An American Networking Abroad

I came to England this week to glean as much information as possible regarding on-line collaboration for a better world. After all, this is the country famous for having a prime minister on Twitter. However at this particular moment my thoughts are with America, after spending the past hour wandering the streets of London listening to a podcast of my new President Barack Obama.

Since arriving here in the UK, I've witnessed first hand how advanced many Brit's are in their use of on-line networking tools. In fact I spent the morning with social media gurus exploring the dynamics of such networks. We created together as a group, and influenced each other in unpredictable and uncontrollable ways. It was a fun environment to reflect on the chaotic yet powerful dynamic of networks that shape our lives and world. These Brits clearly understand the power of social media.

Now that America is led by the world's first you tube president who releases information through podcasts and twitter, maybe us Americans have a chance to catch up.

But why would we want to catch up? While these networks of influence are amazing, and let's admit it twitter is pretty addictive, what does this really mean for me as an American and global citizen concerned about the state of the world? Does it really add value to have a web 2.0 president?

I think so, and Obama's first day in office just built my excitement.

Some of you may have noticed that on his first day, all information released from the Whitehouse was suddenly available through a Creative Commons license- a license that supports collaboration through the open sharing of knowledge and information. Considering it was all unlicensed information to begin with, this appeared as a bit of a political statement.

No coincidence that another action taken on his first day was a presidential directive for greater openness, transparency, and collaboration in the U.S. government. That's right- collaboration. You see while twitter, facebook and the works are entertaining- they also represent the unlimited power of the web to connect people and allow the open sharing of knowledge. I think many of us collaboration nerds hoped that Obama's advanced usage of social media indicated a move towards openness and collaboration- and he just confirmed our hopes.
In response to the presidential directive, the collaboration project released an inspiring report calling for government to break out of it's departmental silos to solve the seemingly impossible challenges of our time. It called for greater openness and utilization of the web 2.0 technologies to reshape our governance structures, practices and culture.

Suffice it to say I'm feeling like FAR is doing the right thesis, at the right time, and am hoping Obama will find the upcoming collaboration ninjas web 2.0 resource valuable in achieving this governmental paradigm shift.