This year will be when Enterprise 2.0 becomes firmly established. Different countries are at different stages of development and uptake, but the broad trend is clearly visible. This is not to say that at the end of this year all organizations will be using Web 2.0-style tools and approaches, however the momentum this year will become undeniable. We are already at the point where virtually all large organizations have some kind of recognized activities in the space, even if it’s just a department trialling a wiki. If we take into account unofficial activities, then we can say that all organizations are doing something. In all of my research and conversations with large organizations, it’s clear to me that the space is ripe to become
According to ReadWriteWeb, Forrester’s report Top Enterprise 2.0 Predictions for 2008 (a very expensive 8 page report) agrees, and suggests a few reasons why Web 2.0 tools will hit the mainstream this year.
First is that the geeks in IT are already playing with these fun tools on their own behalf, and that the visibility and the value will mean they are trialled more broadly in the organization.
Second is that so many employees are already using online applications and web tools because it’s easier than asking IT to get things done, so companies will prefer to offer them robust, secure applications rather than incur the risk of things not being done well.
Third is that using Web 2.0 tools demonstrates leadership and innovation, which among other benefits, attracts and retains talented staff.
The report emphasizes RSS as a key platform for Enterprise 2.0, and says that enterprise mashups will eat into existing markets including portals and search. Absolutely – what used to be difficult and expensive is becoming easy and inexpensive. Of course, that’s if it’s done well…
Interview on SBS TV World News tonight: What the Microsoft Yahoo! bid really means
By Ross DawsonI have just been interviewed by SBS TV about Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo! The interview will appear on their World News program tonight as part of their coverage of the story.
I’m not sure what parts of the interview they’ll use, but some of the points I raised were:
* This is a massive deal. It would be the second largest media merger in history, after the $106 billion AOL – Time Warner merger in 2000. The next biggest after that, as shown in our analysis of the largest media transactions over the last 15 years, is Viacom’s $38 billion acquisition of CBS (with the two companies splitting again in 2005).
* There are three possibilities of what will happen from here. The first and most likely is that the bid succeeds. When Yahoo! turned down overtures from Microsoft around a year ago, it was a reasonable stance to say they could do better alone than owned by Microsoft. The last year, and in particular the last six months, have created an entirely different picture. Yahoo!’s stock has declined 44% since its highs last October, its profits have fallen, and the company doesn’t appear to have a clear, differentiated strategy. In contrast, Google’s fourth-quarter results showed revenues up over 50% year-on-year. Given the 62% premium that Microsoft is offering, constrasted with a falling stock price, it would be very difficult for the board to justify turning the offer down.
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How looking at the computer games we play can predict the future
By Ross DawsonI occasionally compile interesting quotes. I was just adding one to my list today and I came across a gem I mined some years ago:
So perhaps all we need to do is to look at the computer games of today to predict the future… :-)
Predictions for the future of the home and immersive technologies
By Ross DawsonConnected Home magazine’s January/ February issue has a feature article titled Beyond Tomorrow, based on a presentation I gave at the Influence conference on Six Trends that are Transforming Online (the link has some more detail on what I covered), followed by an interview with me. The intro reads:
Unfortunately the article is not on the web, so below are the parts of the article that directly quote me – the rest of article consists of anecdotes about futurists and references to specific current technologies that illustrate my ideas.
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We’re looking for an Extremely Talented Part-Time Office/ Events/ Digital Media Assistant in Sydney – please pass on!
By Ross DawsonThis year looks set to be a very interesting – perhaps transitional – period for my organizations Future Exploration Network and Advanced Human Technologies. While they currently function as highly virtual firms with only a small core team, they may start to grow more as we do larger projects and also get involved in some online ventures. Our strategy is to largely hire people in part-time roles, which gives us access to a whole pool of students, parents, enterpreneurs, and deviants who find it hard to get stimulating and challenging work within their constraints, and keeps us fluid and flexible.
We’ll be advertising a couple more roles in the next little while. For now please pass on this ad to anyone who you think might be interested – thanks!
Extremely Talented Office/ Events/ Digital Media Assistant – Part-Time
Media | Internet | Strategy| Events | Future : Work in a boutique international firm in a highly diverse role including administration and using your talents
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Digg, DataPortability, and business models
By Ross DawsonFollowing my post last week on the DataPortability Working Group, Digg has just announced on its blog that it is joining it too. It says:
VentureBeat offers some interesting thoughts on what this might imply, including social network portability and targeted advertising models.
Just as important is the further momentum this adds to DataPortability. Mashable shows the results of a user survey on what people think about DataPortability, showing just under half think there are great results already. With Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and now many of the other relevant parties involved, it’s up to the Dataportability group to fulfil its promise. Knowing the people involved, their technical competence and their passion for doing this right, the odds are strongly stacked in favor of this significantly changing the online landscape this year. Internet business strategists will have to reconsider business models. And most importantly, as I wrote the other day, the real potential is to massively increase the value of the Net to all users.
