Sergio Arzeni--Social networks are a key feature of the knowledge-based economy

As pointed out by Diane Coyle in her “Paradoxes of Prosperity” a high-tech economy is one with a high density of social capital.
The implications of the financial crisis are:
• To get out of the crisis we need a new wave of innovations and a new generation of entrepreneurs which will respond to the global challenges the planet is facing, such as climate change, ageing population, food and water crisis, pandemic diseases. This implies structural change and profound reforms in countries and a new international co-operative architecture;

• The financial crisis might be over, the economic crisis may have reached the bottom, but the social and employment crisis is still ahead of us and will last for some time. Many governments have reached their limits both in capacity to tax or expand debt. To respond to the social crisis there is a need for greater involvement by the third sector and wider forms of social entrepreneurship.

• The phenomenon of bloggers which has expanded dramatically from zero to 200 million in five years is creating new opportunities for creativity through social networks. It may result in a new wave of social innovation and entrepreneurship.