Building an online reputation
With global industry at its peak, it is crucial for European industry and businesses to build a solid reputation and communicate their advantages to clients and other stakeholders. The EU-funded project 'Social knowledge for e-governance' (EREP) studied the generation, dissemination and impact of reputation to design reputation-building technologies. Moreover, the project team tested new hypotheses and ideas in order to develop recommendations for building reputation. The project aimed to support the governance of electronic institutions, from business exchanges and discussion forums to professional online collaborative environments and social networks. It compiled a Reputation Booklet that covers the main project results and includes recommendations for the industry sector. The booklet is aimed at researchers, policymakers and stakeholders who want to design powerful reputation technology, dealing with challenges such as untrue statements made by others. It also allows concerned stakeholders to regulate simulated societies such as collaboration platforms, Internet environments and telecommunication networks. Apart from the Booklet, the project's other most important final result was the organisation of the First International Conference on Reputation: Theory and Technology (ICORE09). The conference disseminated the project results and fostered debate on emerging research. A new project booklet on 'Social knowledge for eGovernance: theory and technology of reputation' was also presented and distributed. Several papers were also published on the subject of reputation and eGovernance, providing a wealth of research for interested parties. EREN and ICORE09 effectively highlighted reputation studies as an important new field of research that acts as a bridge for many disciplines. If applied correctly, the knowledge emanating from the project and conference can help build trust and improve the reputation of European institutions and businesses.
