E-learning at work in the knowledge virtual enterprise

The purpose of this paper is to propose an overview of the Knowledge Virtual Enterprise model, where the Virtual Enterprise vision is extended with Knowledge-based assets in order to provide an agreement model to support the interoperability among organizations. Every enterprise or organization, by itself, is a source of original knowledge that, if exploited, can contribute to its competitiveness. If this is true inside the enterprise walls, it is more relevant when extended to Virtual Enterprises, especially when they operate in a tumultuous and unsettled context, like ICT, strongly bound to the so called soft skills and even more to the capability of carrying out just-in-time knowledge takeover and transfer. In order to explain the advantages of the Knowledge Virtual Enterprise model we define some real-world business scenarios, to be executed within the context of a Knowledge Virtual Enterprise instance. The scenarios are based on the idea that several organizations could put together their competences, human resources, expertise, technologies, etc. to carry out complex project activities, requiring resources that are usually difficult to be found in a single organization. The scenarios are particularly focused on how the Knowledge Virtual Enterprise model can support personalized, contextualized, effective and efficient e-learning at work experiences. Finally, the Knowledge Virtual Enterprise model vision is concretized through the description of a feasible technological mapping between its main concerns and existing software technologies and specifications. © 2008 IEEE