EXTENDED METAPHORSFOR INFORMATION FLOW

Ali Anani, PhD

I dedicate this presentation to an inspirer of some

thoughts that are highlighted in this presentation.

Matt McWilliams.

Proudly I dedicate this presentation for you

The proof is in the next slide

Ali AnaniMatt - I want to record my acknowledgement for the

inspiration this post provided me with.I have been thinking for a while about correlating the

flow of blood with the flow of information.I wanted to describe the "information clot" that acts

as... Now, I may complete this as acts as an information plug.

I am preparing a slideshare presentation. Matt, you are an inspirer.

http://www.mattmcwilliams.com/leadership-lessons-avoid-crisis/

According to Opara (2003) information is the life blood of modern organizations. That is to say that without information, an organization is bound to

collapse. Information is needed to control the day-to-day running of an organization. This means that

data are necessary to produce information which in turn is necessary for creating knowledge that is

conveyed (e.g. via paper, network, speech, observable action

http://unllib.unl.edu/LPP/oyadonghan.htm

Information Flow

Blood FlowBlood clottingBlood circulationBlood coagulationBlood AnemiaBlood Viscosity

Information FlowInformation clottingInformation circulationInformation coagulationInformation AnemiaInformation Viscosity

Extrapolation Ideas

Mapping information flow using NodeXL software for a hypothetical company with names

substituted for by the first letter of employees.

I introduce the concept of information veins instead of edges to highlight the similarity of

blood flow and information flow. Notice also the use of “Information Hubs”.

The next slide shows the strength of ties and whether they are reciprocated or not. Like blood

running in veins with different diameters; so is information flow.

The diameter of the blood vessel affects the speed of the flow of blood. Blood flow slows down as it

moves from arteries to arterioles and subsequently to the capillaries because the cross-sectional area in the capillary beds is much bigger than the arteries

or any part of the circulatory system.And so is information as it runs through the edges (veins)

Information clottingInformation circulationInformation momentumInformation conversion

to produce information which in turn is necessary for creating knowledge that is conveyed

Information as a raw material- Information constitutes the raw materials from which options or alternatives emerge.

Information duality roleInformation Coagulation

Information Poverty

Extrapolating ideas from blood flow to information flow

Blood has a seemingly difficult job: it must flow continuously and smoothly for an entire lifetime, but quickly form a blood clot

when bleeding occurs. This clot serves as a plug to stop bleeding.

Stop and Heal

Information has a seemingly difficult job:it must flow continuously and smoothly for an

entire lifetime, but quickly form an information clot when bleeding occurs. This clot serves as a plug

to stop bleeding.

Information Clotting

Information leakage and bleeding is demonstrated by many activities such asPasswords with different levels of strength

Information leakage and bleeding is demonstrated by many activities such as

Two level security codes such as a lengthy 14-character code followed with a shorter 3-4

digits code

Information leakage and bleeding is demonstrated by many activities such as

Use of patents as information plugs

Still, we suffer from information leakages such as embedding hidden spying software and the leak of personal information as experienced with six

million FaceBook subscribers recently

We need a superior information clottingWhat can we learn from blood flow?

There are 13 blood clotting proteins (coagulation factor) found in the blood. When a blood vessel is damaged, these clotting factors

are switched on in a certain order(Blood Clotting Cascade)

http://www.hemophilia-information.com/blood-clotting-proteins.html

May be we need to consider a mechanism whereby a cascading information protecting system would be more effective in controlling

information bleed.

Blood viscosity isa measure of the resistance of blood to flow. Viscous blood leads to poor blood circulation

Information viscosityis a measure of the resistance of information to

flow. Viscous blood leads to poor blood circulation

The social network structure determines how information flows

When a liquid molecules can slide around each other, a liquid has the ability to flow. The

structure of veins and their thicknesses control the sliding of blood molecules

Information to flow has to pass through the veins (edges) of social networks.

Poor information circulation will lead to painful situations in similarity to poor blood circulation.

Beware of information holes

Stop the information bleed and then heal itRemove information holes to heal

Cascade information protection like blood cascades its healing

Care should be made to ensure the safety of the “information hubs” else big information holes

shall appear.

I thank Omar AL-Husseini for his great support in making the graphics of the presentation