Harnessing the Power of the Collaborative Economy

This article is a repost of an article I wrote for Tribal Worldwide's Smoke Signals
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While technology is often thought of in terms of benefitting the individual, a recent rise of the collaborative economy landscape is changing things. Now, the greater issue is not just about the individual, but the benefit to the greater community.

One particularly interesting aspect of the collaborative economy is the emergence of mobilizing technology for shared problem solving. Cameron Sinclair’s Architecture for Humanity and Open Architecture app, both focus on proactive social innovation and ideation to improve the lives of people, globally. No longer is the goal restricted to how we can benefit ourselves but rather, what we can do to benefit the entire community.

But, it does not stop with ideation.

Products too have the ability to take the power of technology beyond the individual. For example, adidas’ Nitrocharge, “Power Pitch” harnessed game playing energy for the pitch-side lighting. Similarly, Soccket by Uncharted Play is a regulation-size soccer ball that converts kicks and headers into off-the-grid power. Two hours of play can produce enough wattage to light an LED for at least one night. By harnessing passion, people have the ability to extend their energy into the greater community.

Implication: As our ideas around consumption change, so do our ideas around the importance of goods. However, a bigger question still exists: In an economy of sharing, how do the needs of purchase and consumption change? How do businesses themselves adapt to meet this model? Only time will tell.

Learn more about this changing business paradigm in Wired.

A Life Connected

This article is a repost of an article I wrote for Tribal Worldwide's Smoke Signals
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The proliferation of smart consumer electronics intended to improve certain areas of life is not new. Nike+ allows us to quantify our personal fitness goals. Netflix gives us the opportunity to tap into on-demand entertainment. And Nest thermostat automatically adjusts room temperatures based on circumstantial factors.

However, only now are frameworks being developed to allow the devices to communicate with one another.

In the near future, we can expect that our devices will communicate across all facets of our lives: what you wear, where you live and/or work, how you receive goods, how you travel, how you purchase and how you connect with others. Ultimately everything will be connected to the point that all technology will be seamless and innate.

Implication: By combining the unique value from each product there is an opportunity to create a much more powerful benefit for the consumer. To learn more about this trend, check out PSFK’s Future of Home Living.