1 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (OFF) Thanks very much... 2 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (David Price) This is the ever-shrinking presentation. 3 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It was originally 25 minutes, last night it was 23, 4 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 now it's 22. 5 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I've got a 40-minute presentation. I'm just going to speak twice as quickly. 6 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 No, I'm only kidding, it's only 20, 22 minutes. 7 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And I've got a thing to time it to make sure I don't go over. 8 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 About four months ago, I was diagnosed with cancer of the colon. 9 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And what was it, seven weeks ago, I had the operation 10 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which kind of went okay, got rid of the tumor. 11 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But when the colon was reconnected, it sprung a leak 12 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and I got a thing called sepsis, which I later discovered, 13 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 is fatal in 60% of the cases. 14 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 What essentially happens with sepsis is 15 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the organs start to pack in, one after the other, 16 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 so my heart was fibrillating. I lost, kidneys stopped working, 17 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 lungs stopped working, so they put me on a ventilator. 18 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And my wife Claire who's here somewhere 19 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 was told to bring the family around, because they didn't expect me 20 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to get through the weekend. 21 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 As you can see, I survived, and this is actually the first talk I've given 22 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 since I was in intensive care. 23 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I was in intensive care for a week. 24 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So, when a sick, no, no honest. (Applause) 25 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But when I say I'm delighted to be here, I'm not just being polite. 26 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (laughter) 27 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I'm talking existentially rather than conversationally. 28 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But I wanted to start with that story because, in that process of the journey 29 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 from diagnosis to operation, I met with some remarkable people: 30 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 on forums and interest groups, but I also visited and interviewed people. 31 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So I interviewed some people in the Netherlands 32 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 who are treating their loved ones, who've got end-stage cancer. 33 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They are lay people, computer technicians, 34 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 who, frankly, conventional medicine has given up, they're stage 4, 35 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 they said there is nothing more we can do, 36 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 so they're administering introvenous cocktails of drugs, 37 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 some of which are approved, some of which are off-patent, 38 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 some of which are off-label. 39 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I visited a clinic, here in Germany, which I can't name, because 40 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 they're kind of operating in the shadows in fear that they'll be closed down. 41 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And what it seemed to me, once I looked beyond health 42 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 is that this is a phenomenon which is happening 43 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 in all kinds of areas of public life, 44 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that we're seeing what I call people-powered innovation. 45 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And I think it presents a real challenge for institutions and organizations. 46 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So, why is it important? 47 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I think it's important because it's kind of a natural consequence 48 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 of the issues I talked about in my book "Open," 49 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 where, now that we're able to share and exchange knowledge, 50 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 we're now at a point where we want to do something about it, 51 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 we want now to be more in control of our own lives. 52 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But I think it's particularly important for the people who are in this room today: 53 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 educators and human resource people 54 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Because one of the things that we're seeing is a major shift in the way 55 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 in which we accredit knowledge and competencies. 56 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I don't know if any of you have read Phillip Brown's excellent book 57 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 called "The Global Auction," but he talks about how our graduates are facing 58 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 a high-skilled, low-income future 59 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 because of globalization and a whole range of other issues. 60 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And recently, Laszlo Bock who is in charge of People Operations at Google said this, 61 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "Your degree is not a proxy for your ability to any job. 62 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "The world only cares about and pays off on 63 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "what you can do with what you know 64 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "and it doesn't care how you learned it." 65 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So my point, I guess, is that unless we change the product, 66 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 we risk being dis-intermediated. 67 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 By that, I mean learners can find other ways 68 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to get the knowledge and skills that they need. 69 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And let's face it, the product hasn't really changed much in decades. 70 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So I'd argue that the best way to stay relevant 71 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 is to involve users in the process of innovation. 72 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So this is what I mean by people-powered innovation, 73 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 a process where users lead users, accelerate innovation 74 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 by either advocating for new products or services, 75 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 tinkering with existing products and services, 76 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 or creating new products and services from scratch. 77 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 That's my kind of working definition, based partly 78 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 on Eric von Hippel's definition of people-powered innovation. 79 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So here's some examples. 80 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The potato crisp, the humble potato chip 81 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 was invented in 1853 by a chef called George Crum 82 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 who worked at a restaurant in Saratoga. 83 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now he gets the credit for inventing it, but I think it should go 84 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to the disgruntled diner in that restaurant 85 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 who kept sending the potatoes back, said that they were too thickly sliced. 