Overview

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.

(Sun Tzu)

The knowledge economy is still in its infancy - online knowledge trading even more so. This book has focused on knowledge as a driver of wealth and e-business as an enabler of new business methods. Developments in knowledge products, online knowledge businesses and knowledge markets are seen as pivotal in the twenty-first century economy. This book has given indications of how they might develop in future. Yet, as we know from the short history of the commercial Internet - less than a decade - developments often unfold in unexpected ways. Napster, a service in which a small but important piece of computer code allowed millions of people to share their music files, much to the consternation of the established music industry, is but one example of the kind of collective power unleashed by the Internet. We cannot predict precisely what other phenomena like Napster will occur. But it isn't just new technologies and applications that alter the shape of the knowledge business landscape. It's a wide range of interdependent factors, among which political, economic and social developments loom large. For instance, the collective behaviour of individuals acting in unison globally can potentially have more impact on the future course of events than major corporations or governments.