Great piece by @shotsheriff on how social computing tools and techniques could be used to add real value in the workplace.

A few examples of how broader minded thinking is looking for the positive upside on engaging the tools and principles of social computing (productivity, satisfaction etc) rather than the negative.

At lot of the feedback I get when talking about how the world is changing around us, is around the scepticism that any of this makes a damn bit of difference in our world, especially when it comes to public services.

Well, maybe you’re right, but it’s so easy to pass this off as a fad, or only of interest to a minority audience – and I think that’s quite simply a mistake.

The feedback I hear most often is that this is “all about the kids” especially when it comes to social media. Many studies have shown that actually, the biggest growth areas of use of social computing are not where the media would have you think, spotty, bottle bottom glassed weirdo’s in their bedrooms that never see the light of day, but actually are in the older generations, and just to be inclusive, when I say older generations, I mean people who grew up without a computer in their home. That’s people like me and you folks.

Increasingly older generations are finding that these social tools can make a real difference in how people live our lives. Whether it’s simple things like people creating a more interactive experience from traditional one-way events like watching QuestionTime and interacting via the QT hashtag on Twitter or more serious uses where older people can open up a whole new social world that provides them with critical contact with the outside world providing far great success with Assisted Living programmes.

Quite simply, these technologies make a real difference in our lives – if we can make the most of them – and that seems to be a big if…

Click here to view the embedded video.

A few months back we were approached by the Society of Chief Librarians to provide some insight on how changes in society and technology may offer some opportunities for us to radically change the way in which we live, work and play – a topic regular viewers will know we enjoy and have some opinion on .

Fundamentally – I am convinced that the library is one of the primary pillars of community and as such it’s role in developing and nurturing that community is absolutely essential – however, my view is that some things need to change if we are to make the most of the opportunity (and the challenging circumstances in which we find ourselves today).

I was captivated by Alberto Manguel’s concept of the library as a "pleasantly mad place" – it struck a chord with me and re-enforced my opinion that the library needs to be many different things if it is to survive in the current environment – but whatever those things are they need to be built on the principles that have made libraries successful for thousands of years.

You can find highlights of the key recommendations I made to the SCL in this episode of the Envisioners:

Download the webcast here –

The Envisioners Episode 6

You can also download the slides I used here –

Open Government and the Future of Public Libraries

If you’re a sucker for punishment, a webcast of the full presentation is also available here for download:

• Download the Hi-res (640×480) version here:
  

  Open Government and the Future of Public Libraries (Hi-Res)

• Download the Low-Res (320×240) version here:
  

  Open Government and the Future of Public Libraries (Low-Res)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Wow, time flies.  It’s been a busy and slightly ugly Summer, but enough of that, it’s finally time for us to bring you the presentation I made at this year’s Architect Insight Conference back in May of 2009.   A particularly important event for me as it marked the first public release of the 6 key themes we’ve been working on for the last 12 months or so.

This presentation walks you through the 6 key themes that are the foundation of all of the challenges (and opportunities) we face in helping move the value of technology in our society even further forward and why, in some cases, our initial perceptions of them are not always correct.

Sit back (remind yourself what Summers _used_ to be like) and enjoy…

You can download the webcast here (right click and “save as”) or click here to subscribe to the Envisioners podcasts on iTunes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is the presentation that launched the Envisioners – A year ago, I was lucky enough to get a slot presenting at the Architect Insight Conference here in the UK.  I used the opportunity to start to talk to others about the whole “Consumerisation” story and show some examples of how things are already beginning to change.

You can download the webcast here (right click & “save as”) or click here to subscribe to the Envisioners podcasts on iTunes.

You can also download the slides from the event - like everything on this site, they’re available for use under Creative Commons license, so feel free use them if they’re helpful to you, but please respect the copyright of the image authors (see last slide in the deck) and ensure you are licensed properly for their use.