LibraryMom

I graduated from 8^th grade in 1986. At the time, we were all asked to predict what we would be doing in the year 2000. I was 14 years old in 1986, and I had trouble imagining what high school would be like, let alone 2000.

The same is true for me in trying to predict what capabilities we will have on the internet in the future.  One idea I came across in “Web in infancy, says Berners-Lee” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7371660.stm) states: “Sir Tim predicted that the web’s ability to engender collaboration could one day see the web being used to help manage the planet”. This is an interesting idea to consider. Countries could use wikis, for example, to develop agreements that affect their populations. One example is NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Agreement). The countries involved could develop polices on a wiki and then share it with each other. It would be easy to fine-tune the policies on the wiki, and they would not necessarily have to meet in person. This way, ideas can flow freely and the countries involved can truly collaborate and brainstorm together. Each individual country could use blogs to disseminate information to their citizens. Any concerns individuals might have could be added as comments to the blog. The governments would be able to put forth their ideas, and the citizens can feel like they are contributing as well. The environment is another area where we could use technology to communicate with other countries. Since our actions do not affect just the environment we live in, and we don’t want to negatively affect other areas of the world, we can develop policies together on how to save the planet for future generations. I am sure there will also be many developments that will make the tasks we do now even easier.