News in brief

Ecademy celebrates 10 years
You might only just be overcoming your Facebook addiction, but social networking in the UK is already 10 years old.
Social networking may now be a buzz word, but the UK’s longest running example was founded over a family lunch in February 1998 by a mother of three, Penny Power.
“Back then everyone was chasing dotcom lottery tickets thinking they would be overnight millionaires,” said Power. “At Ecademy we focused on putting people first and grew organically through word of mouth, and by backing up the service with face-to-face local events across the country,” says Power.

Better info systems needed
Knowledge-driven companies are facing a challenge: they need to boost the productivity of their knowledge workers to be competitive. Current information systems, however, do not provide sufficient support for addressing this challenge. They make it cumbersome and time-consuming to share information and offer little support for informal knowledge processes.

Habit plays role in system use
Business and management researchers generally acknowledge two basic stages of information-systems usage: adoption and continuance. Past research has focused on adoption, the initial, critical stage in which users are introduced to a given computer application or program, learn about it and come to accept it. But recently, organisational managers and researchers have begun to explore the importance of continuance, the post-adoption stage of information-systems usage.

News in brief
New guide on knowledge auditing; India vast talent resource pool .

Skepticism in Europe, enthusiasm in Asia
A NEW global survey of innovation acceptance reveals that consumers’ confidence varies widely around the world and that up to half of consumers in some European countries are skeptical of the value of innovation.
Only 30 per cent of Dutch working age adults believe new products or services will improve their lives in the next six months, compared with 60 per cent of US consumers, and 80 percent in India and the United Arab Emirates, according to The Institute for Innovation & Information Productivity.