If the cloud was just another technological invention, any of us would expect it to bring real changes to the world: As it happens with many other tools, it would make life better in some ways only for a group of people – bigger or smaller, – and the rest would just stay away from it.
However, the cloud is not a gadget or a popular website. It is a new way of intelligence, build in a collective way that gets some of what we think, how we feel and what we do, providing new tools everyday to share, elaborate together, and act upon it. Cloud intelligence is about people connected in real life and in the cyberspace, having new chances to work and act together.
For some people, it is just a good way to get some knowledge in areas of their interest, not only by reading books or looking at videos, but also by interacting with the people around the world that share the same interests and may contribute with their experience. For a smaller group, it may also be a way to follow their vocation and their dreams, in ways that classical instances of interaction would have never allowed to.
Not everyone has been invited to this club yet. In fact, most of the people in this world are out from almost every technological advances, including the old Graham Bell’s telephone. Even getting away from the poorest areas of the world, Internet access and the knowledge needed to use computing devices are still very rare in relative terms.
What can cloud intelligence do for changing some of this?
Probably the first social movement that demonstrated the possibilities of cloud intelligence was the one of free software. It’s not worth describing here the history of free software and open source movements, but is appropriate looking at their results: You may find ready-to-use libraries, examples or documentation useful for almost any piece of software you may need to develop; new challenges generate energic discussions that sometimes become alienating on the web; blogs, forums, collaborative portals, open repositories, they all become part of a cloud that once and again has the intelligence to resolve the most complex software needs.
It is somehow natural to find a software developer’s movement to be pioneer in building and using cloud intelligence – they have the knowledge to use all the tools at disposition and to develop the needed ones. But fortunately, software and technologies are not the only interest of people who are in the cloud and you may find different spaces for teamworking for many of this world’s social worries, like ecology, peace culture and education, within many others.
A special focus has to be given to education – one of the social concerns that may get the attention of more people around the world. Inclusive education is very needed to allow more people to get into the cloud. Using computers and Internet for helping educating our children is giving them an opportunity to use this unlimited tool for their lives, an opportunity of getting into the club. It will not happen automatically, just because of the presence of the technology. Teachers have to guide their education, and the cloud is an excellent support for them. Participation of other social organizations is also recommendable.
Giving tools for teachers to teach, for children to learn, and the community to give support are one of the best investments we may do to make a more inclusive, useful and intelligent cloud.