Lunch, and an good discussion with Carol Jones, IBM Fellow and Jeff Schick, VP Social Computing Software on where tagging, social bookmarks and social networking have application within business environments. The synergy between tagging and networks is fairly strong. Tags acts as a discovery mechanism for instance. IBM has been a pathfinder in the area of intranet use of tag and social bookmark technologies (dogear and Fringe). Unlike public systems, use of such tools within enterprise environments need to be integrated with directory, identity, compliance and security services. There is also a need for access controls and different sharing levels (personal, group, public). As tagging emerges within enterprise organizations, proponents will need to understand and address the organizational dynamics that surround effective adoption of social software. Similar issues will surface with social networking. Many networks are deeply personal and making them public could have significant impact on the behavior of the network (both good and bad influences). This also was a valuable conversation as we brought up issues related to expertise, credibility, reciprocity and so on.
And now, Steve Mills, Senior VP and Group Executive of IBM software takes the stage...
