Article Round-Up (Sourced From SHAREABLE)

The World's Top 10 Gov 2.0 Initiatives - The Gov 2.0 movement continues to gain momentum around the world with a number of inspiring people, projects & ideas rising to prominence over the last year or so. Sometimes the most important innovations emerge from the periphery where creative citizens take a “do it first, ask for permission later” approach that can generate a wealth of benefits for the entire global community. So here’s my pick of the world’s best Gov 2.0 initiatives. What are your favourites?

Coworking as a Business: Which Model Is Best? - "The general consensus is that operating with the intent of making a profit is nearly impossible to combine with true organic growth of the community. But this doesn't mean profit can't be a byproduct or a parallel goal." -- from the Coworking Wiki

Most coworking advocates fall into one of two schools of thought on this topic: those that believe coworking is best when it exists as a non-profit, and those who believe coworking can (and should be) a profitable business. The coworking community demonstrates that both (and many hybrids in between) are possible.

How To Set Up An Open Mesh Network in Your Neighborhood - Mesh networks can share web connections throughout a neighborhood, spreading the reach of a broadband connection. They're an excellent way to improve a community’s web access, and could also serve a role in the infrastructure for the Next Net that Douglas Rushkoff envisions. Open Mesh is a company that offers mesh network solutions for businesses and communities. They provided Shareable with this guide to how to set up a mesh network in your own neighborhood.

Changing Models of Ownership: Part I - From cars to CDs, houses to handbags, people are no longer aspiring to own. Belongings which used to be the standard by which to measure personal success, status, and security are increasingly being borrowed, traded, swapped, or simply left on the shelf. Various factors – arguably the most important being an increasingly connected and digitally networked society, regardless of economic development – are causing revolutionary global shifts in behavior. As quickly as a new laptop becomes yesterday’s technology in a brittle plastic shell, or a power tool idly collects dust in the garage, it seems that material possessions are changing from treasure into junk, from security into liability, from freedom into burden, and from personal to communal.

Through global research conducted as part of an investigation into the concept of ownership, Claro Partners was able to draw some conclusions about why it’s more appealing to have a car only when you need to move from A to B. We also started to ask questions about what new challenges people face in a climate where transient access to services – rather than permanent acquisition of products – is more efficient and actually makes more economic sense. Furthermore, from the cloud to the crowd, we asked whether the concept of ownership is even applicable to today’s world.

"Changing Models of Ownership, Part II"

"Changing Models of Ownership, Part III" (forthcoming)