Briefs

Building on the momentum in social networking for business, IBM Corp. is opening the IBM Center for Social Software in Cambridge, Mass., to research and quantify the effects of social software on workplace productivity.

Jackie Noblett, Boston Business Journal

The center will bring together the area�s top minds in software development, social research and business formation to discover the next breakthrough application in Web 2.0 business software and persuade customers that the social software -- which covers such things as social networks and user-generated content� -- is a good investment.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) officials say the decision to build a social software lab in Cambridge was based on the wealth of enterprise-focused social science and computer science talent in the area that could collaborate on key product development projects.

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