Guardian Blog: Mobile applications: a window of opportunity

Below is a blog about transformative applications I wrote for the Guardian Sustainable Business blog
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This week Transformative-Applications.net was launched. It provides a platform for the presentation each quarter of 10 transformative applications that address some of the most pressing challenges in our society, and five initiatives that support their development and uptake.

We are facing a number of global challenges, such as an increase in CO2 emissions, urban poverty, ageing, growing income gaps and the accelerating depletion of natural resources. As these converge we will face unprecedented pressure and the need for rapid change. Mobile IT applications, now among the most powerful tools available, can help to deliver solutions.

Mobile apps enable people to connect to networks, get access to real-time data, understand complex situations through visualisation, and obtain direct feedback. This represents a historic opportunity to deliver solutions to our challenges that are fundamentally different from those we have today. Connected citizens who understand the impact of their actions, and see through propaganda and PR, could become global citizens with wider ethical boundaries and longer time horizons.

The transformative potential of apps includes increasing transparency and the ability to create new networks. These will allow us to do many things, such as:

See the whole value chain of a product
Apps can help us realise that there is a "story chain" behind products and that our choices are not between different labels, but between the different life stories involved in producing goods. Everyone will be able to see the consequences of their choices, and when the history behind products becomes visible it will be possible to connect directly with the people who produce the things we buy.

Support global citizens working together
Apps can help us create new trans-border networks to influence policy makers and business.

See into the future
We can make choices based not only on what companies and policy makers have done, but what they are planning to do. Apps can help us get real-time information about the investment plans of a company and information about their lobbying. We will be able to see different futures illustrated on a mobile screen and make choices based on these.

These are not future dreams, but possibilities that are already in use in applications today.

However, these apps are currently few in number and hard to find, as they are not developed in a vacuum and there is a lack of supporting initiatives. Without this support, mobile technology will only accelerate the current unsustainable trends. There is no middle ground here and we need to focus on the stakeholders who will influence the direction of the development, including:

• The developers of operating systems such as Apple, Google, RIM, HP and Microsoft. They control the markets and can promote transformative apps in the future.
• Operators such as Verizon, AT&T, China Mobile, Vodafone and Telenor. They influence the use of smartphones and can provide information to users about the possibilities.
• ICT companies, especially manufacturers of mobile devices such as Nokia, HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Apple, Motorola and HP, who can encourage the use of and even pre-install transformative apps.
• Governments, as they decide how to engage with citizens and what they require of the stakeholders on the market.
• All companies that interact with consumers, in fields including retail, energy, health, design and marketing, which can provide apps that allow users to be part of the solution.

Today, most of the above stakeholders are not doing much to support transformative applications, but some have seen it as a way to support the shifts needed in society, and they need support from new clusters and citizens who understand that "ethical consumption" is not enough. Political action is needed and a new generation of mobile applications can help deliver it.

Finally, and most importantly, the world of mobile apps development is still in its infancy and anyone, any organisation, any company, any network, that dares to think beyond the incremental, and about what is really needed, can make valuable contributions. If we act now we can create the underlying infrastructure and policy framework to support the development of many transformative applications.

Guardian Blog: Mobile applications: a window of opportunity

Below is a blog about transformative applications I wrote for the Guardian Sustainable Business blog
++++++++++++++++
This week Transformative-Applications.net was launched. It provides a platform for the presentation each quarter of 10 transformative applications that address some of the most pressing challenges in our society, and five initiatives that support their development and uptake.

We are facing a number of global challenges, such as an increase in CO2 emissions, urban poverty, ageing, growing income gaps and the accelerating depletion of natural resources. As these converge we will face unprecedented pressure and the need for rapid change. Mobile IT applications, now among the most powerful tools available, can help to deliver solutions.

Mobile apps enable people to connect to networks, get access to real-time data, understand complex situations through visualisation, and obtain direct feedback. This represents a historic opportunity to deliver solutions to our challenges that are fundamentally different from those we have today. Connected citizens who understand the impact of their actions, and see through propaganda and PR, could become global citizens with wider ethical boundaries and longer time horizons.

