knowledge sharing is power

Knowledge Sharing is Power

Giuliana Urso Æ Lina Ognyanova Stoeva ÆYana Ognyanova Stoeva Æ Federica Migliardi ÆGuo Ankang Æ Shao Yijan

Published online: 17 April 2009

� Springer-Verlag 2009

Abstract Nowadays we can talk about a ‘‘Knowledge Revolution’’ because

managing of information plays a crucial role in our society, both in public and

private sphere. After a brief introduction—aimed at underling the main points we

will debate on—the first part of the article focus on Knowledge Management

techniques and knowledge-based government (k-Government) and the great

potential in respect to the public sector transformation. The second part takes into

account the social dimension of knowledge managing and the ethical relevance that

social networking is progressively acquiring. After that, we have chosen to focus on

global warming, indeed, the last session is a detailed analysis of a real case study

related to China’s energy security. In the end, a wise use of Knowledge resources,

G. Urso (&)

Political Theory, Luiss University, Rome, Italy

e-mail: [email protected]

L. O. Stoeva � Y. O. Stoeva

Public Administration, Technical University, Sofia, Bulgaria


Y. O. Stoeva


F. Migliardi

Cinema and Media Engineering, Politecnico of Turin, Turin, Italy


G. Ankang � S. Yijan

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA


S. Yijan


G. Ankang � S. Yijan

Nanjing University, Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

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Transit Stud Rev (2009) 16:352–367

DOI 10.1007/s11300-009-0061-6

trough the comparison with past experiences, turn out to be the powerful device that

will let us provide some useful suggestion for a significant public action.

Keywords Knowledge management (KM) �K-Government (knowledge-based government) � Social networking �Global warming � Chinese energy demand

JEL Classification I20 � Q54 � Q40

Introduction

He who receives an idea from me receives instruction himself without

lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine receives light without

darkening me.

Thomas Jefferson

The most important resource next generation will have is next generation itself:

human capital. Education and know-how accumulation are of course the path to go

through, but this answer can appear just as an old concept, well known to everyone.

Knowledge, strictly connected to human capital concept, has always played an

important role in economic development and nowadays economies are increasing

dependent on the production, distribution and use of knowledge. New tools are now

there for the next generation to dispose of knowledge in the best possible way. No

next without previous. And, no next without present too. This brief introduction will

expose the guiding thread of our research.

Knowledge is a wider concept than that of mere information. The so called

knowledge chain (creation, capture, organization, sharing and refinement) is a

process that controls, elaborates and integrates a certain set of data with the

objective of producing new knowledge.

Policy makers have became more and more concerned with management of the

knowledge cycle, since many researches confirm that closer cooperation between

academia and business underpins growth, in what is now called knowledgeeconomy. In this regards, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Develop-

ment (OECD) reports have described a Knowledge-based economy (KBE) as

‘economies which are directly based on the production, distribution and use of

knowledge and information’ (OECD 1996) and, moreover, it has pointed out that

‘stronger interactions between science and industry have characterised the

innovation—led economic growth of the past decade’ (OECD 2002). Nowadays

European Union is attempting in pursuing the so called ‘Lisbon objective’ that

intends to make EU the most intensive knowledge based economy in the world.

It is also true that, in order to put knowledge into action it is necessary to start a

process of knowledge transfer. This is concerned with the flow by which largely

tacit knowledge is transmitted among people, that implies a subsequent level of

absorption. In academic context knowledge transfer goes from universities to a

greater community of users (public and business sectors), a process aimed at

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increasing cultural, educational and social benefits for society. Innovation can be

reached, according to sociological theory that emphasizes the process of knowledge

creation, with close collaboration between different organizations and individuals

(Brown 2007). Knowledge collaboration describes an open process of value creation

in which contributing members make every effort to capture all the relevant piece of

knowledge across functions, business and even nations (Amidon et al. 2005).

Knowledge management’s (KM) second generation aims at sharing single

knowledge in a group. As some schools of thought have suggested, the focus is to

shift from an instrumental approach to information technology—as the first Karl

Wiig’s KM concept in 1986—to the idea that knowledge should be shared. The

rationale behind this is that economies are moving from information to knowledge

integration.

Different tools can be used to create knowledge integration. Some of them are

well structured—as academic/public/industry collaboration—other are more spon-

taneous interaction which promotes circulation of ideas for further innovation.

