Generation M Manifesto and structuring change

Umair Haque has published a manifesto calling for a new (though in some aspects already existing) range of business, financial, political and social organisation. I’m going to discuss a bit of it and add my own bits of opinion. You might want to read it before going on.

As said within the manifesto, the ‘generation’ word does not refer to the age range but rather to the mindset of those who are willing to participate or are already participating in this movement. The manifesto is a nice piece of political writing that can lead to a change, but that change has to be fed with actionable ideas for solutions in all ranges of social and commercial activity that it touches. I can see how policy can be implemented on a local or state level, but when we look at what goes on in some developing countries it seems like it might be a good idea to try and figure out how an implementation of the system’s correction can be taken to a global level. I’m not arguing for a global government, no no, but rather for a way of enforcing a system of corporate control around the globe. Setting the right standards at home is a great start, but it might just not be enough.

I think you can’t expect the big corporations to have values when it comes to social issues and the environment. The primary purpose for corporations is to make money and as such the only way to deal with them is by enforcing a system that creates carrots through tax breaks and sticks through greater tax schemes. It should not be possible for Western corporations to avoid this by creating huge outsourcing posts in developing countries. Corporations need to be monitored as far as their environmental and social responsibility and taxed fairly according to how much of an effort they make in those spheres.

I am neither a policital writer nor a liberalist ranter, but I want to continue this conversation and see what ideas might be out there. Feel free to shoot this idea or drip your own, both will be appreciated.

[Image courtesy of Andre Jordan]

Beyond the screen

‘Making Things Visible’ is another great talk from LIFT 09:

A designer and researcher at Oslo School of Architecture, Timo Arnall offers here his perspective about networked objects and ubiquitous computing. His presentation, and the intriguing design examples he takes, highlights two phenomena. On the one hand, he describes how sensors and RFIDs can enable to “make things visible” as the title of his presentation expresses. On the other hand, he shows the importance of going beyond screen-based interactions

[Via lift 09]

A new biosphere environment

Inspiring talk by Jane Poynter about a 2 year experiment of creating a new sealed biosphere that served as an environment for people to live in. The talk brings ideas about sustainablity on Earth today and other possible environments, because ultimately one day, we might just need to build new environments or move to other planets if the Earth becomes inhabitable. Enjoy!

More dangerous NOT TO bike (!)

I just saw these stats on Treehugger and couldn’t help but share some cycling goodness. For (quite a bit) more you should check out Alan Durning’s article here. Keep on riding

The rise of the sensor citizen

Anne Galloway published a fantastic essay on community mapping, locative media and their potential impact on everything from pollution control to politics and just fun things like emotion mapping in urban environments.

Community mapping and sensing projects that use commonly available consumer electronics as environmental measurement devices, enable people to collect and view a wide array of location-based data. As a form of public science, such projects stand to reinvigorate environmentally focused civic engagement. However, given public concerns around environmental risks and their connections to technological progress, I believe that this kind of active citizenship should promote more critical reflection on the values and goals of the very projects that expect to create such profound changes in these domains, and carefully consider the limits of its own power.

Read full article here.

Read

After a somewhat prolonged reading draught I’m now returning to the joys of the booklands. As curious as I might be in most ways, I always find myself troubled when faced with picking up new books. Will I not get bored with this one? Is it not too long? Should I read fiction or something else this time? And really, how will it fit on my by now overflowing book shelf? Before I decide all these things and get done talking to my favorite second-hand bookseller, sometimes putting the book down seems like the safest bet.

Are there systems apart from Amazon’s recommendation engine that would hit the curiosity spot? I first saw Book Seer at Russell’s blog. The service has a charming and simple interface, but it’s another one of those that seem to predict what you should read next based on the author and theme of the book you just read. Can’t someone just predict my taste please? I have higher hopes for things like Goodreads. The service offers you a bookmarking service for book’s you’ve read, for what you’re currently reading and what you want to read. You can import  your contact via gmail, facebook and other services and be ‘friends’ on Goodreads. You can mark things you want to swap, leave reviews, organise groups and all that jazz. I haven’t explored Goodreads enough just yet, but I like the social aspect and hope that what my friends like might help in my bookhunting quest.

Home offices

Not only does the UK have the longest commuting times on the European scale with an average of 45 minutes per trip, but also  one of the most expensive public transportation systems in the world. In addition,seven out of ten people living outside London travel to work by car, which causes both higher waiting times in traffic and pollution. According to the RAC foundation, UK commuters travel up to 17% further to work than they did just 10 years ago.

So how does the current working system present itself when we look at the commuting and energy efficiency aspects? Cutting the current office-based style system would result in 3 major advantages for both employers and employees.

1. The average 1,5 hours spent in transport per day would practically disappear apart from the need to attend occasional meetings.
2. The commuting costs and office keeping costs would similarly disappear.
3. The environment would benefit from decreased CO2 generation via lesser traffic levels and energy consumption.

The possible dangers of a home-based system are those resulting from isolating those working together. Isolation would result in less collaboration, which can be crucial in creative processes and also unless all individuals have a spotless work ethic, could result in much lesser work efficiency. Another question is whether people would actually like working from home. For some individuals the office buzz might be an indispensable element of their days.

With the emergence of locally-based desk rental spaces that orient themselves at particular industries, there may be some progress in sight, but they aren’t enough. The system will either remain as it is or will change beyond what we can see right now as far as simple location organisation system – entire organisations would have to change their ways of collaborating and doing business both internally and on a b2b level. The advantages of changing the system are immense both for their effect on the improvement of workers’ lifestyles and the energy/environmental level. Feel free to shoot ideas about this.

[Via BBC and RAC]

The internet of buildings

The concept of the Internet of Things is probably one of  the interesting ones as far as technology innovation having a direct effect on our lifestyles. Yang Soo-In presents how the interconnectedness of things can apply to buildings and cities thus creating interactive living urban spaces. The technology is based rougly on sensors installed into the building structures and being able to communicate between one another about anything from traffic jams to pollution levels.

A cashless future

I just found this on LIFT, a source of fantastic talks from a series of conferences on innovation, technology and such. David Birch, director at Consult Hyperion is a specialist of electronic business and banking. In his presentation, he gives his perspective on the future of digital currency by addressing the disadvantage of cash, the raising importance of cell phone services (especially in developing countries) and its benefits.

[Via LIFT]

Dot Dot Dot ‘The Service Designers’

Jen Bove from Kicker presents as part of Dot Dot Dot ‘The service designers’. The presentation focuses on 5 aspects of service design expectations and existing features ranging from immediacy, participation and feedback to expertise and customisation. More videos on the mfa interaction design blog.

[Via Choosenick and Kate]