The FASTForward Blog » Joshua-Michéle Ross

FASTforward’09 Interview: Euan Semple, independent advisor on social computing

Joshua-Michéle Ross — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:53:32 +0000

Euan, who participated in the wrap-up panel discussion at FASTforward’09 with Jevon, Jon, and Lynda, discusses his effort at the BBC, as director of knowledge management, and since to put the emphasis on “connecting people and helping them have conversations with each other [rather] than about helping them search for other people’s badly written, out of date documents.” Euan touches on the sophisticated and subtle ways in which people search, find and use information, the “non-trivial” challenge of getting employees to engage, who’s often purchasing and owning the products that companies are using (and the attendant downside of that), and more.

BIO: Euan Semple is an independent advisor on social computing for business. He is a well known writer, thinker and public speaker on the subject and in recognition of his many accomplishments he was voted Information Professional Of The Year (2005) by Information World Review. Euan pioneered the use of weblogs, wikis and online forums while at the BBC and his work there continues to enable staff to work more effectively and more collaboratively across the entire organisation. While at the BBC Euan also worked on their award winning leadership programme and gained unparalleled experience in how to engage and inspire people with the possibilities of social computing as a business tool. Since going independent Euan has worked with wide range of clients including the NHS, BP, AIG Insurance, Bell Pottinger PR, ARM Processor Design Cambridge and Scottish Enterprise. He has also run workshops for The World Health Organisation, the UN and The British Council. He can be reached at euansemple.com and his blog is The Obvious?.

FASTforward’09 Interview: Christian Finn, product manager, Sharepoint, Microsoft

Joshua-Michéle Ross — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:00:11 +0000

Christian weighs in, from a Microsoft perspective, on the rise of social computing in the enterprise and its implications for organizations. As he and others note, consumer adoption of social sites and tools have put pressure on companies to contend with new issues, think hard on how to provide such services to their employees, and wrestle with their concerns about losing control. But, says Christian here, the reality is corporations don’t actually work in that hierarchical construct and that it’s a false mental model to say they ever really did. He goes on to discuss the benefits of unlocking these tools and technologies, how social computer in the enterprise is enabling knowledgeable people within organizations to connect and surface useful information, and suggests that the theme of the conference – “Engage Your User” – might even be a “half-note” off… That it’s more about creating an environment where users can engage each other and help themselves and their organizations.

FASTforward’09 Interview: Kamran Khan, president and CEO of Search Technologies

Joshua-Michéle Ross — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 16:59:33 +0000

Kamran talks about his company, issues of security as it relates to search, and how search can grapple with huge volumes of data being created by customers such as the U.S. government.

BIO: Kamran Khan is the President and CEO of Search Technologies. In addition to Search Technologies, he has developed and led international sales, marketing, engineering, and customer support units at ArtinSoft, Convera Corporation and its predecessor Excalibur Technologies, and PAFEC Ltd. before its acquisition by SER Systems. A native of Manchester, Kamran earned a B.S. degree with honors in aeronautical engineering from Manchester University.

Pekka Viljakainen, Executive VP of Tieto

Joshua-Michéle Ross — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:02:00 +0000

Pekka carries a natural enthusiasm for technology and innovation, particularly around mobile devices (as one would expect from a Finn). Pekka feels that the current recession is the ideal climate for new innovations around search.

BIO: Pekka Viljakainen is an executive vice president of Tieto and the Head of Customer and Market Operations and Tieto International. The company develops innovative IT solutions that realize and digitalize the visions of its customers. For many years, Mr. Viljakainen has analyzed the fundamental change in consumer behavior and its implications for corporate strategies in information-intensive businesses. He is involved in promoting the necessary preparations for a true revolution of services and the deep strategic role of digitalization across Europe. Prior to joining Tieto in 2000, Mr. Viljakainen had established Oy Visual Systems in 1986 and studied engineering at the University of Technology in Lappeenranta.

FASTforward’09 Interview: Nate Treloar, search evangelist, Microsoft

Joshua-Michéle Ross — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:57:19 +0000

Nate has the enviable job of being search evangelist for Microsoft.

In this interview Nate shares some of the things that surprised him during the conference, particularly the rich, emerging possibilities of allying search with gestural interface design on Microsoft Surfaces…

FASTforward’09 Interview: Kirk Koenigsbauer, general manager, office business platform, product management group, Microsoft

Joshua-Michéle Ross — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:40:09 +0000

After I mangle Kirk’s title (who wouldn’t!), Kirk shares his thoughts on things that surprised him during this year’s Fast Forward conference.

BIO: Kirk Koenigsbauer is focused on the worldwide business strategy for SharePoint Products and Technologies, Project, and PerformancePoint. He also is responsible for sales, marketing, and services for FAST, and enterprise marketing for the 2007 Office system. His earlier Microsoft experiences have included responsibility for the MSN.com Product Management team, and product and program management leadership roles. Previously Mr. Koenigsbauer built and ran Amazon.com’s retail software and video games businesses and led the development and launch of Amazon’s Electronics and Auction sites. He began his career as a management information systems consultant with Andersen Consulting (Accenture). Mr. Koenigsbauer earned a B.A. in American Studies from Colby College and attended Seattle University’s Albers School of Business.