One peculiarity of the KBE is probably not the production of knowledge but the

opportunity offered by networks and information and communication technologies

(ICTs) to share it. We cannot anymore consider knowledge as a single learning

process that concerns individuals: that would mean to confine it to people’s life

experience. The World Bank and the OECD jointly define the KBE as ‘one that

encourages its organisations and people to acquire, create, disseminate and use

(codified and tacit) knowledge more effectively for greater economic and social

development’ (Dahlman and Anderson 2000).

Social networks connect today’s young people from all over the world, and will

connect more and more people in the years to come. This kind of social network

could be an informal tool to share information and knowledge amongst generations

and society, since the e-process does not have territorial boundaries. Strategic know-

how and competence are being developed interactively and what is created is a

network society, where the opportunity and capability to get access to and join

knowledge determines the socio-economic position of individuals and firms (David

and Foray 1995).

The extent to which knowledge integration could be supported by the principle of

participation, is a sign of how powerful a social network could be. The shift from

knowledge sharing into social knowledge could have also an ethical impact. Open

space technology and online communities will help people to become aware of the

world surrounding them and contribute to spread a sense of global responsibility

with regard to the other people and to the planet. Such vision of knowledge

management can stimulate the development of a mindset that creates common

values such as trust, sharing, common goals, caring, thirst for learning, and

acceptance of change.

The last aspect of KM that should be taken into consideration is the pragmatic

side of it. Competitive advantage can be reached by connecting people to people, by

preserving knowledge in such a way as to improve the problem solving process.

Knowledge transfer is a growing area of public policy that can be a support in

enhancing the economic potential of a country.

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In the KBE the problem-solving function has been given a lot of emphasis. For

example, the demographic trend and the energy shortage have created new

demands for energy in a country such as China. Knowledge on public policies

actions and previous experiences on the topic could be a tool for proposing

solutions and for sustaining productivity advances. Especially in certain situations

where there is any possibility to find a solution using external source—as in the

proposed case study on energy demand—using knowledge becomes the best way

to cope with the topic.

In conclusion, knowledge-based government (k-Government) would provide

useful instruments to manage human capital and to preserve the past from

becoming passed. In a changing world, knowledge remains the key element that

next generation should care about thanks to three processes: organization, sharing,

and innovation. That is to say that knowledge is certainly a resource, an

opportunity with multiple positive effects, but it is also a challenge that we cannot

afford to lose.

K-Government: Taking e-Government on the Next Level

In a growing number of publications from the European Commission and OECD it

is emphasised that we currently operate in ‘a knowledge-based economy’, to stress

the fact that the most valuable asset is investment in intangible, human and social

capital and that the key factors for success in the future are generation and

management of knowledge and innovation.

This is in a way reflected in the new Lisbon agenda. At the beginning of the new

millennium, EU leaders decided to launch this strategy with the aim of making

Europe ‘‘the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world

capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social

cohesion, and respect for the environment by 2010’’.1 This strategy has already

started to pay off and is now making an important contribution to job creation and

sustainable growth in Europe.

Today’s Europe is built on the four freedoms of goods, services, capital and

people. The knowledge society of tomorrow needs the freedom, the freedom of

movement of knowledge.

The European Council called for the adoption of the Fifth Freedom, or moves to

ensure the free flow of knowledge across the EU, at its spring meeting, as it

approved the next stage of the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs from 2008 to

2010. The four other freedoms have changed our lives already. The fifth is believed

to do the same.

The objectives for 2020 are more or less clear-cut and in 2 years time it will

become evident to what extent the 2010 Bologna and Lisbon commitments have

been reached.

To ensure that it is ready to take advantage of—and lead—the global knowledge

economy, Europe must consider its strategic agenda, the positioning of the EU

1 Strategic goal for 2010 set for Europe at the Lisbon European Council—March 2000.


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institutions, allocation of budgets and formulate relevant policies and projects. The

European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), which is expected to start

work in 2009, is a good example of the determination of the EU institutions to act.

Under the new cohesion policy programmes, more than € 85bn will be made

available for investments in knowledge and innovation.

What is more, according to the OECD, KM has for some time been at the core of

government tasks. Nevertheless, indications are that the public sector has been

falling behind in these practices, compared to the private sector. This realisation is

the compelling reason for choosing to address this high on the policy agendas issue

about KM in the public sector.

