Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Connectivity and Decentralization

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

We are gaining " the ability to connect more quickly and cheaply with anyone or anything around the world," writes John Hagel, which leads to conflicting possibilities: "we might anticipate more and more centralization where activities are controlled and monitored by fewer and fewer large, centralized global entities," or, by contrast, "we're going to see more and more efforts to decentralize our activities – distributing or delegating activities, especially planning and decision-making, away from a central location or group." The argument is an age-old one: central authority cannot keep up with the page of change and local contexts. But to be clear: decentralization does not entail isolation from each other. "Connectivity and decentralization will unfold together" and "we need to evolve a profoundly different set of institutions that will embrace the twin gifts of connectivity and decentralization."

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 25, 2024 08:37 a.m.

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