The purpose of this project is to explore some under-explored and fast developing aspects of ‘the future of work’, focusing on the social workplace. This approach is of particular interest as the environment of work is changing rapidly due to a combination of forces including demographic (the ‘millenials’, which belong to the new generation entering the workplace, interact and work differently), technological (web-based business tools are becoming pervasive in the work place) and organizational (the virtualization of work compounds the effects of globalization to accelerate the pace of innovation within and across organizations). Social organizations/corporations emerge from these trends and we need to better understand where and how value is being created in this new context (in both mature and emerging economies), identify best practices in the social workplace and create a model for assessing the Social Quotient (SQ) of firms, i.e. their preparedness for the adoption of the social workplace.   

The Internet has developed over decades but continues to be a space of rapid innovation, particularly in patterns of access and use. The cultures of the Internet might be more stable, since they are anchored in the values and attitudes of individuals for whom the Internet is but one, often minor, aspect of their everyday life and work. However, the last four decades of this ‘network of networks’ has seen dramatic changes in who has access to this and related information and communication technologies, and how people use and view these technologies. Globally, this paper provides a snapshot of the diffusion and use of the Internet that suggests the emergence of a ‘New Internet World’. We contrast the basic contours of the old and new Internet world that drove a set of research questions about cross-national differences in the values, attitudes, and behaviour of Internet users. Our global survey of users suggested four related themes that synthesize the empirical findings:

1) a shifting centre of gravity in those who use the Internet;

2) the rise of a global culture among Internet users;

3) the reinforcement of core Internet values by users in rapidly developing nations; and 4) the more innovative patterns of use within rapidly developing nations. Together, these trends provide a perspective on the development of a new Internet world that requires further research to validate the themes advanced by the present research.

The Global Internet Values Project: International Perspectives on Privacy, Security, Trust, and Freedom in a Networked World

July 2010

This research aims to identify patterns and trends in individual attitudes and behaviours related to online trust, privacy, security and freedom. It is an INSEAD eLab project that involves collaboration with William H. Dutton from the Oxford Internet Institute. In the first years, the major work of this project involved a partnership with the World Economic Forum (WEF) and comScore in conducting a survey and drafting a report on global Internet values, entitled ‘The New Internet World’.

Overview

The Internet and related information and communication technologies (ICTs) are being integrated into everyday life and work in a growing number of nations. Roughly a third of the world's population has access to the Internet, with more than 80 percent of the global online population participating on one or more social networking sites. Mobile phones subscriptions worldwide, which are increasingly converging around Internet infrastructures and services, have almost reached the six billion mark.

The consequences of these trends include growth in electronic commerce, which is rising at double-digit rates internationally, and changes in patterns of information consumption and creation.

As a result of this, Internet stakeholders ranging from governments to civil organizations, to businesses and industries have become increasingly concerned about issues of online privacy, trust, security, and freedom on a more global scale. Much has been written about national policies around the world, but less is known about cross-national comparative differences from the perspective of Internet users. How are individuals experiencing change in their expectations and concerns surrounding such issues as their control over personal information, the credibility of information sources, the safety of their information, and their ability to express themselves online? These issues are of particular importance to track at this time as nations are introducing new Internet policies and regulations that could reshape the public's experiences online - for better or worse.

Understanding and Comparing Global Internet Values

Many experts failed to anticipate the societal implications of ICTs that have unfolded over the last 40 years of the Internet. Even when the Internet became commercial and accessible to citizens 15 years ago, most pundits did not foresee the scale of its diffusion and impact. However the change has been rapid and today we are faced with some important questions in the context of increasingly ubiquitous technology.

• How has the use of new information and communication technologies transformed the way people live, work and connect today?

• What are the attitudes and behaviours of individual citizens with respect to pervasive concerns such as privacy, trust, security and freedom of choice and expression?

• To what degree are these issues perceived as important values for Internet users and do individuals and households of different countries and demographics regard them in the same way?

• How can government, business, and civil society, inspire an appropriate level of trust and confidence - in both people and transactions - online?

Methodology

The team led with survey research as a means to identify patterns and trends in individual attitudes and behaviours related to online trust, privacy, security and freedom. A first Web-based questionnaire was designed in 2010, which asked Internet users about their individual values, opinions and behaviour in such areas as the protection and dissemination of personal information online, the use of security mechanisms and safeguards, the degree of trust in other online actors as well as perceived levels of freedom online. Measures for high-tech households, patterns of Internet use and online activities were also included in the questionnaire. Over 5,400 adult Internet users in 13 different countries were surveyed through an online questionnaire, which was supported and administered by comScore in November 2010.  This enabled a more cross-national and cross-regional comparative perspective than previous Internet surveys, which have most often focused on a single locale or nation.

Results

Results from this survey were published initially in the World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011.  A second paper, based on this study, was also presented at the iCS-OII Symposium on ‘A Decade in Internet Time’ an OII-iCS Symposium on the Dynamics of the Internet and Society, at the University of Oxford, 21-24 September 2011, and as INSEAD Working Papers (see dissemination).

Key findings from the study highlighted the emerging contours of a new Internet world that is characterised by:

• A global culture developing around the Internet, in which users worldwide shared remarkably similar values and attitudes related to online freedom of expression, privacy, trust and security;

• Users want it all: they desire freedom of expression, privacy, trust and security and do not view these as mutually exclusive, requiring major tradeoffs;

• Emerging and developing economies, primarily from Asia and Latin America are becoming the dominant nations online, having the greatest number of active users despite lower proportions of adopters;

• Newly adopting countries are as liberal if not more liberal in attitudes, such as support for freedom of expression, and behaviour, such as use of social networking platforms, while older-adopting countries are more conservative, tied to more traditional Internet applications.

Second Survey- Spring 2012

The research team is in discussion with the WEF and comScore on the potential for fielding a second online survey in 2012. The original questionnaire is being revisited to explore and build on the key findings from the first study. The team plans to add additional countries and languages as well in order to increase the value of the research.  Results from this second survey are expected to be made public in the autumn of 2012.

Research Team

Professor Soumitra Dutta-INSEAD eLab

Professor William H. Dutton-Oxford Internet University

Ginette Law (External Researcher)-INSEAD

Publications

• Dutta, S., Dutton, W.H. and Law, G. (2011) The New Internet World. A Global Perspective on Freedom of Expression, Privacy, Trust and Security Online. Contribution to: The Global Information Technology Report 2010-2011. Transformations 2.0. World Economic Forum, April 2011.Dutton, WH., Dutta, S. and Law, G. (September 18, 2011)
• Emerging Contours of a New Internet World: Shifting Patterns of Adoption, Attitudes and Behaviour. iCS-OII Symposium on ‘A Decade in Internet Time’ an OII-iCS Symposium on the Dynamics of the Internet and Society, University of Oxford, 21-24 September 2011.  This paper is also available as an INSEAD Working Paper.

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Article by Soumitra Dutta, The Roland Berger Chaired Professor in Business and Technology, on how and why CEOs should embrace social media and the importance of building a strategy around it.

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