In an early morning panel for the annual Fortune Brainstorm Tech, I hosted 3 visionaries, each of whom have deep insights about the evolving relationship between consumers, companies they interact with, and the data the consumers provide via these interactions.

audio (mp3, 59min) :: transcript

Shoshanna Zuboff (Harvard Business School, and Author of “The Support Economy”), Esther Dyson (EDventures Holdings) Marc Singer (McKinsey & Company) provided a brilliant conversation, and their key ideas are captured below – hit the links below for the full transcript or listen to the complete audio file.

The Social Data Revolution (Andreas Weigend)

We have just undergone 2 data revolutions, the first where companies implicitly capture consumer data implicity to infer intent, and the second where consumers explicity express data about themselves. We are now moving into the age of the consumer data revolution, where people expect something in return for the data they provide to companies

The Support Economy (Shoshanna Zuboff)

The current model for capitalism has completely broken the trust between individuals and companies. In the next episode of capitalism, companies will thrive by having relationships with individuals, supporting them to live their lives the way they want to live them. That means economies of trust, not economies of scale. It means assets distributed around individuals, not concentrated inside organizations. It means values realized through connecting with the unmet needs of the individual, not value created inside the organization with the model of, “We make it, now how do we sell it to you?”

What Motivates Digital Exhibitionism? (Esther Dyson)

“At the attention thing yesterday, I was shocked to see presenters focusing merely on the attention people give to institutions and to products. I think people go online not to mainly give attention, nor to always buy products. They go online to get attention for themselves or for their ideas. And one big question is: are they trying to get attention for themselves, or for some idealized version of themselves?”

Bifocal Strategy For Companies (Marc Singer)

What we’re seeing organizations doing – a combination of a near term view of – “What is it that I can do with the data that is available today? What data are likely to become available over time?” and a longer term view – “What kind of a profile do I want to establish for my customers over time to be useful to them and do that in a way that I’m quite proud to expose to somebody over time?”

Exhibitionism, Sex Drive, DNA, and making yourself Immortal

Esther: I think digital exhibitionism’s like your sex drive, which is to put your DNA all over the place. And this is to put your digital DNA, your memes, your presence, everywhere. And so what you see now, moving from I’m on a single Facebook page, now I have these widgets and other things, so I’m present on other people’s pages.

Andreas:  So we could essentially say that there are several ways of making yourself immortal. One is to spread your DNA, which actually, as a principle, leads to a very different female and male behavior. Another one is to spread your digital DNA.”

In honor of the (approximate) 10th anniversary of the Cluetrain Manifesto, The Conversation Group organized a day of speeches and breakout sessions. They invited me to present my thoughts on Conversational Data. 

I also uploaded the (unedited) audience feedback about my talk, and offer the mp3 of the 10-minute conversation with Doc Searls on the 10th anniversary of the Cluetrain Manifesto.

Enjoy!

Brad, why do you care about privacy? A few minutes of the preparation for the June 2, 2008 Stanford class on Privacy. [display_podcast]

ANDREAS WEIGEND SPEAKS AT SAP
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
3:30pm Networking Mixer (refreshments will be provided)
4:00pm – 6:00pm Presentation and Discussion
Building D, Southern Cross Room
SAP Labs, 3410 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304

The production, aggregation, distribution, and consumption of data is changing dramatically. Traditionally, paid specialists actively collected data for a specific purpose. Now, we are flooded with data streams of intention, attention, situation, and location of individuals, plus data about personal relationships. In addition to these implicit traces of behavior, people contribute data explicitly on platforms for mapping, housing, automotive, and salary data.

The money is where data influence decisions. Most firms believe in internal transparency, basing decisions on data they collect. Few understand how they can benefit by extending this transparency to the outside. What data should the firm share with its customers so some of them can actually help the firm? A sound data strategy has become central to most firms.

Barriers to data business used to be high, including expensive infrastructure and complex business relationships. Infrastructure has now been commoditized; information asymmetries are being reduced by those companies that understand the new consumer data revolution. Relevant questions in today’s marketplace include: How can we set up a system (including incentives) so that people actually do contribute useful and truthful data? What properties does the market need to have so that collective intelligence emerges? What value can the firm create for the contributors to drive participation? It is their perception of this value that will decide whether they demand to be paid for their contributions, or whether they are willing to pay themselves? Finally, what should be the currency of the payments: money, attention, or even more data?

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Thank you, Tony! And just having listened to the 5 minutes, the question actually is: Who interviewed whom? [display_podcast]

Chris, a former PhD student of mine I co-founded Moodlogic with in 1999 and I are reflecting on the past 8 years in “Kreis 6″ in Zurich.