Instructions for the weekly status report

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Each group should post a weekly status report on the course companion blog. Every course participant has gotten an invitation to post/contribute to the blog.

Here are the instructions for the weekly status report.

Deadline: Please submit your weekly status report every Friday at noon with the exception of Fri Nov 7 (mid-crit presentations). The noon deadline allows us to have the chance to provide you with feedback the same day/before the weekend. 

Content of each weekly report:

• Group name. 
• What we have done. What you (your group) have done during the previous week (since the previous weekly report)
• What we will do. What you will do next (next step(s) in your project)
• Challenges encountered. Either challenges within the group or in relation to you plans and "external" entities. 
• Changes in the project. "Evolution"/change of direction of your project (optional). If you have altered or changed the direction of your project (compared to the project plan or to previous status report) - please tell us what and why.
• Resources. We encourage you to also append other materials, for example a photo of your work process, a drawing/diagram you have created or a link to some excellent resource you have encountered (a text or a video for example). 
• Other. Whatever you feel is important or necessary to add to the status report. 

Comment: As stated before, not just the final results, but also the process is important in the course. Please see the weekly status reports not only as us (teachers) examining you (students), but as your opportunity to tell us (and impress us with) what you have done lately in your project group, as well as a backchannel to point out obstacles and problems you have encountered.

If you encounter problems that hinder you to progress in your work as a group, do not hesitate to get in touch with Daniel and Malin as soon as possible so that we can set up a meeting.

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Mid-crit information

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The mid-crit will be held two weeks from now. Here is some important information.

The lecture hall V1 is booked for the whole day on Friday Nov 7. A detailed schedule will follow.

As has been mentioned before, we require your personal individual presence for half the day at this event. 

We will divide the 12 project groups into two blocks with 6 groups each and you should listen to all the presentation in your block. For further information, see the detailed schedule that will follow this blog post.

If you take another course which collides with this event, it is my firm belief that you should prioritize this course over the other course on this one occasion. Do note that Nov 7 is the one and only occasion between Oct 17 and Dec when you are required to be someplace special at sometime special in this course.

As to the event itself, each group will have around 10 minutes to pitch their basic ideas and also to brag about all the work you have done this far (read literature, interviewed experts or ordinary people, done focus groups, surveys, drawn sketches, built mock-ups or prototypes, brainstormed a storyboard for a movie etc.). Each group will, after their presentation, have another 20 minutes reserved for feedback and discussions about their work.

At the mid-crit, you should thus concentrate on presenting:

- Your group's fundamental ideas, concepts, logic, business models, scenarios, vision etc.

- Describe work you have done in the group to support your ideas, concepts, vision (etc.) in terms of reading literature, collecting materials etc.

- Please also say a few worlds about your ideas for a "design representation" that demos/visualizes your concept and that you will use during the final presentation (see further the course PM) 

Do note that the emphasis is on the soundness of your concept and your ideas. A successful presentation and a benign reception can be seen as a go-ahead to continue your work on the path you have (already) taken. Another alternative is of course that you get feedback that encourages you to veer some from the direction you are heading in (ranging from timid suggestions and fun ideas to forceful "recommendations" that you most certainly should take into account after the mid-crit).

We have invited three external guests ("guest critics") for this event - see below. They will listen to each group's presentation/pitch and then ask questions and discuss your work. Students from other groups are of course also welcome to chip in to comment or ask questions!

Do note that this is the premier occasion for you to get an idea about what other groups are doing in the course. Perhaps you will realize that there is a need to coordinate your work with the work of another group (for example if you overlap, or if there is a "natural" progression or fit (or contradiction) between your topic and that of the other group). This might also have implications for the order in which we will schedule groups to present their projects at the final presentation in December.

Our three external guest critics for this occasion are Airi Lampinen, Milad Hossainzadeh and Åke Walldius:

About: Airi works as a postdoctoral researcher at Mobile Life Centre, Stockholm University. Previously, she has been a researcher at Helsinki Institute for Information Technology HIIT, a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley's School of Information and a research intern at Microsoft Research New England. Her research is focused on interpersonal boundary regulation in networked settings, such as the sharing economy and social network services. Her qualifications include a PhD in social psychology from University of Helsinki and a BSc (Eng.) from Aalto University's interdisciplinary Information Networks degree programme.

