Method and system for sharing knowledge

A method for sharing knowledge among a plurality of individuals, comprising:

• a) providing a dynamically updated knowledge base that can be accessed over a network;
• b) allowing an individual encountering a problem the solution of which is not known, to query said knowledge base to determine whether the problem and its solution are found in it;
• c) if the solution to the problem is not available in said knowledge base, allowing said individual to prepare a query including the details of the problem;
• d) broadcasting said query described in step (c) over said network;
• e) allowing the experts who “listen in” said network to answer the query by filling-in their reply to the query form, and if desired, also by additional person-to-person communication;
• f) conveying the answer to the query via the network to the individual who queried the system;
• g) optionally, once the problem has been solved, or when the suggestions have produced no positive result, reporting by said individual the outcome of the query to the system, thereby to complete the dialogue between the individual and the system;
• h) adding to the knowledge base, and making part of it, the dialogue, the problem, and information on the suggestion that led to the solution of the problem;
• i) reusing the knowledge contributed in steps (a) to (g) when similar problems subsequently arise, so that they are completely solved at step (b);
• and
• j) keeping track of the knowledge contributed by each expert, and subsequent cases solved by such knowledge, as a tool for performance monitoring and incentive generation.