Social collaboration via the Internet changed the direction of the 2008 presidential election. Whether you like it or not, social collaboration has begun to change the way major companies, such as Procter & Gamble, do business. Things will continue to evolve as more and more members of the net generation, young people comfortable with MySpace and Facebook, enter the work force. No one has better prepared executives for the future than Don Tapscott, author and chairman of nGenera Insight, a technology think tank that looks at new business models. Tapscott consistently identifies and explains the next business imperatives and defines the business models and strategies that the new imperatives require.

Published in 2006 and updated in 2008, his book, Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, has appeared on the New York Times and BusinessWeek bestseller lists, and has been translated into 19 languages. Based on the largest investigation of strategic IT in business ever conducted, Wikinomics explains how businesses can tap the full potential of the emerging networked economy and its self-organized, mass-participatory communities.

Tapscott’s latest book, Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing the World, explores how the first generation to grow up with the Internet is redefining today's workplace, marketplace, schools, family and government—how they learn and work and what power and influence they hold. This is an indispensable message for all organizations that seek to turn the net generation’s talents and worldview to competitive advantage. Also based on a multi-million dollar research project, Grown Up Digital carries forward the groundbreaking ideas first expressed in Don's bestseller Growing Up Digital.
In this podcast, Tapscott talks about how the net generation’s embracing of Wikinomics will continue to transform the landscape of business and government, and what executives, such as CIOs, can do to prepare for the Wikinomics’ ideas companies might embrace from the net generation. Tapscott  also provides examples of how each one of the Wikinomics’ four principles can improve the current business climate.

Bio

Based in Toronto, Canada, Don Tapscott is an internationally sought after authority, consultant, author, and speaker on business strategy and organizational transformation. He served as founder and chairman of the international think tank New Paradigm before it was acquired by nGenera.  He is currently chairman of nGenera Insight. He has either authored or co-authored 13 books on the application of technology in business and in society.  Tapscott holds a B.S. in Psychology and Statistics and an M.S. in Education, specializing in research methodology. He also holds two honorary Doctors of Laws granted by the University of Alberta ad Trent University. He is an adjunct professor of management at the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.

Resources

Q&A: Book author Don Tapscott says corporate inertia prevents mass collaboration - Computerworld

Ten Talking Points for Davos - BusinessWeek

Obama’s Ace in the hole - BusinessWeek

Production Credits

Elizabeth Ferrarini, Producer
Dana Farver, Executive Producer, Communities Editor-in-Chief
Tom Parish, Audio Producer, Show Host