About: Milad Hossainzadeh is a young architect and entrepreneur who was born in Iran. He grew up in Sweden and partly in London where he received his Masters from UCL The Bartlett School of Architecture. He is currently based in Stockholm, working at the leading Scandinavian architectural firm White. He shares his time as a member of Urban Land Institute and working strategically with international relations within the field s architecture, urban design, business development and start-ups. As an architect, he has an interest in optimizing the power of cultural innovation and systematic root thinking. 

About: Åke Walldius is a researcher in Human Computer Interaction at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). He earned his Ph.D. in Cinema Studies at Stockholm University after having worked for 20 years in video production and information visualization. He is team leader for the Socio-technical Practices team at the Media technology an Interaction design Group and is an appointed expert in standardization. His main interests are socio-technical visualization, genre analysis and design pattern composition and use. Åke has been responsible (2008) and co-responsible (2007, 2009, 2011) for the course Future of Media at the Media technology programme at KTH.

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Protocol from coordination meetings

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We will have regular meetings with the coordination group (around every second week). The notes from these meetings are available to see for everyone with this link. You can even comment on things in that document. Do note that we will use the same document the whole term/for all meetings.
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Date for the final presentation

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To decide which date we will choose for the final presentation, the executive group has created a Google form where you can fill out which courses you take during the second half of the autumn.

Please fill out this form so we can find the best possible date for the final presentation!
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Lecture 18 - Fri Oct 31 (09-12) Hossainzadeh

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The lecture below was supposed to have been held earlier (on Oct 9), but had to be postponed. We still think Milad's message is both relevant and very important to you in the project phase of the course. I have discussed the contents of the lecture with Milad and we have reshaped it so that it will better fit where you are in your projects at this point in time - one week before the mid-crit presentation. The new lecture will therefore become a mix of a lecture and a seminar where you will get the opportunity to directly work the ideas that Milad presents to you. Do also note that Milad will be one of the external guests who will attend the mid-crit event on Nov 7 and give you feedback on your project concepts.

/Daniel


Time & Place: Friday October 31 at 09-12 in Q2.

Guest: Milad Hossainzadeh, Dip.MArch 

Title: Exception = Exceptional - alternative futures through big picture thinking in a creative process 

Talk: What happens to an idea when approached from different angles and different views at the same time?  How can systematic "root thinking" allow you to ask the first questions about a specific problem? Is there a limit of how far you can take an idea?  What then are the social, cultural, economical, political, technical and ecological consequences? This lecture will explore how lateral and root-thinking can highlight an exception and a specific event in time which expands our perception of what is possible to bring onboard into a concept for a future. In order to push forward, we will expose the consequences of the exception and create temporary realities where we allow for a critical discussion to take place. The lecture aims to involve debate and discussion as well as spontaneous questions, so please feel free to jump in!

About: Milad Hossainzadeh is a young architect who was born in Iran, grew up in Sweden and partly in London where he received his Masters from UCL The Bartlett School of Architecture. He is currently based in Stockholm, working at the leading Scandinavian architectural firm White where he works on national and international projects with parallel design processes. His current focus is on large scale urban planning projects with social sustainability. His design approach often starts with an idea on communication and systems thinking, meaning he always looks for a theme and a bigger picture that includes the long term effect on people and cities. He is involved in several affiliations and events in the Stockholm area and shares his time as a board member of the Urban Land Institute for young leaders in Sweden.

Literature: Please take a look at:
- Kim, S (1990), "Interdisciplinary cooperation" (available in Bilda).

"Sharing is...?" - Pub today

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Our guest from yesterday, Mattias Jägerskog, suggested (some of) you could join the Facebook "Oui Share" group.

If somebody is interested, there will be a informal meeting in a hotel bar tonight around the topic "Sharing is...?". The invitation (from the Oui Share Facebook group) more specifically says:

"We meet to discuss, think and clarify the current confusion around terms but also questions such as 'is there good and bad sharing?' As well as other questions you want to discuss."

Time: Today from 19.00
Place: "Lilla Hotellbaren", Södermalm, Stockholm (Scandic Hotel Malmen, Folkungagatan 47)

Tonight's enablers are:

Emma Öhrwall 0737 022313
Therese Johansson 0738171588


Please post a short at the companion course blog if you go to the pub!
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Attendance requirements in practice

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It seems there will be all-in-all 23 lectures and seminars in the start-up phase of the Future of Media course (including Milad who hurt his back but who will come visit us on Fri Oct 30 between 9-12 - more info to follow).

