WO2002091318A1 - A method of organising information and a system therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention relates to a method of categorising information. Four categories of information are defined, namely a ,synit, category of information relating to log-term, directional information for a subject, a ,revit, category of information relating to past or historical information for the subject, an ?,operit,¿ category of information relating to short-term, instructional information for the subject and a ,cognitive, category of information relating to the identification of the subject. Details relating to the identification of the subject are then inserted into the cognitive category of information and the piece of information is then categorised into one the other categories of information. The method is implemented using computer software.

Description

A METHOD OF ORGANISING INFORMATION AND A SYSTEM THEREFOR

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

THIS invention relates to a method of categorising information and to a system therefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the so-called age of information, the obtaining, managing and application of information has become more critical to the success of a business. However, the methods currently used to organise and manage information, and the tools available to management to carry this out, are currently very rudimentary.

This has led to a large number of drawbacks, some of which are listed as follows:

1) There are an average of 50% overruns of time and money in most new information systems initiatives.

Source: ICL and various industry watchers such as Gartner Group, 1999.

2) Since inception of the concept, there has been a 75% failure rate of Business Process Re-engineering initiatives, manifest as: i) abandoned before completion, or ii) unsatisfactory results. Source: International polls by the various concept promoters including Mike Hammer and James Martin, in the period 1994 to 2000. 3) Industry wide, there has been a 90% failure rate of follow-through using popular strategy determination tools such as the Balanced- Score-Card (^®Harvard Business Press).

Source: International research including the 'Balanced Score Card Collaborative', ^®Ruby-Gay Caetano, in September 1999.

4) Since 1994, there has been an 85+% failure rate of information systems development, manifest as: i) not completed, ii) completed but failed, or iii) completed but inconsequential. This normally happens for one or more of the following reasons: i) Generally, traditional Decision Support Systems (DSS) have not delivered any significantly improved organisation-wide decision making capability. In fact, most decisions are made the same way they have been made for thousands of years, i.e. by under qualified employees. The best DSS in the world won't compensate for inappropriate human behaviour. ii) Due to poor informational literacy, the management and staff of any organisation planning to use information technology (IT) either don't know what they want from IT, or what they could get from IT. This leads to bad specifications and bad resulting designs, iii) It is well known that if you apply IT to a bad process, all you get is a fast, bad process, iv) Wherever IT has enabled higher quality of work, quality requirements have been adjusted up to meet this capability and net productivity gains have subsequently diminished.

Worse still, in many cases, productivity actually goes negative at the cost of this higher quality. v) If a reduction in working hours is possible from the application of IT, then either the excessive resource is not released, or no new work is being executed in the hours freed in this manner, or both, vi) A considerable amount of IT is forced into situations where it is inappropriate at best, and actually damaging at worst. This is often compounded by ignorance or misguided good faith where persons attempt to 'make it useful' rather than investigating better methods, vii) IT cannot, in any case, produce significant organisational improvements by itself. IT is just an enabler, like a telephone. More telephones or IT is not a solution for anything. It needs human intervention to realise any corporate benefits beyond simple automation. "For every one successful IT initiative, there are literally hundreds of failed or inconsequential IT initiatives". Source: Paul A. Strassmann, ex-Chief Information Executive - Pentagon and US government advisor, and various IT suppliers.

5) There is no correlation between IT spend and degree of success of the user organisation. This has been tested and demonstrated in thousands of companies across the US and Europe. Figure 1 illustrates this principle by showing the juxtaposition of IT spend against corporate success indicators for around 2500 US and European companies. There is clearly no correlation between the two. In other words the amount of IT in a company has no direct effect on its success.

6) The average organisation spends ten times more money on managing information than on managing capital.

7) In a typical company, the costs of information management are around 20% of turn-over and are increasing as operational sophistication increases. Figure 2 shows the proportion of money spent on information management as a percentage of revenues for around 2500 companies in the industrialised nations.

8) Information Workers are 64% of the worker population in the industrialised nations and this proportion is also increasing.

9) Studies in the US and Europe by Paul A. Strassmann, advisor to the US government, show, in his own words, "Computer ibest- practice is a corporate red-herring". Computers are just 'pumps', it is the information that is the critical component that needs to be managed effectively.

10) Robert Solow, the Nobel-prize winning economist observed, "We see computers everywhere except in the productivity statistics". He also wrote, "When the muck is scraped away from accepted methodologies, the executive's faith in IT has cost billions of wasted dollars".

11) Although IT has been commercially available since 1952, the improvement in world productivity has been slowing. In the USA and other G7 nations it has been declining since 1973 (source: The Economist, 2001), and in Africa it has been negative since 1971. The USA has half of the world's installed IT and yet the wages of US workers have declined in real spending power since 1973. By comparison, according to a US economist and observer, Geoff Madrick in The New York Review of Books (March 26, 1998) "Productivity grew at a rate of nearly 3% between 1948 and 1973 and more than 2% a year on average in the hundred years after the Civil Waf. In other words, IT appears not to be making any significant impact. It is clearly information, and not technology, that requires the more pervasive focus.

Figure 3 shows the reduction in productivity improvement since 1973, despite all kinds of industry initiatives such as installing IT and related consulting, productivity drives, information engineering, computer aided systems engineering (CASE), Decision Support Systems (DSS), Total Quality Management (TQM), Business Process Re-engineering (BPR), Personal Computers (PC's), strategies based on the 'Balanced Score Card' (BSC) or 'Porters 5

Forces' (P5F) or Twenty Keys' (20K), Windows, or any of many other such initiatives in commerce, industry and agriculture.

12) Information Executives (e.g. Chief Informational Officers and Chief Knowledge Officers) are now being required to take financial accountability for their informational assets and initiatives and traditional approaches cannot give them that level of control.

13) Existing methods for the justification and measurement of the effectiveness of information are inadequate and risky.

14) Most traditional approaches are based on 25 year old techniques like information-engineering and joint application design (JAD) and are often vague, inconsistent, complex and have demonstrated a track record of mediocrity.

15) A world-wide survey of information quality in several hundred diverse organisations has shown adequacies of less than 40% overall. The same companies actually desired levels of 80% plus adequacy to support better strategy, quality and productivity initiatives. Strategy, quality, productivity and cost management are all dependent on the adequacy of their input information. If the information is only 40% adequate, then it is obvious that its dependencies can only be 40% good, or less.

All of the above points indicate that a lot of effort and money is being applied in the wrong places for the wrong reasons. In all cases, current fads and initiatives appear to be addressing the symptoms, not the cause.

