I learned more about “the cloud” last night, at a presentation on the future of the Internet given by Professor Michael Nelson. His talk about the Internet was hosted by the Potomac Valley chapter of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. Mr. Nelson is a visiting professor of Internet Studies at Georgetown University.
When I learned that someone was going to discuss “the future of the Internet”, I thought to myself — I have to be there. My career is grounded in the Internet. Professor Nelson’s discussion focused on cloud computing, how it would likely advance, the need for better policy, how the cloud has advanced already, and how the cloud could radicaly change society, even more than it already has.
What is “the cloud”? I believe this is open to debate, but based on his talk, it’s the infrastructure that supports the Internet. Information is collected and processed on computers in cyberspace. The Wall Street Journal discussed what “the cloud” means a few days ago, in the article, “The Internet Industry Is on a Cloud — Whatever That May Mean.“ The cloud has made possible the success of Google, and social media (such as LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube), and Salesforce.com. It has also promoted Internet video, high-end videoconferencing, and virtual worlds.
Professor Nelson went on to state that the Internet revolution is less than 15% complete. In the next 5 – 10 years, the impact of the Internet will advance even more, and cloud computing will contribute significantly. Still for its development, certain changes will have to take place. These include : agreement on standards, business practices that adopt standards, getting more users to embrace the cloud, and new policy. Certain issues will have to be addressed, such as, privacy, transparency, international data flows, liability for the cloud, and competition policy.
How will society change because of this third phase of computing? Professor Nelson recommended reading “The Transparent Society” to get one perspective of how society could change due to this next level of computing.
He also mentioned “the open cloud manifesto” that came out yesterday.
Obama’s campaign was successful because it used the cloud wisely. The MIT journal discussed this in a recent article entitled “How Obama Really Did It.”
Cloud computing can lead to leaderless organizations. Professor Nelson mentioned the book, “The Spider and the Starfish” as a source for learning how the cloud can affect organizations and their structure. He also referred to Clay Shirky’s book, “Here Comes Everybody: the Power of Organizing without Organizations.”
I was very excited to learn about cloud computing and the possible outcomes of its development. Professor Nelson noted that the cloud can lead to a more open society. It has made social media, high-end video conferencing, and virtual worlds possible. Still I’m left wondering…where it will ultimately lead us.
