The Networked World will accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship, fueled by capital and labor flows that are flexible and mobile. New markets are emerging and old ones are transforming due to the disappearance of the traditional barriers of time, cost and distance. Information is becoming a commodity that, under many circumstances, can be bought, sold or traded.
Capital is available from more sources at potentially lower costs.
Skills can be drawn from anywhere in the world. These forces are combining to produce greater efficiencies and opportunities for the creation of knowledge. As Wired magazine's Kevin Kelly has observed, the Networked World is changing the rules for business. Increasingly, companies test new software by distributing free copies and allowing the marketplace to help complete it by finding its bugs and imperfections. While there are approximately 200 million computers in use around the world today, there are already some 6 billion microchips embedded in all kinds of products-from automobiles, hotel doors, stuffed animals and greeting cards to heart valves, heating systems and traffic lights.