The attendance requirements are 75%, i.e. you should have attended at least 17 occasions out of the 23. People who attend less 14 or more occasions (e.g. 65% attendance) will get an extra assignment (more info to follow).

In the Google document with your attendance:
- white color means that things look good (but please don't lapse)
- yellow means you will get an extra assignment and that you should take care not to not miss any (or too many) of the remaining lectures
- green is a special case
- red means you will fail to meet the attendance requirements

Please have a look at the document to make sure we have correct information about your attendance!
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Project plan review meetings (Wed Oct 22 and Thu Oct 23)

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Me and Malin will meet each group for 30 minutes on Wednesday and Thursday next week. All meetings will be held in the seminar room 1625 (house E, top floor).

You should spend the time until then discussing and elaborating your project plan. Please download and use the template in Bilda ("141022 Project plan template").

You can choose to send your project plan to us (Daniel and Malin) by mail in advance or to bring two printed copies of your project plan to the meeting. Here is the schedule:


Wednesday Oct 22:
- 10.00 3D-printing
- 10.30 Future of motivation
- 11.00 Future of piracy
- 11.30 Future of work
- 13.00 Bottom-up revolution
- 13.30 Shared food
- 14.00 Future of learning
- 14.30
- 15.00 Trust and reputation
- 15.30 Future of trust

Thursday Oct 23:
- 08.00
- 08.30 Sustainability
- 09.00 The end of big biz
- 09.30 Future of crowdwork

Lecture 17 - Fri Oct 17 (8-10) - Swartling

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Time and place: Friday Oct 17, 8-10 in lecture hall E3.

Title: "Project TEAM work"

Guest: Anna Swartling, Usability architect at Scania CV AB

Talk: Successful projects depend on a well functioning project teams. But what does that mean in practice? At this lecture, we will examine and discuss these issues together. We will primarily focus on team work, leadership and communication issues and conflict management.

Comment (from Daniel): This is a lecture that has nothing to do with this year’s theme, but all the more to do with creating successful project groups (and thereby successful projects) during the project phase. This is a lecture where everyone should listen up and pay close attention to what Anna says. You fail to do so at your own risk as this might increase the chance that your project group won't work out the way you want - and with detrimental effects on your satisfaction about your project, about the course, and perhaps also about your grade. Do remember that everyone in a project groups gets the same grade - so being able to handle problems in the project group can be vital both to your wellbeing and to your resulting grade from the course. Furthermore do note that KTH uses the whole spectrum of the available grade scale - you are in no way "guaranteed" to receive A's or B's or indeed even C's or D's just because you manage to hand in something (rather than nothing) at the end of the term.

About: Anna Swartling is currently working at Scania, one of the premier truck and bus companies in the world. She has a Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction from KTH. She has long experience of team work and leadership from a variety of different positions and businesses, including KTH school projects, team manager, project manager for computer systems development projects as well as being an actor and a director in theater productions, chairman of several boards and research projects.

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Literature: Read Scott Kim's text "Interdisciplinary cooperation" which is accessible in Bilda. Although the text treats the difficulties of computer scientists and graphic designers cooperating, the lessons from that article are applicable far beyond this specific case.

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Lecture 16 - Thu Oct 16 (9-11) Bradley

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Time & Place: Thursday October 16 at 9-11 in D3.

Guest: Karin Bradley, Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Studies at KTH 

Title: The interplay between urban commons and digital commons 

Talk: In contemporary architecture and urbanism, there is marked interest in creating and safeguarding the "urban commons". In this talk I will discuss practices of creating urban commons, using open-source tactics, in what can be called ‘open-source urbanism’.

About: Karin Bradley is Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Studies at KTH. Her research deals with socioenvironmental movements, the commons, and  'the sharing economy' in relation to urban development. Her most recent work is Green Utopianism: Perspectives, politics and micro-practices (co-edited with Johan Hedrén, Routledge, 2014).

Literature: Please take a look at this article (available in Bilda):
- Bradley, K. (forthcoming) "Open-source urbanism: Creating, multiplying and managing urban commons" in Footprint Delft Architecture Theory Journal, Issue 16, Vol. 9, No 1 (Spring 2015)
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Lecture 15 - Wed Oct 15 (10-12) - Jägerskog

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Time & Place: Wednesday October 15 at 10-12 in D3.

