Towards a Digital Renaissance traces the excitement and optimism of the early internet, the outsider cyberpunk ethic and open access. But it also monitors the more complex but ultimately more commercialised online world of today, a world dominated by corporate business in which many feel that surveillance has become overwhelming. Jeremy Silver's involvement in various start-ups, both as CEO and investor, led to his leadership of Digital Catapult. Towards a Digital Renaissance examines the interplay between state and private financing in the digital sector. It also argues for the internet's potential to transition from a 'medieval' world of the GAFA big four (Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple), closed and walled up like medieval city states, to a 'digital renaissance' based on the free exchange of ideas and an enabling metaverse made up of virtual reality and artificial intelligence that deepens our experience of reality rather than restricting or monitoring it.

The Digital Renaissance teaches you how to translate the methods and skills found in traditional art to the digital medium. By covering fundamental painting principles and the basics of digital software, before moving into tutorials that break down key techniques, professional artist Carlyn Beccia encourages you to use the tools at hand to paint your own works of art. Each chapter showcases one great painter - the selection includes Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Sargent, Gustav Klimt, Matisse, and Picasso - and analyses the techniques that set each one apart. These techniques are then emulated in step-by-step tutorials, allowing today's digital artist to achieve amazing results in Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop.

The world of work is going through an unprecedented revival driven by new technologies. The Digital Renaissance of Work: Delivering Digital Workplaces Fit for the Future will take the reader on a journey into the emerging technology-led revival of work. A unique combination of thought leadership and technical know-how, this book will bring the reader up-to-date with the latest developments in the field, such as: freelancing the organisation/ work but no jobs, localisation/ work but not place, time travel and death of the weekend, trust, privacy and the quantified employee, leadership in the hyper connected organisation, beyond the office/ the mobile frontline, automation and the frontiers of work, as well as setting out how to lay down the roadmap for the digital workplace: the human centred digital workplace, making the business case, setting up the digital workplace programme, technology deployment, measuring the digital workplace. The book will draw on new case studies from major organisations with which Paul Miller is in regular discussion, such as: Accenture - aligning the digital and physical workplaces; Barclays - innovating in a regulated environment; Deutsche Post/ DHL - leading at the mobile frontline; Environment Agency - real time collaboration; IBM - pushing the digital workplace frontiers; IKEA - measuring the digital workplace; SAP - gamifying the enterprise. Paul Miller’s follow up to his critically acclaimed The Digital Workplace picks up the story to provide organisations with an understanding of the structural and organizational implications the emerging technology has for the workplace. His insights, backed by the considerable research of the Digital Workplace Forum, offer a lifeline to organizations needing to make better sense of a very uncertain future.

Historian Thomas J. Misa's sweeping history of the relationship between technology and society over the past 500 years reveals how technological innovations have shaped -- and have been shaped by -- the cultures in which they arose. Spanning the preindustrial past, the age of scientific, political, and industrial revolutions, as well as the more recent eras of imperialism, modernism, and global security, this compelling work evaluates what Misa calls "the question of technology." Misa brings his acclaimed text up to date by examining how today's unsustainable energy systems, insecure information networks, and vulnerable global shipping have helped foster geopolitical risks and instability. A masterful analysis of how technology and culture have influenced each other over five centuries, Leonardo to the Internet frames a history that illuminates modern-day problems and prospects faced by our technology-dependent world. Praise for the first edition "Closely reasoned, reflective, and written with insight, grace, and wit, Misa's book takes us on a personal tour of technology and history, seeking to define and analyze paradigmatic techno-cultural eras." -- Technology and Culture "Follows [Thomas] Hughes's model of combining an engaging historical narrative with deeper lessons about technology." -- American Scholar "His case studies, such as that of Italian futurism or the localizations of the global McDonalds, provide good starting points for thought and discussion." -- Journal of Interdisciplinary History "This review cannot do justice to the precision and grace with which Misa analyzes technologies in their social contexts. He convincingly demonstrates the usefulness of his conceptual model." -- History and Technology "A fascinating, informative, and well-illustrated book." -- Choice

This is a book for anyone intrigued by the complexities of digital leadership that require a capability to constantly balance the routines of everyday business with the ability to innovate. Finding the appropriate mix between the dichotomy stability—flexibility has been a delicate task that few, if any, corporations have properly managed to overcome. Why is that? This conundrum becomes acute as businesses embark on digital transformations, an often-painful venture highlighting the deficiencies of traditional management styles but also agile methodologies. They deliver results that are far below initial expectations, provide half-baked digital solutions where potential commercial gains are poorly captured and leveraged, and, far too often, not even identified. Mismatches between technologies, the man-machine (dis)connect, or organizational dysfunctionality are typically identified as root causes, but beneath them lurks a more scathing problem: an inadequate leadership. This inadequacy rests on a lack of holistic insights backed by well-rounded skills and sets of knowledge that are required to understand all aspects of a digital transformation, as well as its participants from employees to customers. Thus, what is needed is a modern take of the Renaissance Man.

