In what seems like forever, economists on opposing sides of the divide have put forward opposing pros and cons in discussing free market economies vs planned economies (socialist, communist, mixed economies etc.).

Note that the list of pros and cons also argue about responsibility for organizing the economic participants in each model. This article will not touch on the opposing views as interested parties can read up on Keynes, Marx, Samuelson and Smith etc.

For this article, I just want to draw attention to how technological advances are dramatically redefining social interaction including its impact on work and entrepreneurism.

Marshall McLuhan is credited with coining the phrase “Global Village” over 50 years ago (1962) which broadly referred to the interconnectivity of the world through mass media, internet (electronic technology) and travel.

In other words, “Global Village” is simply the term used to describe an increasingly complex and interconnected world, where citizens are able to interact with each other with almost uninterrupted frequency and at an amazing pace.

However, I’m almost certain that when McLuhan coined that term over 50 years ago, he could not have envisioned the degree of interconnectivity which exists in this present day.

To say that there has been an explosion of technological solutions resulting in an increasingly connected world since Mr. McLuhan first coined that phrase in 1964 will be stating the obvious.

However in recent times, mass media solutions and collaborative tools have been delivered and adopted at breathtaking speed.

To put it into context, very few of the popular solutions of today were available as recently as 25 years ago (e.g. Facebook was founded in 2004, Google was founded in 1998).

…..Hmnn, think about it, strange as it may seem, someone who is 25 years old or less would not have known that there was once a world without Google or Facebook!!!

These advances in technology only continue to strengthen my belief that the ideal society is one where willing entrepreneurs are able to successfully provide critical services to society in return for adequate compensation AND accountability. I .e. society where the social entrepreneur thrives

Let’s take a look at some examples:

(1) Technology solutions for mass media, (fondly described as social media). Basically these solutions perform a social function of facilitating communication. In addition these enterprises are also employers of labour but ultimately services being provided to society are being monetized such that the founders and shareholders are also enjoying financial rewards of some sort (think Facebook, Google +, Yahoo, Whatsapp).

(2) Another category of solutions would be the ecommerce solutions. Again these solutions perform a social function of facilitating trade, In addition, the enterprises are employers of labour whilst the owners also to reap financial rewards of monetizing the services provided (think eBay, Alibaba, Amazon).

I can go on and on (other services Square, UBER, Paypal, etc) but anyway hopefully you get my point, social entrepreneurs aims to provide solutions which will be beneficial to society but also yield returns which adequately compensate for risks undertaken.

Just to add that a new solution Periscope has recently launched in 2015. This is one to watch due to its massive potential to disrupt the all-powerful broadcast media (I’m definitely excited to how that plays out).

You can read the rest of this article here:
http://nairametrics.com/why-on-demand-economy-is-the-next-big-deal-for-nigerian-startups/

Information technology is the order of the day. Anyone that fails to appreciate this is still living in the dark age. Any business that will thrive today has to embrace information technology. Even, the 'Brick and Mortal' model type of business needs IT to survive. We live in a global village and the entire world has suddenly become our competitors! Hmmm. Everyone needs to strive for excellence in whatever it offers.