Before going more into details, it seems useful to start giving more information

on knowledge and KM.

For the last 200 years, neo-classical economics has recognised only two factors

of production: labour and capital. Knowledge, productivity, education, and

intellectual capital were all regarded as exogenous factors that are, falling outside

the system. New Growth Theory attempted to deal with the causes of long-term

growth, something that traditional economic models have had difficulty with.

Following from the work of economists, a change of the neo-classical model has

been proposed, by seeing technology (and the knowledge on which it is based) as an

intrinsic part of the economic system. Knowledge has become the third factor of

production in leading economies (Romer 1990).

Unlike capital and labour, knowledge strives to be a public good (or what

economists call ‘‘non-rivalrous’’). Once knowledge is discovered and made public,

there is zero marginal cost (MC = 0) to sharing it with more users. Secondly, the

creator of knowledge finds it hard to prevent others from using it. Instruments such

as trade secrets protection and patents, copyright, and trademarks provide the

creator with some protection.

According to World Development Report, 1999 ‘For countries in the vanguard of

the world economy, the balance between knowledge and resources has shifted so far

towards the former that knowledge has become perhaps the most important factor

determining the standard of living—more than land, than tools, than labour. Today’s

most technologically advanced economies are truly knowledge-based’.

Knowledge management is founded on the notion that the organisation’s most

valuable resource is the knowledge of its people.

Building a knowledge society is the best way, and maybe the only way, to sustain

the model of society without having to make a trade-off between economic growth,

social cohesion and environmental protection.

But why do we need knowledge management in government?

The world is changing around us at an incredible pace due to remarkable

technological change. Government, as the regulator of market, has to respond to

keep up with the hopes and aspirations of citizens and business, to remain efficient

and trustworthy. That is why the main driving forces behind knowledge

management in government are both market-driven as well as self-driven. The

major drivers for knowledge management in government which are identified are as

follows:

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• The market place is increasingly competitive and the rate of innovation is

constantly rising. Most of the major players in the private sector are developing

their own knowledge management systems. Under this background, govern-

ment’s knowledge must also evolve and be assimilated at an ever faster rate.

• The current trends require different governmental agencies on different levels to

collaborate and share information with each other, which requires an effective

knowledge management program in place.

• In certain cases, some governmental agencies are also facing a demographic

situation in which many of their experienced and knowledgeable staff will soon

reach the retirement age. A successful knowledge management system will help

to preserve knowledge as well as to help employees to acquire knowledge more

efficiently and effectively.

• Current e-Government practice has absorbed a great amount of first-hand

valuable customer information. Obviously this type of information needs to be

processed and transformed, in order to create new knowledge that then will be

directed back to the ‘‘back office’’ for the formulation of better policies.

A new trend could be traced: e-Government is dead (or will be within next years)—

long live knowledge-based government (k-Government). E-Government will migrate

to k-Government in the sense that the technology will become unremarkably

ubiquitous. What we think of as e-Government today will become (just) government

within the coming years, i.e. all of government will use and become ‘e’, so the ‘e’ will

be dropped, maybe in favour of ‘k’, maybe something else, maybe nothing. Indeed,

Alan Mather, of the UK’s eEnvoy Office said that: ‘‘e-Government is not any

different from government. It just might make it better, sooner’’.2

Nevertheless, it needs to be admitted that the existing proliferation and popularity

of e-Government has actually laid out a very solid foundation and has readied the

government to start its knowledge management programs. As a matter of fact it is

believed that e-Government could actually be regarded as one of the preliminary

action steps for the development of a full scale knowledge management

in government because in fact, without the widespread application of ICT,

e-Government, e-learning, and KM would not be possible.

In particular, the Government has shown little interest in using ICTs for

cooperative working or knowledge-sharing. Again, this is beginning to change, with

the establishment of the Knowledge Network. The Knowledge Network was

launched in October 2000 in Britain as a high-profile exercise in knowledge-sharing

and is eventually planned to be expanded across the whole of government. The

Knowledge Network is being developed by means of a phased project, which—over

the course of the next years or so—will network information in departments’

existing systems and support collaboration and cooperation, especially across

organizational boundaries. Some kinds of information on the Knowledge Network

should also be publicly available via Online Portals. When it is completely fully

developed, the Knowledge Network will provide ministers and civil servants with

real-time access to a wide range of network and information services.

