TakingAIIM

Facebook & Privacy - Still Off Balance

Only two months ago I blogged about another confrontation between Facebook and users' rights to privacy. At that time I quoted Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg as stating, “The company [Facebook] treads a delicate balance between protecting privacy rights and promoting social networking." 

Well apparently he still is off balance. Over 100 million Facbook user ids, including passwords, were published. The person responsible, a 3rd party security specialist, Mr,. Ron Bowes, may have had the right intention - but to subsequently publish the information on BitTorrent - I am not sure what that was all about. 

The related issues of privacy, security and records management in this 2.0 world are in the spot light more and more. As I have blogged and presented before, the interplay between access and transparency, and security and privacy is the ultimate design decision of E2.0, knowledge management and ECM systems alike. Earlier today I blogged on e-mail management violations in Boston City Hall. At last month's Enterprise 2.0 Conference, I presented research on how private enterprise are dealing with privacy in a 2.0 world. 

It is clearly one of the hotter topics - and one that this industry has got to get right - hopefully soon, less there be a sacraficial lamb that finally forces the issue to the limit.

ECM: Sometimes You Can't Fight City Hall

Nearly a year ago, I reported on an ECM story, close to home, and of a high profile. Last September, a top aide to Boston Mayor Thomas Menino was cited for deleting hundreds of e-mails - subject to legal discovery - in violation of laws regulating public records.  At the time Menino explained - whoops it was caused by a "glitch".  As I reported back in September 2009, thanks to ECM technology (i.e. forensics), the e-mails were recovered.

Well, Massachusetts Attorney General, Martha Coakley has dropped any and all charges against the aide, stating that he did not willfully destroy the hundreds of records.  Apparently Coakley - like Menino believes the "glitch" theory. 

No back-ups?  No automated records management and e-mail management system? No legal hold technology?  It is amazing that in this day and age, our governments can still go without mainstream ECM technology. It was found that City Hall protocol instructs employees to delete their e-mails daily - no matter the content and context?  Hmmm? I am sorry your honor but our company's protocol requires us to delete all of our records daily. We thought there was a back-up - guess not?  Really? No one in city hall understood that chief Michael Kineavy's emails are supposed to be saved as public record?

Maybe, given the fundamental nature and criticality of electronic content to government and society at large, we should require our civil servants to have at least a high level working knowledge of ECM. The city claims to have subsequently invested in new technology, but are they using it properly?  I know where my city could get some good education and advice :).  Hey Martha and Mayor Menino - we are right next door.

Flipping Over Content Delivery

 
Readers of my work know that one of my more favorite aspects of ECM is content delivery. Along with mobility, the ability to re-purpose modular "chunks" of content in a variety of formats and contexts significantly enhances the value derived from ECM, increases the effectiveness of communication and quite frankly is just plain fun.

I have blogged about the concept often over the last few years, and originally began writing about it more than 15 years ago.  Many never seemed to quite get it - but slowly over the last few years more and more apps have emerged that clearly demonstrate the value of dynamic content delivery.  The latest is a free app known as Flipboard.

Flipboard  is a personalized digital magazine, created by culling social media and content pertinent to the reader.  This is the future of publishing, and it will take off - of that I am sure.  But do not just take my word for it.  Flipboard has received many great reviews, and commentary , that like this post, positions Flipboard not just as an iPad app, but another step forward in dynamic content delivery.  Initial reaction has been so positive that the provider had to ask for patience with potential early "blips in service."

- My point, I am not enamored with Flipboard per se - but am very excited to see yet another well done app come to the market that helps all of us experience the power of dynamic content delivery. Merge this with DAM and multimedia and the possibilities for new more effective ways to communicate are endless and the boundaries of ECM are stretched once again. 

Oh yeah, the ECM nerd in me is again having a very good day.

Do You Need to Pick Through Garbage to Find Valuable Content?

It has been weeks since I blogged, or even Tweeted on a regular basis. Where have I been? Dan and I are on the road, consulting on a very complex, grand and most interesting ECM project. A Fortune 100 company that remains successful and growing in spite of the economy, has managed to achieve such greatness without benefit of a formal Information Architecture and ECM strategy.  Some of the lessons learned there were recently echoed in the latest handing of the BP oil spill in the Gulf. Read on to find out why content authentication needs to be a fundamental component of virtually any ECM system.

E2.0 With FAME Will Come Obscurity

Last week the Enterprise 2.0 Conference was held right here in my hometown, Boston MA.  As usual, the E2.0 community was abuzz with Twitter (#e2conf).  But, now, with the show a happy memory, many of us attendees reflect more deeply than 140 characters allows, in our blog posts.  The  blogosphere is ripe with conference coverage. Among them I recommend those from Sameer Patel, Jacob Morgan, Rawn and Ron Miller. I will refrain from sharing observations that are redundant to theirs – except in cases where I think redundancy will add to the power of the message.

So that said – here goes.  in keeping with tradition, I  have rolled-up my impression of the conference into an acronym.  This year the conference is characterized as

FAME

Read on to find out why and to download my presentations.

2.0 is a Balancing Act, "Oh Really"

It's likely you have been following the pressure Facebook has been getting concerning its privacy policies. The pressure seems to be working, as Facebook recently announced it will change its approach to privacy and make it easier for users to protect their personal data. This has been an on going battle. I first commented on the need for better controls in Facebook 3 years ago, prompted by the then reaction of Facebook to privacy violations related to its Beacon advirtisements. At that time I commented that “mature” uses of 2.0 (especially those that take the form of Enterprise 2.0) have to address the issue of privacy and learn from established corporate practices concerning responsible content management.

Here it is  three years later and Facebook is in a similar situation, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is still resisting the demand to do the “right thing.” 

But enough critisism on that issue.  In this post, I want to focus on one of Zuckerman’s recent quotes in particular. In commenting on the struggle between social computing and privacy, Zuckerman stated,  “The company [Facebook] treads a delicate balance between protecting privacy rights and promoting social networking."  When I read this quote – I could not help but think of Seth Meyer and Amy Pohler on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update: “Oh Really.”  Read on to find out why.

ECM Strategy: Latest Stats

Two weeks ago I spoke on a webinar hosted by SpringCM. My presentation focused on how to take a structured and methodical approach to defining and executing an ECM strategy.

To access the slides used, listen to the recorded webinar, and see the latest stats gathered during the webinar, read on.

Holy Crap - Now That's Innovation

Look around – is there waste in your organization? Is it time, paper, bits of plastic, scraps of wood, nuclear active material …? Of course there is waste, and often projects are focused on eliminating or minimizing waste – of all kinds. What do you do with it? Carefully dispose of it? Recycle? How about turn it into product? Given the right creative mindset and approach to innovation management waste can be viewed as opportunity. The approach isn’t new – just ignored too often.

Want to find out how to turn waste into profit? Read on ...

Innovation: Perspective Matters, But Many Simply Lack Vision

Recently both BusinessWeek and Fast Company published their respective 50 most innovative companies
list.  I have “mashedup” both lists in the chart below and edited the lists a bit. (Where there is overlap I indicate the difference in ranking order between lists.)  There was much to garner from these lists, beyond the corporate rankings individually.

Read on and get the list.

Context is King and ECM-based BI is the Keys to the Kingdom

Yesterday I tweeted (@carlfrappaolo) about a Boston Globe article on ECM search company, Endeca. I was going to let it go at that, but then this morning, serendipitously I heard a story on NPR about the dramatically changing world of television watching and the impact that is having on the services provided by Nielsen. ECM is at the foundation of great new opportunities and challenges for organizations. Read on