A paradigm for electronic connectivity between businesses that enables them to create efficient, integrated systems that are easy to use and manage. The digital nervous system can be viewed as the next evolutionary phase of the Information Age.
The idea of this business paradigm is that businesses connect to each other in a way that is similar to the organization of a living organism. Digital information - whether it is text, graphics, audio, or video - flows between businesses much like electrical impulses flow between parts of the body.
A stimulus of information entering one business that is generated by another business produces a response. The greater the complexity and the more interconnected the nervous system, the higher the organism - and the same applies to business. Greater interflow of digital information can lead to the evolution of new forms of doing business.
The Internet and its related paradigms “intranet” and “extranet” serve as examples of this evolution. These concepts grew naturally - almost organically - from the complex interconnectedness fostered by advances in software and networking.
The phrase «digital nervous system» occurred to Bill Gates during preparations for Microsoft's first annual CEO summit, a carefully orchestrated extravaganza held at the firm's Redmond, Washington, campus in the spring of 1997.
He was to deliver the keynote speech and wanted to make the most of his opportunity. He had been searching for a one-line description of a concept then under development at Microsoft - as much for in-house use as for eventual sale to the (corporate) public - and this one seemed to suit his need. Gates predicts that every sizeable corporation will soon have such a system, and that - like snowflakes - no two will be identical.
Infographic - digital nervous system and digital workplace (http://www.catapultsystems.com/)