The terms data, information, and knowledgeare easily confused. You can understand how to properly differentiate these terms by watching this 4 minute video by Nick Milton.
Knowledge is the piece of information that you need right now that allows you to take effective action. Actionable information.
Knowledge based systems provide capability and know how. Knowledge management is about creating a managed system that routinely and systematically institutionalizes knowledge and ensures that people have the knowledge they need to make correct decisions, take effective action, take the correct action.
The result of poor knowledge management are:
We live in the information age, not the "data age". How do you turn data into information? How do you store information? How many mistakes does your organization repeat over and over? How are your processes for capturing good ideas and repeating them? How fast does your organization learn? How much knowledge will be lost when staff leave your organization?