Guest: Mattias Jägerskog, founder of Skjutsgruppen and #RidesharingDay, OuiShare connector Sweden 

Title: The return of the Collaborative Economy 

Talk: All over Europe and the world people are sharing, borrowing and gifting. This lecture will give an overview of what's happening right now and why movement is an essential part of the return of the return of the Collaborative Economy.

About: Mattias Jägerskog is what the collaborative movement calls an "enabler". He helps out with spreading the Collaborative Economy through both practical action, philosophy and ideology.
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Milad hurt - lecture cancelled today!

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Today's guest lecturer, Milad Hosseinzadeh, just called me. He hurt his back while doing some sport yesterday evening and he is physically unable get out of his bed and thus can not come to KTH. 

I don't know if we can get him to come back later (next week) but I will try since his lecture is a great source of inspiration for your project work.

/Daniel
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Shortlist for project topics!

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Below are the topics you can choose to form project groups around. There are 22 topics in the list below and 63 students taking the course (excluding the five members of the executive group). I expect around 12 groups to come out of this process (with 4 or 5 or at times perhaps even 6 members in each group). GO HERE to specify what your 1st, 2nd and 3rd hand choice for project topics is!

DO NOTE: The deadline for specifying your preferences is Friday October 10 at 17.00. I will work on putting the project groups together over the weekend and you will get to know the results at seminar 4 (Monday Oct 13 at 10-12). If you do not specify you preferences, I will assume that you are equally interested in all topics and equally happy to work with whichever topic in whichever group you end up in!

DO NOTE: It is possible to form two project groups around the same topic if there is overwhelming interest in a specific topic. These two groups would initially have to work together to carve out two different and separate directions in which to take your respective projects. It's ok to overlap - but not too much!

I wrote a blog post about the Future of Media group formation process on my personal academic blog (I have previously linked to the same text): "How should student project groups be put together?". Scroll to the last part of the blog post if you just want the basic facts.

By all means also have a look at a second blog post I have written about students' ambition, grades and the work load in this course; "Student project groups - ambitions and grades". 

Do also note that the topics below are only to be seen as starting points - the project groups can develop, change and bend (almost to the point of "kidnapping") the descriptions below in any direction you think is interesting.

/Daniel & Malin


Possible project group ideas:

