We've been hearing a lot about web 2.0 lately, but what is it? This was a topic of discussion in my workplace just this week. One of my coworkers had heard of it but had an idea that it was a new and improved technology. Thanks to Wikinomics, and a wikipedia entry, I was able to tell him what it is.
Web 2.0 is not a new technology; it's a collaborative way of using technology that used to be reserved for large corporations. I am reminded of a TV commercial where a dam inspector sees a hole in the side of the dam and sticks his chewing gum over the hole. That's not going to hold for long, and when it blows, there is no stopping it. The possibilities with Web 2.0 are like that proverbial torrent; the collaboration that is made possible through technology is amazing.
Just this past two weeks I have been in a teleconference with over a thousand people calling in from around the world, as well as an online learning class that has participants from across the United States and even beyond our geographic borders. I personally am hosting my company's first web-based INS21 insurance course and have people joining from four time zones. For the first time, associates in remote locations are able to take instructor-led classes that previously were not available to them.
Several of the stories in the text resonated what's right with sharing and peering, two of the principles of wikinomics. The first had to do with the opening story. A company that was part of a very secretive industry used the idea of peering to get answers to a very serious problem: how to get to gold that they knew was there but couldn't find. They had a number of choices, but two possible outcomes. They could keep their information secret and continue trying to find the gold on their own, possibly bankrupting the company before they found it; or they could invite others to join the search and possibly keep their company alive. They chose to abandon the old way in favor of a new and scary way, and they won big time.
The second story I really appreciated talked about CAMBIA researchers who used talented pools of scientists to solve food security issues in nations that can't afford it. Using idle resources to help others is one of the great benefits of Web 2.0.
I am really looking forward to the rest of this book and this course as I learn how I can be a more active global citizen. With an internet connection and a computer that works (most of the time), the sky is the limit.
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My first reaction was WOW! I am anxious to hear the results of the INS 21 insurance course. What worked? What did not work?
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