CORK:Anthony Williams and co-author Don Tapscott tapped into the zeitgeist with the 2006 publication of Wikinomics, a book which explained how the latest web technologies can be harnessed for mass collaboration. The duo saw that Web 2.0 technologies like blogs, wikis and social networking could facilitate collaboration between teams around the globe.
It looked at how encyclopedias, jetliners, computer operating systems, and mutual funds can be created by created by teams numbering in the thousands or even millions. Surprisingly the book became one of the business best sellers of the last year.
New Paradigm, the consultancy that Williams runs with Tapscott in Canada has now established a programme to look at how the ideas underpinning Wikinomics can be applied to the public sector.
Speaking to The Irish Times on a recent trip to Ireland Williams said there are already examples of how cutting edge web technologies are being successfully applied in government and state agencies, particularly in North America.
In the wake of 9-11, when the various security services in the US were criticised for not sharing knowledge, they have come together to establish Intellipedia, a version of Wikipedia for the intelligence community that allows them share information they may have on possible terrorist threats.
The US Patent Office is also embracing Web 2.0 in order to speed up the processing of applications. Snowed under by the upsurge in inventions since the early 90s, the Patent Office has a backlog of 600,000 applications and it now takes three years between application and the granting of a patent. It plans to cut that time in half by tapping into the skills of external experts who can work remotely and access the necessary information over the Web.
Williams believes that US politicians have yet to embrace the possibilities of what the Web can do. He describes the efforts of Democratic presidential hopefuls, Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton, to harness social websites like YouTube and MySpace as "token" and says they are "only scratching the surface of what is really needed".
Instead inspired by the large-scale digital brainstorming being carried out by firms like IBM Williams and Tapscott have ambitious plans for a project they are dubbing Canada Jam.
"Why not put in place the collaborative social media technology to think about the future of the whole country?" enthuses Williams. "Why not do this on a national scale so that every citizen can have an input. We think the technology is there for large scale collaboration."
Positive soundings have already been received from the Canadian federal government and Williams says he thinks the issue of climate change could be the ideal first topic for democratic discussion on a grand scale.
"The ability to use these technologies to solve a problem like climate change needs more thought," says Williams. "We need better knowledge sharing and coordination between all parties. But the opportunity is huge to reinvigorate democratic practices."
