conference entry

Digital Summit 2.0 – random notes

It’s been a very full-on time at the Digital Summit 2.0 over the past two days – here are some random thoughts from my notes taken during the addresses from just some of the speakers who captured my attention…

Sean McDougall, founder of Stakeholder Design in the UK, spoke to us via high definition video conference, his theme: “Life-long learning, the danger of the classroom”
Quotes:

  • the systems of the classroom haven’t changed a lot since the time they were first established
  • successful products create t heir own value death (from Intel senior exec.)
  • shared from his experiences with Project Faraday, simple robots made of paper cups, felt pens and a small electric motor!
  • The three qualities required by designers: (a)Insight, (b) Irreverence, and (c) Tenacity
  • We have three options about how we choose to deal with participation in the online/web2.0 world; (a) as a visitor, (b) as a migrant, or (c) as an explorer
  • “ICT should be boringly effective”

Bernard Hickey, head of digital at Fairfax Media pointed out that being difital is changing everything we do – including our interactions with the media. He provided some wonderful examples of the way that Web2.0 technologies are transforming the way in which media is created and consumed, citing the example of OhMyNews, a Korean online newspaper with the motto “Every Citizen is a Reporter”. He quoted this paper as now having in excess of 36,000 citizen journalists who not only contribute the stories, but also decide on what will go on the front page each day!

Barry Vercoe, one of the six founding professors of the MIT MediaLab spoke about “How Innovation Occurs”.
Quotes:

  • The future is not to predict but to design”
  • Innovation comes from:
  • a clash of cultures
  • clash of disciplines
  • clash of ways of doing things
  • high tolerance of failure
  • Deterrants of innovation include”
  • walls and buildings
  • funding streams
  • measures of success
  • middle level management (because they tend to be risk averse and suppress innovation)

A great bunch of GenY young people in their early 20s…
Quotes:

  • websites are so ‘yesterday’
  • sitting in your bedroom alone use to be considered anti-social, now, not being available online at any time of day is considered anti-social
  • word of mouse is far more effective than word of mouth for getting your message out there!

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