Here are my notes on the third of four panels I attended at the MIT CIO symposium. See MIT Sloan CIO Symposium: Part One: The Virtual Organization for the introduction to this series.

Moderator: Andrew McAfee, Visiting Associate Professor Center for Digital Business at MIT. He first asked why web 2.0, what qualifies the change to 2.0 from 1.0? Then he picked up on the human element and asked if people are different in web 2.0 and not just the technology. Andrew gave an example of HR person who used blog to roll out new policies. Employees were able to comment on the new ideas and see others’ comments. It greatly enhanced the process.

Andrew also asked, “What is negative about web 2.0 or it is all just happiness?”

Then he asked, “What about the issue of increased egalitarianism in Web 2.0? Is this all good? Did we have hierarchies for a good reason or no reason?

Finally Andrew asked how the consumer web will impact the enterprise in 3 to 5 years? How will the openness of web 2.0 play out in enterprise?

Anne Convey, VP of Marketing and Product Strategy Clickfox. Clickfox allows you to capture customer data on behavior and model it.

Anne said the Web 2.0 label is well deserved. The question is how it will mature? The human factor is huge. If companies do not understand Web 2.0, they will be left behind.

People have to act differently in web 2.0. At Clickfox, they use Agile development. Users can now get uses to provide input to development. There is also more self-governance.

Web 2.0 is good for business. Now more people can speak and share ideas. There is also bad news. There is a greater need to filter the large amount of information and opinions. There are now a growing industry of tools to manage the information overload of web 2.0.

The biggest risk for enterprise 2.0 is managing the behavior of people to not reveal the wrong stuff.

Clickfox monitors and measures the impact of social media on the awareness of their company. They also measure the use of social tools in product development. Anne implied results are both positive.

Anne believes the openness of Web 2.0 will play out in the enterprise. She feels Web 2.0 and enterprise 2.0 is blurring the boundaries between these two approaches.

One new thing about enterprise 2.0: users define use of tools more rather than being told what to do with them.

Mr. Sid Probstein, CTO Attivio – Attrivio provided unified search across structured and unstructured data

In response to the question – why web 2.0? Sid said it changed the model of the relationship between a company and its customers and its partners. It extends data to recommend what is interesting about data. There is now more collaboration between companies and partners.

Sid said that we do not know all the issues so we do not know bad ones yet. The transparency can have down side if wrong stuff gets exposed. Sid believes the openness of Web 2.0 will play out in enterprise.

Sid mentioned that he led IT in three startups. Each one spent less money on development than the prior one. He implied it was because of more efficient work processes. Sid said that wikis spread like wild fire inside enterprise. I agree as wikis work better inside the firewall with trusted groups. Expert location through analysis of social media behavior is another key application.

In answer to what is the biggest risk for enterprise 20 is managing the behavior of people to not reveal the wrong stuff. Companies need to educate employees on what is appropriate – e.g., never blog about a customer.

Mr. Raheel Retiwalla, CTO Monitor Analytics and Clearway Technology Partners His firm enables collaboration and dissemination of insights through Sharepoint. Raheel gave examples of Web 2.0 success. A small company used an extranet portal for nine months to get presence information on partners and provide better service. This was a success and it is now offering this service to other customers. The barrier between the outside world and the enterprise is fading.

Raheel believes the openness of Web 2.0 will play out in enterprise. He also that as social tools get on mobile devices, they will lower the digital divide. Andrew added that there is strong use of mobile devices in Africa.

Raheel said that their company allows users to rate content received through Sharepoint. Then people can understand the prospective of their fellow employees about information.

Mr. Geoffrey Oblak, General Partner Ascent Venture Partners. Their VC firm supports enterprise 2.0. Geoff said that Web 2.0 is justified but poorly understood. Currently, the Web 2.0 consumer market leads and the enterprise market follows. There is now are fewer boundaries between personal space and workspace. Their eleven person firm uses Sharepoint and wikis to track company data, especially contact information. It provides a richer source and greater connection.

Geoffrey said that some of their firms are moving IT development out of lab and doing more with users. He said that in Web 1.0 transformation there were greater security risks. These same risks can occur in Web 2.0 but perhaps in different forms.

When asked how the consumer web will impact the enterprise in 3 to 5 years.  He said the openness of web 2.0 will play out in enterprise. However, we need to be prepared for a backlash.  Already some companies are blocking social media sites. However, over time most organizations will learn to embrace Web 2.0.