Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum Blog

Here is an old (November 2, 2007) interview I did on SkyBusiness about social networks, examining both the industry landscape and how social networks can be valuable inside organizations. What I like best about this is that for much of the interview they had up a banner reading “Facebook And Other Social Networking Sites Can Be Beneficial For Corporations”, a message that business audiences, especially at the time, hadn’t heard much before.

Some of the things I discuss in the interview:
* The role of advertising networks in social networks
* The upcoming launch of Google’s Open Social and what it means for the sector
* The value to organizations of encouraging strong social networks
* Examples of companies using Facebook and other social networks internally
* How Enterprise 2.0 takes social media tools to apply to organizational productivity

A rather popular topic these days is the risks to organizations of using social networks. An article in today’s Australian Financial Review examines the issue in detail, with an interview of me (excerpted below) hopefully balancing out the other opinions expressed in the article. Unfortunately the way I was quoted seemed to overemphasize my cautions relative to the benefits I discussed.

I am finding it very tiresome to continuously hear security consultants and vendors with big PR budgets go on endlessly about risks, without ever mentioning business benefits. This drone gets into executives’ heads, and as a result discussion of social networks – and many other potentially valuable business tools – focuses on risk and not benefit.

My Enterprise 2.0 Governance Framework explicitly addresses risks, benefits, and actions. It is critical to acknowledge, understand, and minimize risk, but executives are equally culpable if they ignore business value as if they ignore risk.

In the interview with the journalist I basically said that transparency increases business value, however providing transparency must be done intelligently and strategically. The danger is that executives become frightened of the risks, so unintelligently don’t provide transparency, and thus negatively impact the company’s value. Effective business leaders understand that in a complex world business value requires a highly nuanced approach, rather than the black and white view of organizations that is so frequently peddled. Excerpts from the article are below:

When one of Australia’s leading evangelists for Enterprise 2.0 acknowledges “there are some real dangers in an increasingly transparent world”, it’s worth listening.

Ross Dawson, chairman of the Future Exploration Network, is a great fan of online collaboration and communication, but admits there are limits. While research has revealed “a positive impact on stock prices where there is more transparency”, he warns that companies which transparently reported their customers’ private information, for example, would quickly see the opposite effect on share prices.

Some more media coverage of the Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum (also see previous media coverage of Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum):

Online Banking Review did a review of Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum titled Don’t Be Afraid of Web 2.0. It begins:

Large corporates are struggling to relinquish the control they must sacrifice in order to successfully leverage Enterprise 2.0 applications. That’s the consensus from a recent forum on Enterprise 2.0 held by the Future Exploration Network.

In addition, the Social Media Show recently did a podcast interview of Peter Evan-Greenwood of Capgemini, who spoke at the Forum. Des Walsh's conversation with Peter covers:
• Google Apps
• cultural change issues that come up with the introduction of Web 2.0 technology in the enterprise
• the emerging role of Enterprise 2.0 in the government sector
• how the technology helps companies get measurable business value from their knowledge work processes.

In organizational network analysis circles, an MIT study on how people find information is often cited. The research showed that in an organization, people were five times more likely to go to people than to databases to get answers to their questions. So knowledge workers’ productivity is strongly related to their social networks, in terms of who they know who can help them, and whether there is sufficient trust and reciprocal value in the relationship that they get a response.

It is far more efficient and effective for people to be able to identify the most likely people to help them rather than barraging everyone with the one query and hoping that someone will respond. The early knowledge management systems were largely based on broadcast systems within organizations to be get help on particularly issues. In many cases companies used broadcast emails to get help.

People’s email inboxes have long been so overloaded that broadcast emails are rarely welcome. Certainly the highest leverage approaches to connecting knowledge effectively are in enhancing organizational networks, in terms of how well people know each others’ expertise and have strong social bonds. However now that a whole layer of new communication tools has emerged, there are new possibilities. Twitter in particular is already used within communities to ask questions and get ready responses, and many Twitterers will attest they have got great answers to pressing questions. So the question arises as to whether Twitter should be used as an organizational tool.

On Friday I caught up with Euan Semple in London. It was great to meet, as we’d just conversed over email, voice, and video up until then, and of course had him present over video at our Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum in February.

