Recently in Web 2.0 Category

The UK Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has recently launched a discussion paper titled Web 2.0 and human resources, designed to help HR professionals to understand what Web 2.0 is and to contribute to organization’s activities in the space.

The paper is built around the key elements of my Web 2.0 Framework, which they nicely attribute me for, though also brings in a number of new elements, and wraps up with three case studies, including Pfizer’s Pfizerpedia, UK government departments’ use of forums, and T-mobile’s use of social networks for recruitment.

As I see and work with many organizations grappling with how to respond to and take advantage of Web 2.0, one of the challenges is that there is no one obvious place in the organization where these initiatives should reside. IT, HR, marketing, strategy, risk management and other functions all need to be involved, and the reality is usually none of them individually have the capabilities to successfully drive the full breadth of the potential across the firm. In successful organizations, often individuals who implicitly understand the issues help to define activities, and very importantly communicate across the wide variety of stakeholders.

Below is the sidebar I wrote in for BRW's Web 2.0 feature, accompanying our Top 100 Australian Web 2.0 Applications list. The reason I was most pleased about getting the list into a mainstream business magazine is that it is a significant step in getting the broader business community to understand the value and transformative power of Web 2.0 (or whatever you want to call the participatory web). While the geeks and early online adopters are swimming in this world and engage in continual conversations with each other about what's happening, it is critically important that the messages spread beyond this community. That is central to what I'm trying to do.

Another sidebar in the report written by Technology Editor Foad Fadaghi on Start-up challenges is available online (though that's all - the rest is subscriber only :-( ).

Web 2.0 for business
The many applications of Web 2.0 in business include increasing employee productivity with collaboration tools and better access to information, gaining insights into consumer attitudes and behaviours, engaging customers in personal relationships and providing personalised customer service.

Web 2.0 for consumers
Some consumer uses of Web 2.0 tools are to communicate with their friends and family, find out what products and services others have liked and manage their lives more effectively.

Web 2.0 for creators
Creators of art, video, photos, music, writing and more can share their creations, collaborate with others in developing them and get rewarded for their creativity.

Web 2.0 for investors
Through Web 2.0 start-ups, investors can access the fastest growing sector of the economy, establish low-cost trial ventures and reach global markets.

Web 2.0 for innovation
Web 2.0 tools help innovators to collaborate across boundaries and connect their ideas to the global marketplace. They are central to Australia’s integration into the rapidly growing hyper-connected economy.

Some quick thoughts on the Top 100 Australian Web 2.0 Applications launch and event last week:

* Everyone seems to have had a good time at the launch event – I certainly did! A great bunch of people

* For me the primary reason to create the list and get it into BRW was to help link the tech entrepreneurial scene in Australia with business. I think that mainstream business is starting to recognize the many ways Web 2.0 is extremely relevant and important.

* This space is – I hope – at some kind of tipping point where it has reached critical mass and will surge from here. Expect plenty more activity from me and others in helping this along.

* The big themes that came out of the panel discussions on the day for me were about the role of these kinds of applications and entrepreneurship in the economy (see also link to Elias Bizannes’ thoughts below).

Will be back soon with some thoughts on what we can learn from the list about the global Web 2.0 space.

Online event coverage:

I set up my rossdawson Twitter account this morning. I know I’m very late to the party, but will now be exploring this space.

I’ve followed Twitter and its peers from the beginning as well as I can as a non-participant. My attitude has always been that my primary online presence is my blog – everything flows out from that. I don’t have enough time to write anything near as much as I’d like on my blog, so I felt that starting to Twitter would take away from the little time I have to devote to blogging. I do have a very intense schedule almost all the time, with major events, speeches, and deadlines succeeding each other in rapid succession, on top of a stack of travel. I consider it my top priority doing my client work and events as well I possibly can, and while creating content is a core activity for me, it can't take over other things (for now).

Clearly momentum has built over time in my intent to get onto Twitter, and have been playing with the idea for a while. I actually decided to get on after last catching with Shannon Clark in a San Francisco café earlier this year. He told me that Twitter was at the center of his life, and gave a compelling description of the benefits to him in being across and in the conversation.

However I’ve been so busy that I never quite found the time to get it going. I’ve certainly been active on FriendFeed, and using tools such as AlertThingy in fact has given me much of the functionality of Twitter, in allowing messaging across my activities, following Twitter feeds, and responding on FriendFeed.

The Top 100 Web 2.0 Applications list is now officially launched – the full list is below, after appearing this morning in a feature section in BRW magazine on Web 2.0. A few quick comments:

* See the scope and criteria for the list.