1. Trust and reputation systems. For sharing to be able to work, there has to be (justified) trust between strangers. So who should you trust? How do state-of-the-art reputation systems encourage and ensure the creation of “social capital” and mutual trust today (and punish free riders and cheaters)? How could such systems be further developed to support the digital commons and the sharing economy of tomorrow?
2. 3D society. 3D-printers (and makerspaces and Fab labs etc.) will change society forever. Explore and explain how by finding, talking and participating with the Stockholm “scene”. Choose to explore the positive effects (Rifkin) and/or possible negative effects (printing guns and drugs, who has control over the printers or of the equivalent of the “ink”).
3. The future of learning. What is the future of learning and the future of universities in an age of free Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on the Internet? What are the pros and cons of MOOCs compared to the alternatives?
4. A sustainable sharing economy. What is the relationship between sustainability and the sharing economy? How can a future sharing economy be shaped to be maximally sustainable?
5. The future of the intellectual/creative commons (CC). What is the future of copyrights vs the future of sharing and of the commons? The electric car company Tesla released all their patents only this summer (search for “tesla patents release”) to grow the pie rather than to protect their own share of a much smaller pie. Is this an anomaly or a harbinger of things to be?
6. Sharing motivations. Why do people share? For the noble good, for making some extra cash for myself, from dire need or for some other reason (or combination of reasons)? What does this imply for the future of sharing?
7. The end of big business. The sharing economy will undermine and topple some (or many?) of the giants of the 20th century industrial economy. Explore and explain how. Will collaborative consumption ruin old business structures and create a new economic system?
8. Share or die. Decreased affluence will be the big driver behind the sharing economy. Use countries in southern Europe that has fallen on hard times as a template and invent ways of leveraging the digital commons and the sharing economy to improve the lives of formerly-affluent Europeans. Perhaps we urgently need to build trust and learn to cooperate to increase our resilience against present or future economic hardship?
9. The future of discrimination. How will the sharing economy create a worse society for those who belong to minorities of different kinds - including ethnic minorities and those who are too poor to consume (or even to connect online)?
10. A future sharing society. If today’s services are only precursors to a future sharing society, envision what that society looks like? If the sharing economy reaches a tipping point/critical mass, how could that “change everything”?
11. The future of crowdwork. Crowdwork is a powerful idea. Some work is done by voluneers for free (Wikipedia, Foldit), other work is done for profit (Amazon Mechanical Turk). What is the future of crowdwork? For for-profit crowdwork, how can such ideas be leveraged to be beneficial for employers and service providers (e.g. Amazon) as well as for employees?
12. The future of piracy. What is the connection (if any) between piracy and the commons? Do pirates perceive themselves to be “commoners”? Are pirates “liberating” things that should be in the common or are they criminals who should be stopped? Hunt down your very own pirates (and anti-pirates) and find the answers to how these things go together.
13. Sharing and size. With smaller size comes trust and intimacy, but increased usefulness comes from scaling up. Are there (social/sociological) limits to the commons and to sharing? Can these be overcome by technology (or legal frameworks)? How?
14. The future of trust. Trust might very well be *the* issue that determines the future of the digital commons and the sharing economy. How do companies (and non-profits) work with issues of trust today? What are the possibilities and what are the challenges?
15. The bottom-up revolution. Instead of installing expensive meteorological weather stations, why not let (many) ordinary users report the temperature and the shape of the clouds through an app (e.g. Shareweather)? And why not build bottom-up maps of pollution or congestion or where the nearest sushi bar or free wi-fi is? What are the implications of creating new commons through this bottom-up “revolution”?
16. Sharing against resource scarcity. Roope (Oct 1) mentioned that commodities (raw materials) are increasing in price. Is sharing (making smarter use of natural resources) not an optional, but a necessary strategy to maintain current standards? If so, what are the implications for the future?
17. The future of financing. Can we share money (loans) better? We need to find funding also for all the great digital commons/sharing economy ideas and startups, so how can money and financing (loans) be shared through p2p lending (kickstarter, zopa, fundedbyme, toborrow etc.)?
18. The future of shared food. Can food production (locally cultivated organic food in gardens) and preparation/consumption (shared dinners etc.) be brought to the cities and mediated by ICT?
19. The future of direct democracy. How will ICT change politics and decision-making. What are the alternatives to elections every fourth year? Collaborative decision making, direct democracy, polls - what has been done and what could be done? How can politics go from being “a profession” to involving many (again).
20. All in. If a country would fully commit to a sharing economy in, say, a 20-year perspective, what could that society look like? Would everyday tasks be more efficient? Would people enjoy life more? How would culture have changed? Would trust be used as currency (how)?
21. The future of work. What will happen to work (good jobs, bad jobs, no jobs) if the sharing economy expands? Will sharing create a better society for all or will it undermine safety and security in the job market, e.g. taxi drivers starting to work for Uber but with lower salaries)? What are the effects of the current sharing economy on job creation and the job market?
22. The future of libraries. Libraries have been around for a long time and are part of the industrial-era state-supported commons. What is the future of libraries in a digital world?

Lecture 14 - Fri Oct 10 (8-10) Ljungstig & Tyrland

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Time & Place: Friday October 10 at 8-10 in E3.

Guest: Daniel Ljungstig and Anders Tyrland from 3DVerkstan 

Title: 3D Printing: Hype or a truly disruptive technology for the future? Our kids might have the answer! 

Talk: There has been intense media coverage on 3D Printing over the past two years - but the technology has however existed for more than 30 years. Why is this? We will present the current state of 3D Printing and the intense developments going on all over the world at this very moment. We will showcase examples and have an open discussion about the future. Daniel and Anders will also demonstrate creating an item on a desktop 3D Printer. It is possible to apply for borrowing a 3D Printer for experimenting in the course if a project group is formed around this subject.

About: Daniel is a KTH MSc CS alumni who after 17 years as an IT Project Management Consultant has shifted and started to work with 3D Printing. Anders has worked 13 years in the Media industry as a producer and editor of films, TV shows and commercials. Together they now work with knowledge and new technologies related to 3D Printing and have founded two companies in that business. They are also heavily involved in the Maker Movement, being co-founders of Stockholm Makerspace and they enjoy participating in MakerFairs and related events all over the world.

