Web 2.0’The web, and our customers, have moved on….’

Presentation to TWICTDecember 2007

Graham Jordan, TWICT Partnership Analyst

• There is a very good 5 minute YouTube video here about web 2.0 but you are either not connected to the internet or prevented from accessing YouTube.

• I found out how to embed it via google, and a YouTube instructional video, which you’ll also not be able to access.

Background

• The world has moved to internet applications– The internet has gone wireless, users have become

mobile and are using all sorts of devices– Most are Web and browser based

• But can integrate to other technologies such as SMS

• eGovernment: councils embraced the world wide Web as a customer service channel– New Web-based services– Some internal council systems have Web interfaces– More council staff mobile and online

• Constantly evolving and quickening pace of change

Tag map

What is Web2.0?

• Direct control by individuals of web services and tools– Inclusive of widgets that update pages without needing to

refresh, RSS feeds, on-demand video, file-sharing, blogs, wikis, and podcasting

• Philosophy– The whole is greater than the sum of the parts– Users should participate and produce their own content, not just

passively sit back and watch the web go by.

• Enabled by– Simple to use online applications with an agreed set of

standards across a range of areas that allow users to develop, skin or customise applications and share content / functionality more easily.

Content

• Value is in the content and how you use it– Not in the technology

• Users involved in embellishing content– Eg posting news, opinions, events, photos and media– Tagging content so it can be searched and classified

• Publish / recycle content– Give others rights to reuse through Creative Commons etc

• Enables people to be more independent of traditional web authors and those who would otherwise manipulate their content– Create their own website, blog on what ever subject they want or their

own communities.

• Users choose what they get, how they get it, when they get it, where they get it

ExpressionPublication

Profession

Opi

nion

Details

ReputationHobby

Certificates

Purchase

Know

ledg

eAvatars

Audience

What I shareW

here I work

What‘s said about me

Wha

t I lik

e

How and where

to join me Who can certify

my identity

What and how I buy

Wha

t I kn

ow

What represent meWhat I sayWho I know

What interests me

FOAF

iViva

Based on an idea by Fred Cavazza

Concepts

• Users not organisations at the centre

• Developers engaging with users in their own environment– small parts loosely joined – concentrate on mechanisms

(users define appearance)

• Open standards– exposed workings– available content

• Think locally, act globally– still have community of

friends, just don't worry where they are in the world.

• Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle

• Content and data in many places

• A relationship where all inform eachother

• Permission based activity• Read write and process via the

‘cloud’• Collaboration• De centralisation• Openness• Sharing• Peering

Current Use

• We are already using it – Google, Amazon, Wikipedia,

FriendsReunited, YouTube, iTunes, msn, blogs

• all in some degree web 2.0

• Councils are already using it

• New uses and applications emerging all the time

Aggregators –pulling content together

• Applet / widget integration– MyYahoo, Netvibes,

Pageflakes, Facebook

• Mash ups – pulled from multiple sources, published back to web– Moo– Google Maps– Chicago Crime Map– Tube sms– Train Locator

• Software as a service

Use in councils• RSS update / news aggregators

– RSS news / Jobs feeds– myYahoo– TWICT website

• Wikis– DigiTV

• Blogs– Cheltenham Flood blog– BSF

• Communities of Practice– Selective, focussed and a smaller

audience– Govx

• Digital challenge– Hex– Flash– Online communities

• Social Networks– Facebook

• Codeworks• North East IT Managers Forum

• Social Bookmarking– Del.icio.us

• Image libraries– CISCO use a Flickr-type product

for their corporate image bank• Media sharing

– Podcasts / webcasts– YouTube

• UK Government use• Webcasts

• Virtual worlds– second life etc

Strengths

• Agility• Enhances the way we work

– Can do what we want to do easier, often cheaper

• Innovation / speed of iteration • Speed of deployment• Low thresholds

– Technical– Cost– User access / licensing

• Real time content– Automatically updates

• Allows publishers to– Retain ownership of data– Benefit from developers

adding value

• Allows developers to – fail fast, learn quickly– create applications

• Allows users to– Decide how to use

applications– Access content from more

locations (enables agile working)

Weaknesses• Not easy to define, ‘sell’ the

concept– Jelly, nails…….

• Requires a mind set change and a leap of faith– We have worked for years to

keep data closed, it seems strange now to decide to share it

• Perception– Safety and security issues

around some Web 2.0 products

• Can blur professional and personal identities– Do we need to be aware /

manage this?