* No doubt many will disagree with what has or hasn’t been included in the list. That’s inevitable in drawing boundaries around defining Web 2.0 applications. We have been strict in applying our scope, and many very worthy applications have not been included in the list, not because they’re not excellent, but because they haven’t met our judge’s view of what constitutes a Web 2.0 application.

* A few more applications have come to our attention since the list was finalized. In a very dynamic landscape we cannot hope to cover everything, but we are continuing to build as comprehensive a view of the landscape as possible. Please let us know what we’re missing.

* Despite the caveats above, we’re very happy with the list and what has come out of our efforts in creating it. It provides the broadest coverage of the Australian Web 2.0 landscape available, and we are sure will achieve its intention of supporting and drawing attention to the value created by Australia’s vibrant online entrepreneurial community. I hope and expect that the 2009 list will once again represent a far deeper and richer landscape featuring many global success stories.

1. mig33

Website: http://www.mig33.com/

Person/Company: Project Goth (Steven Goh/ Mei Lin Ng)

Description: Global mobile and web-based community, including social networking and messaging such as IM, email, text and photo sharing. Founded in 2005 in Perth and now based in the US. Has raised US$23 million, and has over 7 million users across 200 countries.

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2. Confluence

Website: http://www.atlassian.com/

Person/Company: Atlassian (Mike Cannon-Brookes/ Scott Farquhar)

Description: Enterprise wiki with 5,000 clients in over 80 countries. Based in Sydney and San Francisco. Atlassian has over $22 million in revenue with no external funding.

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3. Red Bubble

Website: http://www.redbubble.com/

Person/Company: Martin Hosking/ Peter Styles/ Paul Vanzella

Description: Art gallery and creative community where artists can upload art and sell it in many formats. Over 100,000 items sold in 71 countries in the first financial year. Has raised $3.7 million in funding.

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4. 3eep

Website: http://www.3eep.com/

Person/Company: Rob Antulov/ Nick Gonios

Description: Social networking platform covering sports from national to school level for sports enthusiasts, players, teams and parents, allowing discussions and photo and video sharing. Has licensed the platform in Australia, Canada and Germany, and is also run as a stand-alone social network.

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5. Engagd

Website: http://www.engagd.com/

Person/Company: Faraday Media (Chris Saad/ Ashley Angell)

Description: Web service application that creates 'attention profiles' of users, and enables these to be used in customising services and content for users.

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[UPDATE:] Complete list now up.

The Top 100 Australian Web 2.0 Applications will be launched tomorrow morning. I’ve seen the BRW issue, and the 8 page feature titled The New Web Revolution looks great, including a couple of articles by technology editor Foad Fadaghi, and a few breakouts on the value of Web 2.0, challenges for Web 2.0 in Australia, and the venture capital perspective, as well as the list.

The list will also be released on this blog and the Future Exploration Network site first thing tomorrow Australia time.

Do NOT be put off by the cover of the BRW magazine – we were earlier told that the cover would be on the Web 2.0 feature, but a late editorial decision changed this to a headline on agribusiness :-(.

[UPDATE:] The complete Top 100 list is now up.

The compilation of the Top 100 Australian Web 2.0 Applications list has now been completed. It will be made public on 19 June, when it will be the cover story on BRW magazine, accompanied by feature stories on some of the leading applications. It will be released the same morning on the Future Exploration Network website and this blog.

The Top 100 Australian Web 2.0 Applications Launch Event at KPMG will include a panel discussion by Australian online notables, a showcase of five leading Australian Web 2.0 applications (3eep, BookingAngel, Engagd, Plugger, RedBubble) (Note that the showcased applications are NOT the top five on the top 100 list, but have been selected to demonstrate the diversity of successful Australian Web 2.0 ventures; companies that were showcased in last year's Web 2.0 in Australia event won’t be duplicated in this year's showcase), a panel of the founders of these applications, and one-hour of semi-structured roundtables for participants to discuss current issues in Web 2.0 in Australia. IBM, Adobe, and Starfish Ventures are sponsors. We are getting close to fully booked, so register soon if you’d like to attend.

No information about who is on the list or rankings will be released until 19 June, so don’t ask! :-) However it’s probably worth clarifying the scope and criteria for the list.

[UPDATE:] The complete Top 100 list is now up.

The Top 100 Australian Web 2.0 Applications list I wrote about earlier is being readied, and the launch event on 19 June is now open for registrations.