2008 will be the year of Enterprise 2.0
By Ross DawsonThis year will be when Enterprise 2.0 becomes firmly established. Different countries are at different stages of development and uptake, but the broad trend is clearly visible. This is not to say that at the end of this year all organizations will be using Web 2.0-style tools and approaches, however the momentum this year will become undeniable. We are already at the point where virtually all large organizations have some kind of recognized activities in the space, even if it’s just a department trialling a wiki. If we take into account unofficial activities, then we can say that all organizations are doing something. In all of my research and conversations with large organizations, it’s clear to me that the space is ripe to become
According to ReadWriteWeb, Forrester’s report Top Enterprise 2.0 Predictions for 2008 (a very expensive 8 page report) agrees, and suggests a few reasons why Web 2.0 tools will hit the mainstream this year.
First is that the geeks in IT are already playing with these fun tools on their own behalf, and that the visibility and the value will mean they are trialled more broadly in the organization.
Second is that so many employees are already using online applications and web tools because it’s easier than asking IT to get things done, so companies will prefer to offer them robust, secure applications rather than incur the risk of things not being done well.
Third is that using Web 2.0 tools demonstrates leadership and innovation, which among other benefits, attracts and retains talented staff.
The report emphasizes RSS as a key platform for Enterprise 2.0, and says that enterprise mashups will eat into existing markets including portals and search. Absolutely – what used to be difficult and expensive is becoming easy and inexpensive. Of course, that’s if it’s done well…
DataPortability looks set to massively increase the value of the Net to users
By Ross DawsonOver the last few weeks excitement has been mounting over the DataPortability movement, which has a mission of giving users control over their data. It brings together a range of existing initiatives, including APML, OpenID, RSS, and others to enable personal data to be shared between applications and vendors. The initiative is spearheaded by Chris Saad, with a broad global team involved, and rapidly growing membership of the group.
The latest hot news is that Microsoft is joining the DataPortability group. Other recent new participants include Facebook, LinkedIn and Flickr. Many of the big names in technology and other key social networking sites are believed to be on the verge of announcing their participation. Critical mass is essential for this kind of initiative; it now seems to have reached the point at which this is likely to become a true industry-wide initiative. The media attention DataPortability is getting, including from mainstream press such as the Financial Times, shows this is not just a geek thing.
Last year I wrote many times and about the trend to openness on the web, and the reinvigoration of the concept of infomediaries. Several commentators have suggested that DataPortability is one of the most important initiatives on the web for 2008. The issue is absolutely a defining one for where the information economy goes, and the momentum on the initiative just in the first month of the year suggests that the group will bring together the energy the community has in making data portable.
If we look at the really big picture of the Internet, a large part of what is holding back value to users is how applications are fragmenting people’s data and attention. Having true data portability would make the Net far easier to use and far more valuable to people. Just the last year or two has convinced me that people believe they should control their own data. The Net is inevitably going to follow those desires. It’s looking like DataPortability is going to be a central mechanism in this transformative shift in the online world.
Michael Pick has created a neat 2 minute video explaining the key concepts of DataPortability – see below.
DataPortability – Connect, Control, Share, Remix from Smashcut Media on Vimeo.
User Filtered Content (UFC) is what Web 2.0 is about… and Digg is a UFC site
By Ross DawsonAt the Crunchy awards last week Digg was named best User Generated Content (UGC) site. As many people pointed out since then, Digg is in fact not a user generated content site, since the people don’t submit content to the site, but links to other sites.
Allen Stern suggests that Digg is a UGC aggregator. Josh Catone thinks that UGC is perfectly accurate for Digg.
Back in 2006 I posted the notes to my speech at the Influence conference on Web 2.0 and User Filtered Content, pointing out that Web 2.0 is largely about users collectively filtering content after they have generated it. Earlier in the year the content section of our Future of Media Strategic Framework showed how both media and users create and filter content. Creating and filtering content are different activities.
I think it’s well time that User Filtered Content comes into its own as a term, and isn’t confused with User Generated Content.
See our latest Trend Map! What to expect in 2008 and beyond….
By Ross DawsonNowandnext.com and Future Exploration Network have once again collaborated to create a trend map for 2008 and beyond.
Our Trend Map for 2007+ had a major impact, with over 40,000 downloads, fantastic feedback (“The World’s Best Trend Map. Ever.” “I got shivers” “Amazing” “Fascinating” “Magnifique” etc. etc.), and inspired several other trend maps including Information Architects’ first map of web trends.
While last year’s map was based on the London tube map, the 2008 map is derived from Shanghai’s underground routes. Limited to just five lines, the map uncovers key trends across Society, Politics, Demographics, Economy, and Technology.
Click on the map below to get the full pdf.
Trends mentioned in the map include:
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Knowledge-centered support: Greg Oxton workshop in Sydney
By Ross DawsonI first caught up with Greg Oxton a few years ago while I was in San Francisco. It seemed like an obvious connection, as he runs the Consortium for Service Innovation, a group of very large organizations with significant service and support operations. Their focus on Knowledge-Centered Support overlaps with my idea of Knowledge-Based Client Relationships, and in the second edition of my book on the subject I referred to the very interesting work of a couple of their members.
Greg will be in Sydney on 20-21 February to speak at the Services Industry Best Practice Showcase and to run a one-day workshop on Knowledge-Centered Support. This material definitely represents leading global practice for service and support.