Yes, but...
Surely if these technologies had all the answers, we’d all be using them by now? Well, yes and no. They are still relatively new, and they are growing at remarkable speed compared to previous technological advances. But there are still significant reasons why these technologies have not yet come to dominate the mainstream of social and political activity.
Access
Internet and mobile phone access has become truly mainstream in recent years, but there are still millions of people without easy access to - or understanding of - the brave new digital world. Whilst Amazon and eBay are accepted features of household purchasing patterns, the expectation that a similar tool might be an aspect of healthcare choices or a child’s education is not yet a reality. For practical innovations to have impact they must scale and create a user-base; and if they are to take the place of existing services they must be accessible on an equal basis to all parts of society, and leave no-one behind.
But are the traditional technologies of public services - the written word, a fixed address, legal jargon, complex paper forms and tax returns - any less excluding than a web browser or a mobile phone? What matters is that we engage with people on their chosen media, in ways which work for them, and offer them something they actually care about in a language they can understand. If there is real value in these technologies, people will find all kinds of creative ways to access them.
Control
These technologies are putting new powers into the hands of ordinary people, changing the way we structure and experience our world. The social web, mobile phones and digital media have given an ordinary person the same communications reach as a multinational company twenty years ago. A guitarist can sell an album in Tokyo from his Glasgow bedroom, without approval from Warner Music; a 7-year-old in Salford can make a film on her phone and have it seen by more people than watched News at Ten. The implications of this are particularly disruptive for the media, large organisations and governments, and they are treading carefully.
Genuine empowerment is frightening. It implies losing control, giving away knowledge and power. But, if managed correctly, it can make good political and commercial sense. And it may be your only option.
Risk
The biggest barrier to innovation is often the difficulty of predicting what is involved, and therefore of managing the risks. Predictability makes everything safer. If you run a standard workshop, or treat 300,000 people for cancer, it is relatively easy to set the budget, manage the process, and show the difference you have made. Trying something new always involves stepping out of your comfort zone.
Taking a risk is easier for commercial companies who can assess the return, shrink the budget to fit, and hedge their bets to cope with failure. But if you're delivering a key public service or spending donated funds, the cost of failure can be your reputation, maybe even your survival as an organisation. Even success isn’t always useful unless you can prove it, or budget for it.
So if you want something to throw your money at for a guaranteed return, this may not be it. The trouble is, as new technologies begin to reshape our world and our expectations, the same may soon be true of the old ways of doing things. Playing it safe just got risky.
