Information asymmetry is as an unequality in information, knowledge, expertise, network -etc-, which creates an imbalance where a company can make better decisions than another company.

Asymmetric information imbalances have always been competitive advantages -in any way expressed- for companies’ existences.
The Web’s transparency is changing this for good and worse.

The increasing tranparency of the Web certainly has challenges for companies to keep its advantages over others. Publicly available information which is accessible to anyone is the prime challenge.
The information widely available applicates to competitive intelligence, information on products and services, information on brands, information with regard to target groups, which all can be used to enhance -both- the internal and external processes of businesses.
Web 2.0 forces companies to be open, to be transparent towards the market and the players/customers. If this isn’t done, the consequences might be even worse, due to the co-involvement consumers demand in transactions.

Though, paradoxically, if processes are enhanced and adapted to the opportunities that Web 2.0 offers, bigger asymmetric information imbalance  and competitive advantages can be created!
Think of all the information available on social networks, bookmarking sites, Wikipedia’s, blogs, microblogs which can be used to create or enhance business and further increase the asymmetry. Networks of people or companies always have existed which added value to the competitive advantage of business, but the easier access to all this information is being facilitated by the Web, forcing companies to extract intelligence from it easier, faster and with more accuracy.

Because information is out in the open, companies need to be able to learn and adapt faster than their competitors. This is the skill that can be mastered. Learning curves will follow each other quicker, advantages don’t remain as long anymore and information overload is all around us.
Overcome the challenges of the Web’s transparency but at the same way, alter the company to new levels with help of its transparency.

How do you think the Web can contribute to information asymmetry?

by Richard Kastelein (originally posted on Atlantic Free Press)

It’s only been a couple of weeks since the European Broadcasting Union demonstrated the potential of the HbbTV specification at IBC2009 in Amsterdam. But it won’t be long before Europeans start seeing the results – before Christmas according to some pundits. And once compatible devices are out in the market, they say the speed-to-market of applications developed for the platform will be incredibly short… as the industry looks to new models that embrace open API’s and SDK’s much like Apple has done with the iPhone and the Open Source movement online with enormous projects such as Sourceforge. With an HTML environment activated by a simple red button, in the same manner as a Web portal, the resulting content can be delivered over the IP stream.
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The latest buzz from Silicon Valley has to be the Real-time Web.
Ignited by the success of Twitter, the next evolutionary step of the Web is the real-time delivery of content, as this might be true, there’s too much noise about the Real-time Web and its implications.

Is the Real-time Web really that emerging and transformative or is it hyped and cleverly used marketing jargon?
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A diarchy is a form of governing by two rulers, diarchies are known for instance from ancient Sparta and Rome and is one of the oldest types of government.
The Spartan diarchy is suggested to be a solution for: a struggle between two Spartan families or to stay away from an absolutistic ruling.
The distribution of power amongst content and context is meant to prevent a struggle between two forces and meant to avoid focus of attention and power of either content or context exclusively. Emphasis, focus and importance on both intertwined is the key.
When reflecting on diarchies and thinking about it in relation to the current phase of the Internet evolution, not only the Content is King (as often is written), but the Context needs to be acknowledged and treated equally influencing as the second valid King in the diarchal rulership over the Internet and business landscape.
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