued cannot readily do.
An examples cited of the failure of lateral communication
Lateral communication
-Organizational communication:In organizations and organisms, lateral communication works in contrast to traditional top-down, bottom-up or hierarchic communication and involves the spreading of messages from individuals across the base of a pyramid....
to create coherent world views interlock diagram
Interlock diagram
An interlock diagram is a real or imagined diagram that plots the actual interactions, physical, political, social, environmental between all entities within human societies. Each node is a specific activity such as a power station, or a policy such as controlled rent...
from which coherent policy and actions can emerge was the then and still occurring extraordinary and not widely appreciated fact that the UK and the USA (with the strange exception of New York city,) wastes heat from power stations equal to and able to replace the entire usage of natural gas for heating, unlike in say Denmark, Russia and Finland, an amazing example of Hierarchical incompetence
Hierarchical incompetence
Hierarchical incompetence is the often observed inability of organisations to achieve the aims set for them. This can be due to the over-simplification of issues and the loss of tacit knowledge about issues as they ascend a hierarchical organization.There is often an inbuilt tendency for people up...
given present fears of imminent energy shortages.
Other examples cited were the construction of large dams, where frequently the increased value of the water and power is more than offset by the extra cost of chemical fertilizer (needed due to loss of seasonal silting, the use of any power to create that fertilizer, the creation of disease epidemics e.g. Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by several species of trematodes , a parasitic worm of the genus Schistosoma. Snails often act as an intermediary agent for the infectious diseases until a new human host is found...
( see Charnock, Anne (1980) Taking Bilharziasis out of the irrigation equation. New Civil Engineer, 7 August) and the loss of food production downstream due to traditional fishing grounds based on the loss of silts previously deposited in the deltas.
Another aspect dealt with in the book "The IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome it
The IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome it
The IRG Solution is a book written by David Andrews and published in 1984.-Synopsis:The book, written in 1984, developed from a number of research papers at the Open University Energy Research Group, and an article appearing in the Guardian Newspaper which attempted an information- and...
" was the problem of universal languages and referencing systems and the effect of jargon on insulating specialist groups, and preventing inter departmental, inter organizational communication and collective world view development. Specialist get stuck in sub worlds partly due to the isolation brought about by the specialist languages and associated thought processes they develop, making outsiders difficult to hear, understand or take seriously.
There is not and cannot be, any universal language and categorization systems understood and used by all, and attempts to define and build them inevitably lead to massive problems of disambiguation. The IRG approach to this, was that at least initially, if individuals laterally communicated across boundaries then human IRGists would develop cross boundary languages - this is after all how language continuously develops largely through dialogue.(Language development is quintessentially an informal process of the development of tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge is knowledge that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalising it. For example, stating to someone that London is in the United Kingdom is a piece of explicit knowledge that can be written down, transmitted, and understood by a recipient...
) By extension, the IRG impersonator software would simply do the same thing - an incoming article from a remote system, would have keywords automatically attached local to the domain it was now in, thus solving the language disconnect and cataloguing problem.
Whilst the Internet, discussion groups, blogs, email have to some extent tacked some of the issue raised in the various articles / books written around the IRG concept, by no means all.
For example Google queries still only returns you the information you think you need - you can still be the victim of the relevance paradox.
Systems like Google, and Wikipedia, superb for what they do, do not tackle the language aspect - users simply have to know exactly the words they are looking for on Google, or Wikipedia - otherwise they can only locate information they want with difficulty.
Email on its own, still tends to predominantly promote internal communications, not across boundaries.
Information Routing Groups are related to the notion of and predates the Collaboratory
Collaboratory
A collaboratory, as defined by William Wulf in 1989, is a “center without walls, in which the nation’s researchers can perform their research without regard to physical location, interacting with colleagues, accessing instrumentation, sharing data and computational resources, [and] accessing...
and are much more general.
Modern actually existing versions of IRGs are for example Linkedin
LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a business-related social networking site. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking. , LinkedIn reports more than 120 million registered users in more than 200 countries and territories. The site is available in English, French,...
which operates on precisely the principles laid out in "The IRG Solution" and the Claverton Energy Group, currently assembling a global energy solution diagram.
