Yochai Benkler on open source (media) economics

kristyWealth of Networks

Yochai Benkler on open source (media) economics
Not a new presentation, but this TED performance by Yochai Benkler is still very much worth seeing as an introduction:

The twelve basic trends of the p2p economy
According to the Symbionomics project, these are the twelve basic trends:

(I adapted the titles somewhat and added links)

* In New Media: Technology Yields Opportunity.

In the last twenty years, a wave of new tools has transformed the way we communicate. Twentieth century media tools used the broadcast, or “one-to-many” form, but today, with the advent of social media, we can, for the first time, communicate on a large scale in a “many-to-many” pattern. This ease of communication has profoundly affected how the economy is organized. We will explore how tools like blogs, mobile devices and social media have transformed the way people live and work.

In Networks: The Wealth of Global Community

These new forms of communication have enabled the geometry of some organizations to move from pyramidal to networked. In the past we needed top-down organizations to organize on any scale larger than a village. Today, we see highly effective organizations and communities that have embraced an inside-out networked structure. We will explore how living in a networked world changes the incentives and dynamics of economic interaction.

* Letting Go of Control to achieve Prosperity from Release

As we have transformed into a networked culture, we have developed new ways of deriving value from our work. We formerly depended on capturing value through the ownership of assets and the control of production. Now that access to knowledge and information is so widespread, many people are opening up control over their property to make their talent visible in their networks. We will explore how new social contracts of ownership and control are gaining traction in an age of hyper-connectivity.

* Open Production through the Commons as a Platform

As individuals and organizations have loosened control over their products, an entirely new form of production has emerged. In contrast to the industrial production models of the 20th century, today people are using freely available and commonly-held platforms like open source software, Wikipedia, Creative Commons, Skype and Google apps to produce significant value. The affordability of personal computing puts the means of production in many hands. We will explore the success and future possibilities of this new mode of production.

* Motivation for being Inspired to Excellence

With new modes of production come new incentives for participation and value creation. Since both monetary reward and power over others are largely non-existent in the open production model, motivation has shifted from extrinsic to intrinsic. As Daniel Pink points out in his book Drive, we have better problem solving skills when motivated by inner ideals than when we’re seeking an external reward. The Millennial Generation prioritizes such ideas. We will explore how this new motivational landscape will change the face of leadership.

* Post-Scarcity Economics that are Driven by Sufficiency

In the old economy, the surest way to profit was to control a scarce resource. However, many of the products of the digital age are virtually free to reproduce and distribute. Industries such as newspapers and music have been slow to embrace this new reality, and have subsequently fallen into decline. The Industrial economy was based on the constantly increasing production of material goods. Since natural resources are now increasingly scarce, the next economy must be driven by abundantly available resources such as information, knowledge, and human creativity.

* The Future Work through People-Centered Partnerships

Our new communication tools have also changed the way we organize at the workplace. The rise of co-working spaces and freelancing have brought into question whether a 20th century employment approach is still relevant in a modern economy. Agile developer teams that spontaneously arise to build software have proven that successful teamwork no longer depends on an employer. We will explore this shifting landscape around how networks enable self-organized teams create value.

* Social Gaming for the Power of Fun

The recent explosion of smart phone technology has also seen an widespread integration of gaming into everyday life. Services such as Foursquare, SCVNGR, and CheckPoints, have begun to hint at new possibilities for coordinating economic activity. Thought leaders such as Jane McGonigal and Jessie Schell have emphasized the potential of using game dynamics for social benefit. On the academic side, multi-agent modeling has provided a deeper look into how value can emerge via self-organizing networks of players.

* Collaborative Consumption = Access Trumps Ownership

In addition to these new modes of production, we are also seeing new forms of consumption. Rachel Botsman, Roo Rogers and Lisa Gansky have outlined how new business models are using web, mobile and social media to enable the efficient sharing of physical goods. We will explore how this new trend in consumption is affecting the broader economic landscape.

* Making and Growing: Build like a Forest

New economic patterns of the information age are no longer limited to the Internet as the rise of maker communities and DIY (Do-It-Yourself) demonstrates. 3D printing has made decentralized manufacturing a real possibility, with designs shared in a global knowledge commons. On the agricultural side, gardening and local food has surged in popularity as the economy continues to languish. We will explore how people are using peer-based, open, and collaborative approaches beyond the digital realm.

* The Future of Currency: Post-Monetary Economies

As our economy transforms, conventional forms of money –optimized for an industrial, capital-intensive model- may no longer serve the needs of an information-rich world. Money itself is merely a form of information, and we’ve begun to see people adding virtual and social currencies into their business models to drive participation, measure reputation, and creatively access resources. Much of the new economy is outside of the formal market entirely, raising the question of whether new systems can out-compete money itself. We will explore how 21st century information systems are beginning to reduce the need for conventional money.

* Collective Intelligence: The Brilliant Hive

As our civilization goes through this massive transformation, the intelligence of organizations must rise to meet 21st century challenges. Where the 20th century was about smart employees, the 21st century will be about smart organizations. We will uncover some of the most promising work being done to maximize collective intelligence and wisdom.”

More Information: Check this really superb presentation to understand the trends above:

New Economy, New Wealth on Prezi

The continuing torture of ethical giant Bradley Manning
Glen Greenwald has earlier reported the details of the torture and solitary confinement of the American (alleged) whistleblower Bradley Manning, but here is a report from a friend visiting him in prison.