The World Cup, and South Africa, evolve with the web

With a full month of incredible drama nearing an end it’s all too easy to feel a sense of anticlimax. In a way, some things never seem to change. England fans remain disappointed, the German team seem unable to ever have a bad tournament and you're left wondering if that HD subscription fee was really worth it. Yet for many there was something decidedly different about this year’s world cup. From a human point of view it was hard not to be humbled by the way South Africa embraced the tournament. Some 15 years on from that Rugby World Cup which promised the world a new South Africa free from the ghosts of the past, the country stands as a model of how reasoning and compromise can deliver magnificent results. One TV report before the opening game of this world cup showed poor, black fans in Soweto and affluent Afrikaans in Pretoria unified over one 90 minute match – who ever said it was just a game?

For us in the UK and many millions around the world, perhaps the thing that changed at this world cup was how we viewed and interacted with the drama. Just 4 years ago in Germany, the world cup could not reach people in the way it does now through Facebook and Twitter. Facebook was still closed to colleges and universities at the time and with Twitter still years away, MySpace provided the only ‘social’ online space for the world cup; which from my memory took the shape of some fairly mediocre mass advertising campaigns and little more.

In 2010, the world cup seems to have taken a step further towards becoming the truly global event it should be. Live streaming of the games set new records for bandwidth usage in Europe and North America, even causing some alarmists to suggest the wreaking of the web. Social media played an expectedly massive role. It continued to break down the traditional routes for delivering news, with as unlikelier source as Stan Collymore being in a position to announce to the nation via Twitter each England starting XI hours before any major media outlet. The savvier journalists have embraced these technologies, with many canvassing opinion before grilling Capello and co in news conferences, or leaking video filmed on their iPhones well before the 6 o’clock news.

Twitter itself groaned under massive demand. On June 14 a new record for tweets per minute was set as Japan beat Cameroon, only to be broken again 3 days later. Twitter’s engineers were accurately predicting problems, as the social network crashed more times in a one month period than ever before. On one occasion Holland’s victory over favourites Brazil brought the site down across the planet. 800,000 people watched England scrape through against Slovenia on the BBC website as offices and classrooms ground to a halt.

Yet beyond the bandwidth thirsty technology of the west, it was the BBC report from an orphanage outside of Johannesburg that will be my overriding memory of this tournament. As

someone who grew up watching sport on TV it’s not hard to explain why I love it so much. Yet

imagine having never seen a TV screen as a child even when you know millions can. If ever there was an argument for the need for digital information for all it is South Africa. After all, the

country’s past is a brutal illustration of what a lack of understanding can mean. Whilst some internet infrastructure will be left behind after this world cup, it is clearly not good enough that an event belonging to the people of South Africa

cannot be enjoyed by them in the same way as us. The young kids featured in that report clearly loved their first match, just think what a simple broadband connection would mean to them.

So as the stars fly off on their holidays and the media go their separate ways, South Africa remains a country with huge social and technological challenges ahead, but also as an example of how enthusiasm and unity over something a silly as a game of football can mean so, so much more. It remains the responsibility of us all to make sure that no one misses out.

A question to universities, what skills do you think IT grads should have?

This week, Jon and I finished what I think we would both agree was one of the most compelling and important courses we have experienced. Looking into the wide variety of social, political and economic issues facing a modern ‘Network Society’, this unit was delivered with passion and insight whilst facilitating something I feel is all too lacking in higher education – the ability to debate and reason your own opinions.

If ever there was a good indication of how important these issues really are, the investment and publicity the BBC have put into their current documentary series ‘The Virtual Revolution’ is it. Both this series and our unique final year unit tackle the ever changing issues of the web’s impact on our lives, its effects on globalisation and the nation state, the implications of privacy to online communities, and asks challenging questions as to how technology both promises and threatens so much.