A few exciting developments:
* A great cast of panellists to uncover the state of online innnovation in Australia, including John Butterworth, Duncan Riley, Foad Fadaghi, and Malcolm Thornton
* Showcases of five leading Australian Web 2.0 applications
* The Web 2.0 list will be featured on the cover of BRW magazine that morning
* Sponsors including KPMG, Adobe and Starfish Ventures - a Gold sponsor will be announced shortly
* 10% of ticket proceeds to be donated to the Layne Beachley Aim for the Stars Foundation

Click here for full details on Top 100 Australian Web 2.0 Applications – Launch Event.

Note that every event run by Future Exploration Network has been sold out (last year's Web 2.0 in Australia was fully booked two weeks before the event), so register soon if you'd like to attend!

More details on the event, including the showcased companies, coming soon.

There is still an opportunity for applications to be considered for the list – please get in touch in comments or by email to submit if you think we might not be aware of you.

The launch of Blogger in August 1999 opened the door to anyone and everyone creating media. Since then platforms to share writing, photos, video and more have enabled an extraordinary volume of content to be made available to the world. The media world has at least doubled in size this decade, adding many new content formats to the existing professionally produced media on channels such as TV, radio, magazines, and newspapers.

Despite cries from many that all user generated content is crap, that’s not true. It’s just that most user generated content is crap, and a small proportion is outstanding. Anyone who has browsed through the best photos on Flickr, for example, will see some extraordinary images they never would have seen otherwise. The best industry blogs are certainly considered on a par with mainstream reporting and analysis.

There are now some compelling examples of businesses that are based on professional-quality submissions from their users. A great article in today’s San Francisco Chronicle titled Everywhere, JPG – magazines for the future describes how these glossy magazines are compiled from people submitting their travel stories and photos, with the promise of being paid $100 and a year’s subscription to the magazine if their contributions are published. The selections are in fact made by the readers by voting on the site.

Today I participated in a Future Directions Forum at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum, which after 20 years in its current location is looking to the future.

To provide some context, the Powerhouse is specifically branded as a science and design museum, implicitly being about technology and it's impact on people's lives. It's worth looking at the excellent online resources section of the Powerhouse Museum website, which provides value to many people who never visit the museum. I've previously written abouut the very interesting Web 2.0-style initiatives of the Museum (and listed them in the Top Australian Web 2.0 applications), which among other features enables user tagging of the museum's collection. In a number of cases visitors to the website have corrected or provided more detailed information on the museum's collection, exemplifying how to tap collective wisdom.

The session raised many interesting questions and thoughts for me. I haven't been significantly involved with museums in the past, and was struck by many of the issues raised. The points below represent my perspectives as well as reflections on issues raised by people at forum. While the issues below were raised in the context of museums in areas like science, technology, and design, I think they apply across most kinds of museum.

Below are fourteen key issues in the future of museums.

What is a museum?
On the face of it, a museum records and makes accessible artefacts the past that have cultural value. The curatorial process is one of showing people things that enrich them. Museums need to have a clear idea of why they exist. In most cases (in addition to any financial imperatives) the objective is to benefit society, by educating and creating culturally richer and more well-rounded members of society.

Entertainment vs. education and onto experience.
Entertainment and education are quite different intents, but they can be integrated to achieve both aims. Certainly the demand from younger people has shifted strongly to only paying attention if content is truly entertaining. Beyond that, museums are fundamentally about providing experiences. People will seek engaging and powerful experiences, and if museums can provide them, their can fulfil their roles.

Microsoft’s withdrawal from its bid for Yahoo! has hardly clarified the the tech landscape. In fact it has made the shape of the industry far more uncertain, as Microsoft mulls moves to shore up its future.

Microsoft is one of the most financially successful companies on the planet. It anticipates operating income this year of over $26 billion, maintaining strong growth from the last few years (just $9 billion in 2004), making it arguably stronger than other highly profitable companies in financial services and oil, which have more inconsistent incomes. However their success is founded on operating systems and client-installed office productivity software. Online services account for around 5% of their revenues, and entertainment 12%. There is no question that their core revenue is under attack. The summary of the challenge is “lower cost alternatives”, including online software and services, and open source.

So what will Microsoft do? The latest rumor is that Microsoft intends to buy Yahoo!’s search business, then buy Facebook for $15 to $20 billion. This is highly credible, though gossip is rife. Unquestionably this would give Microsoft a very strong position, both in the online advertising business, and also in leveraging what is now the dominant social network platform. In addition, the total price would be less than what Microsoft was prepared to pay for Yahoo! as a whole, keeping some of its financial powder dry.

