Information governance in a 2.0 world: the growing presence of Web 2.0 in the workplace is challenging enterprises to understand its unique governance risks and productivity rewards--leaking it similar to the early days of email.

• Author: McKinnon, Cheryl
• Position: GOVERNANCE

In the ongoing economic climate of disruption and uncertainty, smart organizations will be looking at information technology as a source of cost savings, a bridge to new markets and a protector of intellectual assets.

Those that are able to innovate, adapt and thrive in the leaner climate will rely more on technology as budget cuts affect travel, marketing expenditures, capital investments and staffing levels.

Exploring the emergence of the Web 2.0 world within the enterprise and understanding the governance risks and productivity rewards presented by these new models of online communication is now a challenge for every business.

Disruptive Shifts in the Enterprise

A technology disruptor in recent years is the emergence of Web- and mobile-based collaborative tools. Initially perceived as technology adopted by the under-30 generation, the rise of social-networking platforms and community sites has crossed generational and geographical boundaries and blurred the lines between personal and professional domains.

The concept of "Web 2.0"--as defined in 2005 by Tim O'Reilly, founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media Inc.--described the phenomenon of using person-to-person online communication tools to connect communicate and create communities of like-minded individuals. A year later, the use of online personal-publication and social-collaboration platforms for commercial purposes started to achieve a critical mass.

Indeed, the term "Enterprise 2.0" was coined by Harvard Business Professor Andrew McAfee in a May 2006 blog entry, The Impact of Information Technology on Businesses and Their Leaders.

Examples of tools--now common to many--are applications most often grouped under this social media or 2.0 banner such as wikis (Internet software that allows groups of users to share information), blogs, feeds, interactive forums, online hosted communities and rich media-sharing Web sites. While achieving widespread use in the consumer and personal sphere, most businesses are in the early stages of adopting such tools for mainstream internal collaboration, external communication and customer engagements.

In July 2008, the five commissioners of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission unanimously voted to look at Web sites, specifically interactive technology, as new ways to channel communication between corporations and the investor community.

In a press announcement at the time, former SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said: "Ongoing developments in technology have increased both the markets' and investors' demand for more timely company disclosure on the Web, and in turn, raised new securities-law issues for public companies to consider."

This statement is but one recent turning point recognizing content-creation tools that fall under the definition of 2.0, Such recognition by a key U.S. regulatory body that interactive technology can be an acceptable form of communication is a signal that enterprise adoption of this approach of...