It recently occurred to me that when I catch up with interesting people, I should make a brief video at the end of the meeting to summarize the most intriguing ideas that had come up in the course of our conversation. This is the first time I have tried it, though I hope to do this a lot more regularly now. One of the biggest benefits is capturing for myself the most interesting insights from the conversations I have. It’s also great to share these with others.

In this case I did a very poor job of making the video. First the tape ran out in the middle of the conversation. Then I rewound the tape, and ended up going over the beginning of the earlier conversation. Hopefully I have learned my lesson from this – there are still some very interesting points made by Euan in the video. Forgive the discontinuities.

Tuesday’s edition of The Australian has an article titled Business yet to harness Web 2.0. Overall it takes a rather sceptical approach to the topic, though it does include some positive comments.

Beginning with an overview of what Web 2.0, and suggesting it is confusing, it goes on:

Business strategy analyst Ross Dawson says Web 2.0 systems are becoming part of everyday business processes, like it or not.

"Virtually every large organisation is using these tools and in many cases it's not sanctioned as part of an overall technology strategy.

"However, partly in recognition that many users are doing this anyway, large organisations are deciding this is something they need to think about, develop a strategy, and understand the value and the risks," Dawson says.

The article then quotes IDC research that 50% of companies in the Asia Pacific see Web 2.0 as a business opportunity, while 8% see it as a threat. It says that Australian corporate giants Telstra, Westpac, Lend Lease, AMP, and Suncorp are all active in Web 2.0, though apparently the last three declined to comment for the article, saying it is too early to speak about their initiatives. This is rather disappointing, since I know that for at least two of these companies their activities are absolutely advanced enough to share with comfort.

[UPDATE] I've just reread the article and I see there was a subtle but very important misquotation here. "Dawson says companies need to take action to ensure their Web 2.0 strategies stay within corporate governance rules." No that's NOT what I said.

I said that corporate governance needs to be re-examined in the light of emerging technologies and changing business environment. Existing governance mechanisms are almost never adequate for the manifold implications of the new tools and technologies. Organizations must adapt or re-establish governance structures that will tap the business value of Web 2.0 tools, while addressing concerns and risks. See my draft Enterprise 2.0 governance framework.

IBM's Web 2.0 offerings are centered on their Lotus Connections suite of social software, which includes Profiles, Communities, Blogs, Dogear (social bookmarking), and Activities (collaborative workflow). I wrote about Lotus Connections when it was launched in January 2007. An overview of Lotus Connections is below.

The week before the Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum, Future Exploration Network and IBM hosted a roundtable of senior executives discussing Enterprise 2.0.

Highlights of the discussions were written up in a report which is being made openly available, to assist other executives in considering the key issues involved. Download the report here:

Executive Insights into Enterprise 2.0:
Lessons from the Enterprise 2.0 Executive Roundtable

INTRODUCTION
Enterprise 2.0 – the application of Web 2.0 approaches inside organisations - is one of the most topical issues today for senior technology executives. To eludicate the concepts and to enable experiences to be shared, Future Exploration Network and IBM invited a select group of senior executives to Sydney’s Level 41 restaurant on 13 February 2008. In a free-ranging discussion overlooking Sydney’s harbour, the executives discussed Enterprise 2.0 and its implications and potential for large organisations.

CONTENTS
Roundtable Participants
Introduction to Enterprise 2.0
Defining Enterprise 2.0
Identifying Business Value
Risks and Concerns
Social Networks in the Enterprise
The Shifting Role of IT
Organisational Culture in Enterprise 2.0
The Role of Governance

There has been some great media coverage of the Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum. Below is a summary of some of the articles and media that are available online. It is very encouraging that the mainstream media is not only taking up these themes, but giving it such positive coverage - the articles are well worth a read.

