Snapshot: What is this blog about?
This blog has been created so that the conference might use and benefit from the very technologies it is discussing.
It is hosted by the OECD but the material on it will be produced by two independent bloggers and so the posts should not be taken to represent the official or unofficial stance of the organisation.
The blog will cover events as they happen – making the flow of discussions in the room instantly available to anyone online that is interested in them. It will also accept comments, and, where useful, those comments will be relayed back into the room, providing the opportunity for real-time feedback from anywhere in the world.
It will also serve as a useful on-the-ground resource, available for years to come, for those that wish to review what happened at the meeting but were unable to attend.
The nature of blogs
Blogs are undoubtedly the most well-known participative web technology, mostly because they are so simple and as a result have been extensively used by everyone from schoolchildren to politicians.
The idea of a blog however strikes at the heart of the uneasy balance that many feel needs to be struck with new Internet technologies. The ability to self-publish information on the Internet within seconds is a remarkable thing. Previously it was extremely, even prohibitively expensive to provide information to a large audience; now it is possible (in theory at least) to reach any of the over one billion individuals online and to do so at negligible cost.
But just as the removal of barriers has given birth to an extraordinary explosion of information and discussion, many organisations and governments remain concerned that the self-same possibilities can prove damaging if used incorrectly, or in error.
Person versus representative
One of the most significant issues that blogs present comes thanks to the age-old assumption that a representative of a government, country, or business is just that: a representative.
In real life, we are finely tuned to recognising when something is a work event, and when it is a social occasion – even if sometimes that distinction has to be made verbally and attested to.
Online, however, that distinction between work and social remains uncertain in people’s minds – especially when someone write personal reflections on work issues. The result is often a sense of trepidation in those that are encouraged to write freely and openly (and without review), and dread in those that are ultimately responsible for those people’s actions.
Mistakes – especially embarrassing ones – are eagerly seized upon (although the number of stories about bloggers being fired for unflattering information on their personal blogs is in rapid decline) and, thanks to the Internet, that slip-up is now capable of spreading around the world in a matter of hours.
It is, however, simply a matter of changing times. The enormous advantages to be had by publishing information on the Internet – as will be attested to by countless individuals at this conference – mean that it is not going to go away and instead we simply have to design ways to grow comfortable with our discomfort.
This blog hopes to demonstrate some of those advantages (without the discomfort) by providing timely review and insight into the discussions while also allowing anyone to respond, and so encourage coordination, cooperation and multilateral progress for the betterment of all. Which, fortuitously, is precisely what the OECD was created for.
Who we are
The two bloggers covering the conference are:
Richard Akerman: a Technology Architect at NRC CISTI, the National Research Council Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, Canada's National Science Library and Publisher.
Mr. Akerman joined CISTI in 2002. Previously he worked at AMIRIX Systems, where he was a Senior Software Designer. His areas of interest include the application of Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) to academic library and publishing workflows, and e-Science. He often writes in his blog, Science Library Pad, and elsewhere about the impact of new technologies on scholarly communication. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics with a minor in Computer Science from Mount Allison University.
and
Kieren McCarthy: a keen exponent of online methods to improve the depth and range of participation in organisations of all types. A UK journalist who has closely followed the progress of the Internet from both a political and technological standpoint since the 1990s, he is currently general manager of public participation for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Kieren was the official blog watcher at the inaugural Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in 2006. As well as running his own successful blog, he advises companies and organisations on how to make the most of the latest Internet technologies from advanced content management systems to simple audio recordings.
As a journalist, he has written for a number of prominent UK publications, including The Times, The Guardian, New Scientist, The Independent and the Daily Mail. He worked for leading IT news site The Register during the dotcom boom and spent several years as news editor of Techworld.com.
His first book, the tale behind the theft of domain name ***.com was published in April 2007.
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