86 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And this kept going backwards and forwards 87 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and eventually George Crum got really pissed off about this 88 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and cooked them as thin as he could, burned them to a crisp, 89 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 smothered them in salt and then sent them out. 90 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And the diner loved it. 91 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So he thought, oh, we're on to something here 92 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but he didn't take out a patent: in fact, none of these examples have been patented. 93 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So, 1853, we've always had people-powered innovation. 94 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In fact, you could argue that up until the Industrial Revolution, 95 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that's all we had, we had people-powered innovation. 96 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But if you bring it a wee bit more up to date 97 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I don't know if you know the story of the skateboard 98 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but it was something that surfers, facing a wind a way they couldn't surf, 99 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 it was the best kind of substitute. 100 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So they took a pair of roller-skates, chopped them in two, 101 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 put wheels on either end of a plank of wood, and you had a skateboard. 102 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So the skateboard industry is now worth $4.8 billion a year. 103 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And a similar story happened with the mountain bike. 104 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It was basically cannibalized from other forms of bikes 105 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and developed entirely by users. 106 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 To bring it even more up to date, 107 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I don't know if you're aware of this thing called Patreon? 108 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's been set up by Jack Conte who is a musician. 109 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Certainly, he wouldn't have thought of himself as a kind of entrepreneur 110 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but it kind of recreates in the digital age 111 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the 18th century notion of patronage for artists. 112 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So you pay up artists, because you like their work. 113 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And it has been a hugely successful venture for Jack. 114 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And then one of the few companies that have really latched onto 115 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 people-powered innovation at a very early stage 116 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 is Proctor & Gamble, who have developed a thing called Connect and Develop 117 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and that service now, which brings in innovations 118 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 from outside of the organization, 119 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that constitutes about half of all their innovations. 120 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So much so that Proctor & Gamble say: "Proudly found elsewhere." 121 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 That's their motto. 122 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And I wonder how many of us working in universities could say the same thing, 123 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 or how many of us who are learning officers in companies? 124 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So, where do we see people-powered innovation? 125 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Well, you can go to any maker space and you'll see it, 126 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 visit forums or interest groups, even groups like Anonymous, 127 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 whatever you may think of their philosophy, 128 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 you can't deny their ingenuity and innovation. 129 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And I've looked at a number of examples 130 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and I've identified four common characteristics. 131 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I'm going to quickly go through them. 132 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The first is need. The second is "Jugaad." 133 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Don't worry if it's not a familiar term to you. 134 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Third is the hacker ethic and the fourth is a sense of agency. 135 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Right. Very quick examples. 136 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's a cliché, but it's a cliché for a reason, 137 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that invention is indeed the mother of necessity. 138 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And you get people-powered innovation where the need is greatest. 139 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So it's no accident that some of the most innovative things that we now see 140 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 now are happening in the developed world in slums and favelas. 141 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So 85% of mobile transactions have actually originated 142 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 in developing countries. 143 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And 50% of them were created by users. 144 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And if you think about it, that's kind of paved the way for things like 145 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Apple Pay and Samsung Wallet. 146 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The first use of mobile banking was actually in the Philippines, 147 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and what people did there was to take pay-as-you-go top-up vouchers, 148 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 take the code from them, text them to their friends and family 149 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 in other parts of the Philippines, and they used it as a kind of currency. 150 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But they're not just turning air time into money, 151 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 they're turning shit into money too. 152 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 [To you it may be SHIT, To us it is MONEY "Shit Business is Serious Business"] 153 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This is a genuine sign, I didn't make this up 154 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but it says, if you can't read the bottom it says, 155 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "Shit Business is Serious Business". 156 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And there's a guy in Lagos in Nigeria 157 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and Lagos has a big public health problem 158 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 because people are using the streets as a toilet 159 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but there is a graphic artist called Isaac Agbetusin 160 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 who invented a thing that he called the Dignified Mobile Toilet. 161 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They look like the kind of Portaloos that you see on building sites 162 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but he's designed it, built it, delivers it to communities 163 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and then they charge people ten cents to use them. 164 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But that's only part of the story, because then the waste is collected 165 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and turned into biogas which is sold to energy companies. 166 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's ingenious. He's getting profit at both ends 167 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 of the transaction. So that leads us 168 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to the second characteristic. 169 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And that's this word "jugaad". And if you're not familiar with it, 170 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 it's a Hindi term which kind of means it's making the most of what you've got. 171 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So I don't know if you can see the photograph on the right. 172 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 That's an ox-powered two-story truck. 