Transforming Business: Big Data, Mobility, and Globalization

The Global Race

There are 220 million “surplus workers” in China's central and western regions. The number of people working in the United States is about 140 million.¹

Modern technologists like to trace the beginnings of the “social network” back to the late 1970s when the first electronic bulletin board systems were brought online. These small servers, powered by personal computers, were linked to telephone modems and allowed users to engage in discussions, file sharing, and online games with like-minded peers. The early 1990s saw the rise of more mass-market friendly platforms such as Prodigy, Compuserve, and AOL capture the public's imagination as they linked far-flung friends and acquaintances around the world. As the World Wide Web began to grow and the personal computer became ubiquitous, new platforms designed to connect us socially took root. Early pioneers in the social networking arena such as Napster, MySpace, and Friendster made headlines as they allowed us to share, connect, and maintain relationships in a digital world. Although, in most cases, these early innovators have seen their popularity and relevance all but disappear, their influence has been profound. Without their early contributions, you could argue, there would be no Facebook. With more than 900 million ...