The invention seeks to address all of the above negative impacts. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method of organising information and a system therefor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a method of organising information, the method comprising the steps of:

defining a 'synit' category of information, wherein the synit category of information relates to long-term, directional information for a subject;

defining a 'revit' category of information, wherein the revit category of information relates to past or historical information for a subject;

defining an 'operit' category of information, wherein the operit category of information relates to short-term, instructional information for a subject; and

categorising a piece of information relating to a subject into one of the categories of information. The method may further comprise the steps of:

defining a 'cognitive' category of information, wherein the cognitive category of information relates to the identification of the subject;

associating the cognitive category of information with each of the other categories of information; and

when a piece of information relating to a subject is organised into one of the categories of information, inserting details relating to the identification of the subject in the associated cognitive category of information.

Preferably, the method also includes a step of defining a chronacy sub- category of cognitive information, wherein the chronacy sub-category of information relates to time-based units that represent the time-value of the item, and a piece of information relating to a subject is organised into one of the categories of information, details relating to time information of the subject are inserted in the associated chronacy sub-category of information.

The subject may include any of location, people, activity, finance, infrastructure or products.

The present invention further extends to a machine readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform the above method steps.

The present invention further extends to a tool for aiding in the categorising of information, the tool comprising a two-dimensional grid having at least four columns and at least one row, wherein a first of the at least four columns relates to a cognitive category of information, the cognitive category of information relating to the identification of a subject, and wherein a second of the four columns relates to a synit category of information, the synit category of information relating to long-term, directional information for a subject, and wherein a third of the at least four columns relates to a revit category of information, the revit category of information relating to past or historical information for a subject, and wherein a fourth of the at least four columns relates to an operit category of information, the operit category of information relating to short-term, instructional information for a subject and wherein the at least one row relates to one of people, money, infrastructure or products.

Each of the entries in the second, third and fourth columns may be identifiable by the entry in the cognitive column.

The tool preferably relates to a specified location of application.

The tool may further include the cognitive column being expressed in an identified chronacy.

The grid preferably comprises a plurality of rows, each of which relates to one of people, money, infrastructure or products.

The grid may also include a third dimension which contains information relating to the 'universal' memory of the subject.

The present invention further extends to a machine readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to implement the tool.

The present invention further extends to a computer program product comprising software code portions for performing the following steps: receiving electronic data representing information;

parsing the electronic data to identify an object of at least one sentence contained in the information;

analysing an identified object to determine if it falls into a predefined category of information; and

storing data relating to the object and its category of information in a memory device.

The computer program product according may further comprise software code portions for performing the following steps:

parsing the electronic data to identify the verb of at least one sentence contained in the information;

if the sentence contains a verb, parsing the electronic data to identify the subject of the sentence;

analysing the identified verb to determine grammar and tense of the verb;

analysing the identified subject to determine if it falls into a predefined category of information; and

storing data relating to the verb and the subject and its category of information in a memory device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a graph illustrating the juxtaposition of IT spend against corporate success indicators for around 2500 US and European companies;

Figure 2 shows the proportion of money spent on information management as a percentage of revenues for around 2500 companies in the industrialised nations;

Figure 3 shows the reduction in productivity improvement since 1973; and

Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating steps carried out by software used to implement one aspect of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT

By way of background, for purposes of this specification the term 'information' is defined in ontological¹, semantic terms as 'signals of coherent content that occur within or between orgs'.

'signals' means light-signals, sound-signals, flavour-signals, smell-signals, or tactile-signals for humans and other animals, and additionally electronic-signals or mechanical signals for machinery and other non-living things, making a maximum of 7 elements thereof; 'coherent means 'not noise' and therefore means of 4, 3, 2 or 1 dimensional content or abstract content relating to the width, depth, height, time (including magnitudes) or the names of things or any combination thereof, making a maximum of 5 elements thereof;

Occur^" means manifesting in the form of 'synit', 'revit', 'operit' or 'cognitive' information (which will be explained in more detail below) and thus being tangible and measurable in terms of magnitude and/or time, making a maximum of 4 elements thereof;

'orgs' means 'organisations' or 'organisms', making a maximum of 2 elements thereof; and

'within' means not leaving the org, such as a stored memory, a personal thought (organism) or an internal memo (organisation);

'between' means leaving one org and entering another org, such as a verbal communication (organism to organism) or a personal invoice (organisation to organism) or an attention signal (organisation to organisation), 'within or between' making a maximum of 2 elements thereof.

The present invention falls within the category of informational management. In order to understand what informational management is, it is useful to understand the difference between finance management and financial management.

Loosely speaking, finance management is mainly physical, being 'getting the right money to the right person in the right place at the right time'. Simple finance management requires simple finance literacy, in other words being able to recognise a 5 dollar or 20 rand note and to know that it can be exchanged to buy something. A request to take 20 rand to a shop to buy a hamburger for lunch and to bring the change back is a simple example of finance management.

Conversely, financial management is quite different in every respect. Financial management is awareness of what to do with money when it is received or knowing how to employ it effectively. Financial management is thus mainly conceptual and logical, being typically along the lines of, 'take this money and invest it so that it doubles in value before year end'. Financial management requires financial literacy. This is not a skill that can be acquired at a mother's knee. It requires specialised, formal education to achieve effectively.

In a manner similar to finance management, information management is mainly physical, being getting the right information to the right person in the right place at the right time. Simple information management requires simple information literacy. In other words, being able to recognise and read a newspaper or an encyclopaedia and to know that it can be used to reference something. A request to take a newspaper cutting to a colleague to inform him or her of a business event and to bring his or her response back is a simple example of information management.

Conversely, informational management is different in every respect. Informational management provides an awareness of what to do with information when it is received or knowing how to employ it effectively. Informational management is thus mainly conceptual and logical, being typically something like, 'take this information and invest it so that it doubles my market share before year end'. Informational management requires informational literacy. And, like financial literacy, this is not a skill that can be acquired at a mother's knee, it requires specialised, formal education to achieve effectively.

The method of organising information of the present invention enables effective informational management.

Continuing the analogy of informational management and financial management to facilitate the understanding of the present invention, the double entry system which forms the basis of financial management includes the two primary financial occurrence types of 'debit' and 'credit' which provide the means to dissect and regulate any kind of monetary movement. The addition of a 'cognitive' field (usually expressed as a currency) provides recognition of the kinds of objects in which the quantity of debit or credit is identified. These are usually rands or dollars or other international currencies, but almost anything of known value can be identified here. The net result is that we can say that financial management is regulated by three 'absolutes', an insufficiency of detail about which renders effective financial management impossible.

Similarly, according to the present invention, there are four absolutes that support effective informational management. In order to provide consistency with the form of the terms 'Debit' and 'Credit' and the manner in which these can be used as an adjective, noun or a verb, we have named the three primary informational occurrence types as 'Synit', 'Operit' and 'Revit'. When these are expressed as nouns or adjectives, they are called 'occurrences' because they occur as a result of transactions (e.g. 'this is a credit', 'that is an operit transaction'); when they are expressed as verbs, they are called 'operators' because they prompt the appropriate action (e.g. 'debit this', 'synit that').

