'Cultural change' needed for Asia to adopt Web 2.0

Asia-Pacific economies will increasingly look toward Web 2.0 tools to boost productivity, innovation and service, but they must first be prepared to relinquish control in order to enjoy the benefits.

According to research firm Frost & Sullivan, Asian businesses are finding it tough to recruit and retain skilled staff and face increasing customer demand for better service. In addition, companies are becoming geographically-diverse and cost pressures are pushing them to improve staff productivity.

These factors are driving enterprises in the region to look at deploying Web 2.0 tools, including instant messaging, collaboration and virtual worlds, Simon Hayes, senior industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan Australia, wrote in a research paper released Monday.

Friendster, for instance, draws 75 percent of its 58 million users from Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, Hayes said.

Despite the attraction of Web 2.0, Asian businesses are wary about losing control of their employees and customers if they adopt a Web 2.0 strategy, he noted. In addition, these enterprises are concerned about the true utility of such applications, where senior managers view these technologies as "more toys than business tools". For example, some businesses are anxious that creating a corporate wiki could result in time wasted, he added.

Such beliefs also extend beyond the corporate realm, according to Hayes.

He explained: "There is one important element that governments can contribute to greater innovation through Enterprise 2.0: reducing the regulatory burden.

"Strict censorship applies in China, while other nations exercise varying degrees of control. In Singapore...Internet comment is regularly the subject of action under defamation and sedition laws," he said. "In Malaysia, publications are also subject to censorship, as to a lesser degree are publications in Thailand, which last year banned You Tube over allegations of lèse majesté."

There are concerns that censorship and excessive regulation will stifle creativity and innovation, he noted, adding that businesses as well as governments must not adopt a "command-and-control" approach if they want to reap the benefits of adopting a Web 2.0 strategy.

Hayes said: "As Asia Pacific economies start to move beyond resources and efficiencies and toward innovation, the ability to leverage knowledge will become critical.

"While technologies can be used to supercharge growth, cultural change needs to be implemented if [these technologies] are to be used effectively," he pointed out. "No organization that operates using a command-and-control mindset will be able to use creative, collaborative technologies effectively."