Sydney Morning Herald: Facebook up to it
Excellent review of the event and the rise of Enterprise 2.0

Smartcompany: Web 2.0: Our winning ways
Interview with Ross Dawson on the state of Enterprise 2.0

MIS The Scoop podcast: Australian Enterprise 2.0 lessons revealed
Podcast of excerpts from the Enterprise 2.0 case studies presented at the Executive Forum

Internal Comms Hub: Enterprise 2.0 should be harnessed as a strategic asset
Overview of the Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum and key lessons

Computerworld: Janssen-Cilag dances Enterprise 2.0 jig
Review of Janssen-Cilag case study presented at the Executive Forum

The Financial Standard: Wikis may be working for Westpac
Review of Westpac case study presented at the Executive Forum

Metaverse Journal: Enterprise 2.0 forum - Business IS getting it
Review of Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum

NineMSN: Social networking sites help boost business: expert
Ross Dawson’s on the value of social networking for organizations

Social Media Show: Podcast interviews with David Holloway and Stephen Collins

[UPDATE]
The Australian: Business yet to harness Web 2.0
Review of Web 2.0 in Australia, quoting speakers at Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum

We have been posting the speaker presentations at the Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum on the event blog as they have been made available. Here is a summary of the presentations that the speakers have provided to us:

(Note: to see slide details in the slide shows, view the slides on Slideshare and put the presentation into full screen mode).

Ross Dawson, Chairman, Future Exploration Network

Euan Semple
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2092226/Euan-Semple-Handout


Peter Evans-Greenwood, Chief Technology Officer, Capgemini



David Backley, Chief Technology Officer, Westpac


Nathan Wallace, Associate Director - Technology, Janssen-Cilag
Link to Nathan’s presentation and blog posts on Janssen-Cilag’s Enterprise 2.0 initiatives

Jonathan Stern, Business Unit Executive, Lotus Software A/NZ


Andrew McAfee, Associate Professor, Harvard Business School
We have had a number of requests for Andrew’s video presentation at the event, but unfortunately we have not been given permission to provide the video in any other venue or format. However there are many great resources from Andrew on the web, including:
Andrew’s blog
Video of Andrew speaking at Enterprise 2.0 conference in Boston

Notes from the roundtable at E2EF forum on corporate culture

These are just snippets of the conversation, in no particular order

About IT departments:

• how to change a difficult corporate culture


• how to enable web 2.0 in an organistation that has very strict policies on internet usage eg facebook.


• It stems from it trying to protect their infrastructure and systems


• IT block because they can't control traffic


• How do we manage when ppl step over the boundaries. Young people may not know that publishing things on facebook could damage the company


• Light governance is the way


• Have formal guidelines


• Google team app – users taking it into their own hands.


• Need to educate the ceo's

About the E2.0 Tools and Communication and Collaboration

• What is your value to the organisation


• sharing of information = your value


• How do you value the conversations


• Is there a cultural barrier about sharing


• Sharing at the moment is social, but will it translate to the organisation


• Make a culture of sharing success via incentive etc


• Does incentivising individuals discourage sharing?


• How can we have education without dampening enthusiasm


• Have some blogging codes of conduct


• Don't be stupid


• Don't say on your blog what you would not say at the bar – attributed to Frank Arrigo (Microsoft)


• let the staff drive the need for the collaboration tools to get the buy in


• Frustrated and disempowered workforce may be ready for an e2.0 solution.


• Provide a structure for those that are not so good with technology

• use the right tools for the occasion


• one of the tools will be particularly suited to the application


• ease of use and application


• if it useful and provides a benefit it will get an uptake

The culture is not related to adoption

• latent demand for the ability to communicate is the major factor.


• It unleashes the energy


• And the artefact is left to be able to search

About the Generational Differences

• Will the gen y integrate and be indoctrinated


• Internally the generations will merge but the customers will still be heterogeneous

• there are areas of need


• there are drivers


• there is enthusiasm


• the enthusiasm wears off


• but the technology now is much better so it will be easier to keep the momentum going

We need to retain talent

About Green Issues

• Green / corporate social responsibility – people are expecting to ask these questions now – what are the next set of questions.


• People have an attachment to flying / travelling rather than use green options.

Thanks to Jodie Miners for these notes. Jodie has also posted on her blog her thoughts from the day.

An article in the Sydney Morning Herald titled Facebook up to it by doyen technology journalist Graeme Philipson gives a great review of the Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum from last week, excerpted below.

Until now, Web 2.0 applications have mostly affected individuals. Companies and government organisations have largely retained more traditional methods of communication. The primary collaborative technology for most organisations in the modern world has become email, which is very much a Web 1.0, or first generation, internet application.