Literature: Please take a look at:
- On the 3D Printing Industry - 3DPIs Free Beginners Guide to 3D Printing. Comment: This is a great free guide to the technology and industry. We will cover some related content in the talk itself.
- Hod Lipson & Melba Kurman: Fabricated - The New World of 3D Printing. This is a visionary book on 3D Printing. We recommend to those students who wants to be inspired further it as it discusses not only the current state of 3D Printing, but also what is possible in the future. From the Amazon link you can at least read the first dozen pages or so for free to get a feel for the contents.

One more change in the schedule!

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The lecture on Wednesday Oct 8 (13-15) is cancelled/moved.

The lecture on Thursday Oct 16 will instead be extended by one hour; instead of 10-12 we will have two guests and the lecture will be held between 9-12.

That ought to be the last change in the schedule - sorry for any inconvenience that this causes you.
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Seminar 3 instructions (Wed Oct 8)

Our next seminar will be held Wednesday Oct 8 (8-10). We will meet in B22 and divide ourselves into groups (it will be crowded) - but we also have access to B23. Here are the instructions for how to prepare for that seminar:

1) Read through all the 23 future-related topics in the previous blog post. We have harvested these topics from your texts, from our guest lectures and from literature. Some topics are very brief, other topics are slightly more elaborated.

2) "VOTE" HERE for your three favorite topics. These are the topics you could imagine yourself working with during the project phase, or, that you at least would like another group to work with during the project phase. Your vote is a vote on interesting topics - not a pledge of yours as to what you want/will work on during the project phase. NOTE: perhaps we were better at formulating certain topics than others - but your task is to see through and beyond the short descriptions and imagine what these topics could be developed into!

That's it. Your only preparations for seminar 3 is to read through the topics and vote!

3) NOTE: We all meet in the seminar room B22 for initial information. Please be on time as we will divide you into seminar groups as quickly as possible after we start! Late arrivals will have fewer options!

Seminar 3 topics

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Please read the instructions (separate blog post)

