The year of Web 2.0

Welcome to 2007 – the year in which Web 2.0 will permeate the enterprise, according to industry watchers. That, they say, will deliver many benefits: speed of deployment, anytime/anywhere access to service and information and, perhaps most important of all, increased participation. “From a business point of view,” says a recent report from Atos Consulting, “the participation aspect will help immensely with knowledge sharing and collaboration.”

Already, many forward-thinking companies are looking to use some of the social networking aspects of Web 2.0 – most obviously blogs and wikis – to enable employees to communicate internally with each other. So it makes sense to assume that the inclusion of business partners and customers in an organisation’s social network is the next logical step, leading to even greater openness and trust. “This will act as an enabler of innovation in enterprises by enabling them to leverage the collective intelligence of their stakeholders in order to create new products and services that fulfil a real need,” says the report.

In other words, increased participation means shared knowledge, and shared knowledge is power – or at least, one would hope, enhanced commercial opportunity. In this issue of Enterprise Information, we take a look at some early examples of increased participation and shared knowledge.

Our cover feature, for example, looks at the growing range of tools available that can help colleagues and trading partners work together on co-authored documents. And in this month’s Q&A, we see how a government-backed initiative for the UK jewellery sector is using the web as a forum for dialogue between industry participants and thus as a means to boost the competitiveness of the sector as a whole.

Since collaboration and knowledge sharing are moving so close together, it is perhaps fitting that the Ark Group, publishers of Enterprise Information, have decided to incorporate future issues of the magazine with its sister title Inside Knowledge. For those au fait with the Web 2.0 lexicon, it is akin to a ‘mash-up’ – a website or application that combines content from more than one source into an integrated experience. We hope that you find the combination useful in helping you explore new levels of participation, openness and trust.

Jessica Twentyman

Consulting editor

Features

Workshop: Document capture This article is for subscribers only
The mailroom is going digital as companies increasingly look to eliminate the flow of paper correspondence around the workplace. By Bob Goodwin

Workshop: Carewords - The keys to action This article is for subscribers only
Carewords are the key words or phrases that can make all the difference to a successful website, argues Gerry McGovern. But they must be chosen and used with care. By Gerry McGovern

Case study: British Nuclear Group This article is for subscribers only
Record keeping in the nuclear industry has always been important. But there is a significant challenge in managing the records for an organisation of this size and complexity. By Graham Farrington

Cover feature: Working together This article is for subscribers only
Managing the production of co-authored documents can be an onerous task. Thankfully, there has never been a greater choice of tools to help the process run smoothly. By Jessica Twentyman

Regulars

Last word: Hacker secrets exposed This article is for subscribers only
As a director at a security software company, I’m often asked: what are the most common types of hacker and attack? Over time, I’ve discovered that the general public holds a somewhat romantic image of hackers. By Calum Macleod

Q&A: Jewellery Sector Investment Plan This article is for subscribers only
A new website, www.change-act-share.org.uk, is at the heart of a strategic programme intended to reinvigorate the UK’s jewellery sector. Enterprise Information spoke to Jewellery Sector Investment Plan representatives Fiona McKeith and Rabiya Hussain to find out more.

Opinion: Make a Web 2.0 resolution Free
It’s time to stop talking about Web 2.0 and take action. If your organisation made a resolution for 2007, I hope it was to do just that. After all, Time magazine has proudly declared that this year’s ‘Person of the Year’ is… you. Yes, you.

Book review: Killer Web Content Free
Putting up a website – even one intended to conduct e-commerce – is easy, these days. It isn’t simply that pretty much anyone can do it, but the plethora of tools available means that, very often, a site designer does not even need to be conversant with HTML, the language that holds it all together and one that ‘real’ software developers look down upon with disdain.