In 2007, there was a total stock market wipeout, and the system was replaced by direct micro-investment. Reliable cyber-cash replaced the dollar, and continuing strides in technology meant that everybody was on the Web. As the name suggests, the CyberSouk really is a giant street market, pitched on the World Wide Web. Providers of delivery and communications receive tiny micro-payments on each transaction, funding research which they give away to keep the cycle of resale merrily turning. It s not all roses though.
Deregulation means there is no effective policing of what is traded.
As in any street market, the impulse buyer who falls for the vendor's persuasive patter can end up with shoddy products and no-one to complain to. The colorful clamour of CyberSouk fades as we return to the here and now. This is an unusual workshop. A gathering to exchange ideas, with no slides or presentation notes required from the participants. Last night, the assembled professors and research scientists looked rather apprehensive.