The Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies' new report "Out of Control"

Members' Report 1/2010: Out of Control

Out of Control: Digitalisation, perishing industries and new business models

In the institutes report "Anarconomy" from September 2009, we described how the creation of knowledge and digital services will be governed by autonomous networks and illegal subversive movements, who publish digital copies of books, music and movies. In this next report "Out of Control" we examine: "How to actually make money in an 'Anarcomic market'?

Executive Summary

We are witnessing a rapid growth of free
content and services on the internet
and in the physical world. This content
is created and distributed by the users
themselves in voluntary, self-regulated
networks. These conditions, we have
described and diagnosed in our report
”Anarconomy” from 2009.
This report addresses the challenge of
how to make money in an anarconomic
market, because as several have pointed
out, “we can’t all make a living from cutting
each other’s hair”. Our answers can
be found in this report, which elaborates
on the ideas behind anarconomy, but
takes its starting point in how it is possible
to create fruitful business models in
a market, where everything that can be
digitalized will be digitalized, where the
price of digital products moves towards
zero, and where everything is more or
less out of control.The core elements are still that knowledge
and ideas as well as digital products
fundamentally have other characteristics
than physical products, however, we
also look at how the physical products
move towards digitalization. In addition,
we call attention to which characteristics
and services a business model in an
anarconomic market ought to include
and attach importance to showing where
things can be done differently in order to
give rise to better conditions for existence
in this new logic.