That is now changing. Web 2.0 applications are increasingly finding their way into the enterprise. This phenomenon has, inevitably, been dubbed Enterprise 2.0. That term was invented last year by Harvard Business School professor Andrew McAfee, who has emerged as something of an international authority on the subject. Last week I heard a remarkable presentation by Professor McAfee on the state of play with Enterprise 2.0 worldwide. His talk was beamed in via Skype from Orlando, Florida, where he was attending an enterprise search conference. He spoke to 200 of us assembled in a conference room in Sydney's Luna Park to discuss Enterprise 2.0 in Australia.

…

The event I attended where we heard Professor McAfee's words of wisdom was the grandly named "Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum", run by Sydney company Future Enterprise Network (FEN). FEN (futureexploration.net) is run by Ross Dawson, who has become one of Australia's leading internet gurus in recent years. He also runs regular events on the future of media.

In addition to the insights from Andrew McAfee, the article covers the points raised by Euan Semple, who drove the BBC’s move into social media, and the many real live practitioners of Enterprise 2.0 who are in Sydney. It discusses the reluctance by some to embrace these technologies, but also suggests that this shift is inevitable. This is probably the best one-stop review of the event – have a read!

James Gardner, head of innovation at Lloyds TSB, writes consistently on his blog Bankervision, disclosing some of the key issues involved in innovating in a major bank. In a recent post New ways of collaborating at the bank, James writes about how Lloyds TSB is piloting social media such as blogs. Some excerpts from his below show how blogging can change how corporations work.

We have one blog, for example, that documents the trials and tribulations of a member of the team that is implementing the social media pilot for us. Along the way there have been a couple of roadbumps, of course, and this particular blog offers the opinions of the team on the ground as things have gone wrong. It is a very positive and welcome read. Quite often, one doesn't have a deep understanding of the real issues that caused the problem in the first place. Sometimes, you want the details without all the unpeeling that goes on before you can get them. This is a blog that does that.

...

We've just received approval to post David Backley's slides from his presentation at Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum, as below (Note: to see slide details, view the slides on Slideshare and put the presentation into full screen mode).

In the wake of the Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum, Smartcompany magazine has published an interview with me titled Web 2.0: Our winning ways. It begins:

Entrepreneur Ross Dawson is a leading international expert on the way businesses are using web 2.0 in Australia – and he has good news.

After lagging behind our international counterparts in the enterprise 2.0 stakes, Australia is starting to catch up in its use of blogs, wikis, social networks, social search and virtual worlds.

Ross tells Amanda Gome what’s hot, how businesses are benefiting – and what’s destined for the 2.0 dustbin.

A few brief selections from my responses to the interview:

At last I am very encouraged. The response from people at the conference shows there is a lot happening. Up until now organisations have been shy about putting up their hands and talking about what they are doing. Up until now there has also been disparate things being done by different users in different departments. But now things are being squarely addressed by executives at the top of the company so people are prepared to talk about it.

Companies are striving to create more value from the participation of their employees, customers and suppliers by using web 2.0.

...

From a couple of months before the Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum held last week, I had been hoping to create some kind of governance framework or implementation framework for Enterprise 2.0 that would be useful at the event.

Last year I created our Web 2.0 Framework, which has now been downloaded around 40,000 times and I gather been used by quite a few organizations in their planning and strategy. This time I wanted to create something that would be useful to help organizations understand and address both the risks and business value of Enterprise 2.0 approaches.

What I have seen in most large organizations is that senior executives’ amorphous understanding of the risks in Enterprise 2.0 has overwhelmed their equally fuzzy grasp of their potential to create business value. A governance perspective articulates and responds to the risks to the business, and also ensures that value is not left on the table – a very important aspect of executive accountability.

In the end I didn’t have time to do the task justice, but quickly pulled together a rough framework to use in my kick-off presentation for the Forum, as below.

In the wake of the Enteprise 2.0 Executive Forum, Peter-Evans Greenwood, CTO of Capgemini Australia, has written in considerably more detail on his thoughts on culture and generational change, which he and others spoke about on the final panel on the path forward.

I have a theory. It seems that most people learn something in their early to mid 20s, and then spend the rest of their career happily doing the same thing over and over again. …. Once they’ve established what it is they do they just want to keep doing it, hoping that the world will remain as it was in their early adulthood.

