Are we ready for Government 3.0?

I always enjoy writing about what I am seeing in our increasingly technology influenced world. I am sure you would agree that some of the things are exciting and have improved our way of life while others a little less so. This blog explores a subject that urgently needs to be examined and I believe, action needs to be taken, before there becomes a gaping hole in the way we live our lives.  I know dramatic, but read on.

As our world becomes more “technologically digital”, the role of government needs to evolve. Of course some of you will say governments are already on that journey, you only have to look at their efforts to have twitter accounts or even a Facebook page (yes they exist and some are quite scary!) to see they are at least trying!  OK fine, I’ll give you that, they are evolving.  But let’s call this “Government 2.0” and define it as: “governments providing online services, as well as access to, information”. What they really need though, is to evolve to the next stage, in the digital world and begin to understand (and hopefully take action) there will be laws that need to be either written or rewritten to support this evolution. Easier said than done, right?

Think for a moment about how quickly we see new innovation compared to what it was 10 or 20 years ago.  Today the rate of technological change means that governments are struggling to keep up. Ultimately this has led to, or will eventually lead to, governments establishing new ministries (state departments) focused on technology. Now, I am not talking about evolving a telecom regulator, I am referring to the need for dedicated ministries (not a shared government portfolio) focused on protecting businesses, people and even government from digital conflicts or disasters. This requires a rethink of existing laws, policies, education and state run programs. Admittedly, some governments have started down this path, but think about the Secretary of State, or the Secretary for National Security, I believe it is time to introduce the Secretary of Technology as a core government department to address the broader role Technology is playing in our daily lives today.

Here’s a thought for you - at the rate of change, to our digital world, we are led by world leaders, Supreme Court judges and others who have not been born during the digital age – not a bad thing but does place them at a disadvantage.  Also bear in mind that governments have attempted to influence the digital world on their terms by either blocking out online information, ignoring it, or feebly attempting to engage through casual posts, etc. only to become very upset that someone has the audacity to respond to something they have posted negatively, as if their view is beyond repute (?). Now I want you to consider a Google vs. Apple court case going to the Supreme Court in the US for resolution. How do you think this will play out?

Trust me when I say that my aim here is NOT politics.  I have no political stance other than to have you, as my reader, appreciate that we do need to evolve our thinking. In fact, I think we need Governments to evolve to a 3.0 operating environment similar in a way that we now see the web moving into a Web 3.0 iteration. Consider for a moment the briefings that government panels have on natural resource availability, the environment, national security, etc.  Shouldn’t there be one for technology updates? Our technological world is evolving in months now not years, and soon I expect that will be weeks. Consider thumb print technology identification, commercial air drones, self driving cars, etc. all of which are already and will quickly become common place. Do our air and road laws need to change? Does Personal security need to be driven more by governments or global organizations to ensure standards for personal devices?

Don’t get me wrong, governments are attempting at different levels to stay ahead of this but, as an example, do you think blocking an IP address to protect citizens from inappropriate content is enough? Should people have the choice to have content removed if they don’t like it? Or chase down that disruptive influence? Think about recent government interventions when they have simply “disconnected” the web…really?  We all know astute web users who can find alternative ways to stay in touch with the outside world, through satellite, mobile phone, remote vpn’s, etc.

Now, it is not all doom and gloom. I have been impressed (scary but true) with the Californian state government empowering individuals to request their social media presence be deleted when they reach 18; or in Europe where the European Union has legalized the right to request that search results be removed by those who perceive their privacy has been or will be breached. Lastly the growing debate around Data Sovereignty is seeing some exciting discussions led by governments as to hat policies and laws are now required. Of course these are great steps, but are we just painting over the cracks. There is a bigger issue forming and that is the need for awareness and education. This is going to be critical if we are all going to live in this digital world. Would we need the Californian law if our children and even us, as adults for that matter, were taught the power of the net and the responsibilities for self that go with it?

We need to educate the public and create the appropriate laws for things like:  stalking someone through the web.  Does this have the same legal implications as it does in the real world?  In both cases it certainly has the same damaging emotional toll on the victim.  How about defamation? This is something we are familiar with in print media, but it is more so now on the web than ever before – especially in Social media circles. What if children and adults understood that all acts online were actually treated in the same way as if they were in the real world? (Imagine having to ask permission from your friends each time you wanted to share something of theirs on the web … look out Facebook!)

I do hope this has given you some food for thought and I hope that there are some government types or thought leader types out there who will contribute to this discussion.  I would love to hear about a government who has formed a Technology Ministry or department that is able to consider the rapid evolution of technology, the increasing role it has in our daily lives and the need to protect and educate everyone on what is and isn’t appropriate. Of course some will say the web is an open place and should be self regulated, however we must always bear in mind not everyone has the same level of technology understanding and education.  To ensure the web is a part of everyone’s life, we need to be able to provide people with the same level of safety and self awareness they have come to know in the real world.  I strongly believe governments and other such institutions need to evolve hence it is not a question of if but more how long we will have to wait for Government 3.0.

