The Role of Government in the Digital Society of 2025

The Role of Government in the Digital Society of 2025 Žiga Turk @EIF Dinner Discussion, Brussels, 14.4.2009 speaking notes

Disclaimer
the views expressed are not necessarily those of the Reflection Group or any other organizations the speaker is affiliated with!

Outline
global historical context
conceptual economy: from industrial to conceptual capitalism
… powered by talents: creativity is the ultimate resource
communication revolution: allows so many more to be creative
changes how governments will work
platform for brains outside of government (Open Government, Govt. 2.0)
coordination, not command and control
trust / rely on people with access to so much knowledge and information
agenda for government action
empower the creative and innovative
provide/preserve technical infrastructure that encourages creativity
develop new intellectual property rights for the conceptual economy

Conceptual economy
value is in meaning not in function
function:
quenches thirst
keeps you warm
plays music
gets you from hope to office
…
meaning:
it is the original Coca Cola
it si new and fashionable dress, shirt, car
it is an iPod not some no name stuff
it is environmentaly friendly
it is fair traded, no-child labour …

Conceptual economy is the future
how is meaning created? by talent
who can be talent? an increasing number of people
how is meaning communicated? by communication technology
references: Alan Greenspan, Dan Pink, Richard Florida
detour: abundance of functional products is a core reason for the crisis, we have the stuff that provide function, need not buy new!

How many talents, how many brains?
how much land can you use
how many hands can you use
how much oil can you use
how many brains can you use

Communication Revolutions Increase the Numbers of Talent
3000BC exclusive paper
1500AD democratic paper
1900AD exclusive electronic
2000AD democratic electronic

Political systems follow communication technologies
poor communication
few people involved in decision making: autocracy
better communication
more people involved: democracy, subsidiarity

A look at the history
expensive paper mostly oral, some writing:
governing by a small group of people that can talk to each other and dispatch commands by writing (kingdoms, dictatorships, agora type democracy)
very few literate, educated, most of them working for church or government
autocracy
cheap paper: more writing:
paper based communication enables power sharing and subsidiary among those that can reliably communicate with paper
mass education through books
democracy
electronic; TV, mass media:
technology again available to elites only;
democracy by real power concentrated
internet
empowers the masses

What internet will change?
does Internet make the case for an increasingly libertarian future?
Milton Friedman: "government should decide when people do not have information to decide for themselves"
we are living in an information age; information is easier to get than any time before
does Internet weaken the role of government
portion of educated people working for the states keeps decreasing
majority of smart people is outside the government
key issue:
how can governments, states, business make use of all those smart people, with all the information and knowledge available to them with a few mouse clicks

How? Open up!
like the industry: open innovation
let users innovate, innovation outside the r&d departments
like web 2.0
users add value
provide a platform for users to add value
blogs, youtube, flickr, twitter …
government 2.0
government as a platform (O'Rilley)
government provides a platform for people to make value
middle of the circle, not top of the pyramid
government not a decision making body but a coordination platform among stakeholders
govt. actors job: get the best people around you!

What governments should do?
empower talent
he/she has more data, information, knowledge available than ever before; let her use it!
entrepreneurship
access to education
provide technical infrastructure that encourages creativity
net neutrality, not local monopolies and market distortions by ISPs
broadband for all, like access to other utilities
provide law and order
security and safety
property rights

Property Rights
property rights management (about material property) contributed to the raise of the West since 1500s;
environment that rewarded fairness, honesty, protected property allowed for the best, not the most cheating one, to win
tangible property can be held by one person only
sharing material stuff (like in socialism) does not work
conceptual, intellectual property can be shared not at an expense of other
sharing ideas that lead to tangible stuff (patents) … done
sharing ideas that remain intangible, conceptual … question!
Greenspan: key issue for legislators is to find a most productive way to handle this kind of intellectual property

In conclusion
back to slide 2

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The Role of Government in the Digital Society of 2025

by Žiga Turk

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The Role of Government in the Digital Society of 2025 Presentation Transcript