Both financial and informational management require a 'Cognitive' field to identify the subject, and the informational equivalent of 'Currency' (financial units identification) is 'Chronacy' (informational units identification). These informational terms and their names will now be defined in more detail.

Synit: "If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there."

(The 'Synit' neologism is loosely based on the word 'Synoptic' meaning 'embracing view' such as may be used in 'Synoptic Chart' in a weather forecast).

General characteristics of Synit information are:

• that it is directional; and

• that it is long-term for the subject.

Because of its long term relative to the subject's future focus, it is represented by an upward arrow fϊ.

Synit information provides a relative long term view on which to base all relative shorter term plans.

(As an adjective it infers a Synoptic information (q.v.) quality, e.g. This target is a Synit occurrence'. As a noun it alludes to Synoptic information, e.g. There is an associated Synit of 3 widgets per day'. As a verb it is the action of assigning Synoptic information to a task or activity, e.g. 'Synit this task with a target of 15 widgets per week'.)

Revit:

"If you don't measure it, you can't manage it."

(The 'Revit' neologism is loosely based on the word 'Review' meaning

'regarding the past' such as may be used in 'What is the Review?' from a theatre critic). General characteristics of Revit information are:

• that it is reflectional; and

• that it is past for the subject.

Because of its past reviewing nature, it is represented by a backward arrow =.

Revit information is usually well covered in most organisations as it has the undoubted advantage of being relatively easy to produce.

(As an adjective it infers a past or historic information (q.v.) quality, e.g. This measure is a Revit occurrence'. As a noun it alludes to information about the past, e.g. There is an associated Revit showing 3 widgets produced yesterday'. As a verb it is the action of assigning historic information to a task or activity, e.g. 'Revit this task with its performance over the last 2 days'.)

Operit:

"If you don't set it, you won't get it."

(The 'Operit' neologism is loosely based on the word 'Operative' meaning

'active in producing' such as used in Operative words of conveyance' in a law treatise).

General characteristics of Operit information are:

• that it is instructional; and

• that it is short-term for the subject.

Because of its action driving nature, it is represented by a forward arrow :

Operit information is information intended to define plans and schedules for the utilisation of all the components of a business in order to achieve maximum value. It is plan, not planned. (As an adjective it infers an instructive (q.v.) quality, e.g. This command is an Operit occurrence'. As a noun it alludes to instructive information, e.g. There is an associated Operit of 3 widgets by Monday'. As a verb it is the action of assigning instructive information to a task or activity, e.g. 'Operit this task with the instruction to make 3 widgets by Monday'.)

Note, the often used term Operational information' is not the same as Operit information. The word operational is just a usage term to describe general information flows.

Cognitive:

"If you don't know what it is, you can't possibly use it effectively."

General characteristics of Cognitive information are: • that it is recognitional; and

• that it provides identification of the subject.

Because of its basic underlying, timeless nature, it is represented by a downward arrow U.

Cognitive information is only used to enable recognition of the subject and forms no part of active decision making. It is also an essential part of most communication. It tends to be included automatically in any human communication and is thus self collecting.

(Cognitive is usually only expressed as a noun, e.g. 'money, cow, sale, plan, measure, John, machine, product, widget).

Sub-category Chronacy: "Time achieves more than passion or fury." (The 'Chronacy' neologism is loosely based on the Greek 'khronos' meaning 'time' such as used in 'A chronometer measured the exact time' in a sporting event).

General characteristics of Chronacy information are:

• that it identifies a teleological², semantic³, content time-frame (e.g. man-hours) rather than an ontological, non-semantic, attribute time unit (e.g. hour).

Chronacy information is used to identify the time component of the content of the signals (e.g. in an operit instruction, 'make this widget before 5'o'clock', the content time taken to make the widget might be represented by a chronacy of 1 man-hour (semantic-time). These relate to making the widget. There may also be an assessment of the time taken to issue the instruction to make the widget and this may be only 10 seconds and in this sense would be recorded as a separate activity).

The relationship between and 'cognitive' and 'chronacy' is very similar to that between 'cognitive' and 'currency'. An example of each should suffice. In finance, the cognitive will identify the subject and this may be expressed as a currency (e.g. a. the subject is a sale, the currency is dollars; or b. the subject is a dowry, the currency is in cows). In knowledge, the cognitive will identify the subject and this may be expressed as a chronacy (e.g. c. the subject is widget- manufacture, the chronacy is man-hours; or of. the subject is strategy- applicability, the chronacy is financial-years).

When referred to together, Cognitive, Operit, Revit and Synit information are collectively represented as 'CORS'. The three operators Operit, Revit and Synit, when applied concurrently, are known as a 'triplet'. It is important to note that these four CORS represent information occurrence/operator types, and are not transactions or uses. To illustrate the differences, some comprehensive examples of the informational relationship between various transactions or uses of information and the 'absolutes' of CORS will provide additional comprehension.

1. Strategy Management. The relationship between strategy and the four absolutes of informational management (CORS) may be as follows: a strategy will normally contain at least three of the informational occurrence types and may thus be comprised of 1. Synit information in the form of a target for the following year, based on 2. Revit information in the form of performance figures for the previous year, specifically related to items identified by 3a. Cognitive information in the form of the names of products for which the strategy is intended over a period identified by 3b. Chronacy in the following example being a 'calendar year'. (E.g. Expand next year's market share by an additional 10,000 users of our widgets based on last year's improvement of 8,000 users of our widgets.)

2. Reporting. The relationship between a management report and CORS may be as follows: a report will normally contain at least two of the informational occurrence types and may thus be comprised of 1. Revit information in the form of performance figures for the past month, specifically related to items identified by 2a. Cognitive information in the form of the names of products for which the report is relevant, over a period identified by 2b. Chronacy in the following example being a 'calendar month'. (E.g. 20 widgets were sold last month.)

3. Planning. The relationship between a business plan and CORS may be as follows: a business plan will normally contain all four of the informational occurrence types and may thus be comprised of 1. Operit information in the form of a set of instructions for specific activity required to deliver against the 2. Synit information in the form of targets for the following month, based on 3. Revit information in the form of actual performance for the previous month, specifically related to items identified by 4a. Cognitive information in the form of the names of products for which the plan is activated, over a period identified by 4b. Chronacy in the following example being a 'working-month'. (E.g. Assign 3 persons to operate 3 widgetisers in order to produce a monthly quota of 60 widgets, based on observations that 1 person on 1 widgetiser can produce 20 widgets per month.)

