Web 2.0: Our winning ways
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Last Updated: Tuesday, 26 February 2008
By Amanda Gome
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 (right) tells Amanda Gome what’s hot, how businesses are benefiting – and what’s destined for the 2.0 dustbin.
He is happy to answer your questions. Write to him – before 29 February – via feedback@smartcompany.com.au
Amanda Gome: You held an enterprise 2.0 conference last week with both Australian and international case studies to showcase how organisations are benefiting. You’re an expert on enterprise 2.0. What surprised you?
Ross Dawson: It surprised me how similar some of the comments from people were, whether they were from the US, the UK or local organisations.
One common theme is to let structures emerge. The more structured you are, the less likely things are to happen.
Take the predecessor of Wikipedia, Newpedia. This was set up as a review site, but it wasn’t until that small part of the site developed, where people could do anything, that it really took off.
It is both technological change and social change that is resulting in a more transparent, more human-oriented society. But is it technology changing society, or society changing technology? Probably both are true, and we are all shifting in the same direction.
What else is new?
The focus on experimentation. It was the most prominent word used. Westpac is the stand out case. The chief technology officer, David Backley, discussed how the bank was using blogs, wikis, Second Life and other web 2.0 technologies.
He says they expect to make mistakes but that’s why they are learning how to get real business value. The more open approach is allowing experimentation and discovery of paths rather then prescribing before hand the way people should go.
So we are experimenting. Does this mean we are catching up to our international counterparts?
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.