AOL co-founder, Steve Case, is one of the leading pioneers of the technology. In his new book, “The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur’s Vision of the Future”, he summarizes the need for taking the “world wide web,” aka the Internet, to the next level which he refers to in his book as the Third Wave of the digital revolution.
The “First Wave,” America Online, was pioneered and co-founded by Case in 1985 which involved only three percent of people appearing online for one hour a week. AOL and other similar companies laid a solid foundation for the “Second Wave” that involved Facebook and Google, thus further expanding the Internet with social networking and search engine abilities. Hence, Case now holds a standing stating that the “Third Wave” must indeed integrate the Internet into every possible aspect of people’s lives.
Challenging as it sounds, incorporating Internet into daily activities like education and health care involves participation of government and many active roles according to Case. Focusing on development of software and applications alone is not sufficient, the Government and Institutions must be involved to draw a bigger picture.
Involving Government, collaboration of bigger companies with entrepreneurs will help spur innovation by shaping policies and making it easier to raise money for research and development with startups. For the “Third Wave” to flourish and become a huge success, exploring and experimenting together is essential. Only then can the world be ready for the new digital era according to Case.