…

If change is the driver in our organizations, but our organizations are resistant to change, then the biggest challenge we face in not technical but the strategy we use to manage change. It’s quite easy to define a technically and economically possible solution that would provide a boost to our business, or even deliver a step change in capability. But if we cannot get our organization to deliver and then adopt the solution, all our work will be for naught.

…

So what does this mean for the IT department? No matter how important our success is to the success of the company as a whole, IT is a cost center; value is created at the business coal face, not in the IT department. It’s not our job to deploy the new Enterprise 2.0 solution that will revolutionize the business and then force the business to change. We need to focus on the users, rather than thinking in terms of technologies and IT assets, understand the challenges they are facing and provide them with tools and techniques that they can use to innovate themselves. IT as facilitator rather than asset manager. Or as I heard in the Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum the other day, give them they structure they want and focus on managing the flow rather than trying to force them to do something a particular way.

…

Here are a few links to more detailed information on the Janssen-Cilag Wiki Intranet case study:

• Our Intranet, the Wiki: Case Study of a Wiki changing an Enterprise.
• Building Enterprise 2.0 on Culture 1.0.
• Clarify. Simplify. Implement.

The presentation slides are also available here.

Here is additional media coverage of Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum on Internal Comms Hub:

Enterprise 2.0 should be harnessed as a strategic asset
" Several key themes emerged from the day’s presentations, including “participation” being the most important aspect of Enterprise 2.0 – not the technology.

There was much discussion on the differences between generations X and Y, and how new demographics will react to organizations that try to restrict and control intranet behaviors that have rapidly outpaced the capabilities of corporate intranets."

Here are some photos from the event, hosted on Flickr and tagged e2ef (see some of the other intriguing photos with the same tag!).

If you took some photos, please share them on this blog!

Andrew is one of the coming stars at HBS. His contribution at Enterprise 2.0 Forum on Tuesday was excellent. Usual Harvard smoothness and excitement.

As I write this he is giving the Forum at my alma mater
Xerox PARC

A video of the talk will be archived on the site.
Craig

Here is a fantastic resources for those who couldn’t attend the Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum (or those who did and want to share the ideas with their colleagues).

Mark Jones of MIS magazine’s The Scoop podcast series recorded three of the case studies presented at the event, and has created a 30 minute podcast of excerpts from the case studies presented by Victor Rodrigues of Cochlear, David Backley of Westpac, and Nathan Wallace of Janssen-Cilag. (See the event speaker bios for details.)

Click here to go to The Scoop podcast on "Australian Enterprise 2.0 lessons revealed".

All three case studies are extremely interesting, with some very honest sharing of each organization’s current activities, lessons learned, and vision moving forward. These kinds of case studies should prove an inspiration to other companies that are implementing Enterprise 2.0 or considering doing so.

“What do you do when someone in your team just won’t collaborate via the blog, or share their knowledge on the team wiki? What do you do with team members like that?”


This was one of the questions in the roundtable sessions at the Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum. I was on the table covering “Culture and adoption issues”.

The idealistic answer, of course, is to ask, “Do you really want that person on your team?”

But, in reality, is it really that simple?

Here is Euan Semple's presentation that was handed out to attendees, on the Scribd document sharing site:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2092226/Euan-Semple-Handout

Thanks to all the participants at yesterdays roundtable on enterprise 2.0 for financial institutions. I’m sure we could have spent many more hours discussing the challenges and opportunities for the financial sector – we’re looking to run a dedicated forum on enterprise and web 2.0 for financial institutions in May if there’s enough interest.

Here’s my summary, and of course I hope we can continue this discussion via the comments below.

The general feeling from the table was that financial institutions are still struggling with relinquishing control, making it difficult to truly embrace both enterprise and Web 2.0. There are still plenty of large banks banning Facebook, much to the embarrassment and frustration of their employees. Some institutions are actively discouraging Facebook users from revealing who they work for on their Facebook site, and some bankers believe Facebook and work identities shouldn’t mix. Smaller institutions seem to be more open to the idea – Newcastle Permanent Building Society has a Facebook group and doesn’t attempt to control what goes on there.

I asked the group why the industry has been slow to adopt enterprise 2.0 apps. While there’s a lot of interest in wikis, bankers feel building a business case is difficult for something that delivers “intangible results”, “tech” terms like wiki and even enterprise 2.0 put some people off, and larger institutions are still trying to successfully merge business and IT so that such opportunities are driven by the business and not IT teams.

