Ricardo Perez Garrido

Those are some of the issues that the World Economic Forum covered this year. With media, social networking and innovation at the centre of the discussion in the future trends tracks, the Web 2.0 has even made the front page of the Forum internet presence (here).

The discussion and its webcast are worth not only for the list of people (with Bill Gates or one of the founders of YouTube amongst them), but also due to its approach from the first question and beyond: is this disaster 2.0 or something really new. The answer, amid a bunch of buzzwords and nice comments about how many opportunities we still have... comes in the form of a change in what we, as users, can "do", that has never been heard of. The real change is the possibility of self-expression by those that have never had a voice. And, when they form a community and get organized, can help companies and governments change their view of markets and citizens. We are not used to these opportunities yet, which means that user-driven innovation in the private sector, or direct democracy in the public are still new and scarce. But they should be the future, placing us at the centre of a new balance of power. The limitations are clear, with multinationals growing in power and influence over governments, but the impact in social issues like education or health should be important and not far away in time.

At least is interesting to see this type of conversations in the forum that is supposed to be following the important trends and issues of the world for this year.

Posted on 29 January 2007 in Convergencia / Convergence

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