2 The Guardian, 9 January 2003.


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In such ways, the Knowledge Network is seen to have considerable potential for

‘modernizing government’. By helping civil servants to communicate more easily and

share information more flexibly, it will provide a widely available infrastructure for

joined-up working, for evidence-based policy-making and for cross-cutting projects.

It should also help to enhance the public dissemination of information and democracy.

In conclusion, Europe is rich of good ideas and best practices. Europeans enjoy

one of the highest standards of living in the world. Europe does not lack know-how,

but many problems of the twenty-first century increasingly require concerted efforts

by the public, private and academic sectors.

One example could be the global warming that requires global action, and the EU

has already played a key role in developing two major treaties on the subject—the

1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto

Protocol, agreed in 1997. Today, we are standing at a key point of our development

as the world is facing with one of the most severe financial crisis ever. The warning

that the prevailing gurus on this hot topic are making is that there is a parallel

between the economic and environmental crisis and that the latter, if not respond

adequately to, may have even greater and disastrous impact.

Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso said that: ‘‘Responding to the challenge

of climate change is the ultimate political test for our generation.’’ The time will show

whether we will keep up with the agreed by EU leaders in March 2007 ambitious new

targets for 2020 of reducing CO2 emissions. The Commission estimates that the

revenues from the Emissions Trading System (ETS) could amount to €50 billion

annually by 2020. What is more, by means of an integrated energy and climate change

policy proposal, the EU is aiming at saving 20% of energy consumption by 2020, which

means a cut of emissions by almost 800 m tonnes a year and save as much as €100bn.

But this is not enough. As outlined above, the two major crisis require more

‘‘Joined-Up’’ Government decisions and a global debate in order for the people

around the world to be convinced that we can and must do right economic reforms

now, which may be tough and unpopular, but which will secure a prosperous, fair

and environmentally sustainable future.

There are no one-size-fits-all solutions to the outlined global problems. The only

way forward before us is to use Knowledge sharing across national boundaries and in

this way strengthening the relationships between the countries worldwide. For

example, Europe and Asia must look at each other like partners instead of rivals and

act more jointly, because our economies are becoming increasingly inter-dependent

and hence, requires global co-operation on many fronts. In other words, it is a simple

fact that we are stronger and more effective when we work together than apart.

The irony is that we may already have more of the answers to our own problems

than we think. The challenge is to make accessible and exploitable what is definitely

there—our common knowledge.

Social Networking and Ethical Responsibility

Nowadays we can talk about a ‘‘Knowledge Revolution’’ because managing of

information plays a crucial role in our society. For instance, by one recent estimate

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(Gupta 2002), 50–60% of all industrial output is based on information and the

services sector, which still has a great potential, is essentially knowledge-based.

Moreover, all our resources—technology, organization, information, education and

skill—are knowledge-based resources that differ significantly from material

resources. In fact, while material resources are consumed when utilised, knowledge

ones increase when shared.3

Knowledge sharing is one of the ways social software ca be used.4 By using them is

not only possible to get a number of online services (Amazon, Ebay, Flickr), or

sharing media (YouTube), but it is feasible to create a sort of collaborative framework

where everyone is considered a peer-to-peer contributor, judged on the base of his

own merit and he/she can take advantage of the past experiences of others. This

fruitful cooperation relies on the structure of the Net itself, that is constituted by

countless interdependent nodes, similar to the 100 trillion neuronal connections of

the human brain. According to the famous media sociologist Manuel Castells, the

identity of each individual is deeply influenced by his relationship with the Net

(Castells 2000), which is a pervasive, flexible, extensible, but with a precise structure.

Currently, a remarkably increasing number of people is using free encyclopaedic

services as Wikipedia, social networks as Facebook and virtual communities such as

Second Life, but only a few of them knows that they are useful, thanks to their

worldwide diffusion and intrinsic features, to foster social responsibility to major

issues, like the themes on the working agenda of YICGG 20085 Seminar in Rome.

Social responsibility is the widespread principle stating that the strategic vision of

each Government, Organization or individual should take into account ethical

concerns, thus driving its businesses towards an active contribution to the welfare of

society as well as the Organization or individual. This innovative perspective can

assume two different forms: ‘‘negative’’, if it represents a responsibility to refrain

from acting, or ‘‘positive,’’ when a real responsibility to act is carried on. Originally

related mainly to the business and governmental sector, currently it is often

associated to activist groups, organizations and communities.

