Hands in the air I’m a believer in the BBC. I do believe - rightly or wrongly - the BBC has a remit which is unique. It’s a remit which gives them a high degree of latitude, but thanks to the David Kelly debacle (and when a man’s lost his life, that’s putting it lightly) a high degree of public responsibility, which opens them up to substantial scrutiny - inside and out. Nevertheless we are now firmly in the 21st century and only now are the Beeb really getting to grips with the power and immediacy blogging has to offer. So, how does an organisation such as the Beeb embrace new technology? Technology that is developing at such a pace that in all probability it’ll look slightly different by the time you’ve finished reading this article?

Robert Scoble is probably one of the most high-profile tech bloggers any organisation can hope to engage with, much less be engaged by. Throw in the World Economic Forum meeting at Davos last week, the most high-profile event on the planet and you have a heady mix of technology, innovation, justice, economics, government and innovation. So, what did we get to see? Robert Scoble not only engaging with the BBC’s reporting staff for a Qik interview - with questions/comments being fed live to his mobile phone, but as a result the BBC reporting on the fact they’d been reported by. The fact is Robert had completed his work, with nothing more to write immediately the conversation finished with Tim Weber. The BBC - and this is the funny bit - on the other-hand, as quick as they are, managed to blog about the the encounter at 2:02pm!

Qik is new - although the principle isn’t. 

“Qik enables you to share moments of your life with your friends, family and the world - directly from your cell phone! Keep your world in the know, share a laugh, tell engaging stories. Just point your cell phone and stream video live to your your friends on Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, etc. OR use your cell phone like a camcorder and stream hours and hours of video without worrying about storage on your cell phone.”

15 years ago we were all wowed by seeing Scud missiles flying into Kuwait live as it happened. Qik takes immediacy and personal to a whole new level. If we were watching this today, we’d be getting live video stream from families within the tower blocks showing us and telling us exactly what it feels like. We would get to see real petrification, real devastation and real war, with inane questions being asked about how it feels and what anger they hold to those pressing the button on these missiles. That’s one of the inevitable down sides - and thank god for the BBC; the BBC would probably take an editorial decision not to engage in that type of reporting.

On the other-hand, we’d also see people sharing those life-special moments; Birth being broadcast to close family and relatives, special birthdays being shared, graduation ceremonies shared. Of course, there could be practical uses as well: Emergency services being able to see and ask questions whilst logging the incident, asking questions based on what they can see, not just on what they are being told and Mountain Rescue trying to pin-point calls for help. These are all uses, which with not inconsiderable development are very real possibilities. The trick will be to develop them in such a way Joe Bloggs can engage with them - EASILY and make them affordable, privately or commercially.

If memory serves me right Robert first mentioned Qik in mid-December. His adoption of it for Davos is hugely significant. Let’s not forget all the business leaders who were there to see it in action and the fact it has now been reported upon lends weight to its adoption within the media industry. The development of this technology is so quick and I am confident we will see this technology being deployed within the leading media organisations within the next 90 days. Will that mean we get to see this footage on our TV for the News at Ten? Hopefully not, unless it really adds value to the story; I’ve no wish to see grainy mobile phone footage on my nice shiny new HDTV, but I can fully applaud the use of it in cases of truly public interest!

Qik - and its rivals - takes immediacy and personal to a whole new level. As we move deeper into the 21st century it seems we have a desire to be more and more up close and personal with our interests. It doesn’t matter if our interest is an insatiable desire for news, war or cookery we want more of it and we want to “be there”. Qik and it’s alternatives are a real step-change to making this happen.

Just prior to Davos 2007 the BBC trumpeted how their blog would be their “up close and personal” at the schmoozing event of the year.

“We want to give you a good feel for what’s happening at this annual meeting of the world’s movers and shakers: the big stories; the mood music, and what it’s like when 2,000 top business leaders and politicians pack into a narrow valley in the Swiss Alps.”

Qik - aided and abetted by Robert has trumped that well and truly. I really do look forward to Davos 2009; what will the Davos Blog look like then? Of course, for it to be radically different there needs to be some other event this year that really kick starts the tactility and availability of this technology. Nevertheless this must be a really exciting time to be at this point on the development curve of this industry - as a journailst and/or a technologist!