Creating a topic map query tool for mobile devices using J2ME and XML

Most of today's enterprises conduct knowledge management initiatives for achieving competitive advantage. Information technology plays a key role in codifying knowledge and distributing it throughout the organization. However, the utilization of mobile technology for supporting knowledge management has been largely overlooked so far. As mobile devices are becoming increasingly powerful and ubiquitous, new possibilities to realize fully integrated knowledge management processes are created. This paper presents a basic architecture that enables mobile workers to retrieve knowledge contained within topic maps and associated information objects. Topic maps enable knowledge structures to be codified and linked with information resources. The paper comprises Java-based mobile tools that run on PDAs as well as mobile phones and exchange XML data with a topic map server. Our prototypical implementation is evaluated and directions for future work are proposed.