Removing the barriers to enterprise 2.0

Even before the advent of Web 2.0, enterprises were already looking at ways of creating or enhancing competitive advantage. Enterprise 2.0, however, with its Web 2.0-based technologies offers the opportunity to leverage the skills and knowledge of the entire organization. But despite the apparent attractiveness of this technology, not all employees are equally willing to adopt and use Enterprise 2.0. In this paper we discuss the phenomenon known as the Empty Quarter which identifies that group of an organization´s staff least likely to want to participate in this organizational virtual community, identifying possible reasons for its existence and suggesting some potential solutions. We introduce a preliminary model, the Enterprise 2.0 Uptake Model, to underpin the investigation of this fascinating issue and propose a plan of action for the gathering of appropriate data. We believe this issue is likely to become ever more central as organisations increasingly turn to enterprise content management for their everyday activities.