London Regional ICT champion

Released today, Web 2.0 – More than Social Networking, is a research study conducted by Bournemouth University that looks at current levels of web 2.0 adoption and understanding among UK businesses.

The study suggests that misconception amongst managers is slowing down the adoption of web 2.0 or social media tools.

• almost half of UK senior managers do not understand the business benefits associated with embracing web 2.0 technologies, while almost a third of IT managers lack an understanding of the capabilities of web 2.0.
• only 11 per cent actually purchased the technology to achieve increased collaboration, process change and more streamlined systems. The rest relied on the advanced web capabilities of such technology to improve content management and search facilities.
• less than 20% cited improved content and document management as a benefit

On the upside, 55.6 % of respondents cited working together more efficiently and uniting workers across different locations (52.9%) as the biggest benefits of web 2.0, while 50 per cent cited more openness in the organisation.