4. Scheduling. The relationship between a schedule and CORS may be as follows: a schedule will normally contain at least two of the informational occurrence types and may thus be comprised of 1. Operit information in the form of a set of instructions related to specific utilisation of resources identified by 2a. Cognitive information in the form of the names of the allocated resources, over a period identified by 2b. Chronacy in the following example being a 'working day'.. (E.g. From 08h00 to 17h00, the 3 required persons will operate the 3 widget makers.)

5. Monitoring. The relationship between a periodic measurement and CORS may be as follows: a measure will normally contain at least two of the informational occurrence types and may thus be comprised of 1. Revit information in the form of periodic performance figures specifically related to items identified by 2a. Cognitive information in the form of the names of the processes being monitored, over a period identified by 2b. Chronacy in the following example being a 'man-hour'. (E.g. Total widget production was measured at 20 over the last hour.) 6. Controlling. The relationship between a periodic control and CORS may be as follows: a control instruction will normally contain at least two of the informational occurrence types and may thus be comprised of 1. Operit information in the form of periodic commands to alter activity associated with items identified by 2a. Cognitive information in the form of the names of the things being controlled, over a period identified by 2b. Chronacy in the following example being a 'working-day'. (E.g. Commission another widgetiser before tomorrow to replace the one that has just failed.)

7. Forecasting. The relationship between a forecast and CORS may be as follows: a forecast will normally contain all four of the informational occurrence types and may thus be comprised of 1. Operit information in the form of allocation of resources required to deliver against the 2. Synit information in the form of an expected event arrival rates, based on 3. Revit information in the form of previous arrival rates, specifically related to items identified by 4a. Cognitive information in the form of the names of the items to which the forecast is related, over a period identified by 4b. Chronacy in the following example being an 'office- hour'. (E.g. Assign 2 tellers to cope with an expected 20 customers per hour, because 1 teller can cope with 10 customers per hour.)

8. Measuring. The relationship between a measurement and CORS may be as follows: a measurement will normally contain at least two of the informational occurrence types and may thus be comprised of 1. Revit information in the form of a specific performance figure specifically related to an item identified by 2a. Cognitive information in the form of the name of the item being measured, over a period identified by 2b. Chronacy in the following example being a 'working-hour'. (E.g. 20 widgets per hour.) 9. Identification. The relationship between the identity of something (not time related) and CORS may be as follows: an identity will normally consist of just 1. Cognitive information in the form of the name of the subject. (E.g. John, kettle.)

10. Capacity. The relationship between a capacity (not time related) and CORS may be as follows: a capacity will normally contain at least one of the informational occurrence types and may thus be comprised of just 1a. Cognitive information in the form of the identification of the capacity of the subject, and 1b. more Cognitive information in the form of the identification of subject. (E.g. 12-hole crate.)'

11. Customer Relationship Management. The relationship between CRM and

CORS may be as follows: a CRM initiative will normally contain all four of the informational occurrence types and may thus be comprised of 1.

Operit information in the form of activities required to deliver against the

2. Synit information in the form of an expected customer service level, based on 3. Revit information in the form of previous service levels attainments, specifically related to goods and/or services identified by 4a. Cognitive information in the form of the names of the customers, the goods and/or the services, over a period identified by 4b. Chronacy in the following example being an 'elapsed hour'. (E.g. Deliver 95% of packets within 1 hour based on our Service Level Agreement (SLA) of

90% of packets to be delivered within 1 hour or less, based on our past record of 99% of packets delivered within 50 minutes.)

12. Knowledge Management. The relationship between KM and CORS may be as follows: a Knowledge Management initiative will normally contain all four of the informational occurrence types and may thus be comprised of 1. Operit information in the form of activities that will react decisively to 2. Revit information in the form of an observed competitive performance, based on 3. Synit information in the form of the expected net performance of the goods or services identified by 4a. Cognitive information in the form of the names of the products and the competitors, over a period identified by 4b. Chronacy in the following example being a 'financial year'. (E.g. Cut the price of our widgets by

20% for the next year in order to undercut the known competitors price by 5% and increase our market share in the light of the greater functionality of our product over ABCo's.)

13. Business Intelligence. The relationship between Bl and CORS may be as follows: a Business Intelligence initiative will normally contain all four of the informational occurrence types and may thus be comprised of 1. Operit information in the form of activities that will react decisively to 2. Synit information in the form of a known competitor strategy, based on 3. Revit information in the form of the known performance of our products identified by 4a. Cognitive information in the form of the names of the products and the competitors, over a period identified by 4b. Chronacy in the following example being a 'calendar month'. (E.g. Increase the functionality of our widgets before the end of the month in order to address the known competitive plans to introduce a superior widget and thus maintain our market share over ABCo's.)

14. Quality Management. The relationship between QM and CORS may be as follows: a Total Quality Management initiative will normally contain all four of the informational occurrence types and may thus be comprised of 1. Operit information in the form of activities that will deliver conformance to 2. Synit information in the form of requirements, derived from 3. Revit information in the form of the known best performance of the things identified by 4a. Cognitive information in the form of the names of the things, over a period identified by 4b.

Chronacy in the following example being an 'operational hour'. (E.g. Sample 10 per hour to sustain a daily rate of 90 based on the known capacity of the equipment to produce at that rate and an expected scrap proportion of 10%.)

15. Productivity Management. The relationship between PM and CORS may be as follows: a productivity initiative will normally contain all four of the informational occurrence types and may thus be comprised of 1. Operit information in the form of input, process and output activities that will deliver conformance to 2. Synit information in the form of best utilisation of resources, derived from 3. Revit information in the form of the known best performance of the activities and processes identified by 4a. Cognitive information in the form of the names of the activities and processes, over a period identified by 4b. Chronacy in the following example being a 'working day'. (E.g. Deliver 500 invoices a day through the accounts receivable system using only 10 debtors clerks based on known computer system and clerk performance rates.)

In this way it can be seen that any informational system of any complexity can be reduced to the management of operits, revits and synits, in the same way that any financial system of any complexity can be reduced to the management of debits and credits.

To avoid confusion to persons exposed to the CORS for the first time, it is essential to note that, just like debits and credits, the observer must not attempt to mix or combine them in their mind or try to rationalise or confuse one type with another. The Operit/Revit/Synit informational occurrence types are distinct and separate by definition just as the Debit/Credit financial occurrence types are distinct and separate by definition. In any event, there are currently over 200 known characteristics for each CORS informational occurrence type and these are summarised in a number of sub-categories in the three tables that follow.

Before these are explained, it is important to understand that information has only one purpose and that is to reduce chaos and support organised complexity. It achieves this through two, and only two, applications. These are:

1) within a process, and

2) to manage a process.