The transformative potential of apps includes increasing transparency and the ability to create new networks. These will allow us to do many things, such as:

See the whole value chain of a product
Apps can help us realise that there is a "story chain" behind products and that our choices are not between different labels, but between the different life stories involved in producing goods. Everyone will be able to see the consequences of their choices, and when the history behind products becomes visible it will be possible to connect directly with the people who produce the things we buy.

Support global citizens working together
Apps can help us create new trans-border networks to influence policy makers and business.

See into the future
We can make choices based not only on what companies and policy makers have done, but what they are planning to do. Apps can help us get real-time information about the investment plans of a company and information about their lobbying. We will be able to see different futures illustrated on a mobile screen and make choices based on these.

These are not future dreams, but possibilities that are already in use in applications today.

However, these apps are currently few in number and hard to find, as they are not developed in a vacuum and there is a lack of supporting initiatives. Without this support, mobile technology will only accelerate the current unsustainable trends. There is no middle ground here and we need to focus on the stakeholders who will influence the direction of the development, including:

• The developers of operating systems such as Apple, Google, RIM, HP and Microsoft. They control the markets and can promote transformative apps in the future.
• Operators such as Verizon, AT&T, China Mobile, Vodafone and Telenor. They influence the use of smartphones and can provide information to users about the possibilities.
• ICT companies, especially manufacturers of mobile devices such as Nokia, HTC, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Apple, Motorola and HP, who can encourage the use of and even pre-install transformative apps.
• Governments, as they decide how to engage with citizens and what they require of the stakeholders on the market.
• All companies that interact with consumers, in fields including retail, energy, health, design and marketing, which can provide apps that allow users to be part of the solution.

Today, most of the above stakeholders are not doing much to support transformative applications, but some have seen it as a way to support the shifts needed in society, and they need support from new clusters and citizens who understand that "ethical consumption" is not enough. Political action is needed and a new generation of mobile applications can help deliver it.

Finally, and most importantly, the world of mobile apps development is still in its infancy and anyone, any organisation, any company, any network, that dares to think beyond the incremental, and about what is really needed, can make valuable contributions. If we act now we can create the underlying infrastructure and policy framework to support the development of many transformative applications.

New webpage "Transformative Applications" lists top-ten apps that can make the world a better place

New website lists top-ten apps that can make the world a better place
Visit www.transformative-applications.net and get a glimpse of a better future

2011-04-04

Today Transformative-Applications.net is launched. The page presents ten transformative applications that address some of the most pressing challenges in our society, and five initiatives that support the development and uptake of such applications.

- Today we are facing a number of converging trends and global challenges such as CO2 increase, urban poverty, aging, geopolitical shifts, accelerated natural resource depletion, etc. There is a need for one of the most important tools today, mobile applications, to help deliver solutions to address these challenges, said Dennis Pamlin, who is coordinating the initiative.

- I’ve been working with ICT solutions that can help make the world a better place for ten years now. I know that some of the most creative people on the planet are engaged in app-development. This initiative celebrates those who make important contributions with the help of applications and aims to inspire others to use their skills and passion to create apps that make a difference, Pamlin continued.

- This initiative also hopes to inform groups working to address important global challenges on how they can make use of mobile applications in their work, Pamlin added.

The potential role of mobile applications when it comes to help create a better planet can hardly be overestimated. Many of our current challenges can be turned into opportunities with new approaches where mobile devices and connectivity play a key role.

However, today these transformative applications are difficult to find. A study done during the preparation for this webpage indicated that 98.5% of the apps covered by media, and promoted by key stakeholders, were “fun/music/gaming”, “general information”, or “administrative” apps that did nothing in particular to make the world a better place.

- There is nothing wrong with these kinds of apps, but their dominance makes it difficult to identify those that can help solve the major challenges of today. We don’t expect everyone to always highlight transformative applications, but they need to be acknowledged much more than they are today, Pamlin ended.

For more information and the list of transformative applications please visit: www.transformative-applications.net Or contact Dennis Pamlin: dennis@transformative-applications.net

New webpage "Transformative Applications" lists top-ten apps that can make the world a better place

New website lists top-ten apps that can make the world a better place

Visit www.transformative-applications.net and get a glimpse of a better future

2011-04-04

Today Transformative-Applications.net is launched. The page presents ten transformative applications that address some of the most pressing challenges in our society, and five initiatives that support the development and uptake of such applications.