173 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 During the rainy season, of course people get drenched 174 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 so somebody found the cabin from an old truck, put it on. 175 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There are people on the top deck of the truck, people on the bottom, 176 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and they're staying dry. Making the most of what you've got. 177 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But it's also this sense of "jugaad" as meaning "good enough". 178 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 What you see on the left is the world's first clay refrigerator. 179 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It was created, again, by just an ordinary user. 180 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And of course it doesn't work as well as a powered refrigerator 181 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that you might have in the West. 182 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's cooled by cold water which cools the clay. 183 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But when you've got temperatures of 45, 50 degrees in summer, 184 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 it's good enough. It keeps the produce cool enough 185 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to be used, and it doesn't go off. 186 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Here's some very quick examples of jugaad as well. 187 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Guy on the top left, he's frying his breakfast 188 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 while he's listening to his MP3 player. (audience laughing) 189 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Guys on the top right have designated the compartment a sleeper compartment. 190 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They took a blanket and put it up as a hammock. 191 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Guy at the bottom right. This is fascinating. 192 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 He's turned what we call in the U.K. a flip-flop, Australians call them thongs, 193 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 he's turned it into a gun holster. 194 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I don't know what he's doing with the other flip-flop. 195 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And the guy on the bottom left has invented a kind of hands-free kit. 196 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (audience laughing) 197 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's just a handkerchief with a mobile phone. 198 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I hope to God he's cut a couple of holes out in the front. 199 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But what we're seeing is that your jugaad principles 200 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 are now being adopted by Western countries. 201 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And if you think about it, a company like Google 202 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 when it talks about everything's in better, fail fast and integrate 203 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that's a kind of jugaad approach to innovation. 204 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And when jugaad meets the next characteristic, 205 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I think things get really interesting. 206 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So when you combine a hacker ethic with jugaad, 207 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I think you then start or rub against what I would call 208 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 one of the biggest blockers to people-powered innovation, 209 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and that's kind of over-strict regulatory framework. 210 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And it's put there on the premise of protecting us and maintaining quality. 211 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now I'm assuming you all know the story of Wikipedia, so I'll give you 212 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the truncated version. 213 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When it was first started, it was called Newpedia 214 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and they commissioned a bunch of academics to write articles 215 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which were then going to be peer-reviewed to maintain the quality. 216 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And two years into its existence, Newpedia had to close 217 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 cause it had a grand total of 25 articles, cause people had spent all that time 218 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 arguing about whether the article was good enough. 219 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So it became Wikipedia, and as you know, Jimmy Wales then said, 220 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "To hell with this. I'll make it open source. 221 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "Anybody can write this. It will be good enough. 222 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "And people can hack it and improve it." 223 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But what's less commonly known is that Wikipedia wasn't 224 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the kind of direct successor of Newpedia. 225 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It sort of forked, and alongside Wikipedia was a thing called Citizendium. 226 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now, could you just put your hand up if you've ever used Wikipedia? 227 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Yeah, pretty much everybody. 228 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Can you put your hand up if you've used Citizendium? 229 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Yes, and that's because they insisted on peer review. 230 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And if you go on the Citizendium website, they've got something like 160,000 articles 231 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which have been commissioned, and 106 of them, I think it is, 232 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 have actually been released for citation. 233 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So, I don't know what's happening for all the rest, but it seems to me 234 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 there's a lesson here for academic publishing 235 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 because I don't believe peer review, unless it's open source, 236 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 does anything other than obstruct research and innovation and not advance it. 237 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So here's an example from education, from education 238 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which is what I'd consider to be jugaad in the hypothetic. 239 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There's a college in London called the School for Communication Arts. 240 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's run by a maverick called Marc Lewis, and it serves the advertising industry. 241 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now, it provides tertiary-level courses but they're not degrees 242 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 because he can't get validated. 243 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Why can't he get validated? 244 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Because Marc invites people to hack its own programs, 245 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and he does it via this. There a thing called the Curriculum Wiki. 246 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So if you're in the advertising industry, and you think that there's 247 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 a particular skill that's being developed, or there's some new processes and practices, 248 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 or if you're a student, or indeed a member of the public, 249 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 you can put up on the Curriculum Wiki what you think should be taught, 250 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and Marc and his staff there will guarantee to turn that 251 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 into a set of learning outcomes with a syllabus. 252 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And they'll have it up and running within six weeks. 