“How will the internet impact our institution in the future” is a key question for business, education, and government leaders. The internet hasn’t played well with established fields in the past: news, music, journalism, video, etc. Pew Internet has released a new report on the internet’s impact on institutions in the future. The research consisted of having experts respond to “tension pairs” (two statements offering a different view of 2020). For example, about 72% agreed that “innovative forms of online cooperation” would product more efficient and responsive organizations. In contrast, 26% agreed with the statement that institutions would largely retain “20th century models for conduct of relationships” with customers.
There are a few hype/jargon loving moments in the document, but overall, it’s an interesting read about how experts view the future of institutions. Stephen Downes makes an appearance on p.10 in stating that “by 2020, it will be clear that people are governing, managing, education, and supporting themselves, not waiting for some institution to be ‘effective’ or ‘responsive’ to these needs”. I fully agree. A fair bit of time over the last decade has been spent in technology circles talking about “everyone has a voice”. Less attention has been paid to what that means: if everyone has control, then everyone is responsible.