Next-generation collaboration and social networking tools are helping to break down barriers within businesses, according to Web 2.0 pioneer Jimmy Wales, the creator of online encyclopaedia Wikipedia.

The loosely-defined label of Web 2.0 is most frequently used with reference to web sites that have found success among consumers. Yet many of these technologies are already being used in the corporate sector, said Wales, in an exclusive interview with Computing.

“We are already seeing a lot of use of wikis in the corporate environment for loose, quick collaboration. Social networking and Facebook itself is already used by a lot of people for business purposes, linking up with contacts they have at other companies,” he said.

“What is interesting about these sites is that they are a social phenomenon, so while they are not business tools in the traditional sense, they can serve that purpose in a casual way.”

The legacy of social networking is a move away from the rigid formalities that hindered collaborative work in the past, said Wales. The result has been a flattening of the traditional corporate hierarchy.

Companies are learning the benefits of using open-access wikis to share internal data and information. US retail chains such as Best Buy are using the technology to build a supportive community in the workforce.

“Now store clerks are able to communicate with other sellers in the company without having to communicate up through the management chain,” said Wales.

“It is pretty remarkable that someone having problems selling a particular product in Ohio can obtain help and advice from a worker in Miami.”

But the growth of online communication cuts both ways, bringing its own set of responsibilities and challenges.

“Businesses should do a lot more to be global from day one by thinking of open ways of dealing with problems such as language issues,” said Wales.

“It no longer makes sense to think of your customer base as being entirely English-speaking, or coming from only one geographical area.”

Wales is no stranger to the challenges of dealing with an internationally-diverse user base. Since its formation in 2001, Wikipedia has grown to cover 8.29 million articles written in more than 250 languages.

Wikipedia’s growth is born out of an open structure that allows anyone to write and contribute material. In turn, it is the open nature of the internet that continues to drive new ideas online, said Wales.

“When you look at the innovation that has taken place on the web, one of the reasons that was possible is because it was not under the sole control of AOL, Microsoft or any other company,” he said.

“It has been, and continues to be, a world where you can start up a web site or write a programme for very little money. And with open source tools available to everyone it costs less to fix problems, make changes and innovate.”

In the next two months, Wales is hoping to bring his open next-generation strategies to bear with Search Wikia, a long-awaited rival to Google. The site plans to combine human-assisted editing with more traditional computer-controlled searches, while the open source nature of the project will keep the infrastructure transparent to the public.

Whether or not Search Wikia can repeat the success of Wikipedia remains to be seen, but for the time being Wales is concentrating on bringing the project into the light of day.

“We hope to launch by the end of December with a very early version of the engine,” he said.

“We will have to put a lot of disclaimers on it, letting people know that we are aware it is not very good yet. But that is really not the point, it is still an experimental project at the moment.”

Jimmy Wales will be speaking at the Online Information 2007 conference on 4 December. Visit: www.online-information.co.uk