Innovation, Government and Technology
Posted by Jim Kupel
John Seely Brown* has been quoted as saying "I think right now we are experiencing something we've never experienced in the history of civilization. All past infrastructures have unfolded slowly at first, until they reached a critical mass which then sparked explosive expansion and adoption. Finally things level off and stabilize for decades at the time often 70 to 100 years. What's interesting for me is that the infrastructure we're moving into is in exponentially increasing infrastructure because technology is exponentially increasing."
He also reminds us that "all infrastructure is social/ technical." The example he uses is the development of the nationwide electrical grid. That was a huge social and business innovation.
If John Seely Brown is correct and technology continues to increase exponentially, developing governmental processes that are able to respond to these changes is essential.
We have already seen that technology has the power to alter the fate of nations. This is demonstrated as recently as the events in Egypt and Lybia. Clearly the recent debt ceiling debate in Congress suggests that even in the most technologically advanced nation on earth our human social infrastructures are not keeping up.
By helping our governmental representatives solve real problems we help adjust to new technologies that stand to alter the face of the planet.