[UPDATE:] The final Top 100 list is now up.

In researching the Top 100 Australian Web 2.0 Applications list, I created a draft list on Google Docs of 125-odd applications I was aware of, and invited a dozen of the most connected and influential people in the space as collaborators, to add any applications I wasn't aware of and provide updates on any apps in the list.

Phil Morle of Pollenizer told me the Australian Twitter community has been asking for the spreadsheet to be opened up. Click here to view the early draft list of Australian Web 2.0 applications. Note this is absolutely a draft, does not necessarily cover all the applications we're looking at, may have incorrect information, and comments are unmoderated.

If you want to add to the list and are not currently invited into this list, either email me or comment on this blog, or ask me or your favorite leading Australian Web 2.0 entrepreneur for an invite to collaborate on the document.

[UPDATE:] The final Top 100 list is now up.

Following the great success of last year’s Top 60 Web 2.0 Apps in Australia list and Web 2.0 in Australia event, this year we will release a list of the Top 100 Australian Web 2.0 Applications.

The list will be launched on 19 June in BRW magazine together with feature stories on the relevance of the leading online applications to business, including on investment, corporate productivity, customer engagement and innovation. It will then be published online on the Future Exploration Network website and this blog.

A lunch event on the same day at KPMG’s Sydney offices will formally launch the list, including showcases of some of the winners and a panel discussion by leading figures in the Australian scene. Full details of the lunch event, including registration, are coming soon. It will be in a similar format to our full capacity Web 2.0 in Australia last year, though open to everyone instead of invitation-only.

We are again looking for event sponsors. I’ve approached the obvious candidates in the last couple of days but we're open to interest from any organization. Download the event and sponsorship information here or by clicking on the image below.

We currently have over 125 candidates for the list. Please email me or comment below if there are relevant apps that you think I am not aware of. We have information on all of the apps listed last year and those that applied to Vishal Sharma’s Startup Carnival earlier this year and those featured on his startup blog (a great resource!).

In the last two days MySpace has announced Data Availability and Facebook launched Facebook Connect, while Google is due to announce “Friend Connect” on Monday, according to TechCrunch. MySpace and Facebook are providing ways to open out users’ access to their data on those social networks. TechCrunch says that Google’s initiative may not be quite as open as the other initiatives, in that it will require data to be accessed directly from their servers each time rather than being able to be downloaded and manipulated (under strict terms of service), However Open Social, which Google's initiative is based on, is being used by most of the major social networks other than Facebook, making Friend Connect potentially broader in scope, as long as the social networks supporting Open Social choose to use the new offering.

I wrote last year about how the dominant platform in technology is shifting to social networks, and the inexorable trend to openness in social networks. It turns out the MySpace and Facebook announcements may not be quite all they seem. Chris Saad of the DataPortability Working Group writes:

Both moves have rightly been attributed as ‘Data Portability’ plays - but neither of them are true ‘DataPortability’ implementations… yet.

MySpace has just announced its Data Availability program, which includes adoption of a range of DataPortability standards, and data sharing with Ebay, Yahoo, and Twitter. Detailed coverage of this at TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb, VentureBeat, and many others (see Techmeme). At the same time, MySpace has joined Google, Facebook, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Digg and others on the DataPortability project. DataPortability notes:

While the participation and endorsement of large vendors such as MySpace in the DataPortability project is a key part of our overall goals of industry wide user-centric data portability, we’d like to re-iterate that the project is an open, grass-roots initiative. This means that individuals, startups and medium scale companies are just as welcome to join the process and have just as much capacity to influence or even lead the discussions and the outcomes.

An important part of the background to this is that Ben Metcalfe is Director of Engineering for the MySpace Platform. Ben has played an important role in getting MySpace to understand the importance of an open approach (see his thoughts on this announcement), drawing on his experience in leading the BBC’s developer platform, and his existing involvement with DataPortability. I caught up with Ben recently in San Francisco and we discussed where data portability is going. Absolutely the leadership of the large players is fundamental to driving this.

This year there will be many announcements of this kind, but this is a particularly important one, both through the visibility of the announcement, and even more importantly the value of what it enables. The millions who are using multiple platforms such as MySpace, Yahoo, Twitter and so on will be able to bring together their activities, and clearly see that we are transcending the closed web. People will begin to understand that the natural format of the web is open, with our activities naturally flowing across applications. Expectations will heighten, and the already rapid pace towards the Wide Open Web will accelerate.