For example, if you go to the movies tonight, that's a process. If you decide to go to the late show rather than the early show, that's managing the process.

Processes require primarily Operit information ('do this') and, optionally, Revit information ('what we did'). (Synit information is unnecessary as that is part of management, not process, and Cognitive information may not be necessary when it is embedded within a close-coupled process). In the tables, (Revit/Operit) represents process category information Management requires Synit information ('what we must achieve'), Operit information ('achieve this'), Revit information ('what we achieved') and Cognitive information ('with what we are going to achieve this'). In the tables, Θ (Synit/Revit/Operit/Cognitive) represents management category information.

The following table lists the primary characteristics of the CORS.

θ management category information (q.v.). process category information (q.v.).

1. Coherence, primary use:

Examples of common use and the manner in which they are used, being SKPI's (Synit key performance indicators), RKPI's, OKPI's, SPI's (Synit process indicators), RPI's, OPI's and identification.

A KPI or Key Performance Indicator is an indicator that relates to levels of performance that are required, usually (but not always) over a predefined time period. As examples, an SKPI may be 'target of 500 widgets to be produced before end-of-business on Friday', an associated OKPI may be 'produce 100 widgets today' and an associated RKPI may be 'only 80 widgets produced on Monday' (NB. there can be no 'CKPI' because, by definition, Cognitive information may have no time content). A PI or Process Indicator is an indicator that relates to required levels of performance that are required over an undefined time period. As examples, an SPI may be 'tool up to be able to make 20,000 widgets', an associated OPI may be 'make 100 widgets' and an associated RKPI may be 'number of widgets produced so far' (NB. there can be no 'CPI' because, by definition, Cognitive information may have no time content). Pi's are critical to process but not as useful in management as KPI's.

2. Volumes:

Describes the volume in which it is normally presented.

3. Frequency:

Describes the frequency with which it is usually required. This is very different for process information and management information.

Processes typically execute on the basis that each management transaction generates multiple process transactions (e.g. Management, once, 'Schedule 100 iterations of this manufacturing process'. Process, 100 times, 'Run').

4. Change:

Describes the manner in which change commonly manifests.

5. Intrinsic Value: Intrinsic value is different for management and process.

Chronacy:

Intrinsic value only in being able to identify the common semantic time units.

Cognitive: Because Cognitive information is critical to management issues such as identifying markets, customers, competitors, products and services, the intrinsic management value of Cognitive information is seen as being high ("Know what you're working with"). Because Cognitive information is usually implicit within a process, providing a process with additional

Cognitive information is usually seen as being of negligible value.

Synit:

Because Synit information is critical to management issues such as strategising, forecasting and planning, the intrinsic management value of Synit information is seen as being high ("If you don't know where you're going any road will get you there").

As Synit information is rarely or never used within the physical process itself (only its management), its process-only value is seen as negligible.

Revit:

Because Revit information is critical to management issues such as planning, measuring and reporting, the intrinsic management value of

Revit information is seen as being high ("If you don't measure it, you can't manage if). Because Revit information is also critical for monitoring processes, its process-only value is similarly seen as high.

Operit:

Because Operit information is critical to management issues such as scheduling, executing and controlling, the intrinsic management value of Operit information is seen as being high ("If you don't set it you won't get if). Because Operit information is also critical for adjusting processes, particularly in process-control applications, its process-only value is similarly seen as high. The following table outlines some of the management characteristics of the CORS informational occurrence types.

10. Benefit of improvement: Chronacy:

There is little that can improve Chronacy information if it is at first properly specified.

Cognitive:

Improving Cognitive information enables the clearer identification of the subject being referred to in the Synit, Revit or Operit information. Synit:

Improving Synit information enables the setting of clear directions for all future activities.

Revit:

Improving Revit information enables complete and clear understanding of all past performances and achievements.

Operit:

Improving Operit information enables the setting of clear instructions for immediate or delayed activity required to achieve the stated direction.

11. Energy: Chronacy:

Because it only identifies the time-units, Chronacy information is said to represent 'Zero energy'.

Cognitive:

Because it only provides a means of identifying its associated processes and has no impact on their internal operation, Cognitive information is said to represent 'Zero energy'.

Synit:

Because of its ability to continuously vary the targets or objectives of the associated processes, Synit information is said to represent 'Variable energy'. It is used to regulate and/or provide weight to the semantic triggering capability of Revit information.

Revit:

Because it only provides a sensing or triggering capability for its associated processes, Revit information is said to represent 'Low energy'. Its effect is heteropotent in the sense that a little Revit energy can unleash great Operit energy. Operit:

Because it provides the means to directly influence and drive the associated processes and the energy in the associated activity, Operit information is said to represent 'High energy'.

13. Costs:

Chronacy: Minimal, usually just one or a few indicator identifiers.

Cognitive:

High, usually bulky costing lots to store and process for little return.

Synit:

Variable, depends on forecasting effort. Revit:

Moderate, easiest to derive, which is usually why there is so much of it.

Operit:

Moderate, keep complication minimum.

14. Monetary Value:

Monetary value is different for Operit information and the three other types. Monetary value falls into two major categories:

1) Passive Value (i.e. cost, especially the cost of physical collection, storage, processing and/or distribution; and the cost of poor quality such as poor accessibility, poor relevance, poor precision, poor timeliness and/or poor completeness).

2) Active Value (i.e. ability to generate revenue, contain costs or add value).

The following highlights the major CORS variations in this regard. Chronacy:

Time-unit identifier only, no monetary value.

Cognitive: Because, by definition, Cognitive information exists only to identify or recognise something, then it is seen that, in the two major categories: a) Passive: Cognitive information has a cost, but b) Active: Cognitive information has no active financial value, that is, it has no capability, by itself, to generate revenue, add value or contain costs.

For example, if a company announces its new telephone number or the name of its new accountant, (Cognitive information), then that information, by itself, cannot be used to directly generate revenues or save costs.

Synit:

Because, by definition, Synit information can only be used to provide direction and cannot be applied directly to any actual activity, in the two major categories: c) Passive: Synit information has a cost, but d) Active: Synit information has no active financial value, that is, it has no capability, by itself, to generate revenue, add value or contain costs.

For example, if a company announces that it intends to achieve a certain sales target in the following year (Synit information), then that information, by itself, cannot be used to directly generate revenues or save costs.

Revit: Because, by definition, Revit information is past, history, and can only be used to measure, monitor or report activity, in the two major categories: e) Passive: Revit information has a cost, but f) Active: Revit information has no active financial value, that is, it has no capability, by itself, to generate revenue, add value or contain costs. For example, if a company announces that it achieved a certain amount of sales in the past year (Revit information), then that information, by itself, cannot be used to directly generate revenues or save costs.

