The GEO Blog

I was recently pointed to an article about Google's continued experimentation in the mobile segment, in this case by pre-allocating mobile bandwidth for its employees. To briefly summarize, as a virtual network operator, Google issued SIM cards to staff supported by third-party network infrastructure -- purchased in bulk rather than on a per-use basis. While not always a viable business model, the approach in this case underscores the centrality of the Web as a communications platform.

It's hardly remarkable to note that competition among mobile operators will continue to be fought out in bandwidth pricing and squeezing margins out of flat-rate services. (The previously "lucrative" SMS space of inflated margins is barely worth a consideration, in the long term.) Increased bandwidth demands and price cuts are already coming up against the physical and technical limitations of existing networks...in fact, they have been for some time and will continue to do so.

U.S. Africa Command hosted a talk yesterday on "Africa's Evolving Infosystems", based on the speaker's research paper of the same name (which should be available here soon, and is attached below).  Steven Livingston, of George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs and Elliott School of International Affairs, addressed some of the tensions that exist between legacy media establishments and the potentials of new media markets in Africa, the shortcomings of traditional Western media, and the nature of emerging capabilities across the continent.  Of particular interest were discussions of new organizational forms that have emerged alongside technological advances and the challenges these present to established (and often over-centralized) institutions of governance.  These are topics toward which our team has directed considerable attention (here, here, here), so it is encouraging to encounter similar observations.

Increasingly, we see the need for social and technological capabilities to enhance the ability of civilian and military organizations to enter into effective relationships and facilitate broader cooperation on strategic interests, particularly in the fields of humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and crisis response.  An example of this need, though focused mainly - and perhaps prematurely - on details of implementation, can be found in a US military requirement for:

Multi-modal collaboration tools using non-proprietary software that adheres to internationally recognized open standards and is free of ITAR restrictions.

Interpreting this statement in the context of a broader strategic or policy intent that should drive the framing, development, and fielding of specific capabilities, we can re-state the need as follows:

Enable processes spanning the range of human communication through jointly developed capabilities, shared rules, and shared protocols in order to develop sustainable, continuous capacity to act effectively toward shared goals.

On May 17th, a "Group of Experts" chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright released its analysis and recommendations on NATO's new Strategic Concept.  The title of the report, "NATO 2020: Assured Security; Dynamic Engagement", already hints at the centrality of "partnership" language in the document, and at the increasing significance that partnership arrangements will hold in the final Strategic Concept to be released later this year.  It seems worthwhile to examine how partnership is being addressed at the upper levels of the Alliance and consider some possible implications.

NATO appears to recognize that cooperative arrangements across states, government agencies, militaries, etc., are not the result of formulaic "recipes for success".  Thus, the report opens with the acknowledgement that:

NATO must strive to clarify and deepen relations with key partners, to establish new relationships where appropriate, to expand the range of partnership activities, and to understand that each partner and partnership must be dealt with on its own terms.

Further:

The GEO site is finally live after some really dedicated efforts from across the team.  Well done, everyone, it's great to see a place where our work will find it's own home!

I remain convinced that the work we've been doing over the last months and years -- to extend the Web into corporate spaces, to make communicating online a fundamentally dynamic and engaging experience -- is a necessary part of helping organizations cope with information overload, unanticipated operating circumstances, and the often unfamiliar possibilities of Web-native technologies.