Shift from a Flat world to a Virtual world

We have always talked about globalization as enabling businesses to leverage resources whether they are material, people or systems; these three components are crucial to support our businesses in meeting the changing and expanding needs of our Customers. Globalization used to demand the expansion into new markets with offices, systems and staff, in essence globalization used to mean businesses had to be physically global. Two key trends though have led to a significant shift in what is required to meet the needs of customers in a market where they seek to maximize the benefits of Globalization. This shift has resulted in businesses being in growth markets without having to actually be on the ground something which up until a few years ago would have been considered impossible.

I have been a big fan of Thomas Friedman’s book “The World is Flat”, which reinforced the trends that I had been seeing in Asia with the growth of international business from key geographies beyond the traditional business centre’s of US, Europe and Japan. The increasingly flat world is one of the key trends which are altering globalization; one important outcome of the “world being flat” is that quality and performance of businesses have improved significantly in what were regarded historically as emerging markets which have recently evolved into growth markets. Why would I call these growth markets? Well quite simply the development of business models have become more sophisticated and as a result have provided an improving foundation for economic growth. This development has meant that the market entry approach global System Integrator’s (SI) or Service Provider’s (SP) had taken previously can either face growing local competition or challenges in other markets as SI’s and SP’s from growth markets continue to expand their own borders of service delivery – you only need to look at the SI’s and Telco’s from India expanding internationally to see how this change has accelerated.

The other key trend is the increased capability of cloud based services and a reduced requirement for premise based solutions. This trend is creating new opportunities and extending the reach of service providers without the need for resourcing to the same extent as with premise based platforms. To give you a few examples, consider Telephony, something which has historically always been a service and a platform which would be built on the premises of the customer, yet with a evolution towards IP Telephony, making a phone call becomes the same as accessing any application on the web and in so doing creates new opportunities to look at how these services can be provided to end customers.  Likewise for our personal communication, media and entertainment tools through the web and mobile phones, as I had mentioned in a previous blog the diversity of where applications are developed and can be hosted result in traffic crisscrossing the globe and our growing acceptance of the same only validates the fact that a good chunk of our consumer IT requirements coming from the cloud will only continue to grow.

With these two key trends an exciting evolution of globalization is starting to happen, globalization is no longer about being global, it is about being able to support your end customer wherever they may be and where they expand, shift or evolve to. This is an important evolution, as many businesses have always looked to truly global providers or integrators thinking that only they can meet their needs, but with the evolution of emerging markets to growth markets as well as the expanding capability of cloud based services, the landscape and solutions to address business challenges are changing, to the point that the world is no longer flat it is now virtual.

So what does working in a virtual world actually mean? It comes down to the blending of a partner ecosystem to provide an integrated network solution whilst incorporating cloud based services which provide accessibility beyond the traditional physical limitations of a network. Many people out there will read this and suggest that you cannot own something unless you can see it, I would counter that with understanding the evolution of software – do you know where your browser is pulling down data from? A Cached server engine or a mirror website? What about the applications you run on your phone have you ever checked where the data stored is hosted from? To a large degree the consumer side of communications and IT has already started the transition to a virtual environment; the question is how quickly the business market can follow.

For many businesses the benefits of virtualization (aka cloud computing) are clear however, so are the risks and as such many remain cautious as to how to progress whilst mitigating those risks. Many businesses though, are now testing the benefits of a virtual world yet remain overtly cautious as this represents a fundamental shift from their traditional supply chain management of IT and Communications Services.  Therefore the lead must come from providers who are able to extend their capabilities beyond their traditional physical limitations and demonstrate that this new virtual world doesn’t mean that quality and performance are put at risk. The misperception that businesses without global presence cannot meet the needs of the customer independent of where they are located vs. where their customer is located remains the biggest challenge but one which can be overcome through key partnerships.

The last question we must ask is why should service providers with the ambition and capability to extend globally on a “virtual” basis want to challenge the traditional global providers? Simply put because the world is changing. Okay that is a fairly obvious point however the change stems from the improvements in technology, the quality of networks in domestic or regional markets and the increasing urgency for businesses to be able to adapt to the changing market whilst balancing the need for sustainable growth. All of these changes combined represent a evolution in the market landscape creating a new opportunity which regional providers seeking to serve their customers beyond their traditional reach are well placed to serve through the creation of new partnerships and the introduction of platforms which leverage cloud computing, in so doing providing them with the business agility to ensure their own sustainable growth place. The world was flat, now we are transitioning to virtual, the next step? Perhaps an augmented reality of being instantly virtual in a flat world – but that’s a whole other blog waiting to be written!