Amongst the turmoil surrounding the global financial system we continue to receive strong messages about the value and neccessity of using Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0 technologies.

A recent article has quoted Giora Hader, the US Federal Aviation Administration's knowledge architect, at a knowledge and business intelligence conference that "agencies must embrace the world of social networking and collaborative technologies or risk losing out on a generation of new workers who are needed to fill gaps left by the upcoming wave of retirements".

"The fact is Web 2.0 is here to stay; it's not a fad," Hader said. "It can increase workforce efficiency and effectiveness while improving service -- keep in mind that we are all civil servants."

"Hader said younger people need to feel free to ask questions and that discouraging them does not accomplish much. Robinson advocated social networking tools and other such technologies that would allow workers to interact, question each other and learn more about how the agency accomplishes its mission".

The full article as reported by Gautham Nagesh from NextGov can be found here.

The US version of Business Week has published an article called "Knowledge Handoff" which discusses how corporations are scrambling to tap the expertise of baby boomers before they retire. The article provides relevant examples but in particular recommends "companies should encourage soon-to-be retirees to use digital tools like wikis, blogs, and instant messaging."

We have recommended to many clients that collaborative knowledge management, retention and re-use will provide an "organisational memory" that will be enduring long after their employees retire.