Web 2.0 is set to be embraced by Enterprise 2.0 as businesses prepare to spend nearly $5 billion by 2013 on social networking tools.

Over half of the companies in North America and Europe see Web 2.0 as a priority for next year, a report says.

The news comes as San Francisco plays host to the Web 2.0 conference on next generation of the web.

"This is where we see the future of the web," said conference co-chair Jennifer Pahlka.

"The companies making announcements here are building that future."

Forrester, the research company which carried out the Web 2.0 survey, believes the technologies being developed and unveiled over the coming days represent "a fundamentally new way" for businesses to communicate with employees and customers.

Priority

The report found that consumer giants such as General Motors, McDonald's, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance and Wells Fargo Bank will drive much of this growth and have already embraced tools like blogs, RSS feeds, podcasting and social networking.