Don Tapscott's Blog, page 14

Don Tapscott on HBR: After 20 Years, It’s Harder to Ignore the Digital Economy’s Dark Side

In 1995, I published The Digital Economy, a book that became one of the first best-sellers about the internet in business. To mark its 20th anniversary, my publisher asked me to write a dozen mini-chapters for a new edition. As I revisited it, I was struck by how far we’ve come since 1995 and by how many concepts in the book have withstood the test of time. “The digital economy” term itself has become part of the vernacular.

The book was pretty breathless about the opportunities of the digital revolution, but it equally warned of some huge dangers ahead — and this dark side has indeed emerged over the last two decades. Back then, I wrote:

The Age of Networked Intelligence is also an age of peril. For individuals, organizations, and societies that fall behind, punishment is swift. It is not just old business rules but also governments, social institutions, and relationships among people that are being transformed. The new media is changing the ways we do business, work, learn, play, and even think. Far more than the old western frontier, the digital frontier is a place of recklessness, confusion, uncertainty, calamity, and danger.

Some signs point to a new economy in which wealth is even further concentrated, basic rights like privacy are vanishing, and a spiral of violence and repression undermine basic security and freedoms. Pervasive evidence exists that indicates the basic social fabric is beginning to disintegrate. Old laws, structures, norms, and approaches are proving to be completely inadequate for life in the new economy. While they are crumbling or being smashed, it is not completely clear what should replace them. Everywhere people are beginning to ask, “Will this smaller world our children inherit be a better one?

While the digital revolution has brought us many wonders, in hindsight my somewhat discouraging conclusion is that the “promise” of a more fair, equal, just, and sustainable world has been unfulfilled. It has become clear that the original democratic architecture of the internet has been bent to the will of economies and societies in which power is anything but distributed. If anything, the power has become more concentrated, and the main benefits of the digital economy have been skewed.

Read this article on the Harvard Business Review.

Rethinking Learning for the Networked Age

Don Tapscott, Canadian business executive, best-selling author and new media theorist, speaks about rethinking learning for the networked age at the sold-out ChangSchoolTalks 2016: Experiential Learning in Action event hosted at Ryerson University on February 17, 2016.

Could Blockchain Technology Disrupt Uber, Airbnb?

Don Tapscott, author of “Blockchain Revolution,” says that the technology underlying Bitcoins could be used to disrupt the likes of Uber and Airbnb. He spoke with WSJ’s Charles Forelle at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Photo: Getty Images

Should Banks Fear or Embrace Blockchain Technology?

Banks should welcome rather than worry over the technology behind Bitcoin, says Don Tapscott, author of “Blockchain Revolution.” Mr. Tapscott talks to WSJ’s Charles Forelle at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Photo: Getty Images

The blockchain: big opportunity or big danger?

Don Tapscott writes about the discussions surrounding the blockchain at this year’s Davos Forum:

The World Economic Forum has identified “the blockchain” as one of the core technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (this year’s theme of the Davos summit). The topic has come up a lot this week and there is plenty of enthusiasm, hand-wringing, fear and our-right denial.

Read the full article at The Star.

Canada must focus on innovation economy to thrive in digital age

Don Tapscott writes about Canada’s economy and the challenges it faces with the new digital age:

As the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum enters its final quarter, there continues to be a lot of buzz about Canada in General and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in particular.

Trudeau had a hectic day Friday that included meetings with international leaders and a session in the grand Congress Hall on gender equality that included Sheryl Sandberg from Facebook and Melinda Gates from the Gates Foundation.

Read the full article on The Star.

Davos forum is a new model of global problem solving

Don Tapscott writes about how Davos is about change and solving the world’s problems:

Some critics see Davos as a giant gabfest for the rich and powerful. Having attended the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting a dozen times and worked with the forum on many projects I can say without doubt that this is misinformed.

Read the full article on The Star.

Photo: JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Davos 2016: Are we ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

Don Tapscott writes about Davos 2016 and the upcoming Fourth Industrial Revolution:

The theme of this year’s Davos meeting is music to my ears.

More than 40 heads of state and government, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with 2,500 leaders from business and civil society, are making the trek to this Swiss town to strategize about how to achieve the promise and avoid the peril of the digital age. And the focus of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, which begins Wednesday, is the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Read the full article on The Star.

What the Blockchain Means for Economic Prosperity

Don and Alex Tapscott write about the Blockchain on CoinDesk, the world leader in news and information on digital currencies such as bitcoin, and its underlying technology – the blockchain.

The Internet is entering a second era, one that gives us another shot to achieve a prosperous future.

Yes, the digital revolution has brought countless wonders. The Internet, the World Wide Web, social media, mobile computing, geospaciality, Big Data and the cloud have all enabled advancements in virtually every aspect of life.

But when it comes to business, a careful analysis shows that the changes to date are only scratching the surface.

Capitalism’s basic institution, the corporation, has remained relatively unchanged. Hierarchy, vertical integration and bureaucracy – hallmarks of the industrial age – still reign.

Read the full article on CoinDesk.

Dear Mr. President

From the Alliance for Converging Technologies Archives – Don Tapscott’s letter to then-President Bill Clinton. Read what the famous futurist suggested to him in 2000.

Dear Mr. President;

 

You and your administration set the conditions for economic prosperity and the transformation of America to the Digital Economy. You know have an historic opportunity to also re-energize citizen participation in the governing process and revitalize democracy for the 21st century.

 

You were correct in seeing the power of the net as a new infrastructure for the creation of wealth. You encouraged its growth, avoiding unnecessary regulation and taxes. You helped nurture the development of the converging computer, telecommunications, and content industries – that now directly contribute over $1 trillion to the US economy. As a result of the Internet, new business models are emerging that are destroying the old models of the firm and leading to unprecedented economic prosperity.

 

But to paraphrase John Kennedy, we should not ask what governments can do for the net, it’s what the net can do for governance.

Read the rest of Don Tapscott’s Letter to Bill Clinton in 2000 here.