The Qube Exchange

In past posts on The Qube Exchange (especially recently), we have talked about the Impact of Social Networking and Web 2.0 and how it has changed not only how we interact with each other but how it has changed fundamental tasks like applying for a job. We have also talked about why we think the innovation we have seen in the real estate industry is only just beginning and how we think PropertyQube will help make the industry take another step. So why do we think this is only the beginning for the real estate industry?

To find the answer, read “Wikinomics.” The book seeks to explain how mass collaboration changes everything. I read the book and I wanted to share some concepts right from it.

- We are all participating in the rise of a global and ubiquitous platform for computation and collaboration that is reshaping nearly every aspect of human affairs. While the old web was about web sites, clicks and eyeballs, the new web is about the communities, participation, and peering.

- The pace of change and the evolving demands of customers are such that firms can no longer depend only on tightly coupled relationships with a handful of business partners to keep up with customer desires for speed, innovation and control. Instead a firm must cocreate in a dynamic fashion with everyone – partners, competitors, educators, government and most of all consumers.

- To remain competitive, you must follow the four principles of Wikinomics: Being Open (communication of previously secret corporate information to the outside world and opening doors to the global talent pool), Peering (horizontal organizations emerging in a capacity to create information-based products), Sharing (sharing intellectual property, computing power, content, knowledge), and Acting Globally (breaking down geography barriers resulting in global workforces, doing business globally, etc).

- Your Network is your Filter: People can collaboratively filter through the plethora of variety and choices on the Web in the absence of expert guidance. …the application of collective intelligence is branching out in the way we organize and classify content on the web. What is Collective Intelligence? It is the aggregated knowledge that emerges from the decentralized choices and judgments of groups of independent participants. This is also referred to as the “Wisdom of Crowds.”

After reading the above concepts and thinking about where the real estate industry is today, you can understand why we think this is just the beginning. The first step is accepting concepts like this. The next step is making them work to your advantage.