3.4 Distributed knowledge and information asymmetry: the role of smart technology and digital revolution

   Today the most powerful and rich Big Tech corporations implement digital revolution that was foreseen by Stafford Beer more than 50 years ago. In the emerging social and economic configurations data, information and knowledge are the new powerful sources of competitive advantages. People, groups and organisations exchange data in their mutual interactions for collecting knowledge useful in solving problems and taking decisions.

   Communications in a digital environment generates a huge amount of data that becomes a new power source of competitive advantages. Big data-centric corporations enwrap their customers by ecosystem of services and products obtaining complete data about people behavior and predicting their desires in future. Consequently, conditions of information asymmetry affect social and economic systems and distributed knowledge is usually not well collected, managed and understood.

Unfortunately, data are approached as a resource that must be protected because it can produce a possible competitive advantage. As a consequence, conditions of information asymmetry affect social and economic systems and distributed knowledge is usually not well collected, managed and understood.

   The ongoing digital revolution and the opportunities provided by the so-called smart technologies could offer new perspectives and instruments in the challenging debate about distributed knowledge and information asymmetry.

   Accordingly, this session invites to the in-depth study the contribution of smart technology and digital revolution in defining more effective approach for the management of distributed knowledge and information asymmetry.