This session is about a different kind of health care reform that is underway, one that is led by people rather than government. In a word, the internet is fostering a big power shift at the consumer level. More and more, power is shifting to health consumers, or so-called "e-patients"--they are networking with each other and thus nibbling away at the power of doctors, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, insurers, etc.

The poli-tech tribe gathered in New York last week for the Personal Democracy Forum and, as Craig Newmark put it, welcomed "our new nerd overlords."

Esther Dyson, Jamie Heywood, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), and I were asked to take on a breakout panel entitled, "From Participatory Politics to Participatory Medicine: The Coming Revolution in Health Care." Cool, right?

Esther Dyson, Jamie Heywood, Jerry Nadler, and Susannah Fox

Mark Pesce, digital ethnographer from University of Sydney Australia, asks, "What do we do to make the idea of participation so alluring so seductive that people want to participate?" Hear the author of Open Source Democracy and Life Inc Douglas Rushkoff respond. Both Pesce and Rushkoff were speakers at PdF2009 conference in New York.

PdF 2009 in New York we asked "If you could ask the PdF audience one question, what would you ask?" We would like to hear your answers to the insightful questions that were asked at our 2009 conference. Please post your comments below.


Interested in hearing more from Mark Pesce or Douglas Rushkoff? Watch Pesce on The Dangerous Power of Sharing at PdF2009, or watch Douglas Rushkoff on the New Renaissance at PdF 2008.

Apple has taken heat recently for blocking seemingly benign and, in some case very helpful, iPhone apps submissions--most notably Google's Voice app.

Now, an independent developer is claiming that his app, iSinglePayer, has been blocked by Apple for being "politically charged." iSinglePayer is a sort of "lobby Congress for health care reform via my phone" wizard: it shows you US and worldwide healthcare statistics, determines your senators and representatives via GPS, shows the campaign contributions they've received from the health care industry, and lets you easily call their congressional offices.

• Spain | eHealth Week 2010 in Barcelona
   “eHealth for sustainable healthcare: global changes through local actions”: this is the motto of the High Level Ministerial Conference on eHealth, that is taking place in Barcelona in these days (until March 18th). The program is ambitious: in the conference the most innovative projects driven by the EU Spanish and European regions will be presented, creating a debate on the importance of ICT and participation in healthcare and the contribution of entrepreneurs working in the field.