Deliver Your News to the World

University of Michigan Executive Education Program Helps Businesses Harness Social Computing


WEBWIRE

U-M benefits from collaboration with NewsGator with real-world examples, technology insights and ROI research

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Social computing is making inroads into business, and decision makers who want to get ahead of the competition are tackling enterprise-wide projects that harness the information and connections of their employees.

The University of Michigan School of Information Executive Education program, in collaboration with social computing company NewsGator, is offering “Making Social Computing Work in Your Enterprise,” a course for the business community. The course offers a conceptual framework for understanding Enterprise 2.0 in terms of business objectives rather than technology features. The course also explores economic, social and psychological principles that can help Enterprise 2.0 rollouts succeed.

“Online communities, social networking and user-contributed content dominate the consumer world, and businesses yearn to capture the power of these new models to improve performance,” said professor Paul Resnick, coordinator of the university’s social computing specialization. “Unfortunately, an organization can’t simply copy and paste consumer social computing tools into the enterprise and hope employees make good use of them. This course will help managers and executives choose the right technical features, according to their business needs, and plan the social interventions that will motivate employees to participate.”

Dean Martha E. Pollack added that the School of Information is home to some of the leading thinkers in social computing. “We are excited about the opportunity to bring their expertise to the corporate world,” she said. “This new course will provide managers and others responsible for bringing social computing to their enterprise with the insights and tools they need to ensure success.”

The June 1-3, 2009 course will address three central questions:

* Which technology features are most useful for meeting business goals?
* Which organizational and social interventions should accompany a technology rollout to ensure productivity gains?
* Which metrics should be used to predict the value of a proposed Enterprise 2.0 project, and to manage the project on an ongoing basis?

The School of Information is collaborating with NewsGator because of NewsGator’s experience helping hundreds of enterprises implement social computing solutions and measure the benefits. NewsGator will provide case studies, best practices, ROI tools and other research materials.

“The ‘Making Social Computing Work in Your Enterprise’ course will immerse managers, executives, and sales and service consultants in the University of Michigan’s rich pool of social computing knowledge,” said NewsGator CEO J.B. Holston. “Professors and graduate students live, think, breathe and shape the science of social computing, and course attendees will go back to work enlightened and empowered by the university’s knowledge.”

To register for the course, please visit the University of Michigan School of Information Executive Education Web site: http://www.si.umich.edu/executive/registration.htm

About the University of Michigan School of Information
The School of Information (si.umich.edu/executive) is internationally recognized as a leader in educating information professionals and in conducting research into the fundamental role of information and information technology in society. Faculty explore the many ways in which information is created, collected, managed, preserved, accessed and presented, applying multi-disciplinary perspectives to discover new knowledge about the interplay between people, information and technology. The work of SI faculty can be found in numerous Web 2.0 applications, such as ratings systems and recommender systems. The School is the premier institution studying and using technology to improve how people work together in virtual collaborations. SI researchers continue to be instrumental in raising awareness of the importance of cyberinfrastructure as a national asset and have helped elevate it to priority status at the National Science Foundation.

About NewsGator Technologies, Inc.
NewsGator Technologies helps enterprises and media companies leverage social computing solutions to deliver real business value. The company’s enterprise social networking and widget services are in use by hundreds of the world’s most recognized brands, including Biogen Idec, CBS, CNN, Discovery, National Geographic, Procter & Gamble and USA Today. NewsGator Social Sites and Enterprise Server give enterprises better ways to collaborate, share content, expand employee knowledge and improve productivity. NewsGator Widget Services enable media and brand companies to better engage their audiences and extend the value of their brands through viral syndication of content. NewsGator also offers free, award-winning RSS aggregators for the Web, desktop, mobile devices and e-mail clients. For more information, visit www.newsgator.com.



WebWireID89429





This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.

News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.