Wikipedia

Wikipedia was the eighth large leap in technology that I experienced consciously in my life. Given how fast technology is moving now in comparison, I remember how reluctant adoption by universities was back then. The most important contribution of Wikipedia is that it values the knowledge and experiences of everyone. It does away with the assumption that you have to be a carefully vetted expert to contribute to a subject. In turn, the biggest achievement of Wikipedia is the development of the editing ecosystem that ensures that a system that is open and could be abused still produces high-quality output 25 years later. I was proud that my employer and alma mater awarded an honorary doctorate to Jimmy Wales, and I recommend his talk on the value of failure.