In this context, social networking can represent a valid contribution. As a

matter of fact, it can support a social cause in various ways: firstly, by rising

people awareness to the specific issue (e.g. a rare kind of illness, an unpunished

crime against innocents, an industrial illegality); secondly, it can allow users to

become active and ‘‘prosumer’’(producer and consumer at the same time) by

giving them opportunities to express their opinion or respond to relevant events

and issues.

Some interesting case studies could be used as support for what has been said so

far.

3 Moreover, material resources are costly to transport and store, whereas knowledge resources are easily

transportable at high speed, and can be stored at low cost.4 For social software we intend a software that supports, extends, or derives added value from human

social behaviour—message boards, music taste-sharing, photo-sharing, instant messaging, mailing lists,

social networking.5 Youth International Competition on Global Governance, Website: http://www.economia.uniroma2.it/

YICGG.


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http://www.economia.uniroma2.it/YICGG

Second Life

Second Life is a 3D online virtual world,6 whose contents are created and owned

by its inhabitants (Figs. 1, 2). These are represented trough virtual and extremely

customised identities, their avatar. In Second Life it’s possible to own and

manage lands, design and sell 3D objects (using a proper virtual currency, the

Linden Dollar), thus create true business opportunities. Indeed, Second Life can

be defined as a ‘‘palette’’ that allows users to create freely and in an innovative

way.

Mitch Kapor, investor and board member of Linden Lab (Second Life’s

progenitor), has got a personal, challenging vision of Second Life as a training

ground for fixing the problems of the so called ‘‘real world’’: ‘‘the privilege of

creating a new world or new worlds, I believe, comes responsibility. And really

the responsibility is to make that new world a better place(…). And finally I

would just say to each of you, I hope you would think carefully about what a

better world means to you, and as you go about Second Life you do things,

build things, and interact in ways that further your own vision of that better

world’’.7

Fig. 1 Second Life logo

6 Official Website: http://www.secondlife.com.7 Reference: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=3532.

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http://www.secondlife.com

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=3532

An Inconvenient Truth: Al Gore

After having been awarded of the Oscar in 2006, the famous Global Warming

documentary movie continues its awareness campaign on the Net (Fig. 3). Here, it

leaded up to a worldwide movement focused on change and aware of its power, that

comes from both individuals and the global community.8

Indeed, on the website9 the visitor can find out a lot of ways to be effective

against climate change. One of them is: ‘‘Join the virtual march—The Stop Global

Warming Virtual March.10 Add your voice to the hundreds of thousands of other

Americans urging action on this issue’’. By accepting, each user can join the

1,143,433 supporters of the Stop Global Warming Virtual March (so far), since

‘‘We are all contributors to global warming and we all need to be part of the

solution’’.

On the Website the user can also join the devoted Community, in the section

‘‘Community Corkboard’’. The community represents an open forum for discussion

and dialogue. The user can post his thoughts and opinions about his/her topic of

interest, and check back often to continue the discussion. Beyond the social

aggregation, the campaign contributes to spread objective information about the

climate twisting, while global mass media, according to Al Gore, are changing the

Fig. 2 A picturesque landscape of Second Life

8 A global community is a movement about change, as individuals, as a country, and as a global

community.9 Website: http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/.10 The Climate Change Virtual March is a non-political effort to bring all Americans concerned aboutglobal warming together in one place.


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http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/

truth in order not to alarm the public opinion. He showed evident instances of this

behaviour in most of the scientific literature. Almost every scientific articles agree

on the existence and spread of the climate change (only the 0, 1% has a different

opinion), but about 53% of the media carry on a different point of view: nothing is

changing and current phenomena are only occasional.11

I’m Initiative: Microsoft

A lot of corporations support the campaign against Global Warming. One of the

most outstanding between them is Microsoft, whose agency I’m Initiative, allows

the user to support social causes in many ways (Fig. 4). The campaign claims: ‘‘I’m

starts with you. When you send a message you start giving’’. Surprisingly, it

Fig. 3 Poster of the movie ‘‘An Inconvenient Truth’’

11 This happens with media leaded by Lobbies and Politics. According to Al Gore, the Oil Lobby is one

of the most active in perpetrate scientific frauds by modifying scientific articles and publications, putting

pressure on scientists and research centres.

