On Thursday 13 October, Bing’s Head of Search, Dave Coplin, spoke at the Parliamentary Internet Conference about the vision and opportunities of the Internet, and how we can use social media and innovation to drive growth and democracy. Speaking alongside Dave were several key industry leaders, including Ed Vazey, Minister of State for Culture, Communications & Creative Industries through to Richard Allan, Director of Policy EU, Facebook, and others in between representing key areas in search and mobile technologies.
Wanting to address many of the great opportunities presented by the internet, social media and information technology, Dave opened the talk with an interesting but enlightening contradiction – namely, that the technology revolution is both over and just beginning. According to Coplin, “It’s over because we’ve spent a long time getting used to technology being around and becoming part of our everyday lives and it’s just beginning because, only now that technology is so engrained in how we live, are the real opportunities being presented.”
Speaking about the rise in popularity of social networking, Coplin later mentioned that its fundamental importance to the future of how a modern society can benefit from technology, is a topic not yet well understood. According to Coplin, the real value of social networking lies not just in the communications themselves, but also in the connections that are made in order for the communications to flow. With social networking, he believes we are finally able to move from a network of machines to a network of people, where human intent and instinct combines with the power that the digital world has to offer.
Speaking about growth, Coplin later mentioned that the internet is a geographic leveller, offering opportunities that transcend geographical location, enabling global companies to be borne out of local, rural locations, where the only real constraints are those of the entrepreneurs imagination and bandwidth. Dave sees this as both an opportunity and a curse, mentioning that “We have in our midst incredible rural communities rich in talent, expertise and experience, but increasingly are struggling to remain competitive or even operative in the midst of a global marketplace in recession.” If we can crack the problem of providing sufficient connectivity to these locations Dave believes there is almost nothing to stop the next global success stories coming from places like North Wales, Cumbria or Dorset.
In closing, Dave mentions that the internet and social networks offer a modern society opportunities and advances far beyond the reach of simple social connections and communication, and if used properly, offer the potential for the combination of man and machine to become greater than the sum of their parts. Dave later mentioned that this development will undoubtedly require some effective stewardship and will present our society with complex issues that we must all face and work our way through. The question, according to Coplin is, are we up for the challenge?
The full speech is available on Dave’s blog – http://www.theenvisioners.com