This post is part of the: 'The Digital Renaissance' thread, a blog sequence that explores the capabilities and history of 'The Power Of Collaboration' and demonstrates how we can solve most if not all major issues of our time by leveraging collaborative and distributed principles on a global scale.
Since our time is valuable and scarce, you can speed-read through the articles in this thread by focussing on the emphasized pieces of text.
Hi there, I’m glad you decided to start reading this blog. As you might have read somewhere on the website my name is Joey Moreau. Ever since I was a kid, I was interested in innovation and people, I even believe that the two are inseparably intertwined and connected with one another. I grew up in a small and multicultural neighborhood called Tussen de Vaarten which is situated in a sister city of Amsterdam that goes by the name of Almere. Whilst growing up I spent a lot of time commuting back and forth to the Dutch capital, a true epicenter for innovation and culture.
As some might now, the Netherlands has been a birthplace for groundbreaking and disruptive innovations throughout the centuries. Back in 1590 the Dutch Father-Son team, Hans and Zaccharias Jansen, invented the microscope. Twelve years later, as a way to fund East India Company’s long trade-based voyages from the Netherlands, Dutch legislators and businessmen invented the first stock market in 1602. Only eight years later it was 1608 when Hans Lippershey developed the first telescope, exactly one year before Galileo Galilei mapped the stars with the help of the Dutchman’s early design. If we fast forward, even more, we can see other Dutch inventions such as the cassette, CD, Blu-ray, DVD, even Bluetooth, and Wifi are from Dutch origin! What I’m trying to say is that the Netherlands as small as it is has been a pioneer in the field of innovation for as long as written history. The reason for this is that the Netherlands is and has always been an extremely open and inclusive country since our small country is a nation of trade it has to rely on the meaningful and effective connections that it makes. The Netherlands' economy flourishes through openness to global trade and investment and an independent judicial system that provides strong protection of property rights and fosters the rule of law. Because of this openness, a lot of scientists and visionaries made their way to the small country to explore the boundaries of their creativity and imagination.
Like many of my predecessors before me, I am highly interested in exploring my own creativity. I strongly believe that there resides a hidden potential in our modern society which can only be unlocked if we start working together, I call this 'The Power of Collaboration'. The power of collaboration is the cornerstone of this blog and the model which I will explain in a later post. What I aspire to do with this thread is explaining how we can improve our individual life and situation by improving everybody’s situation, this directly corresponds with the mission that I have dedicated my life to; “Unlocking the hidden potential of collaboration.”. Although my own resolve in this matter is crystal clear, as the name suggests, I cannot do that alone.
In this blog, I will share my own perspective on the matter. I invite everybody reading this to challenge my way of thinking and to formulate their own opinion. This way, we can triangulate and identify the best possible solution out there. In the end, I hope to kickstart a certain ‘revolution' in society in which we figure out and enable ourselves to reach our individual goals by collaborating and helping others reach theirs. Just imagine for a second that all parties currently competing to be the first one to get a man on Mars would work together, share experiences, technologies, and insights with each other. This instead of competing with one another. What do you think the imminent effect would be? All these individual parties like SpaceX, Mars One, and NASA are essentially striving to reach the same goal, so why not share resources and knowledge? Why limit the growth and speed of innovation if the goals that you are trying to reach become more reachable by partnering with like-minded individuals? In a nutshell, this is the concept of the thread. We will take a look at different challenges, industries, and parts of modern-day societies from different angles and levels. By doing so, we will answer and solve some of the most prominent challenges and issues of our time.
To give you a better sense of understanding of my way of thinking and the ideas that you will come across in this blog, the next posts will explain some of my background and the people that inspired me before we take a dive into the world of collaboration.