Will the semantic web save the planet?

stephen@actualmarketing.co.uk (Steve Thorn) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:38:57 GMT

^{Last week I attended the annual Digital Marketing Conference in
Cambridge to hear what those with a vested interest in the rise and rise of the Internet
had to say about the digital future for all of us.

Presentations were on subjects like the power of mash-ups, the
belated arrival of the mobile revolution, the next generation of web connectivity
and the dawn of ‘intelligent agents’ on the web. (As a side note, watch out for that
phrase, ‘intelligent agents’ - I predict we’ll hear more and more about the chips
and processors behind the web descending upon humankind and making our lives ever
simpler).

This wasn’t the first time in the week that the emerging revolution
in internet and mobile communications was brought home to me. Just the day before,
on Radio 4 Today programme, Tim Berners-Lee had been talking about the future of the
web – and how the progress being made on the development of the semantic web will
reduce the workload on our poor human brains.

Two days later Apple launched its clever new iPhone 3G with camera,
satnav and push e-mail. The device was greeted by Tom Dunmore, writing on Stuff.tv:
"I can prove that the iPhone 3G is 31% better than the original. That's 31% better
than the Best Thing Ever." Blimey.

And then to finish the week we wrapped up the work on a couple
of recent news stories for Chameleon Net (you knew I’d get a plug in there
somewhere), both of which demonstrate ways the internet is being deployed for social
and environmental good.

First, there was the news that they’d been working on a ‘mash-up’
of data drawn into the Medicins Sans Frontiers website where the extraordinary work
of the agency in remote field locations was brought elegantly to life through the
plotting of those locations on Google Earth maps. This reflects MSF’s philosophy of
‘temoigner’ (act as witness) brought firmly into the 21st century. (By way of complete
digression, that’s also the title of a book by Nicholas Sarkozy!)

Secondly there was, on the face of it, the not-very-sexy news
that Chameleon Net have been working with the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Environment
Forum (YHREF) and Yorkshire Futures to create a dynamic shared online diary
for environmental groups and those working on regional information sharing.

With their newly joined-up ability these groups can work together
to ensure that environmental issues and concerns can now have greater impact on the
local, regional and national agenda. I’d give that a ‘hurrah’.

From all I’ve learnt recently about the rise of the semantic web
intelligently connecting like-minded global communities, added to the long-awaited
mobile revolution to help disseminate their joined-up thinking, I can’t think how
else we’re going to effectively communicate the changes we need to make to our society
to increase the planet’s survival.

Let’s just hope Tim Berners-Lee gets a move on – the clock’s ticking.

Steve is MD at marketing and PR consultancy the Actual group
(www.actualgroup.co.uk)}

The Day I decided to make a film

jeremyd@chameleonnet.com (Jeremy Davis) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:34:18 GMT

In the autumn of 2004 I was sitting on a train with a friend of mine, Karen Jepp, and we were discussing climate change. We’d both been reading about it (Bill Bryson started the whole thing as I recall) and had both, unbeknownst to each other, been going through a whole range of emotions about the subject: interest, fascination, amazement, incredulity, anger, disgust and fear. We were both clear about one thing: it was not the latest fad, it was not hysteria. We (by which I mean ALL of us) were sleep walking into the biggest disaster the human race had ever faced – Climate Change.

You see even re-reading that sentence somewhere I cringe. Talk of disasters, sleep walking, even “the human race” somehow sounds over dramatic, an exaggeration. Yeah, yeah, another global threat, another disaster. It’ll be fine. It always has. Except this time it is highly likely that it just won’t be fine at all.

The basic problem is this: how we live is not sustainable. How we consume and discard in ever greater amounts has caused us to draw ever increasing amounts of energy out of the ground and convert in order to sustain our amazing growth (the human population has increased 6 fold in around 200 years). And doing that has put A LOT of so-called Greenhouse gases into the atmosphere very quickly. So it’s getting warmer. And that’s probably the least of our problems. You see, we (yes, that’s ALL of us again) are just not aware of the cumulative effect of our consumption.

And so there we are, Karen and I on a train on a lovely autumnal day (weather looks fine to me) we decide that we want to DO something. We have to help make people aware because then THEY might want to do something. Karen says “Let’s make a film.”

“Excellent idea”, say I. “Do you know how to do that?”
“No”, says she. “You?”
“Not a clue”.
“Right”.

At which point, we both realise that whilst we don’t know the first thing about making a film, we both knew someone who did: Lily Murray. An experienced documentary film maker who was nuts enough to say yes to helping us.

And 3 months later we had a film, SOS Climate Change. You can view it online at I’m so proud of it. We interviewed activists, campaigners, industry leaders, designers (Katherine Hamnett was a coup) and even got an actor from Home and Away to front it for us (thank you, Mick). We worked day and night (mostly editing – how hard is THAT!) and at times we gave nearly gave up. But it’s done.

So, I hope you enjoy it. And I hope it makes you think. You see we didn’t make it for sentimental reasons. It’s not about saving the Whale or the Rhino or even the Rainforests, as beautiful as those things are. The truth is that Climate Change is not new to the Earth – it’s spent most of its 4 billion year history an awful lot hotter or an awful lot colder than it currently is. And species come and go – sometimes up to 95% get wiped out and the cycle starts again. What’s different this time is for the first time in the Earth’s history there is a species who can see it coming – and do something about it. And you never know, they might just save their own skins.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mUpVZwReoic

The Chameleon Net blog

Will the semantic web save the planet?

The Day I decided to make a film