 Dr. Sumitra, we welcome you to the Connective Speakers event of Aisli Khattar and we really want first to know about throwing sheep in the boardroom, how the idea came to you and why did you choose the name for the book? Well, thank you very much for inviting me. The idea is something which is a very topical one. As you know and as we all know today, technology is having a very big impact on the world around us and certainly social media is one of the biggest movements in technology. So what we decided to study was, we decided to look at the impact of how social media interacts with organizations and so we wanted to pick images from these two different worlds. So throwing sheep is an application on Facebook. So you can throw a sheep at someone, it's a playful gesture to get someone's attention and we took the boardroom as an image of the classical vertical organization. So we brought the two things together. Throwing sheep in the boardroom is our playful gesture at organizations to tell them, well, look, something is happening out here and you better take attention and take note of what is happening and such that you're able to use it effectively for your own corporate purposes. So which audiences did you write the book for? This is a book which has been written for all wide range of audience. It applies and is very useful for business executives. It is also very useful for educated citizens, both young and old, because one of the basic premises of the book is it is applicable, the change is applicable to everyone around us. Status, power and identity are the kind of a backbone for the book. So why did you choose these three topics and how do social networks relate to them? Well, identity, status and power are three very fundamental elements of how we as individuals represent us to the world around them, how we interact with each other and how we choose to influence others. So identity is my representation or our representation of each one of us to the world around us. Status is how we seek recognition from the world around us because all of us want some recognition from people around us, social capital and power ultimately is about how you exercise influence, how you get others to do things that you like them to do. So these three dimensions in our view represent three very core elements of how people think of themselves, how people relate to each other and how people work with each other. So that's the reason why we chose three different dimensions and at the same time these three dimensions reflect some basic characteristics of human behavior. You mentioned that some organizations are kind of reluctant to use Web 2.0 in the workplace. So why do you think this reluctance is taking place? Well, partly because a lot of organizations don't fully understand the power of Web 2.0 networks. And I think that's something which will probably change and evolve over time. But today in general a lot of organizations are struggling to understand what this technology is. Is it something which is just meant for the younger generation or is it something which has a true impact on the business point of view? And the reality is that because the impact is so fundamental, it impacts on how people relate to each other, how they work with each other. It has a very fundamental impact on organizations. With Generation V entering the workforce, how do you think social media can change the relationship between the employee, the manager and the organization, if any? Well, Generation V is a very interesting phenomena happening in organizations because it is not just a question of difference in values. It's a question of a difference in expectations. A lot of the younger people who are entering the workforce, they are used to a world which is much more global, much more open, much more transparent and much more interactive. They want to be able to participate, to give their views. So a lot of these basic principles have to be transferred to the working world. And that's not always easy because a lot of the principles in the working world and many organizations are not completely aligned to these basic principles. So what has to happen is there has to be a realignment of some of the organizations based along these newer set of values of the Generation V. Plus at the same time, what has to happen is we have to be able to use the power of Generation V to be able to involve them in redesigning some of our own processes and some of our own structure and systems. So what I suggest to organizations often is why don't you start some mentorship programs in which you have the younger people mentoring the older senior colleagues in some critical areas of technology. And it's a great process because the younger people also learn from the older colleagues in the process. In the beginning of the book, you spoke of false identities being created on social media. So can you elaborate on that? Well, you know, social media have much more degrees of freedom. If you go into a real world organization, there are usually fairly well-defined norms and guidelines about the way you dress, about the way you talk, the way you represent yourself. And because social media are in general a new phenomena, there are much less well-defined norms and guidelines. Now, as a result, what is happening is people are creating different profiles, different identities for themselves, and sometimes identities can be false, can be deceptive. And I think that's the danger because there is no way to easily guard against the creation of these false identities. So that can, in some cases, lead to, in some extreme cases, some teenagers committing suicide, or in other normal cases, people getting deceived by others. And that is the very undesirable impact of these social networks. So the ITU theme for the series Cyber Safety, so how do you think social networks affect youth safety online? Well, I think social networks introduce another dimension on which youth have to be much more careful and much more wary about cybersecurity. I think there's an urgent demand for introducing more education in schools and universities about how can the young and the young adults use these technologies? People have to be educated about what is the impact of these technologies? What is, or what are some of the consequences of exposing some of your private details on these internet platforms? And even simple elements of how long do these profiles live, how can you use information, are important elements which have to be taught. Technology is often organizational and neutral, so it has to be used either in a positive way or negative way. So we have to be able to educate young and also older citizens, parents, teachers, to be able to work together to use this technology in the right manner. Interestingly, in your book, you mentioned that Web 2.0 will bring along markets 2.0, enterprise 2.0, and democracy 2.0. So what are these versions of? Well, what we tried to argue for in the book was because the impact is so widespread, these technologies will impact almost every aspect of our society. So clearly the way we work and live in organization is going to get impacted and that is really in a sense what is happening in terms of enterprise 2.0 and markets 2.0. The way you're able to engage with a number of people inside the corporation, IBM, for example, and redefine the values of the company, they involve more than 80,000 people across the company using these online social media platforms. So you're able to do things differently and that is creating your enterprise 2.0, either internally or even externally with customers. You are able to interact with customers much more. And the same is true for societies and that's one reason why we say democracy 2.0 because you will find that citizens are much more able and willing to participate and give the ideas and to be able to contribute to society. So fundamentally the impact is something which transcends all aspects of how we organize ourselves. One booming phenomenon is Wikipedia. Why do you think this Wikipedia exactly is really successful nowadays? It's a fantastic success story of how people, normal citizens can come together to create an incredibly useful source of common knowledge. And the studies done about why do people contribute to Wikipedia? And what is interesting is the number one reason why people contribute to Wikipedia is because they believe it's fun. People like to share. It is as simple as that. Now, another additional fact which is becoming more important is all of us have something valuable to share. So it is not that knowledge is localized in a few experts. All of us have our own unique contributions and a knowledge source or knowledge base like Wikipedia gives us that opportunity to each one of us to be able to contribute. And that's one reason why it is a powerful. So final question. What do you think social media would be like in the future? How do you envision social media in the next 10 years? If you look at technology which has succeeded over the last several years, it is almost always the case that technologies that have enabled people to share have been the one which is most successful. Okay, things like television, telephone, cell phone, and now of course social media, whatever enables greater participation, greatest sharing have been successful. So clearly what I envisage happening is over the next few years, people will be able to contribute much more. People will be able to participate much more, be it in society, be it in governments, be it in the organization in which they work. So you will hear the voice of the individual much more. And that is a great strength. So the challenge for us is to be able to benefit from the power of individuals. And because this is a global phenomenon, you have individuals around the world. So even if you're in Qatar, you can benefit from expertise from people in China or in Brazil. And think of the power of that. How can you leverage this global power of individuals, creative individuals around the world? And that is the beautiful and exciting part of the future. Dr. Sumita, thank you so much for this lovely interview and we'll be looking forward to your presentation. Thank you so much. Thank you.