Marcus Cake

This video approaches Web 3.0 from a consumer and device perspective. I approach Web 3.0 from the perspective of industrial and political structures with a specific focus on applying Web 3.0 to financial markets and economic development.

According to Wikipedia, Enterprise Requirements Planning (ERP) software is “intended to manage all information of functions within a company or business”. “Examples of modules in an ERP which formerly would have been stand-alone applications include: Product lifecycle management, Supply chain management (e.g. Purchasing, Manufacturing and Distribution), Warehouse Management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Sales Order Processing, Online Sales, Financials, Human Resources, and Decision Support System.”- Wikipedia.

ERP software from proprietary vendors can be very expensive and take months to implement. My web site is devoted to applying Web 3.0 to economic development. A key building block underpinning the emergence of Web 3.0 is open source software. I wrote an article about How to setup a server on the Amazon cloud and install SugarCRM in 30 minutes. The potential is summarised even more effectively in the video below. It shows how you can implement an ERP software system in less than 10 minutes. There are many images with “ready to go” enterprise software at Amazon. The experience below can be repeated with different types of server images that provide specific solutions to different problems.

You can learn more about OpenTaps from the OpenTaps web site, a summary PDF or QuickTime movie download.

I just watched a presentation at Gartner called SOA, the Web and the Cloud: Big Decisions about Application Architecture. I encourage you to view the original presentation. It highlights the tremendous opportunity to evolution and innovation by applying Web architectures and cloud computing to the way applications are designed. I will try to outline some of those principles for the non-technical below and then outline the importance of these principles in applying key elements of a Web 3.0 online network to economic development.

A few days ago, the open source browser project Opera released the version 10 of its web browser. This version, called Opera Unite, introduces a major new function that will probably be incorporated into all browsers. Opera Unite extends the browser that reads web pages from the internet, with a web server that publishes information to the web. In short, it facilitates direct peer to peer (or browser to browser) communication between browsers in real-time. Google Wave and Opera Unite facilitate peer to peer in Web 3.0. They do it in different ways. Google Wave appears to have a a superior value proposition, but ultimately it will depend on how, and how many, third party applications are integrated into each platform.

Email was created 40 years ago and provides specific means for people to communicate. It mimics the conventional postal service. Wave is Google’s attempt at how we should communicate given technology today. It provides a new means and a new workflow to communicate. Google Wave may be a masterful strategic move by Google that integrates a range of their online technologies and triggers a paradigm shift. The impact of Google Wave is revolutionary. It could render desktop office productivity software obsolete as workflow and content is managed online. It could also render existing open source and commercial email servers obsolete. Corporates will bypass much of the Web 2.0 point applications and implement Google Wave for an immediate productivity improvement.

We need to build the Web 3.0 online social, industry and political networks on the critical path to Web 4.0 and pull in the next stage of financial markets, economic development, environmental sustainability, awareness, life, work and global governance. We need five online networks to solve the worlds problems by 2012 or we decline into conflict for generations. A global community could transform the world in 365 days by building the Web 3.0 online networks on the critical path to Web 4.0.

Web 1.0 delivered the internet and connected large numbers of people. Web 2.0 demonstrated the technology to assemble and manage large global crowds with a common interest in social interaction. Web 3.0 will apply online network concepts to industry, economic development, climate stability, poverty and democracy. Web 3.0 online networks allow people to see through the community or market and facilitate collective matching, learning and consumption in hours (not months). Web 4.0 achieves a critical mass of participation in online networks that deliver global transparency, governance, distribution, participation, collaboration in key industry, political, social and other community endeavours. Web 4.0 delivers community sovereignty to channels and information.

This article discusses how to create a virtual web server on the Amazon cloud and establish a location to install a new web site in less than 15 minutes.

This article discusses how to create a virtual web server on the Amazon cloud and install/configure SugarCRM in less than an hour. It should actually take 30 minutes if you already have an Amazon account and Elasticfox installed. This is intended as a hackers technical general guide, rather than something a novice could do.

I chose to implement SugarCRM and use it to manage contacts, segment the customer base, and conduct campaigns. This provided a platform to restructure the marketing function of the business to be less reliant on redundant Web 1.0 distribution and more Web 2.0 (participation) and Web 3.0 (contribution).

Rightscale offers to manage a farm of servers to automatically scale the processing and storage capacity of a web application to service growing, or declining, demand from internet users. Rightscale costs USD500 per month plus a USD2,000 setup fee (last time I checked). Scalr is an open source application that performs the same function as Rightscale. You can implement Scalr yourself from here or use Scalr’s USD50 per month paid version (with no setup fee).

Our society is in transition. It is applying new technologies to create new structures. Proprietary information is no longer necessary to encourage innovation or distribution channels. The internet provides a virtually free distribution channel in a services based economy. Online social networks have redefined how we interact with large numbers of people adopting new behaviours. Online industry network will redefine industry. Online political networks will redefine politics.

