The 'Open' Revolution & America's Future

America's Future: 2020-2050

Focused on the "Future of America" and the "American Dream" in the 21st Century

FYI – A Series of Blogs on the Evolving 'Open Revolution' & Movement

'Open' Revolution #1 – It's Well Underway
Apr 7, 2011 - I believe we have moved into a century of massive, global collaboration, innovation, and 'open' solutions. There is a revolution taking place in the high tech industry as we continue to move to open source solutions. In education and publishing we are moving to open copyright, open access, open knowledge, and open journals. We're seeing collaborative and 'open' news organizations, religious, and political movements…

'Open' Revolution #2 – It's All Around Us
Aug 14, 2011 - We have moved into a century of massive, global collaboration, innovation, and 'open' solutions. We now have open source software, open communities, open copyright licenses, open access, open knowledge, open standards, open journals and more.  I still haven't got a truly clear handle on what is happening, but the 'open' revolution is upon us, all around us…

'Open' Revolution #3 – It's Taking Hold
Oct 4, 2011 - This the third blog I have written on the global 'Open Revolution'. As I have stated in the past, I believe we are seeing the successful strategies of global collaboration, open solutions, and innovation take hold and start to overwhelm current organizations and systems that are starting to fail…

'Open' Revolution #4 - Ending Closed Systems
Oct 30, 2011 - The growing number of protests on Wall Street and across the country by our citizenry reflects the belief that our system of American checks and balances has been circumvented by the influence of big corporations and and financial organizations that have made it impossible for the people's voice to be heard. This in turn has led to a global 'Open Revolution'. People are speaking up and have taken to the street…

'Open' Revolution #5 - Continuing to Unfold
Nov 6, 2011 - I started writing about the 'Open Revolution' over 6 months ago as we saw people step up, speak out, and start to overthrow existing leaders, political systems, and oppressive hierarchies in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria ... 

'Open' Revolution #6 - The 'Information Age' and the 'Open Way'
Dec 1, 2011 - We are in the process of transitioning from the Industrial Age of the past century into the Information Age of the 21st century.  Many acknowledge this but don't really grasped what it means. We are moving from the 'closed' protective systems that worked well in the Industrial Age to the new, more effective 'open' systems approach that is the hallmark of the Information Age.

'Open' Revolution #7 – The Rise of the 'Information Age' and the Death of Existing 'Nation States'
Mar 6, 2012 - We are all passing through a turbulent time in history. We are in the midst of the transition from the 'Industrial Age' to the 'Information Age' and are experiencing major changes and disruptions similar to those experienced when our country transitioned from the 'Agricultural Age' to the 'Industrial Age'.  Many businesses and skills that used to be valued are disappearing...

'Open' Revolution #8 - Culture Change
Jun 15, 2012 - The Internet, computer chips, social media, mobile devices, and other disruptive technologies of this Information Age are spreading around the world and bringing about major changes in business practices, government functions, and our culture. What does this all mean to us? What is going to happen? What will be replacing our existing system of government and way of life? I don't think any of us know for sure, but…

'Open' Revolution #9 – Taking action to Start Restoring the 'American Dream'
Aug 3, 2012 - What can we do to help shape a better future for our country and our people? We shouldn't just complain or comment on the current state of affairs, we ought to provide recommendations on next steps to take as we move deeper into the 21st century. Let's start to figure out what 'We the People' believe ought to be the best way forward. Let's identify some of the key issues facing us and specific strategies and alternatives we should pursue. For example…

'Open' Revolution #10 - Solutions
Sep 25, 2012 – In this final blog of mine on the 'Open Revolution', my focus has shifted to 'solutions'.  What can we do in the U.S. to restore the American Dream and guide our country through this transition from the 'Industrial Age' of the 1900's into the 21st century 'Information Age' .  What we need is a clearly articulated vision of the future we want for the U.S., coupled with a strategy, goals, and the major objectives the country needs to be focused on for the next several decades… 

So where do we stand right now in 2013.  The 'Open' Revolutions & Movement continues to spread and pick up steam, especially in the arenas of Open Data, Open Access, Open Source, and Open Government.  Market forces are at work and major change continues to happen and have its effect on major segments of the public and private sector.  A clearly articulated vision of the future, especially the future we might want in America, still hasn't emerged. Pieces of the vision and the 'new norm' are emerging, but a comprehensive vision of the future is still not clear.

So join the 'Open' Revolution and the discussions taking place across America and around the globe and share your constructive ideas. You can start right here.

* Visit the COSI 'Open' Technology & Solutions web site.