Networks Rising

For the second time in human history, we are on the verge of broad new breakthroughs in health, productivity, and personal freedom. And many-to-many networks are the reason. In business, government, and war, information is no longer the privilege of a powerful few. Now everyone knows what anyone knows, and we are applying that diversity of experience and perspective to expand the frontiers of our lives. We are starting to think together. Social media networks, online forums, and guerilla broadcasting are connecting us in communities with fewer bureaucratic layers. In swarms, walkouts, strikes, and insurrections, people are sharing experience directly in real time, marching together into the public square, and demanding a greater voice in the new democracy. Networks Rising is the colorful story of unsung technology wizards waving us on, of philosophers struggling to free us from the dictates of church and state, and of sociologists, futurists, and even science fiction writers offering dozens of new schemes for living in a more connected world. At a time when so many of our institutions seem deeply challenged, Burns posits that we are poised at the beginning of what might be humanity's greatest leap forward in 25,000 years.

Christopher Burns has spent over 35 years in the field of new information technologies, actively involved in the rise of the internet and the birth of online information services. As a well-regarded information systems expert, he has designed large scale networks for corporations, industries, and governments, holds several patents on the new internet technology, and is a regular speaker at conferences around the world.