The following is intended to provide a summary of how our society operating in a Web 1.0 world and the emerging Web 3.0 world. This is one of a series of concepts that explain the evolution toward Web 3.0. I recommend you review the visual overview of these concepts in the Marcus.cake overview presentation.

An online political network can replace expensive proprietary distribution channels and with a virtually costless channel that provides a superior means to deliver the primary objective of democracy to ensure “political sovereignty [is] retained by the people and exercised directly by citizens”. Democracy is entirely based upon information and could be facilitated by an online political network. Our politicians make choices about economic, social and industry policies and implement them with laws. Citizens choose politicians based on information. Online political networks provide internet applications to facilitate the exchange of information, collaboration and the political process between citizens, government executives, politicians and other stakeholders in the politcal process. This article offers a potential structure for this network. I have also developed an initial prototype of this web application that has the global scalability of the Amazon Web Services cloud. The web application may be available in six weeks, but the transition to this online network may take six months or 50 years In Politics 3.0, individual transparency through online networks and internet traffic to a politicians profile may be determine whether a politician gets elected or not.

Rightscale and Amazon Web Services now offers essential features not previously available - automatic scaling , Manager for MySQL and Persistent Storage. The Amazon Web Services platform empowered the entrepreneur, but advanced technical skills were still required to solve storage and scalability issues to create a truly scalable application. These latest developments are critical building blocks of transformative online networks and bring the power direct to the entrepreneur. This power is available by using the Rightscale dashboard/service. They charge USD2,500 to setup your server and USD500 per month to use the dashboard. This is a fraction of the cost of a comparable web hosting configuration five years ago, assuming a comparable web hosting configuration could be built. Competitive advantage can no longer be derived from the prohibitive cost of web hosting or ability to scale a web application. Unlimited storage and global scalability is now available to the entrepreneur (that is a hacker).

The era of online networks which manage information of no value is ending. The era of online networks that manage valuable information and reshape industry is beginning. The foundation for online networks has been building for decades. The most recent milestone may have been 90% broadband penetration rates in the major economies. The next generation of online social, industry and political networks will deliver unprecedented transparency, liquidity and accessibility in all aspects of society.

The 2009 demographic depression will be exacerbated by a food and energy crisis, the decline of the USD dollar in value, the decline of the USD as the world’s reserve currency, a global credit crisis, the world’s central banks pursuing inconsistent policies, competing interests in the Middle East and other challenges now confront the world at a singular point.

Morgan Stanley has released a research report on Internet Trends (June 2008). I recommend reviewing the presentation. It contains some interesting statistics on shifts in online advertising, the movement of market share to Asia and the decline in US relevance to the global economy.

I recently read A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. “At the core of the teachings lies the transformation of consciousness, a spiritual awakening that he sees as the next step in human evolution. An essential aspect of this awakening consists in transcending our ego based state of consciousness. This is a prerequisite not only for personal happiness but also for the ending of violent conflict endemic on our planet” (Inside back cover, A New Earth ). This has prompted the following question? Could a open source style online network, like Linux, focus the global consciousness to accelerate the solutions to immediate global problems. How would the online network be structured? How many people would be needed? Can this right brain global consciousness be just another resource or function of a left brain information distribution and collaboration online network?

There is an opportunity for a Linux style online community to coordinate the individual contribution of scientists, government, corporations, philanthropists and the community to pursue/deliver climate stability. Virginearth.com would be an ideal forum for this initiative. Richard Branson and Al Gore could inspire an global online community and encourage government and corporations to contribute essential intellectual property to a solution and deliver climate stability.

The primary ego on the world stage today is the US - its excessive consumption, insolvency, military aggression and use of 60% of the world’s savings make it the world’s most gluttonous consumer. Its military acquisition of the worlds resources may be the greatest strategic move in history. It provides resources to pay back unserviceable debts and leverage other countries on the global stage. However, the destruction of relationships in the process will crowd out an opportunity to deliver a sustainable future for the planet. Unrelenting ego by the US may win the resource wars, but the destruction of global relationships in the process sacrifice the opportunity for a sustainable future. An online network may not save the world, but could a collective conscious network.

Wikipedia offers a general introduction to perception of perspective. I am not an expert on these matters and they are beyond my core competence. However, given that I have develoepd a large number of blog articles on some important topics, it is important that I acknoledge the obvious. That an individuals perception and perspective is based upon their environmment and experience. Our perception and perspective is formed by whatever source we get our information from. It may be a ten second sound bite from the televsion. It may be internet research over a few hours. Some sources of information may not be true and some may promote another agenda by omitting or including certain information. These omissions are probably the result of commercial pressures or the need by the majority of consumers for convenient and quick analysis, rather than exhaustive analysis. It is my view that for those that wish greater understanding, online networks will rise to provide greater information beyond the sound bite.

