Online information conference

31 October, 2006

This year's Online Information Conference runs from 28 to 30 November 2006 at Olympia, London. Thomas A. Stewart, editor and managing director of the Harvard Business Review, and a pioneer in the field of intellectual capital is to host the opening keynote address.

Prior to joining HBR, he was editorial director of Business 2.0 and a member of the board of editors of Fortune. In a series of Fortune articles, he pioneered the field of intellectual capital, which led to his groundbreaking 1997 book, Intellectual capital: the new wealth of organizations. His second book, The wealth of knowledge: intellectual capital and the twenty-first century organization, published early in 2002, reveals how today's companies are applying the concept of intellectual capital into day-to-day operations to dramatically increase their success in the marketplace.

This year's Online Information Conference will see Stewart opening the programme with a keynote address entitled: 'Ideas, creativity and knowledge are capital: everything else is just money now.' During the session, Stewart will analyse the four pillars of the knowledge economy:

• knowledge is what we buy and sell
• knowledge assets separate winners from the also rans
• knowledge defines our work and describes what we do
• the returns to knowledge should exceed the returns to any other investment.

The Online Information Conference features over 30 sessions from over 90 experts. Themes for this year include: the impact of information on 21st century organisations; collaboration and communities; information discovery; enterprise search; information developments and China; new technologies; and professional development.

One of the hot topics for librarians and information suppliers is Web 2.0. Day one of the conference also features an 'Information search, discovery and exploitation' track, which will include a session dedicated to Web 2.0. In addition, the conference will cover topics such as taxonomies and metadata, intranet developments, publishing and library developments, enterprise search, and winning strategies for the 21st century information professional.

The conference also hosts the fourth annual International Information Industry Awards, which take place on 29 November 2006 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London.

Running alongside Online Information this year is a new show, Information Management Solutions 2006. IMS focuses on the business applications and benefits of available technology, not on the technical infrastructure of information management. The event will provide a forum for professionals to find unlimited, relevant advice, educational content and solutions under one roof.

Discount of 25% for SCONUL members who book as a full delegate by 3 November 15% thereafter.

For more information, or to view the conference programme in full, please visit: www.online-information.co.uk/conference.