After considerable reflection it simply disappoints me to see so many of my higher education colleagues being given a limited range of technical expertise, with no consideration as to the wider impacts of technology. I do not foresee an IT industry where highly specific technical disciplines are redundant, but surely in a globalised world that is impacted so significantly by far more than just ‘how stuff works,’ isn’t it time we really stared to ask ourselves where people come into our new technologies. Bafflingly, multi-disciplinary courses such as the one we are currently enjoying are under threat at many institutions, including mine. Higher education, like most public services, has even more responsibility to deliver value for money in difficult economic times. Yet in my opinion, and far more importantly in the eyes of most employers, graduates that can understand the immense implications of technology as well as just how to create it, stand a far better chance of tackling the most important issues.

I would urge any young person to consider a degree that incorporates the technical, business and social implications of technology. The level of engagement and debate encouraged by the academic running my most recent course is, I fear, all too unique. Any university looking to remove such courses need to deeply consider the role they think their graduates will have in a modern, Network Society.

Tweeting for Haiti – social media proves its worth in response to the devastating humanitarian crisis.

A few weeks ago I blogged here, describing the power of social media to influence and change the world around us for the better. At the time citing the trivial example of the fight for the UK Christmas number one, I suggested that the same principles applied elsewhere could make a real difference. In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti we saw, on a truly humbling scale, the real power of online social communication.

On the morning on Wednesday 13th, The Red Cross tweeted to its 50,000 followers asking for funds to be donated via a simple text message. By Friday morning the message had been ‘re-tweeted’ to the extent that the appeal had raised over $35 million in donations, with $8 million coming directly from texts. Aided by celebrities and businesses also using the service, the crisis has been the most talked about subject on most social networks throughout the week.

As governments and non-government organisations around the globe scramble to the aid of the impoverished Caribbean island, it has been the online community that have responded with the speed and generosity not even matched in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina or the Asian tsunami. The ability for people to express their compassion in the digital age is both exciting and proving to be more effective than anything seen before. Aid agencies are largely ignoring the slow and ineffective mediums of TV and radio advertising, turning to services like Twitter for fast and efficient communication.

The world now looks on as a combined military and aid agency response of unprecedented scale roles into action. We all hope that the people of Haiti get the help they need as soon as possible; aid that online communities across the globe are significantly responsible for. The first humanitarian crisis of the new decade has shown many doubters that the power of social media cannot and should not be ignored.

2009: A Review and Millennial hopes for the future

If it were possible to sum up 2009 in one word, what would it be? My suggestion: ‘Change.’

The past twelfth months have been a time of significant change across many areas of our lives. The year was rung in by a resounding speech from the newly elected US President. Obama’s ‘Change we can believe in’ slogan marked what many hoped would be a new era of progress. As the year draws to a close, it would seem like a good time to reflect on the changes that have, for whatever reason, affected the life of a millennial.

Proliferation of Twitter
2009 has been a great year for the micro blogging service. Recent research from eMarketer shows the number of ‘active’ twitter users at 18 million as the year comes to an end, up from 6 million last Christmas, and that is just the users who regularly update across multiple platforms. So what is behind this success? The truth is it’s hard to say. The ability for people to access the news they want, when they want? The increase in celebs using the site? For me, it’s the new found ability for self-broadcast that has helped the meteoric rise of social networking. The unrestricted ability for an individual to share what they feel people will want to know has created the most profound change in media of our generation: giving each of us our own broadcasting network. For our organisations, the tricky yet powerful ability to open up the marketing message to any employee who uses the service has already brought great success for many. In a year dogged by recession, companies have looked increasingly toward easier, cheaper and more efficient ways to reach their customers.

So what next for Twitter in 2010? The site is not without its challenges, with a reported 60% of new users leaving within the first month, and a less than certain business model, it will be interesting to see its progress. The change in the way we communicate and consume our media, brought about by such sites, will surely last much longer than this year’s mince pies.

Debate over Web 2.0 use
Even with the success of sites like Twitter in 2009, the role social media is to play within the enterprise remains unclear. Many see common sites as time wasting fads that will pass as quickly as they arrived. By recording the time their employees spend on Facebook, with a very real throwback to twentieth century Taylorism, some organisations have taken a very defensive approach to these new tools. Yet 2009 has seen a huge cultural shift for many companies, with many examples of employees being given the trust and responsibility of communicating with stakeholders using to powerful collaborative tools of Web 2.0.

