Services 2020

"U.S. intelligence officials say that in hindsight, using open sources like Facebook and Twitter could have helped them predict the uprisings that have swept the Arab world."

The Australian online media space is bracing for a brave new entrant, with former Age editor Andrew Jaspan's The Conversation website set to launch in February under the managing editorship of ABC Media Watch researcher and ex-Crikey tsar Misha Ketchell. Crikey can reveal the planned $8.4 million project - a news and commentary portal penned by academics - recently secured its short-term financial future after fears of a funding shortfall threatened to leave it stillborn.

looks totally cool and great example of ugc, but where is their rss feed ;(

Interesting blog recommended by John Robb

Ad for games featuring human augmented future..

"Worsening climate change and the emergence of new economic powers is leading to a renewed scramble for resources, with negative consequences for many impoverished communities."

Creepy video about how wonderful our "connected world" will be ............"Ericsson believes that in the Networked Society, more than 50 billion things will be connected, in order to make our lives and our businesses more efficient and more enjoyable."

"The Foresight for Development initiative is being piloted in Africa by the South Africa Node of the Millennium Project, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation. Foresight for Development is accountable to the directors of the South Africa Node of the Millennium Project. We support the effective use of foresight for Africa's future by aggregating, enhancing and promoting futures thinking and practice in Africa."

"San Francisco earned the recognition of being the greenest among 26 other major cities examined by the United States and Canada Green City Index, a study commissioned by Siemens Corporation. The city bagged the greenest city title by scoring high points from its sustainability strategies in air quality, buildings and transportation as well as topping the waste category."

"Investment in renewable energy last year amounted to a record 211 billion dollars, a rise of 32 percent over 2009 and 540 percent over 2004, a UN-backed report said on Thursday. China, investing 48.9 billion dollars, up 28 percent, accounted for more than a fifth of the total, marking a year in which developing countries for the first time outstripped rich economies in renewables investment, it said."

"The buzz at Pivot25, a conference for mobile-phone software developers and investors held this June, is all about the future of money. Ben Lyon, the 24-year-old business-development VP of Kopo Kopo, wants $250,000 to produce his app for shops to process payments made by text message. Paul Okwalinga, 28, describes his money app - called M-Shop, it allows you to buy travel tickets and takeout via mobile phone - as "not reinventing the wheel but pimping it." Kamal Budhabhatti, 35, claims Elma, the latest product from his company Craft Silicon, lets a phone do and be almost anything financial - act like a credit card or an online bank (a "digital wallet," he says), trade shares or forex, organize a company's payroll and (incidentally) surf the Web and phone home. Cash suddenly seems very old. The previous week, Joe Mucheru, a senior manager at Google, declared credit cards prehistoric. Adding to the giddy mood is the thought that the inventions on display might make some lucky Pivot25ers gazillionaires. And where are these extraordinary futures being imagined and plotted? The giraffes and zebras grazing in the game park outside rule out Silicon Valley, Seattle and Bangalore. Try Nairobi. "

Otlet first developed the idea of a global knowledge "network" in 1934. At a time when radio and television were still in their infancy, he tried to develop multimedia concepts to improve opportunities for cooperation among researchers. Otlet wrestled with the question of how to make knowledge accessible across great distances. He used a combination of index cards, telephones and other equipment to approximate what is possible today with any computer.

Beth Novaks latest wikki govt projects

Ajay Kapur, global strategist at Citigroup, and his research team came up with the term "Plutonomy" in 2005 to describe a country that is defined by massive income and wealth inequality. According to their definition, the U.S. is a Plutonomy, along with the U.K., Canada and >>>Australia<<<. [my emphasis - TM]

"Many people - politicians and pundits alike - prattle on that China and, to a lesser extent Japan, own most of America's $14.3 trillion in government debt. But there's one little problem with that conventional wisdom: it's just not true. While the Chinese, Japanese and plenty of other foreigners own substantial amounts, it's really Americans who hold most of America's debt"

When it comes to changing the way we use energy, cities are at the centre of the action, says Manish Bapna, managing director of the World Resources Institute.who reports here on the recent meeting of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.

"Some random thoughts on Bitcoin, the decentralized online currency. Here's something to stir the pot and have some fun:"