Enterprise 2.0: The Dawn of Emergent Collaboration

Current technologies are not doing a good job of capturing knowledge. New platforms focus not on capturing knowledge itself, but rather on the practices and output of knowledge workers. These new digital platforms for generating, sharing and refining information are already popular on the Internet, where they're collectively labeled Web 2.0 technologies.

The technologists of Enterprise 2.0 are trying not to impose preconceived notions about how work should be categorized or structured. Instead, they're building tools that let these aspects emerge. The technologists of Enterprise 2.0 are trying hard not to impose on users any preconceived notions about how work should proceed or how output should be categorized or structured. Instead, they're building tools that let these aspects of knowledge work emerge.

Enterprise 2.0 technologies have the potential to usher in a new era by making both the practices of knowledge work and its outputs more visible. Because of these challenges these technologies bring with them, there will be significant differences in companies' abilities to exploit them.