Guest editorial: Knowledge visualisation for strategic decision-making in the digital age

ABSTRACT

Data, information and knowledge, can be, indeed, both the input and output of a visualisation process, raising questions about the exact role of data, information and knowledge in visualisation (Chen et al., 2008). Besides the issue of clarifying taxonomically the terminology used in the visualisation processes and the precise role played by data, information and knowledge (Cui et al., 2006;Chen et al., 2009), it is widely acknowledged that visualisation shapes the experience that people have with data, information and knowledge, and appropriate visual representations can make knowledge more accessible, meaningful and inspirational. According to Eppler and Burkhard (2007), “knowledge visualisation designates all graphic means that can be used to construct, assess, measure, convey or apply knowledge” (p. 112). Burkhard (2004) argues that knowledge visualisation differs from information visualisation since it uses a visual representation to transfer knowledge between two persons and generate new knowledge. [...]according to the scholar, a trait distinguishing knowledge visualisation is the experiential and implementation dimension. According to the scholars, the study results “support the conclusion that visualisation is a powerful tool for managers to use when constructing