(2004-02-02) Lohr Brown Social Software Productivity

Steve Lohr on improving productivity via technology. John Seely Brown, former director of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, says he believes that recent changes in software technology could allow big gains in Productivity and Innovation. The opportunity, he says, is to move beyond the limitations of centralized systems for automating business operations, like enterprise resource systems (ERP). "Those systems are prisons," said Mr. Brown, who is scheduled to speak at today's conference. The software plumbing of computing, Mr. Brown explains, is evolving, and so is Internet-based software for individual workers. Software systems built on Web Open Standards, he said, can be used as pick-and-place building blocks, instead of the more formal hierarchical systems of the past. Mr. Brown also points to the rapid development of what he calls "SocialSoftware" like Instant Messaging, WebLog-s, Wiki-s (multi-user Weblogs) and peer-to-peer tools - all of which make it easier for workers to communicate and collaborate online (Collaboration Ware), almost instantaneously. The combined result, Mr. Brown said, is information technology that can amplify social interaction and enhance workers' understanding of what is happening around them. The benefit, he added, could be to increase their ability to "collectively improvise and innovate." That is a key to productivity and peak performance.