The devil's in innovation

While China is already a digital superstar, it still has to cross the creativity barrier to earn superpower status, panelists say at a Web 2.0 conference.

Most conferences are passive affairs - sitting, listening and twiddling thumbs - so "China 2.0, The Rise of a Digital Superpower" was a refreshing change. Most participants had their heads buried in some device or another and were basically tweeting and blogging, while the guest speakers made their points.

It was confirmation, in some measure, of the collaborative nature of the Net and information sharing, as defined by Web 2.0, which includes wikis, mashups and social networking sites. The lesson seemed to be: It's okay not to focus all your energy on one thing, there is a virtual universe out there.