Web 2.0: What’s in it for you?
The Wisdom of Collective Knowledge
Web 2.0’s approach in software development now enables engineers to create applications and improve upon what is already available through sharing of Application Program Interface (API). API is a format or a set of procedures used by one program to “communicate” with another program.
Educators, researchers and media companies now share information via wikis and interactive content aggregation sites. Both BBC and CNN now invite viewers to submit news photos and videos on their Web sites, thus enriching their news content with first-hand accounts of the latest happenings around the globe.
James Surowiecki’s book, The Wisdom of Crowds, explains the value of collective knowledge: Diversity, independence and decentralization encourage wiser collective knowledge that rivals that of an expert’s. This translates to more effective business decisions and better products and services.
Product innovation benefits from the open-source culture where independent inputs by end-users result in better merchandise. The open-source approach means the development of alternative products, such as applications, food and beverage, and pharmaceuticals. The approach is also now applied to film production, news gathering, scientific research, and course ware development where digital sources are freely shared, modified and distributed.
With the Web 2.0 approach, what eventually emerges as the best product or process serves more people at the lowest prices possible. Product innovation based on participants’ real-world and local knowledge trump those that are traditionally produced within the confines of tightly-guarded research labs. That something is “in perpetual beta” is a truism in today’s Web, and this approach has extended to R&D.
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