253 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now of course, that means that it can't get validation, 254 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 because in the U.K., universities want to know 255 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 what your program's going to be in five years' time. 256 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 He doesn't know what they're going to be doing in five weeks' time, 257 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but he doesn't care because all the students get jobs. 258 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They've got 100% employability rate. 259 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So that's a case of, I think, the kind of regulatory frameworks 260 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that we've got coming up against innovation and people-powered innovation. 261 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And it seems to me that that sense of urgency is really important. 262 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In most examples of formal learning, it seems to me we've promoted 263 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 a kind of learned dependence. 264 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We're the experts. You're the learners. 265 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And if you want to progress to the next level, 266 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 then you're going to need us. 267 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And then along came the biggest, disruptive innovation 268 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 since chewing gum in education, and that's YouTube. 269 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And everybody suddenly went, "Hmm, maybe we don't need you guys 270 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "as much as we thought we did." 271 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And YouTube begat MOOCs. 272 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And then the new mantra became "Any lecturer that can be replaced 273 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "by a YouTube video, will be." 274 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But whilst MOOCs and online learning allow learners to hack their education, sort of, 275 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 they don't yet build community or a sense of learner agency. 276 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And I believe that building learner agency will be the next big development 277 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 in learning, because that's what we see in social learning now. 278 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And learners expect that that agency in formal learning 279 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 is also going to be there. 280 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So, it's not hard to do. 281 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We just need to adopt social learning six key motivations 282 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which I talk about in the book. 283 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And there's a whole other talk to go through these 284 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but I'll just quickly list them. 285 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So, a sense of do-it-yourself. 286 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There's a great deal of autonomy in social learning. 287 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You all know that because that's how you communicate. 288 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I know I'm preaching to the converted here. 289 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Second is immediacy. 290 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There's what Lillian Katz called a horizontal relevance about learning 291 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 because you're getting the knowledge that you need now 292 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to solve the challenge that you've got 293 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 rather than just in case at some point in the future. 294 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There's an obvious sense of collegiality, do it with friends. 295 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's now the case that if you're on Twitter or Yammer, 296 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 you've probably got your closest collaborator on the other side 297 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 of the world, rather than on the other side of the office. 298 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And then, there's a sense of playfulness about all of this stuff. 299 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Then we get into the contentious ones. 300 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Do unto others. 301 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now, I know that social media has got bullies, has got trolls, 302 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and there are bad people out there who do bad things, 303 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but that's the stuff that gets reported. 304 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 What doesn't get reported are the million random acts of kindness 305 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which happen every day because of that sense of generosity 306 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which is powering the learning. 307 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And similarly, for the last one. 308 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There's a high visibility about the learning which is happening 309 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 in the social space which isn't being replicated, I would argue, 310 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 in the formal learning space. 311 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Companies and universities get very nervous about the learning 312 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 being open to the rest of the world. 313 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But I think these six qualities of social learning are 314 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the means by which those communities develop a sense of agency. 315 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And I'd argue that we need to think about how many of these 316 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 we can bring in to our formal learning programs. 317 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And it's really encouraging to see the presentations that are scheduled 318 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 for the next couple of days, particularly the ones which 319 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 are about peer learning. 320 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So they're the four kind of common characteristics 321 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 behind people-powered innovation. 322 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I'm now, only got a couple of minutes left, so let's just finish 323 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 with perhaps three things that we could do 324 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to develop more people-powered innovation. 325 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 First is don't be afraid of the pro-am. 326 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The poster boy these days for the pro-am is this kid. 327 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Just put your hand up if you recognize this kid. 328 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Oh, not many. His name's Jack Andraka. 329 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 When he was fifteen, he came up with a biomarker 330 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 for pancreatic cancer because the need was there. 331 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 A close member of his family died of pancreatic cancer 332 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 because it wasn't spotted early enough. 333 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So Jack came up, did all his research on Google and Wikipedia. 334 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 He calls them a teenager's best friends. 335 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And then he reached a point where he needed lab space. 336 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So he wrote to 200 universities in America 337 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and 199 of them turned him down. 338 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They couldn't see what a 15-year-old could possibly tell them 339 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 about pancreatic cancer, I mean, he didn't even have a master's. 340 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So how would he possibly be able to help them? 341 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now fortunately, one did, and that was Johns Hopkins. 342 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And it's ready to go into production now, this biomarker. 