1  

PROPOSING  A  PEOPLE-­‐CENTERED  INTERNET  APPROACH  FOR  FUTURE  PROJECTS  IN  CONNECTIVITY,  ICT  AND  BEYOND  

 Introduction    

1. Globalization,  the  changing  economy,  and  the  Internet  itself  are  factors  in  an  emerging  low-­‐employment  economy.  Over  1  billion  young  people  will  be  seeking  jobs  in  the  next  decade,  and  only  40%  will  find  jobs  that  exist  today.  

2. Increasing  the  reach  of  the  Internet,  extending  connectivity  requires  complementary  digital  apprenticeships.  

3. A  People-­‐Centered  Internet  approach  shifts  emphasis  in  Internet  projects  from  technology  implementation,  toward  creating  and  tracking  desired  outcomes  for  people  and  in  building  community  capacity.    

4. We  propose  building  the  data  collection,  closed  feedback  loops  and  analytic  techniques  into  all  new  Internet  and  connectivity  programs  to  simultaneously  enrich  the  lives  of  those  we  connect  and  use  the  evidence  to  continuously  improve  the  effectiveness  of  those  programs.  

5. We  propose  an  approach  to  building  and  delivering  the  values  of  a  People  Centered  Internet.  

The  difference  the  People  Centered  Internet  can  make  in  outcomes    You  are  familiar  with  the  problems  of  a  jobless  youth,  millions  without  education,  employment  or  training.  You  know  that  company  formation  is  stagnant.  You  know  the  risks  attendant  with  these  issues.  You  know  how  the  Internet  has  the  potential  to  ease  these.    

“The  Internet  has  already  become  the  most  important  infrastructure  of  the  world.  And  that's  just  the  beginning.  Soon  it  will  also  be  the  infrastructure  of  all  of  our  other  infrastructures… Within  half  a  decade  it's  likely  that  90  percent  of  the  population  of  the  world  will  be  covered  by  wireless  networks  with  higher  capacity  than  we  have  in  most  of  the  U.S.  and  Europe  today.  And  it  is  highly  likely  that  90  percent  of  young  people  all  over  the  world  will  have  a  smart  device  to  connect  into  all  the  global  networks.”1

 The  People  Centered  Internet  would  shift  emphasis  away  from  pure  technology  implementation  toward  assuring  and  measuring  project  success  in  terms  of  the  human  outcomes  that  are  achieved  with  each  project.      With  the  Internet  we  learn  to  systematically  apply  evidence-­‐based  approaches  to  a  broader  spectrum  of  human  outcomes  using  closed  feedback  loop  modeling  and  implementation.  Such  techniques  now  are  commonplace  in  optimizing  ad  revenues  and  engagement  outcomes  in  

                                                                                                               1  Carl  Bildt  former  Swedish  Prime  Minister  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-­‐bildt/who-­‐govern-­‐internet_b_7922948.html    

  2  

wealthy  societies.  We  propose  to  build  on  these  approaches  to  engage  and  enrich  the  lives  of  billions  more.    Real-­‐time  quantitative  data  analysis  of  social  behaviors  is  at  the  heart  of  such  services  as  Google  Maps,  Amazon,  Netflix,  and  insurance,  mortgages,  and  credit  card  offerings.  Let  us  use  the  same  Internet-­‐centered  data  reporting  and  analysis  techniques,  like  Bayesian  analysis  to  enrich  work  to  support  underserved  US  populations,  and  the  global  next  billions.  The  focus  shifts  from  ad  click-­‐throughs,  toward  understanding  access  to  shelter,  food,  water,  physical  safety,  access  to  health  care  and  education  –  and  the  effectiveness  of  the  projects  intended  to  deliver  these.    Two  examples  of  domains  in  which  this  would  work  to  create  radically  improved  outcomes  are  healthcare  and  education.  

The  principles  of  the  People  Centered  Internet    The  People  Centered  Internet  is  creating  those  principles  that  are  essential  to  enable  this  new  level  of  data  collection  and  analysis,  which  must  be  accountable  to  the  people,  transparent  and  working  unambiguously  to  the  benefit  of  the  people.  Our  principles:    

• Complete  universal  Internet  coverage  that  enables  functionality  that  is  otherwise  unreachable  or  ineffective.  

