Financial Times

Thomas Friedman, three time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, in his book titled "The World Is Flat" gives a brief history of the globalised world in the 21st century.

This book in addition to giving many lessons to leaders in governance and business, gives them an useful insight into the effectiveness of communications in a world without defined boundaries. The leaders must recognize that this feature of the modern world enhances transparency and makes information available instantaneously across the world, without any restrictions and censorship.

Thomas Friedman quotes in his book, how during an interview he had in the Infosys Campus in Bangalore, with the CEO of Infosys Technologies, Nandan Nilekani, the latter had said: "outsourcing is just one dimension of a much more fundamental thing happening today in the world." "What happened over the last few years is that there was a massive investment in technology, especially in the bubble era, when hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in putting broadband connectivity around the world, undersea cables … all those things." "At the same time computers became cheaper and dispersed all over the world, and there was an explosion of software- email, search engines like google, and proprietary software that can chop up any piece of work and send one part to Boston, one part to Bangalore, and one part to Beijing , making it easy for anyone to do remote development.

When all these things suddenly came together around 2000, they created a platform where intellectual work, intellectual capital, could be delivered from anywhere.

It could be disaggregated, delivered, distributed, produced, and put back together again - and this gave a whole new degree of freedom to the way we do work, especially work of an intellectual nature and what you are seeing in Bangalore today is really the culmination of all these things coming together. Tom the playing field is being levelled".

Chewing over the last phrase Tom Friedman says," What Nandan is saying, I thought, is that the playing field is being flattened…Flattened? Flattened? My God, he is telling me the world is flat"

The technology revolution has given the world at large product options of recording and capturing news live and using modern information communications technology (ICT) transmitting it instantaneously to any part of the world, mixed with historical, statistical, analytical data, even extending to possible future scenarios and their impact. Solid non transparent guarded walls of secrecy and even Chinese walls that restrict access have disappeared in the face of the technology revolution.

Many including leaders in governance and business have not grasped the effects of this technology revolution that has made them transparent in the flat world.

The recent incidents in the North and East of the country were relayed over wires of technology as it happened; capturing pictures, sounds and voice recordings that backed the authenticity of the news. The noise of gun fire and bombs were captured on sound tracks, telephone recordings and small cameras of micro communications equipment.

These recorded evidence collaborated the truth. Voice mail transmissions relayed as e-mail attachments and telephone messages transmitted supplemented evidence in pictures and written message news items. In the face of these technological advancements censorship, officially or informally, of the traditional news media had little or no effect. In addition denials of events and incidents and the lack of evidence to pursue perpetrators of any criminal, illegal or unfair actions were questioned no sooner aired publicly.

The transparency created as a consequence enabled the people to make judgements, irrespective of positions articulated by leaders and the traditional media.

The miniaturisation of recording instruments, alongside the introduction of technology option products with enhanced ICT capability has meant that without the knowledge of persons, their voices, actions and commands can be recorded and transmitted without those being so subjected to recording even being aware. This may encroach on personal liberties of some but certainly has enhanced the transparency of actions of leaders. They are now open to public scrutiny. The trend in legislation accepting electronic and digital records as official evidence makes the burden heavier on those who act with impunity, as their denials can be rebutted with acceptable evidence.

Glossy magazines stories, PR video and audio presentations and annual reports demonstrating good governance made public at a significant cost to build brand values and personal image values can now be of nil or even negative value, in the face of recorded evidence made public and spread across the flat world.

It will become more difficult in the days ahead for anyone to play the game of "Jekyll and Hyde" and have dual personalities on display to suit different needs, for different games, at different locations to different audiences.

Leaders beware! You are now dressed in the "Emperor's New Clothes" and your nakedness, if any, is transparent to all!