One of the speakers I'm most excited to see on the Web 2.0 Expo in Berlin in October, is James Governor and his Electricity 2.0 talk with Tom Raftery. They're both from RedMonk but started a green tech blog recently they call GreenMonk. So I decided to ask James a few questions about Electricity 2.0.
Q: To start with, what are the main characteristics of the 2.0 revolution?
A: The emergence of the Read/Write Web. Global networks and Open data, small things loosely joined, no single points of failure, community-generated content, “hackability”.
Q: What has that got to do with electricity?
A: Electricity networks today look like computer networks before the Internet 1.0, let alone 2.0
Q: Do you think the only way from centralized fossil fuel economy is if people take the matters in their own hands?
A: We have to take matters into our own hands. Markets are conversations, and we need to make our voices heard. No major change can occur only from the top down, or the bottom up. We’re trying to encourage both.
Q: When do you think electricity 2.0 will be a reality?
A: In some areas its already becoming a reality. As ever, the future is already here, it’s just unevenly distributed. Look at Germany, for example, where electricity “publishers” have guaranteed prices for reselling electricity onto the grid. Home automation and electricity hacking is already happening – although its currently primarily a geek phenomenon.
Q: Is there anything we (individuals/bloggers ...) can do to speed up the process?
A: Lobby for change, and get familiar with what can be done at home.
Q: And finally, what do you most look forward to do or see on the Web 2.0 Expo in Berlin?
A: I was really busy at Web 2.0 Expo at NY, and I would like to have more time to see keynotes. Amazingly enough I have never seen Ben Hammersley talk, and I would like to change that. People rave about him!
If you're interested in going to the Web 2.0 Expo Europe in Berlin on the 21.-23. of October, use this code: webeu08gr54 to get 35% off when you register.
See you in Berlin
Hjörtur
Image courtesy: Matt Jones, Dopplr
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