343 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But here again, he's come up, he's incredibly frustrated 344 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 because he's come up against regulatory framework 345 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which is not allowing this thing to be made available 346 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 because of the ridiculous clinical trial system that we've got. 347 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And it's going to be five, possibly ten years, 348 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 before this is now made available. 349 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And as Jack says, "How many more people are going to die 350 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "as a result of that?" 351 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So that's one, don't be afraid of the pro-am, 352 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and obviously, de-regulate where possible. 353 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Welcome those education hackers. 354 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But then finally, I think we've just not got to be in denial about this. 355 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Since "Open" was published, I've worked with a lot of companies 356 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and universities, and I go in and I tell them about the risks 357 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 of being dis-intermediated. 358 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But I sense this kind of collective denial going on. 359 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And it's understandable because for a long time, 360 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 learners had nowhere else to go. 361 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And we've had a kind of monopoly for the past hundred years or more, 362 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but the time to open up education is here and it's now, 363 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and we have to involve users in redefining what we do. 364 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So I began by talking about my recent cancer treatment. 365 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And when I was first diagnosed, I had my first meeting with the oncologist. 366 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And as you can imagine, I had done a ton of research 367 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 because I'm a hypochondriac, I don't mind admitting it. 368 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The only consolation about being a hypochondriac 369 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 is that eventually you're proven right. (audience laughs) 370 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So I was talking to the oncologist, and I said, "What are the alternatives to surgery?" 371 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "What are going to be the side effects of chemotherapy, if I have to have it?" 372 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And he was getting more and more frustrated. 373 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I asked about holistic treatments. 374 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Eventually, he kind of snapped at me, and he said, 375 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "Look, just have the surgery. Don't overthink this." 376 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now, when a doctor tells you to not overthink it, 377 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I would strongly recommend you find another doctor, 378 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 because that's the kind of Apple philosophy. 379 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You know, we've done all the research and the design. 380 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You should just be grateful that we're letting you buy it. 381 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But one of these forums that I was on, the one I was telling you about 382 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that are operating kind of on the boundaries, 383 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 go on there regularly, and this oncologist joined in on the conversation. 384 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And people woke up smart, and they said, 385 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "But we never get professionals coming on this forum." 386 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And the oncologist said, "Well, it's really important 387 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "that this dialogue takes place." 388 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And I remember what he said. 389 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 He said, "Those who seek answers need to be part of this solution." 390 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So I hope you'll think how you can bring more people-powered innovation 391 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 into your own learning programs, and enable people to be part of the solution. 392 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Thanks very much for listening. 393 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (applause) 394 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 - David, thank you very much, indeed. You're great, at 23 minutes, 395 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 so thank you very much indeed for making that happen. 396 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And some of these questions actually will be applicable 397 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 for Cory and for Ian as well, so you may want to pick them up 398 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 in your remarks too. 399 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But let me just reflect some of the comments that we've been getting, 400 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and there you can see the address. 401 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I can take many more if you want. 402 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This one from Alejandro Molini. 403 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The shift to a new age of opportunity, what exactly is this shift towards? 404 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 - Well, I think that's a bigger question. 405 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 That's a question that I asked myself when I looked at the overall theme for today. 406 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But certainly as far as the thing that I was talking about, for me 407 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 it is the shift toward knowledge is becoming more open. 408 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's a curious kind of battle which is constantly taking place 409 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 cause I think Cory will be talking to some extent about institutions 410 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and how they're making it difficult for that knowledge to be shared. 411 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But I think what we've seen over the past ten years, is a desire 412 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 for people to have more control over their lives, 413 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and the implication behind all that, which is why I think dis-intermediation 414 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 is such a powerful implication. 415 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 If you're part of the music industry, you never thought that you'd be done out. 416 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 If you were a travel agent, you never really thought that people 417 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 would want to organize their own holidays. 418 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 If you're a taxi driver, you probably didn't see Uber coming. 419 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But that to me is part of that shift. 420 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 - What about this comment from Maria Ebro? 421 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 A very interesting talk, but how do you ensure confidentiality? 422 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 How do you balance control versus innovation? 423 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 - Yep, there is no easy answer to that. 424 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And when I talk about regulatory frameworks, of course you wouldn't want 425 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to get on a plane and wonder if the pilot was actually somebody 426 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 who previously was sitting in the back row. 427 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There are some needs for that regulatory framework, 428 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but I think we've gone too far. 429 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 And 23:47