2010 will, I predict, be a tipping point for the use of these technologies within organisations. Managers will be faced with a choice to tighten their firewalls or give the people they employ the responsibility to innovate and collaborate using techniques that are entirely new to traditional industries.

Digital Britain
With the release of the most comprehensive review of government policy on the internet and computing for a decade, 2009 has been a year of great debate as to how we should be approaching technology as a society. Many would welcome the announcement of a taskforce to tackle the issues of digital exclusion. Plans to deliver broadband speeds of 2Mbps to all homes in the UK by 2012 are also welcome, but are some way behind the likes of South Korea, Sweden and Finland; the latter of which this year made fast broadband a legal right. First Secretary of State Lord Mandleson’s recommendations in the Digital Economy Bill to remove internet access to serial illegal downloaders was met with great anger by industry and bloggers alike. A joint response from the online giants urged restraint from the government over the issues of copyright, suggesting that banning users from the internet risked “stifling innovation and damaging the government’s vision for a digital Britain.” It does seem somewhat contradictory to encourage universal broadband access on the one hand, recognising the dangers of digital exclusion, whilst threatening cutting people off on the other. It would seem that a choice is emerging between criminalising online file sharers, or encouraging the music industry to modernise their business models to compete in the digital age

There have been many issues which have pushed the Digital Britain debate down the agenda in 2009. National debt, Afghanistan or climate change, it would seem, will shape the key debates for the 2010 election. Yet for the millennial worker a frank an open debate is needed over a whole raft of digital issues; many would hope that 2010 brings with it exciting ideas that continue to challenge the way we work and play.

So as we ring in the new decade its worth reflecting on the innovations and issues that have shaped 2009. We will look forward to the new year with excitement and anticipation. Merry Christmas.

Digital Inclusion – government hype or socially vital?

We are all used to new buzz words popping up from both media and government. New Government Enterprise Tsar; Champion for Healthy Living; National Deck Chair Regeneration Task Force. Okay, I exaggerate, but it seems endless doesn’t it?

So with the announcement this summer of the UK’s first Digital Inclusion Task Force, the naturally sceptical among us would have sighed and got on with enjoying that rainy July. But is this another PR exercise, or an acceptance that digital exclusion is a serious issue facing our internet driven world? A quick glance over the stats paints quite a picture:

* Over 10 million adults have never accessed the internet, 4 million of which are socially excluded.

* Those earning over £40k per annum are twice as likely to be digitally included as those earning £12.5k

* An Internet Savvy worker will earn, on average, £8000 more than someone who is digital excluded.

The financial facts alone don’t tell us the full story. A recent study by UK Online Centres, who do a great job bringing internet drop in centres to some of the UK’s most deprived communities, set up 40 families from Tower Hamlets, East London with home broadband and support for 6 months, and monitored their progress. A fairly conclusive 97% of those who took part said that broadband had made a difference to their lives. Rubi, a 25-year-old mother of two, is now e-mailing friends in India rather than sending hand-written letters, is banking online and has drawn up a new CV.

Stories of courageous bloggers from places like Iran or Cuba trying to break down their digital divide are inspiring. But we don’t have to look so far from home to find examples of social barriers holding millennials back.

I’m sure we’ll see some trivial issues debated in the run up to next year’s election; with a decent helping of spin. But surely the debate as to the how we tackle to issues of digital exclusion isn’t one of them. There are, of course, benefits to universal broadband access for the country's bean counters. Millions saved here, Billions there. Yet the opportunities for a digitally included society run far deeper.

The UK’s Digital Inclusion Champion believes "there is both a moral and economic imperative for the wider community to take the issue of digital inclusion much more seriously." Fluffy job title maybe... but massively important work!

A simple experiment you can do: cut yourself off from the net for a week. No Smartphone, No Netbook, No PC! A minor irritation or genuinely debilitating? As someone always online, living and working with others exactly the same, it’s easy to forget how much it matters.