• The  Internet  is  affordable,  open,  available  and  accessible  to  all.  • Fosters  digital  literacy,  local  content  in  local  language  to  achieve  widespread  usage  and  

increased  value  to  people,  families,  communities  and  countries.  • The  system  achieves  a  level  of  trust  that  meets  the  users’  expectations  of  affordability,  

privacy,  safety  • The  quantity  and  quality  of  educational  and  information  services  is  increasingly  available  

to  families  and  communities.  • Anyone  can  contribute  to  improvement  of  the  utility  of  the  global  Internet.  • Personal  information  in  the  digital  environment  is  protected  by  law  and  controlled  by  

the  individual.  

Developing  the  People  Centered  Internet:  Lessons  from  CRM    Our  proposal  draws  directly  from  recent  work  in  the  IT  industry.    Customer  Relationship  Management  (CRM)  software  transformed  sales  and  marketing;  today  it's  a  $27B  industry.  At  first,  CRM  tracked  existing  activities  within  companies,  focusing  on  efficiency  and  productivity.  However,  customers  saw  that  service  suffered,  putting  revenue  at  risk.      The  next  phase  of  CRM  was  the  response  relevant  to  the  People  Centered  Internet:  CRM  evolved  to  look  “outside”  the  company,  using  the  Internet  and  social  media  to  track  what  was  happening  with  customers  and  markets,  and  big-­‐data  analytic  tools  to  project  outcomes.  “Customer  centric”  CRM  now  aims  to  track  customers  holistically,  focusing  on  drivers  for  

  3  

engagement,  satisfaction  and  future  revenue.  Done  well,  this  enables  identification  of  leading  indicators  in  time  for  users  to  take  steps  to  grow  their  businesses.  Many  firms  add  to  their  direct  data  about  customers  leading  indicators  found  on  the  Internet  –  social  media  gives  early  notice  of  new  trends  and  alerts  users  to  take  fast,  corrective  action.  Internally,  real  time  tracking  and  feedback  systems  allow  agile  organizations  to  monitor  their  objectives  and  make  adjustments  quickly.      The  success  of  new-­‐generation  CRM  also  requires  cultural  adaptation:  the  best  outcomes  occur  only  when  the  social  and  business  processes  are  in  place,  with  recognition  for  people.    Partnerships  for  the  People  Centered  Internet    Our  goal  in  the  People  Centered  Internet  is  to  move  this  approach  forward  as  a  philosophy  –  and  invite  partners  in  many  sectors  to  join  for  their  own  enlightened  best  interest.    

• Government  –  the  US  White  House  and  State  Department  can  lead  with  political  support,  and  adopt  as  it  can  the  principles  of  the  People-­‐Centered  Internet  to  increase  digital  literacy,  grow  digital  enterprise  and  accelerate  improvement  in  social  outcomes  

• Governments  –  regional  and  national  –  for  the  areas  to  be  supported:  be  they    impoverished  communities  in  the  USA,  or  refugee  camps  ,  or  an  emerging  economy,  the  principles  and  tools  must  be  appropriate  and  supported.  Indeed,  the  tools  must  have  flexibility  that  enables  each  person  to  better  do  their  own  jobs,  to  be  empowered  rather  than  marginalized.  

• Technology  firms  –in  parallel  to  engaging  political  support,  can  form  consortia  for  outcomes  tracking  and  advocacy  for  effective  digital  policy  making  and  to  develop  and  support  the  tools  for  digital  transformation  in  cities,  towns,  villages.  

• NGOs  –  field  workers  and  analysts  of  key  NGOs  by  participating,  will  see  that  the  closed  loop  feedback  of  the  People  Centered  Internet  can  amplify  their  work  by  helping  enable  improved  outcomes,  focusing  funding  growth  towards  proven  successful  approaches.    

• Multinational  finance  –we  will  partner  with  the  World  Bank  and  large  donor  agencies  to  leverage  the  data  tools  and  People-­‐Centric  approaches  to  provide  evidence-­‐based  refinement  of  lending  in  order  to  offer  greater  economic  opportunity  for  the  most  vulnerable  and  neglected.  

 Each  of  these  classes  of  organization  has  much  to  bring  in  capability,  and  key  voices  to  be  heard.