I-Space (conceptual framework)


The Information Space, or I-Space was developed by Max Boisot as a conceptual framework relating the degree of structure of knowledge to its diffusibility as that knowledge develops.
This results in four different types of knowledge.
The I-Space model is commonly shown as a cube with three axes: abstraction, codification and diffusion. A social learning cycle is drawn, showing how as knowledge is increasingly moved from concrete experiential Zen type knowledge to codified highly abstract, where it is increasingly easy for it to diffuse independently of the knowledge holder. Once internalised it moves back to the concrete.
The I-Space framework is an acknowledged early influence on the development of the Cynefin framework.