- http://www.claverton-energy.com/energy-experts-wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
See also
- Central mediaCentral mediaCentral media were defined in the book The IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome it and were those media which repeatedly broadcast a single identical message to many recipients such as mass media magazines and specialist technical and scientific journals...
- Social network serviceSocial network serviceA social networking service is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, who, for example, share interests and/or activities. A social network service consists of a representation of each user , his/her social...
- Collaborative innovation network
- Delphi technique
- Hierarchical incompetenceHierarchical incompetenceHierarchical incompetence is the often observed inability of organisations to achieve the aims set for them. This can be due to the over-simplification of issues and the loss of tacit knowledge about issues as they ascend a hierarchical organization.There is often an inbuilt tendency for people up...
- Hierarchical organizationHierarchical organizationA hierarchical organization is an organizational structure where every entity in the organization, except one, is subordinate to a single other entity. This arrangement is a form of a hierarchy. In an organization, the hierarchy usually consists of a singular/group of power at the top with...
- Interlock diagramInterlock diagramAn interlock diagram is a real or imagined diagram that plots the actual interactions, physical, political, social, environmental between all entities within human societies. Each node is a specific activity such as a power station, or a policy such as controlled rent...
- Interlock researchInterlock researchInterlock research is a concept used to overcome the gaps in individual or group knowledge of which they are unaware of and which would result in incorrect action being taken, or important action not taken, leading to unintended consequences. It is based on the notion that no individual or group...
- lateral communicationLateral communication-Organizational communication:In organizations and organisms, lateral communication works in contrast to traditional top-down, bottom-up or hierarchic communication and involves the spreading of messages from individuals across the base of a pyramid....
- Lateral diffusionLateral diffusionLateral diffusion is the process whereby information can be spread from one node in a social network to another, often in a selective way, and can rapidly traverse an entire population, but preferentially to those nodes likely to be interested, or needing to know. Messages or information are also...
- lateral mediaLateral mediaLateral media can be seen as any specific technology to promote lateral communication. A grapevine is in effect lateral communication but is not necessarily a lateral media if there is no technology. We then can consider informal help networks, email circulation lists, Information Routing Groups,...
- Law of unintended consequences
- Relevance paradoxRelevance ParadoxThe relevance paradox describes an attempt to gather information relevant to a decision, which fails because the elimination of information perceived as distracting or unnecessary and thus detrimental to making an optimal decision, also excludes information that is actually crucial.-Definition:In...
- Tacit knowledgeTacit knowledgeTacit knowledge is knowledge that is difficult to transfer to another person by means of writing it down or verbalising it. For example, stating to someone that London is in the United Kingdom is a piece of explicit knowledge that can be written down, transmitted, and understood by a recipient...
- The IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome itThe IRG Solution - hierarchical incompetence and how to overcome itThe IRG Solution is a book written by David Andrews and published in 1984.-Synopsis:The book, written in 1984, developed from a number of research papers at the Open University Energy Research Group, and an article appearing in the Guardian Newspaper which attempted an information- and...
- The Wisdom of CrowdsThe Wisdom of CrowdsThe Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations, published in 2004, is a book written by James Surowiecki about the aggregation of information in groups, resulting in decisions that, he argues, are often better...
- InnovationInnovationInnovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...
- Knowledge engineeringKnowledge engineeringKnowledge engineering was defined in 1983 by Edward Feigenbaum, and Pamela McCorduck as follows:At present, it refers to the building, maintaining and development of knowledge-based systems...
- Knowledge managementKnowledge managementKnowledge management comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organization to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences...
- Semantic webSemantic WebThe Semantic Web is a collaborative movement led by the World Wide Web Consortium that promotes common formats for data on the World Wide Web. By encouraging the inclusion of semantic content in web pages, the Semantic Web aims at converting the current web of unstructured documents into a "web of... - group intelligenceGroup intelligenceGroup intelligence refers to a process by which large numbers of people simultaneously converge upon the same point of knowledge.Social psychologists study group intelligence and related topics such as decentralized decision making and group wisdom, using demographic information to study the...
- Collective intelligenceCollective intelligenceCollective intelligence is a shared or group intelligence that emerges from the collaboration and competition of many individuals and appears in consensus decision making in bacteria, animals, humans and computer networks....
.