Rufus Pollock, the Founder of Open Knowledge International, is delighted to announce the launch of his new book The Open Revolution on how we can revolutionize information ownership and access in the digital economy.
About the book
Will the digital revolution give us digital dictatorships or digital democracies? Forget everything you think you know about the digital age. It’s not about privacy, surveillance, AI or blockchain – it’s about ownership. Because, in a digital age, who owns information controls the future.
Today, information is everywhere. From your DNA to the latest blockbusters, from lifesaving drugs to the app on your phone, from big data to algorithms. Our entire global economy is built on it and the rules around information affect us all every day.
As information continues to move into the digital domain, it can be copied and distributed with ease, making access and control even more important. But the rules we have made for it, derived from how we manage physical property, are hopelessly maladapted to the digital world.
In The Open Revolution, Pollock exposes the myths that cloud the digital debate. Looking beneath the surface, into the basic rules of the digital economy, he offers a simple solution. The answer is not technological but political: a choice between making information Open, shared by all, or making it Closed, exclusively owned and controlled. Today in a Closed world we find ourselves at the mercy of digital dictators. Rufus Pollock charts a path to a more “Open” future that works for everyone.
Cory Doctorow, journalist and activist: “The richest, most powerful people in the world have bet everything on the control of information in all its guises; Pollock’s fast-moving, accessible book explains why seizing the means of attention and information is the only path to human freedom and flourishing.”
An Open future for all
The book’s vision of choosing Open as the path to a more equitable, innovative and profitable future for all is closely related to the vision of an open knowledge society of Open Knowledge International. Around the world, we are working towards societies where everyone has access to key information and the ability to use it to understand and shape their lives. We want to see powerful institutions made comprehensible and accountable. We want to see vital research information which can help us tackle challenges such as poverty and climate change available to all as open information.
The Open Revolution is a great inspiration for our worldwide network of people passionate about openness, boosting our shared efforts towards an open future for all.
Get the book and join the open revolution at openrevolution.net, or join our forum to discuss the book’s content.
About the author
Dr Rufus Pollock is a researcher, technologist and entrepreneur. He has been a pioneer in the global Open Data movement, advising national governments, international organisations and industry on how to succeed in the digital world. He is the founder of Open Knowledge, a leading NGO which is present in over 35 countries, empowering people and organization with access to information so that they can create insight and drive change. Formerly, he was the Mead Fellow in Economics at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge. He has been the recipient of a $1m Shuttleworth Fellowship and is currently an Ashoka Fellow and Fellow of the RSA. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge.
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