1. The open source commons. Open source is a commons that works, right!? How does it work? Why does it work? Can lessons from the open source world be leveraged to other areas or is there something with software that makes it a special case? What is the future of open source software?
2. The future of crowdfunding. The digital commons needs its own model of financing all the great ideas that are out there. Is the future of the digital commons to be found in crowdfunding? How does crowdfunding work? Why does it work? (Specuation:) Why does crowdfunding work terrifically together with the digital commons and/or the sharing economy?
3. The future of piracy. What is the connection (if any) between piracy and the commons? Do pirates perceive themselves to be “commoners”? Are pirates “liberating” things that should be in the common or are they criminals who should be stopped? Hunt down your very own pirates (and anti-pirates) and find the answers to how these things go together.
4. Sharing as a religion. Can the sharing and copying be seen and established as a religion? Some people are actually trying… Check out the (Swedish-language) Church of Kopimi [“Copy me”] and figure out what the implications could be… This topic is a high-risk, high-yield topic for the right group!  http://kopimistsamfundet.se
5. Sharing and size. With smaller size comes trust and intimacy, but increased usefulness comes from scaling up. Are there (social/sociological) limits to the commons and to sharing? Can these be overcome by technology (or legal frameworks)? How?
6. The future of trust. Trust might very well be *the* issue that determines the future of the digital commons and the sharing economy. How do companies (and non-profits) work with issues of trust today? What are the possibilities and what are the challenges?
7. The bottom-up revolution. Instead of installing expensive meteorological weather stations, why not let (many) ordinary users report the temperature and the shape of the clouds through an app (e.g. Shareweather)? And why not build bottom-up maps of pollution or congestion or where the nearest sushi bar or free wi-fi is? What are the implications of creating new commons through this bottom-up “revolution”?
8. Sharing against resource scarcity. Roope (Oct 1) mentioned that commodities (raw materials) are increasing in price. Is sharing (making smarter use of natural resources) not an optional, but a necessary strategy to maintain current standards? If so, what are the implications for the future?
9. The future of financing. Can we share money (loans) better? We need to find funding also for all the great digital commons/sharing economy ideas and startups, so how can money and financing (loans) be shared through p2p lending (kickstarter, zopa, fundedbyme, toborrow etc.)?
10. The future of money. Can decentralized cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin etc.) be seen as a commons? How about local currencies or “time banks”? What is the future of (shared, algorithmic?) money? How do we understand local/digital/algorithmic money as a social, political and technological phenomenon and as a commons? What are the advantages and disadvantages compared to the present system (including taxation)? See “From Barter to Bitcoin”.
11. Reputational capital. Botsman suggests that it’s only a matter of time before we have “reputational capital” and/or “reputational currencies” that integrates data about your behavior from many different sources. How could such a currency (or “currency”) work? What would the advantages and disadvantages be?
12. The future of (online) identity. Trust must be grounded in stable identities - but identities can easily be fluid online. What is the future of identity (and trust) online? Can (will) there be a war between trying to authenticate online identities vs trying to “game” the systems with the help of “identity” or “persona management software” (yet - it exists) etc.?
13. The future of patents. On the one hand we have the electric car maker Tesla giving away all their patents earlier this year as well as (Teigland’s example) Quirky. On the other hand we have huge companies like Apple and Samsung suing each other and buying up companies to get hold of their patent portfolio and “patent trolls” who sue companies that “infringe” on their patents. What is the future of patents vs releasing information and knowledge into the commons?
14. The future of shared food. Can food production (locally cultivated organic food in gardens) and preparation/consumption (shared dinners etc.) be brought to the cities and mediated by ICT?
15. The future of direct democracy. How will ICT change politics and decision-making. What are the alternatives to elections every fourth year? Collaborative decision making, direct democracy, polls - what has been done and what could be done? How can politics go from being “a profession” to involving many (again).
16. All in. If a country would fully commit to a sharing economy in, say, a 20-year perspective, what could that society look like? Would everyday tasks be more efficient? Would people enjoy life more? How would culture have changed? Would trust be used as currency (how)?
17. The sharing generation. Generation Y (millennials) is said to be the sharing generation. Why? What can we understand about the future of sharing by looking more closely at the sharing generation? Go out and explore! 5
18. The future of work. What will happen to work (good jobs, bad jobs, no jobs) if the sharing economy expands? Will sharing create a better society for all or will it undermine safety and security in the job market, e.g. taxi drivers starting to work for Uber but with lower salaries)? What are the effects of the current sharing economy on job creation and the job market? 12
19. Digital commons infrastructure. What are the nuts and bolts in terms of technical systems that provide us with access to the commons? Delve into the internet, specialized tools and new services that underpins the digital commons 4
20. The future of libraries. Libraries have been around for a long time and are part of the industrial-era state-supported commons. What is the future of libraries in a digital world? 4
21. The future of (shared) transportation. What sharing solutions, companies and services are “out there” for sharing transportation (sharing cars, sharing bicycles, making public transportation better)? How can sharing transportation be improved in the future? 10
22. The future of (shared) stuff. What sharing solutions, companies and services are “out there” for sharing stuff (drills, surf boards, kayaks or motor boats, supercomputers). How can sharing stuff be improved in the future? 6
23. The future of (shared) time. What sharing solutions, companies and services are “out there” for sharing time (time banks, delivery services, babysitting, neighborhood help)? How can the sharing of time be improved in the future? 4.

Lecture 13 - Tue Oct 7 (13-15) Wentz

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Time & Place: Tuesday October 7 at 13-15 in E2.

Guest: Daniel Wentz, VP Strategy, Schibsted Media Group 

Title: Schibsted and the Peer 2 Peer Economy 

Talk: Since the acquisition of Blocket in 2003, Schibsted has been actively seeking opportunities within facilitating online P2P marketplaces (or platforms) in 30 markets across the globe. As a result, Schibsted has acquired or launched several P2P concepts concepts including Flexidrive (P2P car sharing in Sweden), TripWell (P2P Home / vacation sharing in Europe) and Pret d'union (P2P lending in France) as well as experimentation with new P2P services like Schpok (Proximity based P2P market in Austria/Germany). More than Schibsteds perspective of what it means to facilitate and scale a P2P platform, the session will include our learnings and how we believe the area will evolve during coming years (Trust factor, Local circumstances vs. Global capabilities, etc).

About: Daniel studied at KTH during the vintage years of 1998 - 2003, at the time when KTH Graphic Arts (Grafisk Teknik) was trying to understand the Internet. After having finished his studies at KTH, Daniel ventured into entrepreneurship and Management Consulting (focusing on European Telecom and Media sectors) before joining Schibsted Media Group in 2011.

Literature: Please take a look at:
- Choudary, S. (2014), "From Social Media to the Sharing Economy: The Three Drivers of Business Disruption".
- For an introduction to the scope of businesses in the Schibsted Media Group, see this 3.30 minutes long video.
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