Nevertheless there was an acknowledgement that both staff and customers expect the corporation to offer apps that in many cases they are using elsewhere, and so it’s likely there will be more experimentation by the sector, if only for recruitment and retention purposes.

As always start-ups have the upper hand in this race to innovate – we briefly discussed financial social networking sites (eg Wesabe, Mint) at the roundtable yesterday, as well as peer to peer lending (Eg Fosik, iGrin) – both of which have the potential to threaten the relationships banks have with their customers. I’ve got more on Wesabe over at the Better Banking Blog and would recommend bankers watch these start-ups closely to better understand why the industry needs to rethink its desire to control information.

The Exec Forum was a great day, full of fascinating (and fascinated) people and, as usual, a huge amount jam-packed into a short time.

 

There's been enough comment on what happened on the day, but there are clearly a lot of conversations that are going to continue. Some of them are:

• * Can organisations take advantage of existing social network applications? (eg Facebook)
• * Should we allow open access to these at work (are they legitimate tools, social or otherwise)?
• * Is Gen C really that different? Can their energy be harnessed the way we want?
• * (and if so, does technology really have a role to play in this?)
• * Is Enterprise 2.0 for everyone? And what makes it meaningful for you?
• * Will mobile really take off as a enterprise device (other than communications) and will this be in "2.0"

 

I don't know the answers to these, but asking the questions is always useful. I see "new media" companies which are really "old media through a different interface" (thinks: TV == 'radio with picture'). Now we hear people talk about the mobile internet and I think radio with pictures.

 

In Australia, we are a PC-centric country - unlike most of Asia which is more mobile-centric. This means that our embracing of technology, rich experience, interaction - is almost always going to be through a PC (and even my iPhone was a pain to blog on yesterday).

 

To me, Web 2.0 was allowing the user to engage in a conversation with other users. Enterpise 2.0 needs to be about the users engaging in a conversation with their suppliers, brand, employers or dealers.

 

And next week, we'll start on Web 3.0 (which I think is about engaging in a conversation with the content)....

 

But first, the conversations between you and me about all this. When's the next one?

 

We’ve already had a fair bit of media coverage for Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum. Some of the media coverage includes:

Janssen-Cilag dances Enterprise 2.0 jig (Computerworld)
“Pharmaceutical giant Janssen-Cilag has overhauled its enterprise applications to introduce collaboration with a wiki that integrates IT asset management and even micro-blogging.”

Wikis may be working for Westpac (The Sheet) [Note that registration is required.]
[UPDATE: The full story is available on The Financial Standard]
“The arrival of Gail Kelly at the helm of Westpac may accelerate the bank’s adoption of “Web 2.0” tools such as blogs, wikis and social networks, allowing staff to share information freely and collaborate online.”

Exploring the future of Enterprise 2.0 (Melcrum)
“Run from 8.30am-2pm the event took place at breakneck pace, and covered a massive amount on the topic of social media and Web 2.0 in the workplace. There was much talk of knowledge and knowledge workers, easing employee frustrations, helping individuals to do their jobs more easily, differentiating to attract and retain the best talent and increasing employee engagement (yes, all of this in just 5.5 hours).”

There was also last week’s coverage of Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum:

Social networking sites help boost business: expert (NineMSN)
"Facebook, Instant Messenger and other online networking tools aren't mere workplace distractions — they improve the way we do business.Future Exploration Network chairman Ross Dawson says that a firm's success increasingly hinges on its ability to share knowledge and expertise both with its employees and external clients."

I understand there is a fair bit of media coverage yet to come – I’ll post here when I hear about it

There was mention yesterday of two public sector examples of enterprise 2.0 ... or more correctly government 2.0. Two of the cases were fixmystreet.com and safeas.govt.nz.

Fixmystreet.com, an initiative of the Young Foundation in the UK, illustrates the power of allowing customers to directly issue work orders to local councils in the United Kingdom, combining photos and maps to efficiently communicate what needs to be done and where. Individual citizens are now able to interact in a more direct way with councils, and councils are held transparently accountable for the speed of their response.

