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Are we losing out when it comes to Web 2.0?

This is the attention grabbing title of an article* in the December 2008 edition of Inside Knowledge Magazine. In it they report on a White Paper published by Spada Research entitled "The Laity Bytes back? The impact of Web 2.0 on UK Professionals" the report was actually published in September, but I've only just spotted it! The report is broken down into the following sections:

• Current knowledge and usage levels (with the obligatory explanation of Web 2.0 apps)
• What can Web 2.0 do for the professions?
• The way forward: what the professions can do for Web 2.0

Perhaps the most interesting part of the report is the section on "Why we should act now?" the report puts forward three arguments:

• To maintain the competitive advantage in providing services that clients want
• To build levels of knowledge and expertise (via Blogs and Wikis)
• To attract and keep the highest quality talent

The last point is quite interesting, this is about young people being the "natives" of Web 2.0 and so expecting these types of tools to be available to them once they start there working life. In my mind it doesn't quite work like this though. I've certainly not yet been asked by a Trainee Solicitor where the firm's version of Facebook is, but perhaps I'm just not involved in the right conversations or maybe we are being asked for these tools just in much subtler ways.

*You will need a subscription to Inside Knowledge Magazine to read this article online.

Full post as published by LI Issues on December 23, 2008 (boomark / email).