FASTforward’09 Interview: Jon Husband, social computing thought leader and architect

Joshua-Michéle Ross — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:22:31 +0000

As Jon explains, Monday’s two keynotes by Don Tapscott and Clay Shirky (respectively), and Charlene Li’s Tuesday keynote offer the message that today’s more interconnected, more open and easier-to-use set of conditions for creating, sharing, finding and using information is deepening and widening in its scope and impact. The scope and impact can be summarized, in his opinion, in the working definition of a concept he calls “wirearchy” … a dynamic two-way flow of power and authority based on knowledge, trust, credibility and a focus on results, enabled by interconnected people and technology. Don, Clay and Charlene’s points and examples assert, says Jon, that we are collectively moving into a new set of conditions characterized by an interconnected and more transparent ecosystem of information. Example after example today show us the growing impact of the decentralized distribution and use of information and knowledge on the major institutions in our society. Leaders need to listen (much more closely than before), clarify what needs to happen and why, and engage in real ways with their constituents.

BIO: Jon Husband carries out research into business strategy, organizational structures, management and work design in the interconnected Knowledge Age. He studied the sociology of organizations and social psychology in university, and after several years in banking moved into consulting with the Hay Group in Canada, with an initial focus on job analysis, competency analysis, performance management and compensation strategy and practices. As a Senior Principal in Hay’s London, UK office he worked on HR strategy, organizational effectiveness, organizational change and leadership development issues with key multinational clients. He left the Hay Group in 1994 to focus on stakeholder-driven strategic planning and organizational development, mainly involving large-scale bottom-up high involvement methods. Over the past decade he has concentrated on the growing impacts of IT and now the Web on the design and dynamics of knowledge work. He coined the term “wirearchy” in 1999, and has been speaking about the impact of the Web on work, business models and the way(s) we live and work since then. He has also co-founded a leading Web 2.0 software company, and delivers workshops about wirearchy and its impacts for clients such as Athabasca University’s Executive MBA program, and the Banff Centre’s Leading Innovation program. Jon just finished writing a book about the impact of Web 2.0 on knowledge management, published by the ARK Group (UK), writes several blogs about social media and Web 2.0, and is an active speaker in Canada and internationally about the Web’s growing impact on enterprises.

FASTforward’09 Interview: Brooks Gibbins, Financial Services Enterprise Search Group, Microsoft

Joshua-Michéle Ross — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:03:14 +0000

Brooks Gibbins is with Microsoft’s WW Financial Services Enterprise Search Group. At the heart of our discussion is the enormous opportunity that financial services firms have in putting their data to work for customers. Think about how Mint.com and Wesabe.com harness collective intelligence (i.e. they aggregate data from actual users to learn how they spend their money) to help customers make better buying/spending decisions.

FASTforward’09 Interview: Tom Rizzo, director of SharePoint product management

Joshua-Michéle Ross — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:32:59 +0000

Tom sits over all Sharepoint development – which means that he has a wide angle view on collaboration, social technologies and search. In this interview he speaks about the promise of search in facilitating innovation and operational effectiveness and where Sharepoint is headed now with FAST integration.

BIO: Tom Rizzo is director of SharePoint product management at Microsoft. In this role, he leads a team that helps customers and partners understand, develop on and deploy Microsoft SharePoint, which is one of Microsoft’s fastest-growing products. Before working in SharePoint, Tom worked on the SQL Server and Exchange Server teams at Microsoft. Tom is also the author of six books on topics ranging from developing collaborative solutions on the Microsoft platform to deep-dive technical references for SQL Server.

FASTforward’09 Interview: Lynda Moulton, lead analyst for Enterprise Search, The Gilbane Group

Joshua-Michéle Ross — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:24:34 +0000

As a lead analyst with The Gilbane Group Lynda Moulton is a panelist tomorrow in a discussion around what we heard and didn’t hear at Fast Forward ‘09. Lynda was kind enough to share some of those thoughts in anticpation of that session.

BIO: Currently Lead Analyst for Enterprise Search for The Gilbane Group, Lynda Moulton is also a consultant on information technologies and knowledge management. She has over 30 years of experience using and implementing search technologies, and developing technology-based solutions for managing enterprise content. Following employment at Union Carbide Corporation and Arthur D. Little, Ms. Moulton founded Comstow Information Services in 1980 to develop database technology for enterprise content management, a software application, BiblioTech?. She is also a leader in the Boston KM Forum, which holds semi-monthly meeting in the greater-Boston area. She is widely published and a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars. Her current thinking and research commentary on search can be seen at: http://gilbane.com/search_blog/ and other projects and writings are at http://www.lwmtechnology.com.