The challenges we face as individuals, organizations, and society are rapidly changing, complex, and urgent.
Globalization and the speed from discovery to market is fueling unparalleled progress and an increasingly connected global community. This new landscape has increased the need for practical, up-to-date, and trustworthy information that individuals can rely on to successfully navigate the world. It requires that workers in every industry have access to new skills and processes and to be aware of ever-changing regulations and standards. It requires organizations to manage and share constantly evolving knowledge with diverse stakeholders. And, for many of the most important issues we face, it requires increased coordination among communities, governments, and institutions. And it all needs to happen in real-time.
And yet, at a time when knowledge mobilization matters most, the systems we rely on aren't working.
Despite over 8 billion web pages on the internet, useful information is frustratingly difficult to find. Internet "marketers" have hijacked the web by publishing click-bait and top ten lists, erect paywalls and engage in clandestine data collection. Search engines are selling traffic to the highest bidder. Social media platforms are creating echo chambers that help spread "fake news" and promote irrational, non-empirical "opinions" masquerading as knowledge.
The knowledge systems used by organizations are fragmented and disconnected. They are bloated intranets and file sharing platforms designed to keep information secure in disconnected silos that prevent intra- and inter-organizational sharing and collaboration.
This lack of access to trusted information is sewing misunderstandings and mistrust, restricting coordination, reducing productivity and efficiency, and enabling preventable errors, mishandlings, and poor decisions often at a significant cost. And it does not affect us all equally. Individuals and organizations that are less connected, less affluent, and more remote are affected disproportionately resulting in lower skills and wages, access to inferior social services, and ultimately a lower quality of life.
While many organizations, institutions, and governments work to improve knowledge mobility, their impact is muted by their lack of global collaboration, distribution, scale, and momentum. In short, they lack a platform to reach the people they aim to support.