Global Theme

Open & Connected:
Principles for a Collaborative World

There is an innate feeling in all of us to achieve progress, to advance, to solve problems. Emerging technologies have changed how we communicate and how we engage with the world around us. One voice can now ripple to millions and we can now share our passions openly and across cultural and geographic boundaries.

Change is happening everywhere. Startups are disrupting entire industries and scaling their businesses globally. Tyranny, injustice and unethical behavior are being exposed around the world. Groups are self organizing to take positive action. Transparency, accountability, information sharing, and collaboration are accelerating progress to levels never before seen.

In 2013 Social Media Week celebrates it fifth year of operation and intends to mark this milestone with a unifying global theme that will explore openness in a connected and collaborative world.

Open & Connected will serve as a framework for the thousands of individuals and organizations around the world to draw inspiration from and utilize to develop their own original ideas, content and discussions as part of Social Media Week events over the next 12 months. Within Open & Connected there are 7 underlying principles that lead to a more collaborative world:

Principles for a Collaborative World:

Openness

An attitude of ready accessibility, freedom and frictionless access.

Inclusivity

A spirit of openness and to avoid creating wall gardens, ensuring frictionless and open participation for all.

Transparency

A philosophy of accountability, operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed.

Collaboration

Systems, tools, frameworks and methodologies for working together to realize shared goals.

Co-creation

An environment inviting communities to become part of the creation process and where rewards are shared with those who help the organization make more successful decisions.

Networked power

The potential of a network can be unlocked by dismantling hierarchical structures and by embracing new forms of distributed innovation.

Agility

Iterative and incremental development solutions which evolve through collaboration between self-organizing, cross-functional teams.

Photo by Linda Nylind