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managed to rise so far: 1,698,090 dollars for charity. Microsoft strategy makes also

use of the so called ‘‘Power of Friends’’: everyone should invite his friends from

Facebook and other social networks to join him on Windows Live Messenger. The

number of friends who accept the invitation is proportional to the sum donated to

charity by Microsoft itself.

Furthermore, every time a visitor uses Windows Live Messenger or Windows

Live Hotmail, Microsoft shares a portion of the program’s advertising revenue with

an organization, of user’s choice, from a selection of the world’s most effective ones

dedicated to social causes.12

LSU (National Council of Swedish Youth Organisations)

LSU organised the annual Global Conference on May 2008 in Orebro, Sweden, with

a focus on Climate Change—Youth Perspectives on Security, Peace and Democ-racy—in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The European YouthForum13 took part to this important event, which attracted about 150 participants

from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

It appeared evident, at the end of the conference that an immediate action is

needed, and youth organisations and youngsters should lead the initiative.

Nevertheless, they have to make a common effort in order to exploit at most

their great creativity, energy and willingness to act. A live report of the conference

is available on a blog14 (where it is possible to consult also a Climate Change

glossary, called ‘‘Wiki’’) and had a significant media coverage.

Fig. 4 Details of the website of I’m Initiative, by Microsoft

12 There is no cap on the amount of Microsoft donation to each organization, and it’s free of charge.13 During the 3-day conference the participants could listen to lectures of recognized leaders in the fight

against climate change, as well as work on some great projects that they could perhaps realize in the near

future.14 Blog: http://ud-din.se/climatechange/.


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http://ud-din.se/climatechange/

Green My Vino: Village Green

On the 6th of August 2008 Green My Vino15 was launched into the realm of

Facebook applications. With the software invented by Village Green16 (gathering

750 industries), Facebook users can exchange free online gifts worth 1, 5 or 10 min

of renewable energy (Fig. 5). Each gift coincide with an equal amount of renewable

energy (obtained from solar and wind projects in California), which is purchased by

Village Green on the user’s behalf. But the distinguishing feature of this application,

that set it apart from others with a green slant, is that its final aim is to leverage

users’ Facebook activity to motivate wineries to go green. Anyway, in order to

contextualize Green My Vino in the world of eco-apps it is better to introduce some

datas. The most active ‘‘green’’ Facebook application is (Lil) Green Patch 17:

Fig. 5 A typical page of the facebook application Green My Vino

15 Website: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=10383607900.16 Village Green Energy’’ is a renewable energy certificate provider, based in San Francisco, that is been

up and running since November 2007. The two young founders, who graduated from Stanford in 2004,

Robby Bearman and Mike Jackson, are revolutionizing the cross-section of social networking and

environmental responsibility. For further information: http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/green-my-

vino-revolutionizing-003408.php.17 Website: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=7629233915.

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http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=10383607900

http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/green-my-vino-revolutionizing-003408.php

http://www.triplepundit.com/pages/green-my-vino-revolutionizing-003408.php

http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=7629233915

it shows on each page, the 1.39 square miles of rainforest saved (about the size of

Central Park), and about 54,650 dollars donated to the cause (for 4.6 million active

users every month). Green My Vino has only 2,748 monthly active users but since

6th August, the application has already generated 17,000 dollars sent directly to

renewable energy resources in California.18

Indeed, by aggregating small industries with a national focus, Village Green

enables individuals to have a real impact on corporate policies. Moreover, they

directly involve businesses in the application (not simply using banner ads, as most

of the competitors) and they create a concrete deal for the wineries which, until

now, have never used Facebook. This way, they become able to reach an entirely

new audience, while doing something good for the environment. In the end, GreenMy Vino creates a mutual collaboration between consumers and producers granting

renewable energy for all.

All the previous instances, even though they are only a ‘‘drop in the ocean’’ of the

existent applications, summarize the fact that Social Networking can be a powerful

mean to convey and spread Social and Ethical Responsibility, but it is important to

remind that it is not a panacea, it needs to be kept under control and used in the

appropriate, wise way by individuals.

The networks are not programmed by technology; technological tools are

programmed by minds. So the human consciousness [is the source], because

everything now depends on our ability to generate knowledge and process

information in every domain and activity. Fundamentally, the human mind has

always been, but more than ever now, the source of wealth, power, and control

over everything (…) Networks don’t have personal feelings. They kill or kiss.

