The 2012 Olympic Games & The Digital Era

Who could fail to be moved by the coming together of the copper petals (one for each country) into a single cauldron of hope, light and purpose?

The Opening Ceremony told the story of how the Industrial Revolution, which started in Britain 200 years ago, changed everything.

The Digital Revolution, triggered by Sir Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the World Wide Web), has changed everything once again.

The Digital Era has the potential to bring us all together in more ways than we can imagine, and not just for two weeks every 4 years. The technology barriers have gone. It’s now up to each of us to decide to make it happen.

Along with a billion other people on Friday, I witnessed Tim live tweet, centre stage at the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games:

This is for everyone #london2012 #oneweb #openingceremony @webfoundation @w3c

— Tim Berners-Lee (@timberners_lee) July 27, 2012

What he meant of course is that the Olympics are about bringing people together, whatever their nationality, race or culture.

What will you decide?

PS I count myself lucky to have experienced the whole four-hour spectacle, distraction-free: from an ad-free stadium, via the ad-free BBC.