Wikinomics: NGO 2.0

Anthony Williams, co-author of best-selling book Wikinomics, gave a keynote address at the Spark conference title Wikinomics: NGO 2.0. Here’s a brief summary of his keynote: There are four drivers of change today:

1. Web 2.0. People want to be content creators. People want to be part of the global conversation.
2. The Net Generation. According to a Wikinomics survey of 11,000 people aged 15-30, the Net Generation wants customized relationships, jobs, etc. They want freedom of choice to do life their unique way.
3. The Social revolution. Think Facebook and MySpace and the growth of social networking.
4. Economic Revolution. Rethinking the enterprise to take advantage of items one through three above. Companies in the future are those that can unbundle, network, partner, and outsource to focus on their core competencies. Companies that are built vertically will need to be restructured.

Web 2.0 examples and ideas:

• Dell’s Mindstorm utility that allows users to determine the specify and vote for the features they would like to see in Dell systems.
• Using Second Life to create virtual third-world communities for training NGO field workers.
• Blogging.
• Using social networking sites to tap into the untapped time and talent of employees and donors. Enabling collaboration on actual NGO projects.
• Habitat Jam. A three-day conversation with 40,000 people to harness the collective intelligence of a nation. Wikinomics plans to participate in a similar project in Canada.
• Ideagoras, a marketplace for minds. Ideas and innovations are increasingly coming from outside company walls—and Web-based virtual talent pools are stepping in to fill the need. An example of this is Innocentive, an open marketplace matching solution seekers with solution solvers. This is a POWERFUL idea. I know of many Halftimers who have the time & talent to solve a particular problem, but need to be matched up with larger NGO’s and church networks that can provide distribution and funding to take their solutions to the next level.
• UN Solutions Exchange, a UN initiative for development practitioners in India.
• ReliefWeb, the global hub for time critical information on complex emergencies and natural disasters.
• IntelligentGiving. A website that allows you to comment and rate charities.

Bottom line: I found the keynote fascinating. I believe Kinnovation will be one of the key players in helping NGO’s, parachurch and church networks to develop next generation technology solutions that will make a substantial difference.