Co-creation in health

Is it possible that the Industrial Revolution, the roots of which go back 250 years, has finally accomplished what it set out to do—free humans from the drudgery of working to survive? And, if it has, now what? Rifkin’s controversial prognostications are legendary and emerge in a new book.

A The plummeting of marginal costs is spawning a hybrid economy — part capitalist market and part Collaborative Commons — with far-reaching implications for society. Hundreds of millions of people are already transferring parts of their economic lives to the global Collaborative Commons. Prosumers are plugging into the fledgling IoT and making and sharing their own information, entertainment, green energy, and 3D-printed products at near zero marginal cost. They are also sharing cars, homes, clothes and other items via social media sites, rentals, redistribution clubs, and co-operatives at low or near zero marginal cost. Meanwhile, students are enrolling in free massive open online courses (MOOCs) that operate at near zero marginal cost. Social entrepreneurs are bypassing the banking establishment by using crowdfunding to finance socially responsible businesses as well as creating alternative currencies in the fledgling sharing economy.