Nick Denys

11th Oct 2011

While studying history at school – the origins of the Industrial Revolution, the rise and fall of Rome – I used to contemplate what it would be like to live through transformative times. Now I know. The technological revolution has changed our lives – in both big and small ways, for purposes good and bad. Many of our everyday habits are evolving. Recent research found that more than 70% of US households watching TV are simultaneously browsing the web at the same time. Watching a programme like Question Time no longer has to be a passive experience; you can join the debate through Twitter. My Dad now books his flights on-line, my sister share pictures of her children with our grandparents through Facebook, I catch the bus to work instead of the Underground so I can read the morning news from the internet on my mobile phone. All things that I would never have contemplate being possible 15 years ago.

People driven, technology enabling

The most dramatic example of how this technological revolution can change landscapes is the Arab Spring. Social media tools were used to communicate messages across class barriers, ethnic groups and international boarders. But It is always worth remembering that while the technology is important in understanding how things happen it does not necessarily tell you why, or what will occur. To appreciate that you need to understand people. The Arab Spring was not about Facebook or Twitter, it was about peoples desire to be free. Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, is the first to admit this: “My own opinion is that it would be extremely arrogant for any specific tech company to claim a meaningful role in those events.” Mubarak was not defeated by ‘social media’, he lost power because he didn’t understand that the world had changed – thus the techniques his regime used to crush dissent had become redundant.

Prioritising access over ownership

Our Government will only be able to harness the power of social media if they adapt, and go with the grain of what is happening. Civil servants should always have in mind the advice of Israeli tech-entrepreneur Ron Gura when considering tech-projects: “What we do is simple really: we take something that a lot of people like to do, but which can be hard to organise in the real world, and make it easy online.” It would be even better if Whitehall encouraged innovation by prioritising access over ownership. A good case study is the Sat-Nav, that magical device that ensures you get from A to B without having to give the matter any thought. Of course, there is no magic. The data that powers these devices is provided – for free to anyone – by the US Government. The McKinsey Global institute has calculated that the wealth created off the back off America’s GPS system is worth over $100billion a year. In the UK, if you want to use Ordnance Survey data or information from the Land Registry you have to navigate the two hurdles of cost and bureaucracy. Experience shows us that if data is freed then others will make good use of it. It is not realistic to believe that those who collect data have the exclusive understanding of how best to use the information.

Freedom helps growth

Both the teams in Number 10 and Number 11 Downing Street are working hard to produce a growth agenda. Paul Romer, Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, says, “Economic growth occurs whenever people take resources and rearrange them in ways that are more valuable.” A quick and cheap way to promote growth is for the state to free it’s data so entrepreneur can try new ideas. 

Open politics is the future

During the election campaign the Conservatives made a lot of noises about using the power of the crowd. While the Government’s consultation process has improved since May 2010 there is still a lot more work to do.  Policy formation should be open to all. Those who care should be given the opportunity to ruminate, experiment and populate the process with their ideas. Thanks to  modern technology harvesting ideas from the crowd is both fast and cheap. To quote Chris Anderson, from his book ‘Free’: “Ideas are the ultimate abundance commodity, which propagates at zero marginal cost. Once created, ideas want to spread far and wide, enriching everything they touch.”

An ‘open source’ mentality is needed

The test for whether the Government is operating an open government model is not based on the technology it utilises, it is about the mentality that is adopted from the top to the bottom of Whitehall. If knowledge is power, let’s use everyone’s knowledge.

 This article was first published in the Conference edition of the Reformer magazine.