communication revolutions change civilizations: what to expect from the current one?
DESCRIPTION
Keynote presentation at the WEBIST 2010, Valncia, Spain, April 7-10,2010.TRANSCRIPT
Communication Revolutions change Civilizations: What to expect from the current
one?
prof. dr. Žiga TurkUniversity of Ljubljana
@ WEBIST 2010,Valencia, Spain, 8.4.2010
“The Essence of Technology is Nothing Technical”
Martin Heidegger
Contents• We live during 2nd Communication Revolution
– revolutionary communication technology available to the masses– this is one of the historic disruptions occurring today
• Impact– It empowers people– It is an amplifier of their potential– It changes the very fabric of society (because society is created by communication)
• Consequences– Open innovation, creativity– Open politics– Politics of the open
• The people (make the best out of everyone, equal opportunities)• The market (create an innovation, creativity and digital economy friendly market)• The goods (protect intellectual property so that more of it will be created)
The ABCDE disruptions of today
• A – abundance of agricultural, industrial and information products and services in developed economies
• B – BRICS, globalization• C – climate change• D – demography• E – electronic communication revolution
The ABCDE are historic
• A – end of agricultural, industrial, information age, dawn of conceptual, meaning economy
• B – end of the dominance of the west• C – end of below ground energy and fossil
fuels• D – end of paradigm where GDP growth was
linked to population growth• E – end of society based on paper
Communication Revolutions
Industrial revolutions
• agricultural - Neolithic – domesticated animals– planting and harvesting
• industrial– machine replaces
muscle power• information– computer replaces brain
power
AD500, Istanbul: Hagia Sophia, 31m
31m
AD 1500, Istanbul: Süleymaniye Mosque, 26m
26m
AD1600: St. Peters in Rome, 42 m
42m
Tripple size, 100 years! Why?
year500 1000 1500 2000
com
ple
xit
y
0
?discoveredAmerica?
end of themiddle ages?
parchment available to few
Euclid’s description of the Pythagorean theorem
Source: Dan Collins
cheap paper technologyfrom China
paper, available for anything …
… including engineering drawings !
Brunelleschi Devised a method of
perspective for architectural purposes
he is said by Manetti to have made a ground plan for the Church of Santo Spirito in Florence on the basis of which he produced a perspective drawing to show his clients how it would look after it was built.
Source: Dan Collins
The Renaissance follows.Europe takes the lead.
and provided the basis for the scientific and technological monopoly of the west
De-materialization of communication in early 20th century
… available for very special purposes
well, not quite so special, but not to each and everyone
until communication revolution #2 kicks inthe INTERNET
and communication is available to everyone
In Summary
year500 1000 1500 2000
com
ple
xit
y
0
paper for some
1st communication revolution - paper for all
electronic for some
2nd communication revolution: electronic communication for all
Impact of Both Communication Revolutions
• flattening of society• science, technology, innovation
– increasing number of people can be creative and innovative– open innovation, education
• governments– increasing number of educated, informed people are outside government
offices– open government
• business– anyone is a few clicks away– open world, globalization
• politics of the open
Technology as Equalizer
198428
1994 - VSL
1994 - VSL
Footnote: Technology continuing as social equalizer ???
Open Innovation and Creativity
Innovation to address demand for what?Function or meaning?
10.000€ 20.000€
Provides mobility
No fruit. Has Apple logo!
Plays MP3 music
Plain Design Award
Boils water
50c 1€
Quenches thirst
It’s also about the good stuff:
GMO BIO
Feeds you
Plain Fair
Wakes you up
No child labor!
Low Carbon!
Function vs. MeaningUseful vs. MeaningfulRational vs. EmotionalLeft Brain vs. Right BrainArgument vs. Animal Spirit Innovation vs. Creativity
“Meaning is created by communicating information in a social context”
Open politics
Oral communication
Oral + some paper: agora style democracy
Paper communication broadly available: representative democracy (revolution)
Electronic communication available to some: More power to those “some”
Electronic communication available to all (revolution)
51
Throughout History ICTs were empowering
• exclusive technologies were empowering the centre
• democratic technologies empowered masses– paper in the renaissance– paper based democracy– Benjamin Franklin (CTO of the American
Revolution)
Politics of the open
53
Never before today
• had people access to so much information• had people access to so much processing
power• had people access to so many other smart
people to work with
54
As the ICT 2020 report claims:
• purpose-driven online collaboration takes us beyond the domain of enabling technology into the domain of public policy, politics, and politicians
• what are the key messages to politicians?
55
Never before
• … such a small percentage of innovators worked for your company
• … such a small percentage of intellectuals worked at the universities
• … such a small percentage of writers worked for the newspapers and book publishers
• … such a small percentage of people empowered with knowledge, worked for the government
e.g. Jurij Vega
• was a Slovene mathematician, physicist and artillery officer
• published first 4 digit logarithms, very precise
• worked for the government, published!
• internet started as a defense project too!
57
The challenge of all these actors
• is how to adapt to the disruptions• how to make use of the “outside”• how to restructure at the time where
connecting people and transmitting information is free
58
The challenge of politics
• … is how to make use of all these people.• not only for their economic contribution– entrepreneurship, free markets
• but also in handling public affairs– in politics!
Current Policies in Europe
• Documents– Lisbon Strategy 2000-
2010– Europe 2010-2020– Reflection Group
(Gonzalez Wise Men Group) Report 2020-2030
• Policies– broadband penetration– importance of eSkills– rethinking IPR, patents– common digital market
• the last two are in fact global
60
Empowering is the key
• “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.“
• Bill Gates, late 1990s
Conclusion• Researchers in ICT and Web technologies are
those creating technologies that empower others
• Teachers of ICT, teachers using ICT are those that teach what empowers
• It is the best field to be in!
