“Are you ready for cyber-politics?”

The size of the digital universe is predicted to double every two years, with its content increasingly shaped by different social, political, and commercial agendas. The IFLA Trend Report, being launched on Monday 19 August in Singapore during the World Library & Information Congress, considers how hyper-connected societies will shape our global information environment.

For those of you just joining us mid-way through our week of Trend Report teasers, we’re giving IFLA blog readers a sneak peek at some of the high level trends identified by our experts in the countdown to launch date.

IFLA members will be able to sign up to the comprehensive web platform to explore the Trend Report in full from launch date. Details regarding how you can sign up will be made available on Monday 19 August.

Today’s trend (trend 4) is: Hyper-connected societies will listen to and empower new voices and groups

We’ve seen more opportunities for collective action realised with the proliferation of mobile technologies around the world. Hyper-connected societies are enabling the rise of new voices and groups, and promoting the growth of single-issue political movements. What impact will hyper-connected societies have on traditional political parties? Open government initiatives and access to public sector data will continue to improve, resulting in more citizen-focused public services.

What to read more? You don’t have to wait much longer – the IFLA Trend Report is being launched on Monday morning 19 August in Singapore during the World Library & Information Congress (Session 93: Plenary session).

About the IFLA Trend Report

In December 2011 the IFLA Governing Board set up a Steering Committee to commission a major Trend Report modelling the evolving digital information environment. The IFLA Trend Report is the result of twelve months’ consultation with experts and stakeholders from a range of disciplines to explore and discuss emerging trends in the information environment, before turning the discussion over to libraries.

Follow the discussion on twitter at #iflatrends.