A Season of Change in the UK
Posted by Jahna Lindsay-Jones | June 3, 2010
Springtime in the UK is usually an idyllic time as the crocus and daffodils bloom and the winter gives way to lush surroundings.. However, this year had a crescendo of events amassed to create several major global shifts to businesses: natural, political and technological.
The first major disruption came from nature. As many Denuoer’s experienced first hand, the ash cloud plume from Iceland halted life for millions of people and businesses alike. For days it tested business capabilities to run virtually as people were stranded throughout the world. While the photos of Eyjafjallajokull are stunning, as this infographic shows, the economic impact was devastating.
(Via: Online MBA)
Within days of the volcano, the UK held one of its most historic general elections with several firsts: televised debates, use of social platforms and the establishment of a coalition government. Like Obama’s campaign in the U.S., this was the year of social media for UK political process. The mock election on Facebook closely mirrored the real results and the momentum continues with the new government coalition launch of http://www.number10.gov.uk/ – a unification of their outreach across Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Despite this outreach, many pundits criticize the authenticity and real transparency a government can have on social platforms and tools.
While a natural disaster and political election are massive, one of the more intriguing announcements was made by the UK newspaper, The Guardian, last week. In a progressive move for the newspaper industry, The Guardian unveiled its new Open Platform; it shifts its commercial model from content publisher to service and application platform. It’s the next evolution of the newspaper API for which the New York Times is best known; unlike the NYT, the Guardian is offering a fully open API It will allow anyone to develop applications that can be integrated into the Guardian website or allow people to pull from the Guardian (e.g. content or data) to develop applications or services outside of the website. The Guardian has a host of case examples, from travel to the election results, for its Open Platform. As Rishad stressed in his keynote to the Newspaper Association of America in April, the industry must rethink their business model to stay relevant in the modern market. While only time will tell if the Open Platform is truly a viable commercial model for the Guardian, it is a notable move by one of the more innovative players in the industry.