My approach
It is the approach in my articles to avoid providing opinions. I prefer to extract comments of a credible author and summarise and provide an additional perspective. In short, I would prefer to be conduit for the “things you should know” and to identify shifts. I avoid, “the US is bankrupt” and instead quote the US Treasury Department and the Comptroller General of the United States. The credibility of the message is much higher as a result. My perception and perspective is significantly influenced by my education as an economist and experience as a businessman. A psychologist may see the underlying cause of an event as primal or the seven deadly sins. A historian may attribute the underlying cause to specific events in history which have a cascading effect. I perceive the world as competition between nation states, industries and companies. As a result my articles and sources, reflect the way that I view the world. It is just an additional perspective. I encourage you to read widely. There are always multiple ways to understand an issue. It is, however, important to understand that economic and financial issues are one of the most important issues. If you can’t afford to pay for something, it is irrelevant whether you should.

We need to deploy five online political, industrial and social networks to avert disaster by 2012. Existing structures that rely on proprietary ownership of information, distribution channels, institutions and regional approaches are unable to solve our most pressing problems. Even if they could solve the problems, they are simply unable to coordinate a global endeavour in a rapidly closing timeframe. I had previously written that online networks could be delayed for up to 50 years by three epic battles. In some aspects of our global community, we can wait 50 years (and there is only an opportunity cost). However, for some specific problems, online networks need to be built, acquire a significant audience, and achieve their objective by 2012.

The best places in the world to live are France, Australia, Netherlands, New Zealand, United States, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Luxembourg, Argentina.

The next phase of economic development will be driven by the freedom of information and innovation generated by enthusiastic open source communities. Microsoft is asserting its patent portfolio is being violated by open source community software. It seems determined to strike at the heart that may drive the next phase of economic development. That heart is information freedom and enthusiasm of open source communities.

We empower government with the responsibility of providing the framework to promote economic development. Proprietary ownership of knowledge is no longer necessary to encourage innovation, but it still form a key part of our economic system. Open source communities are being unleashed on a global stage. Our community has a choice - enforcement of the current system of private ownership of knowledge, or allow information to be free to make humanity wealthier. Microsoft probably can’t kill humanity’s opportunity to become wealthier, but the broader battle may. The key threat to open source and online networks is the government regulatory response to the battle between community knowledge and intellectual property.

Online networks which embody every facet of industrial, social and politcal aspects of our modern society are inevitable. They simply offer a superior way to interact and transact. The transition to a global community based around online networks will take six months, sixteen years or fifty years. The timeframe will depend upon the outcome of three epic battles. The battles are economic development vs geostrategy, community knowledge vs intellectual property, and online networks vs closed systems. Online industrial, political and social networks which are involved in these battles could be delayed for decades.

The Centre for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation has released a paper which seeks to clarify the myth versus reality of tax havens. An extract from the paper is provided below.

Open source communities have developed a critical mass of tools and are beginning to morph into the development of solutions. Amazon’s elastic cloud is a critical building block that will support the next wave of economic development. Moore’s law has been improving information technology at a rapid rate for more than 40 years. In isolation, each technology advance represents a rapid advance in a technology area. The combination of these technologies can now deliver a paradigm shift which presents new opportunities for economic development. This article is focussed on how elastic clouds and open source communities can provide virtual building blocks for business and social entrepreneurs building tomorrows disruptive structures.

Prosper means different things to different people. It may mean more income, peer recogntion, more time with family or a sense of satisfaction in making a contribution. The ability to prosper in an online network has one common attribute - the ability to generate traffic. Traffic will reflect your participation and contribution to online networks. It will, ofcourse, also reflect the value of your service offering and demand by customers.

Amazon web services are pioneering essential building blocks for economic development. These blocks will provide a foundation for the next phase of online networks which will pioneer new structures. They reduce processing power and information storage to basic utilities, just like telephone, gas and electric supply. The storage service (S3) and web hosting service (EC2) cost less than 50% of traditional approaches and are more flexible and simpler to use.

Hackers can design their online network at home and simply drag and drop it onto the Amazon cloud. The conventional approach would require a large number of employees or consultants to deliver equivalent functionality. Ofcourse, a significant amount of time was required to raise capital from investors to pay for it. Today, a hacker can create an application on the (free) Linux desktop and an open source development platform. A major ebusiness could be built by a hacker with less than US25k in external development. If you are not a hacker, then you will need to raise some serious capital because you will need significant support to navigate unfamiliar ground and achieve your outcomes.

What if we did have cars that cost $25 and got 1,000 miles to the gallon? What if the Moore law rates of innovation and improvement could be applied to the world’s problems. What if Moore’s law rates of improvement applied to aircraft engines, car engines, carbon dioxide emissions, industrial pollution, cures for disease, energy and minerals usage, education and leadership. Our world is evolving. Advances in technology present new ways to organise. Online networks are likely to be a step forwards. An expansion of intellectual property laws is likely to be a step backwards. If there was a new way to deliver greater rates of innovation, we have a compelling need to solve specific global problems. We need to question that our underlying assumptions of how to organise.

Typo3 is a content management system. It was named as one of the top 100 companies and projects in the digital content management industry. It is rapidly developing new features and will improve its standing.