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05.13.09 Web Accessed Databases Are Coming Allowing New Powerful Collaboration  By James Cherkoff As all studious web watchers know, the next wave of internet innovation has been brewing for some time, as massive amounts of data has been pumped onto the web and made available for people to share-and-compare, play with and link to. Yes, prepare yourselves people, The Web Of Data is on the way. A world in which databases sit out on the web instead of behind firewalls, allowing new powerful styles of collaboration. For corporations that have built competitive advantage around IP and black box business models the idea of data being open on the web is, to say the least, a bit scary. However, in reality, it's just the next step along the journey that the web is inviting the world to take. Initially, the notion of sharing documents on the web seemed unwise, then opening up personal information on social networks appeared risky. But both have quickly become the norm, and of course are made up of data. So this next evolution is just more of the same. None of which will stop the corporate fear rising however. In the same way that strange ideas emerged about the dangers of sharing company information using simple social media tools, peculiar fears will surface at the prospect of sharing databases that have previously been held under lock, key and firewall. In fact, many of these fears are based on misconceptions and misguided analysis. For instance, in the corporate world ‘open' is often translated as ‘anarchic'. Despite the fact that, as with blogs and social networks, there is plenty of control built into new 'open' systems. For example, if you don't want the crazies to muck up your corporate blog, just moderate them out. And the same is true of open data. The use of APIs allows streams of data to be shared in ways that contribute positively to influential web culture - without fear of the walls tumbling down. It's not a question of forgetting everything you know and leaving the keys to your company's safe hanging in reception. As Tim Berners-Lee puts it: 'This doesn't mean all data should and will be free -- you decide what's open and in the public realm and what stays behind a firewall. But the decision not to trade data should be because you don't want to, and not because your data just doesn't understand the other party's.'
As ever, the crucial exercise is the application of strategy to work effectively with the cultural forces that open data will unleash. However challenging some of those forces may feel. Because, not surprisingly, a failure to pay attention to the open culture in which your customers are increasingly immersed, eventually makes you look out-of-touch. Which creates opportunities for others to introduce themselves. Just think about the way in which the music industry focused on the technology, ignored the culture and in doing so relinquished control of most of its distribution system to a third party. However, despite such powerful warning signs, making the case for engaging with the open participative culture being driven by today's web - within some corporate walls - remains difficult. In the UK, the current MPs' expenses splurge-of-shame is a devastating example of a powerful, influential organisation being badly damaged by insisting on the maintenance of black box systems that are suddenly levered open and laid bare to the world. The splendid Douglas Galbi, writing about open data in a different context, states the case in a way that rings strangely true as the Daily Telegraph opens the window on a musty Parliament and its reluctance to share: Continue reading this article. About the Author: James Cherkoff is a Director of Collaborate Marketing, a consultancy in London which helps companies in Europe and the US operate in networked media environments. He is editor of the blog Modern Marketing and contributes articles to the FT, BBC, Independent, and the Guardian. James speaks at conferences and events around Europe and the US, including MIT MediaLab and Reboot in Denmark. You can here him here. When he isn't knee deep in the blog-world he is likely to be discussing Arsenal FC or playing peek-a-boo. |
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