Al Jazeera launched an experimental  website based on Ushahidi platform to track and aggregate information, about the Gaza conflict. Ushahidi is a cross-platform mash-up that allows to aggregate geotagged information via sms, e-mail,twitter and web-forms and position it in Microsoft Virtual Earth. Ushahidi is an open-source initiative started by Kenyan bloggers during the escalation of violence in Kenya and it was also successfully deployed in conflict in DR Congo.

I was looking for this kind of platform for a long time, as it not only allows to position the aggregated information on the map, but also in timeline and it generates news categories. I’m only a bit disappointed about the circumstances. This kind of platforms are definitely a way forward to a new breed of citizen journalism and activism and can be used to support many different causes.

I would like to see a facebook plug-in developed in the future and mash-up the service further with facebook groups.This would allow not only to track the real-time-real-place information on ground of the conflict, but for example also to organize the protests around the world as well.

Check the AlJazeeras War On Gaza service here

or go directly to Ushahidi.com to find out more about the platform. Click here

For centuries humanity has been trapped in the centralized forms of thinking. First we were listening to our tribal leaders and their shamans and druids. That to the kings and their priests. And finally to the politicians and their propaganda machinery. Today We are living in a technocratic society. Democratic in theory, but full of little dictatorships hidden inside the all powerful corporations, criminal gangs with great political influence and strange political realities. Where our democratic western societies depends too much on fragile dictatorships and their natural resources elsewhere. Where our “perfect” consumerist “way of life”  depends too much of slave-work and suffering of others.

This blog is about Utopia. The idea of perfect society free of suffering and hatred. A society where every human life can be developed to its absolute potential. No I do not believe I will see this happening in my lifetime, as I am looking around, but I keep my right to believe that it is the only way to go in long terms.  And I believe, that even-thou the current state of the society doesn’t look like we are going to achieve anything like utopia any soon, we can still discuss, hope and try to see pieces of future utopia in our world today.

Our complete knowledge as civilization is immense. Technically thinking; We have  all the means to put an end to poverty, environmental pollution, social injustice and the moral decadence of humanity. We have advanced agricultural technologies supported by our transportation systems. We have progressive  medicine and social care services.We have cutting edge information technology capable of educate millions for next to zero costs (in government terms). We developed a great number of green technologies and practices. What differs us from our ascensores is the fact, that we have all the technical means to build a working Utopia.  We have our worshiped science!

The idea of  “Green Stage Thinking”, that I am developing on this sites is based in the business practice of Brainstorming. Brainstorm is a group creativity technique designed to generate ideas to a solution to a problem.It consists of two stages. Green stage  : Where any ideas (whatever crazy) are welcome. And a Red stage: Where you have to further develop the best ideas to a viable solutions. Please check the wikipedia for further info on brainsorming if you are not familiar with it.(Wikipedia about Brainstorming)

Marshall McLuhan, the great American media  theorist once said;”Every new technology is being used the same way as the old one.”  I red the book in Czech, so please  do not ask me how is the phrase going  in English, but the idea is that human society doesn’t recognize instantly the full potential of new technologies. The first TV presenters were sitting in their old style radio studios, reading essays from a  piece of paper to their public. They still didn’t transcended the paradigm of radio. And in the end of the day, neither the one of  newspaper.

Social Media and Internet, are more and less in the same situation. We already posses a technology, that can completely change the mechanics of society. Values and opinions can be created by crowds of people united by an virtual environment. Yet We still use them to support our “old way of doing things.”  In other worlds; “We use the Internet, to communicate the (real world) realities, but not to create a new ones. Thinking about the term “Virtual Reality”; We still think more “Virtual” than “Reality”.  As you will see this is not completely true, as there are many initiatives and technologies, that allow and execute those new forms of interactions already.

During the last decade we saw a great boom of free or low-cost services, applications and on-line projects. The open-source movement proved the fact  that real values (like for example the very software I’m using to write this article), can be created by people who are doing it free of charge. Just for their passion to the subject.

Two technologies in particular are summing up to the equation of  “Green Stage Thinking” idea. Wikis and Social forums. This two technologies, are obviously already being used together with great success (not only by open-source community) , but  I would like to focus on consequences of their usage to the practice of Brainstorming. This are some of the main differences.

• In traditional “real world” brainstorming, you come up with a set of ideas (the Green Stage) and than you cut the worst ideas off to further develop “the good ones”, while in crowd brainstorming all the ideas (whatever crazy and naive) can be developed further. The complexity of green stage ideas is much wider.
• In virtual environment (free of company pressures) will a greater number of ideas stay on the table as viable.

• And finally the most important. Companies do know what are their resources and they have to consider them while moving from Green to Red stage, while open brainstorming lack this knowledge and so it’s “doomed” to believe that it’s resources are absolute and trust the crowd.

To summarize all the above; What is not a viable and realistic idea for a small group of “brainstormers”, can be absolutely viable for large groups of thousands or millions of people. That is changing the equation completely.

So my message is: “Be Creative. Be serious with ideas you considered impossible until now. Go out-there and meet people like You. Use the free tools available to create values.And mainly; Do it free! (I’m sure once You get seriously involved in something you will find a way to monetize on your  efforts as well)”

Once there will will be enough “Complex Green Stage Ideas” on the table, anybody can come and take the “Red Stage Actions”. Turning the virtual realities into physical ones.

(Please stay tuned. Soon I will come with some practical examples and links to existing services, that can be used in such ways…)