[apologies for overdue post from last trip...] To say that Iceland is a small country is an understatement. 300,000 people is a third the population of San Francisco, a mere 3.7% the population of New York City – the entire country. What are the implications?
They are myriad, but the two that stand out are the sense of community that pervades all interactions, and the ability to quickly evolve, making Iceland one of the most friendly and technologically advanced countries in the world.
In Iceland, everyone more or less knows everyone, or is at least only a few degrees of separation away. Nowadays, if you want to find someone, it’s usually only a phone call or two away. As a result, there is a much greater sense of community, and relationships of all forms are largely based on trust. Want to meet the president? Just give him a call to set up a meeting.
Because of the small scale of both industry and infrastructure, changes that would take a decade in the US can happen in much less time in Iceland. Since a minister is just a phone call away, getting something done that requires government intervention is a snap. Iceland is well on its way to achieving an ambitious egovernment initiative. They have seriously discussed building a national database of people’s health history. Even out in the expanse as we toured Iceland, I had a GPRS connection to my blackberry. They are building fiber to the home. They grow their fruits and vegetables in greenhouses! Because of the size, there is simply much less inertia to prevent sweeping change. People like to say it’s a great testing ground for new ideas and technologies, but I have to wonder if many of the things accomplishable in Iceland could simply never happen elsewhere.
The picture below of a greenhouse at dusk is by far the most indelible image of the trip.
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