Operit:

Because, by definition, Operit information is informational equivalent of the instructions associated with the actual execution of any management or process, then it is seen that, in the two major categories: g) Passive: Operit information has a cost, and h) Active: Operit information has high active financial value, that is, it has the capability, by itself, to generate revenue, add value or contain costs.

For example, if a company directs that a certain process be immediately initiated with a restricted set of resources (Operit information), then that information, by itself, can be used to directly generate revenues and save costs. Thus, this is the only information type to have active financial value.

15. Time element: Chronacy:

Time-unit identifier only and has no time content of its own.

Cognitive: Cognitive information has no time content in any form. It is used only to recognise or identify the subject (e.g. Roger, table, computer, telephone, rock, atom, etc.) Cognitive may-not, by definition, contain time information so such words as 'teenager' (13 to 19 years old), or 'antique' (over 50 years old) are not usually used as Cognitive information because they are actually Revit information.

Synit:

Synit information has time content in any form. It is used to provide direction to change and is especially relevant to the long term future of its subject (as such, the actual time may vary widely depending on the subject e.g. 1) executive - a 20% increase by year end is required; 2) operational - trench must be dug by lunchtime; 3) scientific - atoms should be split within 1 microsecond).

Revit:

Revit information has time content in any form. It is used to provide history of change and is especially relevant to its subject's past (as such, the actual time may vary widely depending on the subject e.g. 1) executive - reported a 20% decrease over last month; 2) operational - half the trench dug since 08h00; 3) scientific - 6 atoms were split).

Operit:

Operit information has time content in any form. It is used to provide instruction to make change happen and is especially relevant to the short term future of its subject (as such, the actual time may vary widely depending on the subject e.g. 1) executive - sell 10 widgets by Friday;

2) operational - get the rock out of the trench in the next five minutes;

3) scientific - fire the neutrons at the atoms immediately). Whereas the previous tables highlighted some of the characteristics of CORS when applied in primary (key) and management (corporate) contexts, the following are typical user characteristics (i.e. generalised user applications) of the CORS informational occurrence types. Only a few are shown here and associated documentation details over 200 other characteristics. Again, the symbols are described in earlier text.

21. Information that you... ..access, for identification (Cognitive),

...determine for the long term future (SKPI's and SPI's), .are given to measure the past (RKPI's & RPI's), and .set to drive the future (OKPI's and OPI's).

22. For change, use it to be...

...more sure of identification (Cognitive), ...more effective (SKPI's and SPI's), ...better informed (RKPI's and RPI's),

...more efficient (planning and scheduling OKPI's and OPI's), and ...reducing effort (measuring RKPI's and controlling OKPI's).

23. In operations, use it for maximising opportunities by,

...storing names and characteristics (C), ...defining opportunity scope (S),

... measuring opportunity success (R), and ...ensuring opportunity attainment (O).

24. For problems, use it to... ...first, define and fix the problems at output (Revit),

...second, prevent the problems by changing the system to eliminate the problem processes (Synit), ...third, cure the problems in the process (Operit), ...fourth, store references to material to avoid repetition (Cognitive).

25. Integration requirements seen as...

...always important at management level but not always as clear at a clerical level, hence their frequent response of 'WIIFM' (What's In It For Me?). In order to use the CORS effectively, a tool termed the Swanborough Information Grid (SIG) has been developed. The grid is as follows:

Assume uniform Chronacy (e.g. all information relates to a particular, specified time frame)

The SIG uses the six interrogatives.

When: this is time-based and is represented by synit, revit and operit being long-term direction, past reflection and short-term instruction.

Who: this is manpower-based and is represented by all classes of involved personnel such as management, staff and consultants.

Why. in a capitalist society this is money-based and includes such issues as revenue, expenditure, taxation and fiscus.

How. this is infrastructure-based and includes such items as methods, buildings, production machinery, computers and transport. What: this is input/output-based and includes such items as the raw- material, finished products and other goods and services of the company;

Where: this is location-based and includes the area of application of the business engine or tool (i.e. where to apply the SIG).

Viewing the business process and its attendant information flows in terms of these sixteen cells enables a full appraisal of information availability. As a result, the SIG is used to ensure complete information conformance to requirements. Taking any of the SIG cells at random, its position in the grid (both horizontally and vertically) provides a straightforward prompt for key information detail. Use of the SIG provides vital understanding and comprehension of the means to articulate true informational needs.

Examples for each cell

Starting from the top left to bottom right: d . Cognitive information about People: e.g. Name - 'Samantha'; telephone number - '463-1919'; c2. Cognitive information about Money: e.g. Currency - 'Dollar'; bank account number - '12-123-543-09'; c3. Cognitive information about Infrastructure: e.g. Property - 'Building'; Production equipment - 'Bottler¹; c4. Cognitive information about Products: e.g. Product name - 'Widget';

Service name - 'warranties and repairs'; s1. Synit information about People: e.g. Staffing - 'long term manpower requirements'; s2. Synit information about Money: e.g. Turnover - 'annual company revenue targets'; s3. Synit information about Infrastructure: e.g. Sophistication -

'identification of new technology required'; s4. Synit information about Products: e.g. Growth - 'changes required to products to ensure customer acceptability'; r1. Revit information about People: e.g. Attrition - 'count of staff who failed to arrive at work this morning'; r2. Revit information about Money: e.g. Expenditure - 'total expenses claimed by the salespeople'; r3. Revit information about Infrastructure: e.g. Reliability - 'monthly average of break downs of the company cars'; r4. Revit information about Products: e.g. Sales - 'number of widgets sold in first quarter'; o1. Operit information about People: e.g. Allocation - 'assign 3 people to this task'; o2. Operit information about Money: e.g. Budget - 'pay the salespeople

$1000 a week';

03. Operit information about Infrastructure: e.g. Equipment - 'give each salesperson a company car';

04. Operit information about Products: e.g. Performance - 'sell 100 widgets before month-end'.

An example in a corporate situation may be that cell s1 would induce the determination of adequate Synit-Manpower information, such as future overall staffing requirements and requisite skills bases. Cell c4 would identify information such as product classifications and descriptions. The specifications provided for any of the cells can also prompt the need for associated specifications in other cells. For example, in order to provide a maintenance schedule for equipment driven from cell o3 there might need to be information about the identification of available machinery identified in cell c3. In this case, the ongoing success of the maintenance plan would then be indicated in cell r3 and the long-term throughput expected of the equipment would be in cell s3. It will be appreciated that the above are merely examples and are not intended to limit the application of the SIG in any way.

A SIG may represent information at individual, departmental, divisional, regional, or national levels, or at all levels, and it may contain many different indicators. To provide maximum versatility and usefulness, there are literally hundreds of ways of addressing each of the cells to determine various issues such as information quality, ownership, format and so on. The following three examples indicate the variations with which it can be applied.