• Immaturity of market– In some areas

• Reliability (and reputation)– Not everything that we read

from the internet is true.– It is community content and

some folk have funny views– Copyright / Data Protection

• Social engineering– Can foster relationships

that may make it difficult to act objectively

Opportunities

• People are actively looking for information

• We can have a dialogue with users – Or facilitate users having

discussions with each other

• If we make information available other people could develop applications for it free of charge

• Business uses of concepts, tools, way of thinking

– Web 2.0 ‘mash-ups’ = Web services integration

• Growth of systems services suppliers

• Many Web 2.0 applications use 3rd party managed processing power and storage– Scaleable, robust

• Emerging business market and commercial grade SLAs– Eg Amazon Web Services

Threats• Challenges corporate way of

thinking– Do we have to do everything

ourselves?• Small and faster will win over big

and slow• Information overload

– So many new portal and applications to be aware of

• Employee access to web2.0 applications

– For corporate data? – Licensing– Productivity – Will they be there tomorrow?– Eg rememberthemilk

• Greater risk of ‘class action’ law suits

– As people group together

• Powerless to stop 3rd party developers or users using web 2.0

– Our users?• Some applications that are free carry

advertising we can’t control– Inappropriate advertising– Reputation risk of our adverts

alongside others• If we don't make information available

other people will - without our collaboration

– Selling them on?– Reputation risk– Who owns the data? – Eg fixmystreet

• Reuse of our data out of context– Or in ways we don’t want them to

• Seemingly innocent data can be aggregated to information than can be used for criminal or terrorist behaviour

History

’from Available through Accessible to Meaningful’

History

’from Available through Accessible to Meaningful

MP3 standard

BT Launches ADSLMosaic Browser

Facebook

MSN Messenger

Skype

BBC websiteFirefox

Napster

iPod

Wikipedia

History

’from Available through Accessible to Meaningful

MP3 standard

BT Launches ADSLMosaic Browser

Today’s graduates started secondary school

Facebook

MSN Messenger

Skype

BBC websiteFirefox

Napster

iPod

Wikipedia

Current Trends

• Moving from geeks in bedrooms to venture-capital funded teams– Capitalisation of added

value• More standardisation

– Microformats etc• Agile data storage and

processing – Moving to commercial

grade SLAs• Move to offline browser

based applications

• Aggregators / widgets within ‘eachothers’ products– Eg flikr in Facebook,

Facebook in Netvibes– Meebo single view of

multiple instant messenger accounts

– User can use one page for their ‘online life’ = ‘social dashboard’?

• Web 3.0 is coming…..– ‘Wisdom of crowds’

prevented from becoming ‘madness of mobs’ through adding ‘respect of experts’

– eg wikipedia etc.

Council 2.0

• The Web 2.0 philosophy– The whole is greater than the sum of the parts– Users should participate, not just consume, actively

contributing, helping customise media and technology for their own purposes, as well as for their community

• Similarities with Place Shaping and Community Engagement agenda…..?

Council 2.0

• Building our own widgets– How we present our

services and information (and places?) to our end users

– (or others building them – competition?)

• Reuse of public sector information– Licensing use of xml feeds,

APIs– More attractive to re-users

at Tyne and Wear or regional scale?

• Fewer APIs to integrate• Eg roadworks information

• Democratising our data– But we don’t need to do it

all at once

Council 2.0

• In-house mash-ups?– Probably already

happening in our developer teams

– Public facing?

• Thinking about the functionality that’s out there and how we could use it– Image banks– Knowledge banks– Communications– Contact directories– Systems services

NewsPublish

Contacts

Opi

nion

Discuss

ReputationInterests

Certificates

Procurement

Know

ledg

eVirtu

alNetworks

And consultW

here I work

What‘s said about me

Coun

cil vi

ews o

n…

How and where

to talk to meWho can certify

my identity

What and how I buy

& Do

cume

ntsReaching different

audiences

What I sayWho I know

What areasinterest me?

Based on an idea by Fred Cavazza

Can we use Web 2.0 tools to provide these functions?

Are we concerned about users in Council Services by-passing ICT and using these without our knowledge?

Immediate Implications

• All bad?– Is the jury out on all

Web2.0?

• Security– A question of balance?

• ID– Are we looking at / working

with OpenID etc?

• Sharepoint / Intranet development– Facebook is a social

dashboard– Implications for those

developing corporate dashboards?

• Aggregators – The ultimate CRM for

the customer? – eg Netvibes

Immediate Implications

• Community Presences– Already on Facebook etc,

developed by individuals

• Council Content– Should we be developing

widgets for netvibes, Facebook etc.?

– What would they do?

• Collaboration?– Should we publish all our

contacts lists on LinkedIn?

• New Web services development– Will others mash it up if we

make it available?– Do we need to do it

ourselves?

• Reputation management– Who’s saying what about

us?

• Awareness of Web2.0 and semantic Web within ICT departments?

More….

• Further Reading– http://www.itweek.co.uk/itweek/news/

2203895/web-confusion-hindering-firms

– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLl

GopyXT_g

– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_Web

• Glossary– http://www.alexandrasamuel.com/2006

0301/web-20-glossary

• Contact– grahamjordan@gateshead.gov.uk– www.twict.gov.uk

• Acknowledgements– David Coxon

– Simon Jones

– James Burke

– Gareth Rushgrove

– Neil McQuiston

– Paula Titshall

– Chris Foreman