How does information access affect us?

Access to huge amounts of information and educational material has the potential to be a game changer. Some organizations will benefit and some won't. Some agendas will benefit, and other won't. Here are some of the potential effects I see.

Increased organizational transparency: Whether organizations like it or not, it's a lot less easy to hide things anymore. True, not everything is open, but the reality is that when documents like your 990 are easily found on-line, it becomes much harder to keep things secret.

The potential to improve the education of any group, inexpensively: Whether we want materials that are engaging enough to help people learn to read, or truly help them understand a subject not well covered by textbooks, or give them the information they need to navigate some type of situation, it's almost certainly out there. Whatever issues may stand in our way, lack of materials can no longer be a reason or excuse.

A better educated constituency: For the organization who wants to work with its community, to give people tools, to be an enabler, this is a great opportunity. Not such good news for the organization that just wants to "do for" its community, and be the gatekeeper of growth and development.

The ability to match advocacy with actual facts: If you have an agenda that is not backed by the facts, that's very bad news. But, if your agenda actually reflects the real world, then this is great, since you can now prove your point much more easily. (You still need to tell a compelling story, get the word out and provide reasonable solutions, but at least you have first base covered.)

I'm sure there is more. What do you think?