In "The Digital Renaissance: Navigating the Age of Information" by William Jones, embark on an illuminating journey through the transformative landscape of the digital era. With the precision of a historian and the vision of a futurist, Jones paints a vivid portrait of our modern age, where technology, connectivity, and information converge to redefine how we live, work, and interact with the world. From the inception of the digital revolution to the advent of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain, Jones chronicles the evolution of the Digital Renaissance with captivating clarity. His narrative skillfully navigates the complex terrain of the digital landscape, unraveling its threads to reveal the profound impact on society, culture, and human potential. But this book is not just a chronicle of the past; it's a guide to the future. Through compelling stories of innovation, ethical dilemmas, and resilient responses to digital challenges, Jones invites readers to explore the limitless possibilities that lie ahead. He sheds light on the ethical considerations that must underpin technological progress and offers insights into harnessing technology for human flourishing. From the pioneers of the digital age who disrupted industries to the digital citizens who navigate the complexities of the online world, "The Digital Renaissance" is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of humanity. It celebrates the spirit of innovation that propels us forward while emphasizing the moral compass that must guide our digital journey. This book is more than a mere exploration of technology; it's a call to action. It encourages readers to become active participants in shaping the Digital Renaissance, to cultivate digital literacy, and to forge a future where innovation and ethics coexist harmoniously. In an age where connectivity knows no borders and information flows ceaselessly, "The Digital Renaissance" is a compass that points toward a brighter, more informed, and more equitable future. Whether you're a tech enthusiast, an ethical innovator, or someone curious about the digital age's impact on our lives, William Jones's insightful narrative provides a roadmap for navigating the age of information. Join the Digital Renaissance and embrace the boundless possibilities that await in this compelling journey through our ever-evolving digital world.

Lively and informed, "Scroogenomics" illustrates how consumer spending generates vast amounts of economic waste. Economist Waldfogel provides solid explanations to show why it's time to stop the madness and think twice before buying gifts for the holidays.

Renaissance Fun is about the technology of Renaissance entertainments in stage machinery and theatrical special effects; in gardens and fountains; and in the automata and self-playing musical instruments that were installed in garden grottoes. How did the machines behind these shows work? How exactly were chariots filled with singers let down onto the stage? How were flaming dragons made to fly across the sky? How were seas created on stage? How did mechanical birds imitate real birdsong? What was ‘artificial music’, three centuries before Edison and the phonograph? How could pipe organs be driven and made to play themselves by waterpower alone? And who were the architects, engineers, and craftsmen who created these wonders? All these questions are answered. At the end of the book we visit the lost ‘garden of marvels’ at Pratolino with its many grottoes, automata and water jokes; and we attend the performance of Mercury and Mars in Parma in 1628, with its spectacular stage effects and its music by Claudio Monteverdi – one of the places where opera was born. Renaissance Fun is offered as an entertainment in itself. But behind the show is a more serious scholarly argument, centred on the enormous influence of two ancient writers on these subjects, Vitruvius and Hero. Vitruvius’s Ten Books on Architecture were widely studied by Renaissance theatre designers. Hero of Alexandria wrote the Pneumatics, a collection of designs for surprising and entertaining devices that were the models for sixteenth and seventeenth century automata. A second book by Hero On Automata-Making – much less well known, then and now – describes two miniature theatres that presented plays without human intervention. One of these, it is argued, provided the model for the type of proscenium theatre introduced from the mid-sixteenth century, the generic design which is still built today. As the influence of Vitruvius waned, the influence of Hero grew.

How digital technology is upending the traditional creative industries—and why that’s a good thing The digital revolution poses a mortal threat to the major creative industries—music, publishing, television, and the movies. Cheap, easy self-producing is eroding the position of the gatekeepers and guardians of culture. Does this revolution herald the collapse of culture, as some commentators claim? Far from it. In Digital Renaissance, Joel Waldfogel argues that digital technology is enabling a new golden age of popular culture—a digital renaissance. Analyzing decades of production and sales data, as well as bestseller and best-of lists, Waldfogel finds that the new digital model is just as powerful at generating high-quality, successful work as the old industry model, and in many cases more so.

Originally published in hardcover in 2006.