For years, in the "North-West" (that is industrialized countries - usually understood as North vs. South and West vs. East), we've been babbling about the "digital gap" that is supposedly the new line of division, usually understood as running along that of economical and political development. We often have quite a simplistic idea of the situation, imagining countries that are like technological deserts, on top of being devoid of everything essentials for a normal life (that is one car per family, two TV-sets per household, all with at least 40 channels, and 4-weeks vacations in the Bahamas or in the Swiss Alps per years). We tend to forget the forest of satellite dishes that are ornementing most cities and even village buildings in what we used (politcally) incorrectly call "third world" countries. And a recent article from the Mail & Guardian, translated in French in the Courrier International, just reminds us how wrong we often are about the appropriation of "our" modern technologies by people in these countries.

A recent somewhat shocking experience with the Web 2.0, in which I really lost control of my image (fortunately, the content isn't damaging for my reputation, but still) has inspired me the following thoughts. I'm posting them today as I was invited to a seminar by Dynamia about the safety of one's digital personal data (in French only), which was temporarily postponed. But I hope this can serve as a starting point for deeper reflexions that could be elaborated on in such gathering.

The metaphor of the "Global Village" has now been offering for more than 40 years a vision of a sort of "flat world", with no barriers, where people can meet peacefully and communicate seamlessly. Based on an idealistic conception of the village community (I live in a village, so I know what I'm talking about), this expression tends to completely oversee some less charming aspects of this way of life. Among them, I'd like to particularly point community's gaze, gossips, neighbor's malevolence. Moreover, the adjective "global", while giving us the illusion of being connected to the rest of world, makes us then forget that we are unfortunately first and foremost rooted in the local, made of family, friends, colleagues or fellow students. This results in us loosing some sense of discretion if not decency when we are active online. And I'm not talking about puritanism or prudishness here, but about protecting one's personal sphere.

David Marcus, serial entrepreneur now founder and CEO of Zong, talks about the new business models created by mobile channels.

David Sadigh, founder of the Geneva-based IC-Agency, shows us how organizations can focus on user retention rather than user acquisition to boost traffic.

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