The New Zealand government’s safeas.govt.nz public consultation on road safety policy enabled a transparent public discussion using interactive online forums – something the Kiwis have referred to as ‘policy naked’. There is also a forum discussion in progress for revision of the Justice act. You may also be interested in the NZ Government's online guides and forums for participation.
Link to guidelines are at http://www.e.govt.nz/policy/participation which is the home page for participation activities, with the Guidelines themselves at http://www.e.govt.nz/policy/participation/guide-to-online-participation.html

Thanks to Tessa, Patrick, John, Sharmila and Sheryl for the discussion ... please comment if you would like to add to or disagree with my summary!

General gist was alongs these lines:

Experiences with SN in the workplace varied very much depending on size of organisation. Large organisations pretty much all seemed to ban it (i.e Facebook, LinkedIn or Bebo at work) while small organisations seemed not to need/value it (people can chat face to face).

Wikis and blogs were viewed as almost ubiquitous but social networking less so ... 

In theory, however, all agreed that it has value, should not be banned, and should be pretty much open - i.e. a mix of personal and work networking (the same as the way email is used currently).

Maybe organisations should encourage personal social networking to just get people familiar with using the new platforms? Maybe ... but this could be a red rag to a bull ...  

There are different views about the extent to which 'personal' information ought be visible at work.  In practice people will probably still want to maintain separate personal and professional profiles ... Jekyl & Hyde or Hyde & Jekyl?

Large and geographically dispersed organisations ought benefit the most.

Public Facebook vs. private Facebook vs. internal corporate platform (say Lotus Connections for example)? The view seemed to be that many people are members of a number of networks and would want their network to be independent of their employer (so you didn't lose your network if you changed jobs).  This has interesting implications for the concept of social network portability/interoperability and for the likely take-up of corporate-owned social network platforms.  Maybe the solution will be the ability to export networks in the same way that contacts can be exported from Outlook?

Biggest use at the moment is probably the common behaviour of looking up people's profile to suss them out prior to a meeting ... but the interesting point here is that most people will use Google anyway rather then a search on a social networking platform as there are a number of platforms to choose from ... easier just to 'Google them'.

Public sector organisations really need this but are unlikely to do it any time soon!!

Below is the presentation made by Jonathan Stern from Lotus at the Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum. It's well worth a look. (Note: to see slide details, view the slides on Slideshare and put the presentation into full screen mode)

In addition to the view on IBM's internal initiatives and client offerings, the statistics on slide 2 are extremely interesting, indicating that CEOs see that after employees, the next most important sources of new ideas and innovation are business partners, clients, and consultants, ahead of formal R&D.

The blog that Jonathan referred to in his presentation is edbrill.com, the work of Ed Brill, the Business Unit Executive of Worldwide Lotus Notes/Domino Sales for IBM's Software Group . Jonathan noted that IBM's internal systems host 27,000 blogs, and that there are 475,000 profiles on their BluePages.

What great conversations we had today! I hope the conversation continues, so here are my light (and paraphrased) blogging notes from wonderwebby at Enterprise 2.0 Executive forum.
 

On a Utopian 2.0

Euan Semple: The technologies are not utopian,  but they do bring visibility and accountablility

On Letting Go.

Nathan Wallace : Don’t impose structure if you want people to use the technology. Let people use it for whatever purpose. Learn to manage the flow instead.

On Barriers.

Nathan Wallace also talked about barriers to participation, such as the perception of more work being created, or the risks involved. To counter resistance, he focused on the simplicity and ease of use to employees.

Other barriers and employee perceptions mentioned by panel members: abuse of time, integrity of information, personal reputation, security, being prepared to take a risk.

On Positive Outcomes.

Mentioned by various speakers: Improved collaboration, trust, ability to share, global and regional visibility, easy metrics, conversations, low cost, engagement, integration, efficiency, reduced operational costs, sustainable competitive advantage, agility, flexibility, access to knowledge and Knowledge Workers.

Summary: I'll quote Victor Rodrigues (who was talking about retaining integrity): the errors that occur are small fish in the scale of what we are trying to achieve

 

There's some further exposition on the topic here

Slides for....

Expanding Enterprise 2.0 beyond the early adopters

A demonstration of how a user centric (rather than technology centric) approach to deploying Enterprise 2.0 technologies will drive adoption into your broader user community and deliver tangible benefits back into the business.

Cross posted from The Melcrum Blog

I spent most of today at the Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum, run by