Social Networking sites have experienced phenomenal growth in membership and usage over the last couple of years. With unique visitors of approximately 2/3 of the worldwide internet population, social networking sites have become one of the most visited. Internet traffic is shifting from traditional portal and search sites to social networks applications like Facebook and MySpace as consumers turn to social networks sites for their needs, resulting in on average higher page views than other forms of online access.

Social Networks are emerging as critical hubs for content and communications services, replacing the current search portals or converge with them. It is no surprise therefore that successful social networking sites as MySpace and Bebo are attracting high valuations and are among the most sought-after acquisitions by companies such as NewsCorp and AOL. Many players think there will be big business for them down the road: media companies, big brands, Internet Information Providers (such as Google and AOL), online retailers, telcos and a wide range of other players including Nokia and Sony.

Social Networking is changing the way how we share content, collaborate and communicate. This session provides the latest data on the use of social networking sites, and will discuss the role and strategy of the different players in the Social Networking value chain, the sources of revenue, the extension to the mobile, and the future of social networking.

Rob van den Dam EMEA Communications Leader, Institute for Business Value IBM

Mr. van den Dam is responsible for thought leadership development in telecommunications. He joined IBM in 1998 and has held various roles, including management consultant and strategy executive for mobile Internet. Mr. van den Dam has more than 15 years of expertise in multimedia, content, emerging distribution channels, mobile technology, and IPTV. He has written or co-written numerous white papers on telecommunications and media, including "A Future in Content(ion)," "Primetime for Mobile Television," "IPTV Advertising: A Goldmine for Telcos?" and "Mobile Advertising — Ads on the Move."

Hervé Amossé Vice President, Applications Alcatel-Lucent

Mr. Amossé manages the Alcatel-Lucent business to deliver communications solutions to carriers, for both consumer and managed enterprise services, with a goal to deliver innovative multimedia services (multi-screens Network Address Book, Instant Messaging and VoIP services) blended with classic, web and multimedia applications. Mr. Amossé also has direct ownership of a wide range of products and solutions from classic telecom to Internet communications over fixed and mobile broadband networks enabled by an IMS architecture. He has spent more than 15 years in the high tech and applications industries.

Sean Kane Global Head of Mobile Bebo

Mr. Kane works to deliver compelling and relevant mobile experiences to Bebo users. A key focus is ensuring that Bebo community members can interact with friends, media, and content when and where they want. He is an experienced executive and serial entrepreneur in large and small organizations, having successfully delivered consumer and technology products over the last 15 years.

Myles MacBean General Manager, Online and Interactive TV Service Walt Disney Company

In addition to being GM, Mr. MacBean is also a product leader for Disney’s consumer Web sites globally, and the head of technology for Disney’s “connected media” services outside the United States. Before Disney, he worked in various roles in the telecom and Internet market, starting in semiconductor device research and culminating in the leadership of BT’s eCommerce product division.

Sacha Tuéni Group Marketing Manager, Social Networking Vodafone

In 2007, witnessing changing customer communication behavior, Mr. Tuéni became an early proponent of integrating social networks into Vodafone’s service landscape. He has since worked to secure Vodafone’s place and revenues in the post-Web 2.0 world. Mr. Tuéni’s career began by launching Red Bull in Turkey in 1999, a venture that proved to be great training for spotting emerging youth trends.