Today’s business users work with a range of information management tools designed to capture and provide access to critical business information. However, that information is of little value if users can’t find what they need. Business taxonomies can provide solutions to an organization’s knowledge management challenges. Although the concept of taxonomies is not new, organizations are beginning to focus increased attention on the design and development of intuitive and sustainable taxonomies that will serve their end users by making it easy to find the information they need in a single place. Today’s users have come to expect a simple way to both search and browse for their information, but still many organizations do not know where to begin in the design of such a system.

The first session in the series will provide an introduction to taxonomy and metadata benefits, design concepts, and strategies. The subsequent sessions will detail methodologies on 1) how to run taxonomy design workshops within your own organization, 2) how to design taxonomies from start to finish, and 3) how to ensure the appropriate maintenance and management of those taxonomies over time.

Joseph Busch is a Senior Principal for Information Management at PPC, and the knowledge lead for taxonomy and metadata. He is an authority in the field of information science, with an emphasis on helping organizations develop metadata frameworks and taxonomy strategies to ensure that content realizes its highest value through its re-use and re-purposing. He has extensive knowledge and experience developing content architectures consisting of metadata specifications, taxonomies and other information management methods to implement effective business applications including search engines, portals, web sites, content management systems, digital asset management systems, document management systems, knowledge management systems, e-learning and e-government. Mr. Busch was President of the American Society for Information Science and Technology in 2001, and for 6 years was a member of the Board of Directors of the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative.


Zach Wahl is the Global Director of Information Management at PPC, with oversight for all taxonomy and metadata, knowledge management, content management, collaboration, and social computing efforts for AEA and PPC. He is an expert and frequent speaker on the topics of Taxonomy Design, Knowledge Gathering, and Information Governance. He is the originator of the Business Taxonomy workshop design methodology. He focuses on the design and deployment of information management technologies and systems. In addition, Mr. Wahl has designed his own series of workshops on the topics of Taxonomy Design, Information Governance, and Knowledge Management. Mr. Wahl has managed the deployment of over 100 information management systems in both the public and private sectors. He also sits on the board of the Washington DC Knowledge Management Institute.


Jill Tabuchi is a Principal at PPC and an expert in information architecture, taxonomy and metadata design, web usability and content management strategy for clients in the government, media, hospitality, and products industries. She has significant experience in information architecture for web content management systems and document repositories, focusing on improving findability and knowledge capture and retention. She is a frequent speaker on topics including taxonomy design, content governance, social computing, portal strategy, content management, and web usability. Recently, Ms. Tabuchi has coordinated the taxonomy design, content management and web usability analysis for a federal government agency, providing critical transparency between government and the public. Ms. Tabuchi has provided similar services for a wide array of clients including the United States Senate, Government of Bermuda, and Jacobs Engineering.


Rachel Sondag is a Senior Associate in PPC's internationally known Knowledge Management practice. She specializes in the design, development, and deployment of knowledge management tools to serve users of all skill levels. She has experience in taxonomy design, metadata strategy, and enterprise content management deployment. Ms. Sondag has created taxonomies for government, non-profit, and commercial clients. She has also provided content management training for non-technical users highlighting the importance of metadata tagging.


Nick Nylund is a Principal Analyst in PPC's internationally known Knowledge Management Practice with a concentration in the design and development of taxonomy and metadata strategies for clients in both government and commercial industries. He is an expert in identifying and translating organizational business needs into functional roadmaps and actionable knowledge management implementation plans. Mr. Nylund is an experienced practitioner and facilitator of workshops and focus sessions on the topics of business taxonomy and metadata design, content management, communication and change management, governance, organizational and IT assessments. Mr. Nylund has ten years of experience in applying Program Management and Life Cycle Management methodologies through extensive project planning, scheduling, and costing. Mr. Nylund is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and holds an Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) certification.