In the SIG table below, the quality of information and organisation can be analysed. The chronacy is ignored in the following 'coarse audit' application examples.

Js nr (---

Peopl 7 x X X

Money x 7 s/

Infras. V X X X

Product 7 X X X

A tick indicates areas of information that are adequate and a cross indicates areas that are bad or inadequate. The example is the profile most often found, the so-called 'inverted T'. This kind of representation of informational adequacy provides both measurement and benchmarking benefits and is achieved in the following manner. Firstly, a representative sample of corporate personnel from all levels and departments is asked a series of standardised questions that relate to the adequacy of their information for each of the SIG cells.

For example, a question may ask, 'how adequate is the information that you use in order to do effective long-term manpower planning? This question relates to the top-left SIG cell issue being synit information about manpower. If the responder indicates that it is adequate (but not necessarily totally complete), then a tick (V) is put in the corresponding SIG cell. If the responder indicates that it is not adequate (but not necessarily totally absent), then a cross (X) is put in the corresponding SIG cell. In manufacturing organisations the average response gets a cross (X) as shown in the example above.

Another question may be, 'how adequate is the information that you get that indicates your periodic expenditure? This question relates to the second-from- top and second-from-left SIG cell issue being revit information about money. In manufacturing organisations the average response gets a tick (V) as shown in the example.

A number and mixture of questions are asked in a manner similar to the above in order to get a complete SIG picture of informational adequacy in all categories.

The example shows the profile most often found in manufacturing organisations and known as 'the inverted T because of its frequency of occurrence. Service organisations tend to have a different common profile called 'the backward L' (revit and operit ticks in the product row rather than the money row).

The ticks and crosses may be replaced by consolidated percentage adequacy indicators for each cell similar to example 3 below. Two important conclusions can be drawn using this particular SIG application. The first is that, from a simple crude adequacy/total count (6/16), the overall percentage adequacy can be roughly approximated at 37%. The second important conclusion is drawn only after a client has implemented massive investments in IT. If a SIG adequacy measure is made before and after the implementation of significant amounts of technology, applications and networking, the SIG will show little change. This is actual proof of the lack of correlation between IT spend and corporate success shown in Figure 1.

Example 2

In another example, the SIG may be used to index further information. For example:

4sL nr (a

In this case, each cell contains a page or chapter reference to a group of SIG cells that contain diverse and detailed information on the content of that cell. Such issues as informational frequencies, ownership, priorities, sources, destinations, platforms, formats and many other issues can be indexed in this way. Example 3

Thirdly, the SIG table can be used to determine the levels of completeness. For example:

Peopl 10% ₂5% ₂7% ₃0%

Mone 28% 74% 18% 16%

Infras 12% 54% 11% 18%

Produc 52% 69% 52% 51%

"a,** i »&.n i mmi m£> ι.

Avg =

The cells are labelled with user polled or estimated levels of completeness. This can immediately show areas of weakness and potential priorities of focus.

It will be appreciated that a third dimension can be added to the SIG if further depth of information audit is required. This third dimension is usually related to the concept of the Four Orders of Memory found in the Universe. These, simply stated are:

1) 1^st Order, being memory in the genes that has developed since the beginning; it represents a foundation or instinctive level;

2) 2^nd Order, being memory in the brain (the characteristics of which are influenced by the involved genes) that has developed since birth; it represents an individual or industrial level;

3) 3^rd Order, being memory in the organisation (the characteristics of which are influenced by the involved brains) that has developed into the existing organisational structure; it represents a social or co-operative organisational level; 4) 4^th Order, being memory in the environment (the characteristics of which are influenced by the involved organisations) that has developed as a result of organisational influences; it represents a global or universal level.

When these four Orders are added as the third dimension to the SIG it brings all informational issues into focus and takes account of, for example, the effect of the environment (4^th Order) on the individual (2^nd Order), the effect of the company (3^rd Order) on the environment (4^th Order) and even such issues as the effect of Intelligent Genetic Modification (1^st Order) on the personnel (2^nd Order).

In summary, this 3D device enables a focus on the effects of CORS and the 4 corporate Contexts (People, etc) on 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Order memory issues. In particular, the effect of information on: 1) organisms (specifically people) from a genetic (1st), personal (2nd), social (3rd), and environmental (4th) perspective, and

2) organisations (specifically business and administrative) from a formative (1st), operational (2nd), co-operational (3rd), and environmental (4th) perspective.

Since Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) has most effect on 2nd and 3rd order memory levels, these are the two most likely to benefit from these new inventions.

Referring to Figure 4, the software of the present invention is implemented as a computer program product comprising software code portions for performing the steps of the present invention. The software receives electronic data representing informational input, which may be entered in any of a number of ways including extraction from an existing information base, by a user typing in the information, or by the information being scanned in from printed text and various other methods.

The input information is converted by the software, where necessary, to recognisable characters with which the software can work.

The electronic date representing the separate sentences of the information are parsed into object, verb and subject and the object is analysed for category ie. 'people', 'money', 'infrastructure' or 'product'. These correspond to the four rows of the SIG described above (People, Money, Infrastructure & Products, respectively). This function is accomplished by use of an especially adapted thesaurus facility. The required functionality for this thesaurus already exists. In essence, it analyses the target words and/or their synonyms and compartmentalises the results into the required categories. Data relating to the object and its category of information are then stored in a memory device.

The software then parses the electronic data to identify the verb of the at least one sentence contained in the information.

If the sentence has no verb, the software jumps to step 14 which will be described in detail below.

If the sentence contains a verb, the electronic data is parsed to identify the subject of the sentence so that it can be inserted into a category. The verb is analysed for grammar and tense so that the verb can be separated into a transaction type, ie. directional, reflectional or instructional. These correspond to the three fundamental informational occurrence types, Synit, Revit and Operit. The means for achieving this is through use of a facility similar to that of a grammar checker in a word-processing package. In essence, it analyses the target verbs and/or predicate phrases and compartmentalises the results into the required informational occurrence type of synit, revit or operit.

The software then stores data relating to the verb and the subject and its category of information in a memory device.

The sentence will then also be scanned to determine whether the Chronacy is identified (e.g. a mention of 'financial-year', 'man-hour', 'working-day' or similar. This will be stored as the Chronacy and 'converted' if necessary to the same chronacy as other information (e.g. 8 man-hours in 1 working-day).