- Today we are facing a number of converging trends and global challenges such as CO2 increase, urban poverty, aging, geopolitical shifts, accelerated natural resource depletion, etc. There is a need for one of the most important tools today, mobile applications, to help deliver solutions to address these challenges, said Dennis Pamlin, who is coordinating the initiative.

- I’ve been working with ICT solutions that can help make the world a better place for ten years now. I know that some of the most creative people on the planet are engaged in app-development. This initiative celebrates those who make important contributions with the help of applications and aims to inspire others to use their skills and passion to create apps that make a difference, Pamlin continued.

- This initiative also hopes to inform groups working to address important global challenges on how they can make use of mobile applications in their work, Pamlin added.

The potential role of mobile applications when it comes to help create a better planet can hardly be overestimated. Many of our current challenges can be turned into opportunities with new approaches where mobile devices and connectivity play a key role.

However, today these transformative applications are difficult to find. A study done during the preparation for this webpage indicated that 98.5% of the apps covered by media, and promoted by key stakeholders, were “fun/music/gaming”, “general information”, or “administrative” apps that did nothing in particular to make the world a better place.

- There is nothing wrong with these kinds of apps, but their dominance makes it difficult to identify those that can help solve the major challenges of today. We don’t expect everyone to always highlight transformative applications, but they need to be acknowledged much more than they are today, Pamlin ended.

For more information and the list of transformative applications please visit: www.transformative-applications.net Or contact Dennis Pamlin: dennis@transformative-applications.net

Opportunities and Challenges of Greening ICT: Making Cloud Computing Green

Friends of Europe arranged a roundtable and I was an introductory discussant on “Making Cloud Computing Green” together with:

> Molly Webb, Head of Smart Technology, The Climate Group

> Peter Thomond, Senior Consultant & Research Manager at The Think Play Do Group at Imperial College London

> Arthur Mickoleit, Policy Analyst, Information Economy Group, OECD

My initial recommendations was for ICT companies, customers and policy makers to work on the following areas (% of resources on each also indicated).

1. Cloud computing (1%):

> Building the first data centre that is a net producer of renewable energy. Together with this project present a plan to make the whole ICT system net producer of renewable energy.
2. The whole ICT system, e.g. the 21st Century Infrastructure (4%)

> Support multifunctional devices and where possible make them independent of grid charging.

> Support a module approach where devices are upgraded instead of thrown away when one part needs to be upgraded/replaced.

> Support a circular economy where re-use of material is promoted.

3. The use of ICT, Greening with ICT (95%)

> Introduce an alarm bell/flag to be used when the Commission or member states are introducing policies that should include ICT but are not (or only marginal). The recent transport white paper from the commission is a good example of a document where ICT should play a central role, but is not.

> Introduce an indicator that allows us to measure how offices use cloud computing in EU and beyond. Is cloud computing supporting a 21st century office http://www.21st-century-office.net/ or is it only marginally improving the current unsustainable system, or even making the current system even more unsustainable?

My final comments built on Willy De Backers observation/question that we are starting to see many black swans and how we should respond to this. I highlighted five areas:

1. The fact that we see so many trends converging now that we can expect the Black Swans become the norm. This will create tensions and rapid changes. The question is how ready Europe is to embrace these tensions and make them drivers for sustainable development. Using a 9 billion filter (asking if what we do is contributing to solutions that can be used by 9 billion people) is a good start.

2. We must look beyond individual issues, such as carbon, and aim for overall resource efficiency. If not we run the risk of moving the problems around instead of solving them.

3. We should explore the “Opportunity Hook” i.e. the fact that more ambitious targets from the start is often better than incrementally increase the ambition.

4. All stakeholders must abandon the sector approach when it comes to strategic planning and implementation. Instead a sector/service matrix should be promoted and a shift from product to service encouraged.

5. Finally I (again) highlighted the fact that smart coding must be acknowledged and said that I would stop working in EU if there was not a “Code of the Year” prize with in a year that acknowledged different smart codes that help reduce the pressure on the planet and provide the services we need.

UPDATE: I remembered that talking is good, but action is better so I registered www.Code-of-the-Year.net and will see who’s interesting to join and support this…

Will focus on the launch of http://transformative-applications.net/ next Monday, but after that I will send out a letter with a rough outline to the participants.