Esther Dyson—noted angel investor, best-selling author and philanthropist—discusses the digital world's past, present and future with EWI's Executive Vice President Bruce McConnell. 

Before the Internet, remembers Dyson, "The story of the world was told by large institutions, and they were centralized and powerful," whereas after its introduction, "people could start telling their own history, and they could start finding one another."

But, the digital world has introduced a host of new hazards. "It used to be, we knew people could be quoted wrongly; we didn't think they could be photographed or especially videoed (wrongly), and now we're beginning to understand oh yeah they can do that. The problem is, it often doesn't make people seek the truth, it makes them just not believe anything at all."

Dyson is a recognized name in the digital world. A successful business owner, she is a leading investor focused on health care, open government, digital technology and outer space. She is the founder of Wellville, a nonprofit project focused on improving equitable wellbeing and influencing investments in national long term health policy, and chairman of EDventure Holdings, an active angel investor focused on new business models, technologies and markets. She also sits on the boards of numerous companies including 23andMe and Voxiva, and is the author of the bestselling book, Release 2.0: A Design for Living in the Digital Age.