But the issue here is that first you start with a network which is equipped with

information technology. That’s the key. Then what the network does depends

on the programming of the network, and this is of course a social and cultural

process.19

A Case Study on China’s Energy Security

As the biggest developing country, China is having an increasing demand of energy

consumption. It is the right time for China to think about its long term energy

strategy and ensure China’s energy security.

China needs to develop a more comprehensive, integrated approach to meeting

its energy conservation targets. In its 11th Five-Year Plan (2006–2010), the Chinese

government sought to redirect the sector in a manner that idealistically seeks to

place China on a more sustainable environmental path by developing clean energy

substitutes, while developing the economy. Chiefly, the government called for

doubling year 2000 per capita gross domestic product (GDP) by 2010 and reducing

18 Indeed, that works out to be 6,19 dollars of contribution per person (or to draw a comparison, 562%

more money raised per capita than Lil Green Patch).19 ‘‘Identity and Change in the Network Society’’—Conversation with Manuel Castells—May 9 2001,

pp. 4–5. Website: http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people/Castells/castells-con5.html.


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http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people/Castells/castells-con5.html

energy intensity per unit of GDP by 20% over the next 5 years, equal to a 4%

reduction per year.

As an effective instrument to adjust individuals’ behaviour, looking at past

experiences, taxation can be used to improve energy efficiency in China. Taxation is

a useful economic tool for the government to adjust its economic development. One

of the key functions of taxation is to encourage or discourage certain activities

which are considered desirable or undesirable.

Many scholars researched how individuals can be persuaded or forced to change

their consumption patterns. Some scholars did scientific investigations on the

effectiveness of various energy conservation and energy-efficiency policies and

laws issued in 1970s and 1980s. Scholars believe that taxation and other financial

instruments are proper methods to change individuals’ behaviours. Taxation can

arouse individuals’ sense of moral obligation to reduce energy consumption. If an

individual realizes that a change of his action would be beneficial to the whole

society without harm to himself, he would possibly choose to change his behaviour.

Individuals participate in the market as consumers and therefore shape the market.

An increase in the federal tax on gasoline can be used as an illustration again. Although

scholars and researches still have disagreements on how gasoline tax changes

individuals’ consumption behaviours in the short run and long run, all scholars believe

that gasoline tax is an effective method to reduce gasoline consumption generally

because a tax increase immediately raises the cost of driving. In summary, in the short

run, consumers would primarily respond to a gas price change by adjusting their driving

behaviour, while in the long run consumers would fully adapt to a gas tax by replacing

their old vehicles and placing a higher value on fuel economy in new vehicles.

Energy conservation programs will only be successful if more individuals get

involved in them. The United States government has been using tax tools to

encourage individuals to get involved in energy conservation and energy efficiency

improvement programs. Taxation is a useful and practical instrument to get

individuals in and force individuals to change their daily behaviours and contribute

to the improvement of energy efficiency. Therefore, taxation will finally realize the

goals of energy conservation and energy efficiency program. As a matter of fact,

almost all the energy-saving countries, like Japan and Germany, all use taxation to

advocate energy efficiency.

The following question is how to design an energy taxation that meets China’s

energy problem. Knowledge government is a good choice. The government should

let more citizens to get access to its educational resources, and evoke the public’s

awareness of importance of energy efficiency. Tax is a kind of signal from the

government to the public.

References

Amidon D, Formica P, Marcier-Laurent E (2005) Knowledge economics: emerging principles, practices

and policies, vol 1. Tartu University Press, Tartu

Brown H (2007) Knowledge and innovation. A comparative study of the USA, the UK, and Japan.

Routledge, London

366 G. Urso et al.

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Castells M (2000) The rise of the network society. The information age: economy, society and culture

vol 1. Wiley-Blackwell, p 594

Dahlman C, Anderson T (eds) (2000) Korea and the knowledge-based economy: making the transition

work. WB and OECD, Paris, p 32

David P, Foray D (1995) Accessing and expanding the science and technology knowledge base. STI

Review, No. 16, OECD, Paris

Gupta SP (2002) Report of the Committee on India Vision 2020, New Delhi, December 2002

OECD (1996) The Knowledge based economy. OECD, Paris, p 3

OECD (2002) Benchmarking industry-science relationship. Directorate for Science, Technology and

Industry, Paris

Romer P (1990) Endogenous technological change. J Polit Econ 98(5):S71–S102


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