Social developments from digital environments

9. Reshaping Our Social Environment

• The Death of Distance?

  • Horizontal bonds (language, culture, jobs) will be strengthened across different parts of the globe.
  • Vertical bonds (governments and companies
    to people) will weaken.
  • Familiarity may (or may not) breed love; but it will drive knowledge of others.
  • Income distribution across countries will narrow, but within countries will widen.
  • Digitization leaves tracks: commercial use of
    content can be targeted.
  • Information overload will both enable and cripple government surveillance efforts.
    
    
• The World is Flat?
• The Death of Distance?

• Previously closed economies are open to the world.
• The internet enables wide information sharing and the use of workflow software.
• Work can be open sourced (with "everyone" participating), outsourced, insourced, and off-shored.
  Personal digital communication devices bring individuals into quick contact with information and the economic stream.
• The flateners join with the openings to dynamically illustrate the benefits of horizonal integration.
  
  
• Global Village or Global Marketplace?
  • In the village, folks would
    • Be interconnected
    • Be interdependent
    • Telecommute, mixing home with job
    • Share a cultural veneer so, would be informed about each other.
• In the marketplace, folks
• Would share a public info. infrastructure
• Could access widely available info. resources
• Could scale info. use to their needs
• Are very independent.
  
  
• Urban Villagers or Urbane Villagers?
  • Urban Villagers might stress their participation as villagers and use info. to nurture culture and relationships.
  • Urbane Villages olks might ignore those in need and eschew contact with others.

Study Question

Want to learn more:

Frances Carincross, Death of Distance
Thomas L. Friedman, The World is Flat, 3.0
Michael Dertrouzos, What will be: how the new world of information will change our lives.