The subject and object of the sentence are now compared and if they are the same category, they are placed into the appropriate SIG cell. If the 'subject' and 'object' category differ, the piece of information is categorised into the 'object' SIG cell and a reference only is included to the 'subject'. The choice of 'object' above 'subject' as the preferred basis for categorisation is established from the fact that, in normal sentence structure, the object is the underlying foundation of the sentence. As an example, sentence structure is typically grammatically or logically constructed to include 'Subject plus Predicate' and subsequently Predicate is comprised of 'Verb plus Object'. The verb is thus more often directly identified with the object than with the subject.

In a grammatical example, the sentence 'Salespeople sell widgets' can be dissected as 'Salespeople' - subject, 'Sells widgets' - predicate. The predicate is further dissected as 'sells' - verb, 'widgets' - object, and thus using the logic described above:

1) The object is identified as 'widgets'; and

2) The specialised thesaurus would categorise 'widget' as being of the class 'Product' and thus identify the appropriate SIG row.

In a logical example, the sentence 'All men are mortal' can be dissected as 'All men' - subject, 'are mortal' - predicate. The predicate is further dissected as 'are' - verb, 'mortal' - object, and thus using the logic described above:

1) The object is identified as 'mortal'; and 2) The specialised thesaurus would categorise 'mortal' as being of the class 'People' and thus identify the appropriate SIG row.

At step 14, if there is a noun only, the noun is separated into context. If the noun is without time content it is placed into the appropriate cognitive cell. If the noun has time content, it is placed into the appropriate reflecfional (revit) cell. Where the noun is without time content, then the categorisation is accomplished, as before, by use of an especially adapted thesaurus facility. The required functionality for this thesaurus already exists. In essence it will analyse the target nouns and/or their synonyms and compartmentalise the results into the required categories. For example:

• if the noun is a name such as 'Jill' then it will be assigned to 'Cognitive - People'.

• if the noun is 'computer' then it will be assigned to 'Cognitive - Infrastructure'.

• if the noun is 'widget' then it will be assigned to 'Cognitive - Product'.

• if the noun is 'dollar' then it will be assigned to 'Cognitive - Money'.

If the noun is more difficult to categorise, such as 'motor' where it may be difficult to decide whether this is infrastructure or product, then it will be assigned to its most obvious category unless it is specifically identified as being one or other another category. Using 'motor' as an example, the default category would be 'infrastructure' unless the company actually manufactured motors in which case a separate 'look up table' containing the word 'motor' would redirect the categorisation to 'product'.

Where the noun is with time content, then the categorisation is accomplished, as before, by use of an especially adapted 'past-tense / future-tense' facility. The required functionality for this 'tense-selection' process already exists. In essence it analyses the target nouns and/or their synonyms and compartmentalise the results into the required categories. For example:

• if the noun is a past based word such as 'antique' then it will be assigned as 'Revit - Product' on the basis that it is unlikely to mean people, money or infrastructure unless specifically so categorised.

• if the noun is a past based word such as 'teenager' then it will be assigned as 'Revit - People' on the basis that it is unlikely to mean product, money or infrastructure unless specifically so categorised.

• if the noun is a future based word such as 'strategy' then it will be assigned as 'Synit - all contexts' on the basis that it is likely to mean people, money, infrastructure and product unless specifically so limited.

• if the noun is of ambiguous time base such as 'behaviour' then it will be assigned by analysing adjectives such as 'required behaviour' (future) or 'observed behaviour' (past) and categorised as 'Synit - People' or 'Revit - People' again on the basis that it is unlikely to mean product, money or infrastructure unless specifically so categorised.

Thus it will be appreciated that the present invention provides a method of organising information and a system therefor which address the drawbacks of the prior art systems mentioned above.

Claims

Claims:

1. A method of categorising information, the method comprising the steps of:

defining a 'synit' category of information, wherein the synit category of information relates to long-term, directional information for a subject;

defining a 'revit' category of information, wherein the revit category of information relates to past or historical information for a subject;

defining an 'operit' category of information, wherein the operit category of information relates to short-term, instructional information for a subject; and

categorising a piece of information relating to a subject into one of the categories of information.

2. A method according to claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

defining a 'cognitive' category of information, wherein the cognitive category of information relates to the identification of the subject;

associating the cognitive category of information with each of the other categories of information; and

when a piece of information relating to a subject is organised into one of the categories of information, inserting details relating to the identification of the subject in the associated cognitive category of information.

3. A method according to claim 2 further comprising the step of defining a chronacy sub-category of cognitive information, wherein the chronacy sub- category of information relates to time-based units that represent the time- value of the item.

4. A method according to claim 3 wherein when a piece of information relating to a subject is organised into one of the categories of information, details relating to time information of the subject are inserted in the associated chronacy sub-category of information.

5. A method according to any preceding claim wherein the subject includes any of location, people, activity, finance, infrastructure or products.

6. A machine readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform the method steps in any one of the above claims.

7. A tool for aiding in the categorising of information, the tool comprising a two-dimensional grid having at least four columns and at least one row, wherein a first of the at least four columns relates to a cognitive category of information, the cognitive category of information relating to the identification of a subject, and wherein a second of the four columns relates to a synit category of information, the synit category of information relating to long-term, directional information for a subject, and wherein a third of the at least four columns relates to a revit category of information, the revit category of information relating to past or historical information for a subject, and wherein a fourth of the at least four columns relates to an operit category of information, the operit category of information relating to short-term, instructional information for a subject and wherein the at least one row relates to one of people, money, infrastructure or products.

8. A tool according to claim 7 wherein each of the entries in the second, third and fourth columns are identifiable by the entry in the cognitive column.

9. A tool according to claim 7 or claim 8 wherein the tool relates to a specified location of application.

10. A tool according to claim 7 or claim 8 wherein the cognitive column is expressed in an identified chronacy.

11. A tool according to any one of claims 7 to 10 wherein the grid comprises a plurality of rows, each of which relates to one of people, money, infrastructure or products.

12. A tool according to any one of claims 7 to 11 wherein the grid includes a third dimension which contains information relating to the 'universal' memory of the subject.

13. A machine readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to implement the tool according to any one of claims 7 to 11.

14. A computer program product comprising software code portions for performing the following steps:

receiving electronic data representing information;

parsing the electronic data to identify an object of at least one sentence contained in the information; analysing an identified object to determine if it falls into a predefined category of information; and

storing data relating to the object and its category of information in a memory device.

15. A computer program product according to claim 14 further comprising software code portions for performing the following steps:

parsing the electronic data to identify the verb of at least one sentence contained in the information;

if the sentence contains a verb, parsing the electronic data to identify the subject of the sentence;

analysing the identified verb to determine grammar and tense of the verb;

analysing the identified subject to determine if it falls into a predefined category of information; and

storing data relating to the verb and the subject and its category of information in a memory device.

16. A computer program product according to claim 14 or 15 further comprising software code portions for performing the step of converting input information to recognisable characters with which the software can work.