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Written interview with Alexander Bard, Keynote speaker at the FTTH Conference 2013

10 September 2012 FTTH Council Europe: You describe yourself as the world's first ever Internet Sociologist. How would you define the role and tasks of an Internet Sociologist? Alexander Bard: Classic sociology was constructed in the 19th century by philosophers like Auguste Comte and Karl Marx to understand the then rapidly emerging industrial society and reveal its power structures. Classic sociology today still uses these models developed in the early 19th century to try to grasp contemporary society but with very limited success. This is because our globalized interconnected world is a radically different society from Europe in the 1840s. We need fundamentally new models to understand what is happening to us, as to focus on and adjust ourselves properly to the on-going revolution. Internet sociology is to understand the current changes as a paradigm shift, as a move from an urban society focused on one way-communicating mass media, capital, industrialism, and a struggle between a bourgeoisie and a proletariat, towards a cyberspace-driven society focused on interactive communication, branding and attention, media production and information curating, and a struggle internal to the internet between netocrats and consumtarians. As an internet sociologist, I regard income and wealth as scientifically irrelevant factors and instead concentrate on measuring interactivity itself to reveal the rapidly emerging new interactive power structure of the world. FTTH Council Europe: You often mention the Internet Revolution and the fact that we have not seen anything yet! What role do you see Fibre to the Home (FTTH) play in this new world order? Alexander Bard: We are only at the beginning of the internet revolution but we understand enough and can see its dramatic effects on contemporary society to motivate us to act now to get things right in preparation for the future. For example: We will see a clear, massive, and undeniable link between those countries and regions which give priority to broadband expansion and future economic growth and wealth within the next 20-30 years, similar to the massive payoffs Europe and North America enjoyed from major railroad and highway investments in the 19th and 20th centuries. The same will be true for investments in media and education in general. It is, to put it straightforwardly; hard to see how you could possibly overinvest in broadband technology at the moment. And in thus light, I would even prefer the term Fibre to Everywhere.

FTTH Council Europe: What is your motivation for being the keynote speaker at the FTTH Conference 2013 in London, what does it mean for you? Alexander Bard: I want the generation of the establishment, those currently in the age span 40-65, to understand what they can do now which will benefit the younger generation (the 15-30-yearolds) the most in the future. This younger generation, which has grown up in the online world and regards it as its home, now also lives online and to enable it to do so even more is the way forward. There is no turning back. Whatever problems this young aspiring internet generation may encounter - and the internet produces as many problems as it solves - it will also use the internet itself to solve them. How could you then possibly overinvest? FTTH Council Europe: You mention that people should invest in their children's future. Focusing on real broadband access, how do you think Europe is faring so far? In your view, what does the future have in store for us? Alexander Bard: The more you invest, the bigger the pay-off. In relation to the size of their economies, the Nordic and Baltic countries are investing fare more than the rest, Eastern European countries invest more than Western, but Europe as a whole is a really depressing story. In time, this will result in a wealthier and more interactive North and East, which will hopefully be a decent player in an increasingly globalized world, versus an increasingly left behind poorer and more conservative West and South. What is needed is the immediate political and corporate will to boost broadband infrastructure and internet accessibility and usage across the continent; otherwise Europe will be outspent by and left far behind Asia, the Pacific, and the Americas in the global economy. Financial budgets may get mass media headlines now, but the most important underlying factor for the future in Europe is who invests the most in its own youth; investing in your children equals investing in broadband, media, and creative arts education.

The Futurica Trilogy The Books The Futurica Trilogy is a work of philosophy, sociology and futurology in three closely related movements. The first volume, The Netocrats, deals with human history from the perspective of the new elite of Informationalism, the emerging society of information networks, shaped by digital interactivity, making prophecies about the digital future of politics, culture, economy, et cetera. The second volume, The Global Empire, explores the near future of political globalization and the struggle to form new, functioning ideologies for a world where global decision making is a necessity. The third volume, The Body Machines, thoroughly deals with the demise of the cartesian subject. It discusses the implications of a materialist image of humanity and explains how it relates to the new, emerging technological paradigm. It explains why were all of us body machines, and why this is actually good news. Enjoy!

The Authors Alexander Bard and Jan Sderqvist are Swedish philosophers and authors of the internationally successful Futurica Trilogy. They lecture the world over about the current global internet revolution. Bard & Sderqvist are regarded as pioneers in the literary genre futurica, where philosophy, social theory and futurology merge. After joining forces in the late 1990s, Bard & Sderqvist argued that the interactive revolution is the most profound and radical of all technological revolutions in history, that it completely transforms society, politics, the economy and the culture, social power structures, the collective world view and the whole concept of being human. They demonstrated the effects of digital dynamics on various levels of a globalized world. They not only made controversial predictions in the early years of the new millennium (and cleverly foresaw both the dot.com crash and September 11), they have since then been proven right in virtually every aspect and even in the most minute of details. Not only did Bard & Sderqvist foresee revolutionary innovations such as Google, Facebook, Al-Qaida and Wikileaks; they also went deeper and looked into the very power struggle of the on-going revolution itself.

About the FTTH Council Europe: The FTTH Council Europe is an industry organisation with a mission to accelerate the availability of fibre-based, ultra-high-speed access networks to consumers and businesses. The Council promotes this technology because it will deliver a flow of new services that enhance the quality of life, contribute to a better environment and increase economic competitiveness. The FTTH Council Europe consists of more than 150 member companies. www.ftthcouncil.eu Media Contact: Nadia Babaali Communications Director FTTH Council Europe +33 (0) 6 20 88 72 38 nadia.babaali@ftthcouncil.eu

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