The SharePoint Conference is kicking off in Australia today.

Mark Rhodes, Introducing Guy for the First Part of the Conference
– first conference in 2010; done 6 conferences since then.
– … SharePoint 2010 was in beta in 2010. Everyone on SharePoint 2007.
– … go and see the vendors in the Showcase; they can help you get off SharePoint 2007.
– … going back to 2009/2010 – iPhone was nascent. Windows Phone 6.5 (“difficult, even making phone calls.”) Few people with Android. BlackBerry very popular. No iPad. Touchscreens not common. Had to use a stylus. The processor in a computer was the most important consideration back then.
– … now … processing power isn’t that important any more. Care about apps, and connectivity.
– … changed the journey over the past 5 years – from device power, to what it can do for us (apps, connectivity). Value of the devices is now about connectivity to other people, and networks through people.
– … remember that the biggest value of coming to a conference – is in connecting with other people.

Finding Meaningful Insights: New Technologies That Tap Into Organizational Wisdom
Brian Farnhill (Microsoft), and Paul Culmsee (Seven Sigma)

– Question: How do large amounts of information at work affect you? Question in SMH in late 2010. Answers: 46% leaves my brain spinning, 31% makes me want to throw the computer through the window, 7% I like it – it makes me feel busy and important, and 16% it’s actually helpful for my job. Conclusion: the average Australian spends 2.5 days per week doing their job, and the rest of the time navigating a virtual forest of information.
– … 2004 book, Lost Knowledge by David DeLong. “If we want to go to the moon again, we’ll be starting from scratch because all of that knowledge has disappeared.” NASA retired all the Apollo engineers.
– … conclusion: too much information, it’s not relevant, and the stuff we need walks out the door.
– … it’s time to Re-Imagine how we Approach Information.
– … Microsoft Delve (previously codename Oslo). A new way to interact with data – finding information that is contextually relevant to you as a user. Key idea: working like a network (people and an information network). Want to be able to draw insights out of this.
– … … re-imagine search and discovery. Work as a network. Proactive and Tailored for me. People and content-centered experience.
– … … underpinning is the Office Graph. A network of information from across Office 365 – Exchange, Lync, Yammer, etc. Also signals – interactions between people and information. The Office Graph consumes this and gives out good information. Office Graph is aware of all of the interactions; gives a rich tapestry for making recommendations.
– … … maintains security – private and public signals. Eg., if responding to a conversation in a private Yammer group, will treat this as confidential.
– … … more apps are coming out based on Office Graph, and APIs for doing more.
– … … delve will come out as HTML 5 and dedicated apps for Windows 8.
– … … user interface – displays as tabs, with tags at the bottom (“trending around me,” “viewed by me,” “presented to me.”
– … … at a profile level – can generate a picture of who a person is working with
– … … search functionality – adds another layer to it. Contextually relevant – much faster / more accurate at finding the right information.
– … … extensibility – with line of business applications, external content, and external services

– … Paul Culmsee – patterns of knowledge exchange, interaction … have an opportunity to continuously improve.
– … … most important knowledge facilitator in organizations – the watercooler / the coffee machine / the photocopier. Much of this isn’t captured in systems. Another important one – whiteboards. Lots of insight / knowledge created on napkins / paper. Lots of value lost as whiteboards are wiped.
– … … casual discussions – give lots of insight.
– … … in other words – lots of interactions are missed by systems.
– … … the stories are where you get your insights.