Another Foundation Forum, another evening of meaty discourse in the grand surroundings of The Arts Club. This time, it was the world of digital that was up for dissection – “Digital is now mainstream; the revolution is over” – and, wooed by the promise of lively debate, a bumper crowd packed out the Dover Street venue to witness events unfold.

Seeking, as ever, to view the issue from an assortment of perspectives, we were treated to the opinions of a leader in digital practice within government, the managing partner of the UK’s leading digital marketing agency and a Chief Executive of a world-wide media group. Many thanks to Alex, John and Kevin for sharing their viewpoints and experiences (see below for our summary of the discussion), and to all those who attended and helped spark further debate when the matter was opened to the floor.

Alex Butler – the public sector’s view

As anybody who attempted to forecast the result of the recent election will attest, predictions are the business of fools. So those looking to guess where exactly the revolutionary road of digital will lead us are squaring up against an invincible opponent.

But whilst our crystal ball might be reluctant to yield a clear and detailed picture of digital’s future, we can at least be sure that it HAS one, and a great and significant one at that. Indeed, predictions aside, the hour of the webmaster is indisputably upon us. As the American anthropologist Margaret Mead foresaw, our world will be transformed not by the obvious heroes, by the traditional protagonists, but by a small group of thoughtful and committed citizens.

The scope of the digital medium should be underestimated at one’s peril; it is far more deeply penetrating, and potentially transformative, than the empty gestures of some companies allow for, dismissively believing that a simple increase in their digital marketing spend, a token tip of the hat in its direction, will suffice. To whom those accusations apply, beware: such behaviour exposes only a grave misjudgement about the relevance, significance and permanence of the medium.

Other than its scale, we can be certain of one further feature: the revolution will not be a purely technological one. Indeed, in terms of capability, we have already ticked nigh on all boxes, in the guise of more gadgets and widgets and gizmos than we ever might have hoped for. Still to be unveiled, however, is what this technology will enable us to do, what the future will look like once digital’s potential has been realised in full; as far as content’s concerned, the opening credits have only just begun to roll.

Those who claimed the 2010 election would be fought, and won, on Twitter have been forced to reassess their estimations. Yet beneath the eager prematurity of their predictions may lie something revelatory – for it hints at the shape this revolution could assume at full tilt. The potential might of this medium, it suggests, will best be realised when it succeeds in harnessing currents of opinion, growing heads of societal steam, to enact radical, unprecedented, against-all-odds change.

As many of its predecessors have sought to do before it, this revolution aspires to bring power back to the people. How it will do this, and what will result, is a question for those brave forecasters to ponder.

John Owen – the digital marketeer’s view

Digital is mainstream, of this there can be no doubt. But though it may have set up permanent residence in the everyday, infused our lives to the point of seeming saturation, its ubiquity does not in any way spell the end of its revolution. Indeed, the advent of digital has triggered an ostensibly unstoppable chain of reactions that bring change at an ever quickening pace, establishing a new state of play in which flux is permanent.

No more vivid a picture is painted of this than by the statistics themselves: if Facebook were a country, it would now be overshadowed by only China and India in terms of population. The iPhone, launched in 2007, sold 57 million units in its first two years of existence, making it the fastest-selling piece of technological hardware in history; and, based on its early performance, the iPad would appear to be living up to the standards set by such overachieving siblings.

Viewed in this context, established incumbents have never been so vulnerable. Operating in a world where the only constant is change, whole business models, though but newborn, find themselves under threat from impossibly younger upstarts. There is no room for complacency, no time to rest on smug laurels; the challenge for (short-lived) supremacy is unremitting and the ostensibly invincible must face up to this ceaseless insurgency, or condemn itself to defeat and supplantation.

Public reaction to this new breathlessly fast-paced landscape underlines the urgency with which businesses must respond: consumers have adapted with aplomb, seamlessly assimilating the language of tweets, newsfeeds and status updates into their everyday vernacular and embracing the tools at their ever-connected disposal to experience events in real time. And there is an increasing awareness that with this connectivity comes power: digital has given each a voice, endowing the everyman with the capacity to air and share his views, and join forces with similarly-minded individuals to bring amplification to their opinions. Indeed, the empowerment of the masses is no more clearly evidenced than by Rage Against The Machine’s derailing of the Simon Cowell steamtrain at Christmas, following a catalytic campaign on Facebook.

The implications for brand owners are vast. In this digital age, there is nowhere to hide, no safe, sheltered corner to cower in. Every move a business makes houses the potential to spark an online chain of Chinese whispers, for the better or worse – and the only defence lies in reaching out to this intangible ocean of observers and proactively engaging with their opinions. Answers should no longer just be sought within the confines of the boardroom; companies must listen to the voices from without – its workforce, its consumers, external developers – and be seen to reinstate the customer at the core of all business.

The companies best equipped for survival in this new terrain are those with the clearest sense of what they stand for as a brand and as a business – and with the integrity to articulate and live those values in practice. All will be judged by their words and actions, so the wisest will ensure that these are aligned with their core principles and vision.

Brands matter more now than ever before – and, in this new era of transparency, those with real substance, actively occupying their true position in the world, will be the ones that matter most.

Kevin Costello – the publisher’s view

With a third of the Western world on Facebook, to cite but one of the eye-popping stats in digital’s arsenal, it would be only natural to assume that the medium has become business as usual, so engrained is it in our collective consciousness. And yet still we find ourselves shocked and awed when a new wave hits, destabilising what went before and forcing a new configuration to establish itself in its wake. The truth is, the digital revolution is still rolling; only when this pace becomes a part of the normal working rhythm, when we cease to be surprised by what it yields, will it truly have run its course.

Indeed, relative to the long-established fields of medical, nano and quantum research, digital is still so young it’s barely more than a twinkle in its founding fathers’ eyes. The revolution is assuredly not over yet; this is simply round one.

Yet, to grasp what future forms it may take as it enters its maturity, we must first clarify what is meant by the ‘digital revolution’. For the term does not simply refer to the technological advances that have thus far played so defining a role in the movement; in terms of capabilities, the lion’s share has already been achieved, and the focus must now be on perfecting and fine-tuning these competencies. Similarly, the ‘revolution’ is also not shorthand for a cannibalistic overthrowing of print and other traditional media by digital; the latter coexists with the former, in complement, not mutual exclusivity.

In truth, this revolution hinges upon the audience, and the upheaval of user behaviour witnessed in response to technological innovation. Quite simply it has thrown down the gauntlet, daring businesses to square up to the challenges this reconfiguration presents. In this new user landscape, success and survival will depend on speed and flexibility, on a company’s capacity to adapt constantly to the ever-shifting dynamics of digital development; and, more fundamentally, on the business’ willingness to change – both its structures as well as its underlying attitudes.

Whether due to the scale of the revolution, or the speed with which it has taken root, businesses are being forced to operate in a world where evidence and consensus is increasingly hard to locate; decisions must be made without the support of hard numbers or the validation of a proven expert. To move forward in such a climate demands an entrepreneurial approach, inculcating an open and responsive culture in which the customer is god, and ideas are borne out and refined through pilots and trials.

This test bed spirit cannot be half-heartedly implemented and expected to yield results; it requires a supportive and well-aligned business structure to thrive in full, with clear KPIs, strict measurement, seamless content management systems and an openness that allows knowledge to be pooled and shared between channels.

As the digital revolution ripens, technology itself will play an increasingly marginal role, relative to the front-page billing that content will merit; indeed, the former is simply the enabler, allowing a singular and unerring focus on the end user experience, and the perfection thereof. After all, it is the message itself, and not the medium, that truly counts.