The Power of Social Networks

In his new book, Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business and the World, Canadian Don Tapscott explains that we are at a turning point in human history.

Old models and old institutions, everything from the nation state to the media, have stalled, he says.
"Thanks to the internet, there are now new global networks that are multi-stakeholder and that are beginning to address global problems in new ways,"
"These are networks that involve governments, private companies, civil society organisations and a new fourth pillar of society — individuals.
"These individuals now, at their fingertips, have a powerful tool for finding out what's going on, for organizing a collective response to something and for participating in solving problems."



Changing aid work

Aid organizations are not immune from this change, Tapscott said. "We are in a period right now that's sort of like the Big Bang. There's all these pieces flying everywhere and nobody really knows how it's going to settle down." For him, though, one thing is clear: International aid — indeed, international politics — is going to have to "take into account these new models of global problem solving where you have multi-stakeholder networks."

So-called crisis camps sprang up in cities around the world, including Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Calgary. Over 1,500 people worldwide volunteered to help with the networking. These camps worked with groups that are providing direct aid to Haiti to get them information and tools they needed.

"This group has pioneered a new kind of aid organization," Crisis Commons posted on its web site.
"What we have achieved is this idea and this germination that we can help in a different way," Heather Leson, the volunteer CrisisCamp coordinator for Toronto, told CBC News.

"It's a whole new ballgame. It's a new way to collect donations better. It's a new way to get the message out and fast, a new way to build community and volunteers."  For veteran internet observers such as Tapscott, the Haiti efforts show the medium can "marshal the collective ingenuity of society to solve problems on a time-scale that matters."

Tapscott was part of a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month, called, "The Power of Social Networks."

The theme of Davos this year was "Rethink, redesign, rebuild the world," and Tapscott said he was encouraged that there seemed to be an understanding of this "new paradigm" involving social media and their many uses in helping places like Haiti."There is a whole new paradigm, this multi-stakeholder network that will enable us to solve global problems," said Tapscott, "and then plunked right in the middle of the discussion is this actual example of this occurring."


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/03/30/f-haiti-rebuild-tapscott.html#ixzz0wFctFA7x