Don Tapscott's Blog, page 3
April 26, 2018
Understand Blockchain in Under 7 Minutes
Don Tapscott, in conversation with LLoyds Bank, explains simply how blockchain will transform every industry, in every part of the world. In this short video he provides advice on the specific steps you can take now and explains why this technology needs the attention of the C-Suite immediately, irrespective of their view on cryptocurrencies.
February 5, 2018
Norway is the best country in the world to live in, according to the WEF
US president Donald Trump said last week that he wanted more of America’s immigrants to come from Norway, instead of “shithole countries” in Africa. When he comes to Davos this Friday, he will find out why that is not happening. According to World Economic Forum, Norway is the best country in the world in which to live.
Norway is given top prize because the World Economic Forum analysts use a different metric than the Gross Domestic Product. They think GDP is a narrow and blinkered measure of economic activity. It doesn’t care whether that activity benefits its citizens.
Trump’s view of world ‘direct attack on spirit of co-operation’
Don Tapscott is chief executive of the Tapscott Group and the chancellor of Trent University. With his son Alex, he is the co-author of Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin is Changing Money, Business and the World and the co-founder of the Blockchain Research Institute, a think tank conducting 70 projects about blockchain opportunities and challenges.
The theme of this year’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum was “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World.” Delegates were asked to consider a renewed commitment to international collaboration to solve global challenges. “Our first response must be to develop new models for co-operation that are not based on narrow interests, but on the destiny of humanity as a whole,” WEF founder Klaus Schwab said.
January 31, 2018
The Evolution of Blockchain and The Digital Economy
Don Tapscott has been an advocate of Blockchain and The Digital Economy for many years. This year at the World Economic Forum, is the first year he was not in the minority. Blockchain was talked about more than every other topic except, of course, Trump at Davos this year. Don Tapscott sat down with Maria Jones to talk about the evolution of the digital economy and the impact blockchain has had and will continue to have on our lives.
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January 27, 2018
Why blockchain is dominating discussions in Davos
One technology topic here towers over all others: blockchain. It is bigger than artificial intelligence, social media, robotics or anything else. Every year, more and more companies descend on this small Swiss ski village to show their leadership and pitch their services. This action around blockchain (the technology behind cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin) is striking.
What a change from two years ago. Back in 2016, a Wall Street Journal reporter asked me for my technology predictions for the near-to-mid term. I said blockchain would change our lives in the next 20 years as much as the Internet has changed our lives in the past 20 years. The book that I wrote with my son Alex, Blockchain Revolution, hadn’t been published yet. Bitcoin was trading for $100 and ethereum was still little more than a University of Waterloo dropout’s science experiment. The reporter was dubious. So were many others.
In 2017, the same reporter interviewed me and admitted blockchain was beginning to generate a bit of a buzz, albeit most of it centred on the financial industry and bitcoin. I agreed with him, and said bitcoin was just an early application of blockchain, like e-mail was an early app of the old internet. I bet him 2018 would be the year blockchain was one of the hottest Davos topics.
Photo via GovernmentZA (Flickr) – (CC BY-ND 2.0)
January 25, 2018
Blockchain Research Institute begins operations in Brazil
The Blockchain Research Institute, created by Don Tapscott – curator of the World Economic Forum – begins operations in Brazil. It is the first promoted outside of Canada.
But what is “blockchain”? Still little used, it is a technological change that allows information not to be distributed in copies – as is already the case in online financial transactions.
Rather, they will be shared by computers that digitally sign each transaction, ensuring non-tampering.
Cryptocurrency ban could destroy economies for decades: Tapscott
Best-selling author and blockchain advocate Don Tapscott on Wednesday called for South Korea’s “sensible regulation” on cryptocurrency tokens and initial coin offerings, warning the government could otherwise “destroy economies for decades,” during a press conference in Seoul.
Tapscott called bans on cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings “heavy-handed approaches used by dictators and undemocratic countries,” and contrasted them with “sensible regulation.” The 70-year-old Canadian was one of the speakers at a forum titled “Blockchain Revolution: Convergence with Traditional Economy” held in Seoul Dragon City.
“Governments can crush this and destroy their economies for decades,” he said. “It’s not clear which way (South Korea) will go, but there is an optimal and correct direction.”
Tapscott on South Korea Crypto Ban: It Could Mean Economic Ruin for Decades
Don Tapscott, blockchain advocate and best-selling author, believes that South Korea would be doing the world and itself a disservice by banning cryptocurrency trading within its borders.
The world awaits anxiously as South Korea continues to debate whether it should close down all cryptocurrency exchange activity.
Don Tapscott, a best-selling author and business technology specialist, believes that such a ban would be a monumental mistake.
He said that ICO and cryptocurrency bans are “heavy-handed approaches used by dictators and undemocratic countries,” urging South Korea to pursue “sensible” regulation that won’t annihilate its local market.
Don Tapscott urges ‘sensible’ cryptocurrency regulations
Blockchain expert Don Tapscott called on the Korean government to take a “smart and sensible” stance while regulating cryptocurrencies, adding heavy-handed moves like an outright ban on initial coin offerings could hinder the development of blockchain technology and “crush and destroy economies for decades.”
“There are two ways the government can regulate cryptocurrencies,” Tapscott told reporters at a press conference held during the “Blockchain Revolution: Convergence with Traditional Economy” forum in Seoul on Jan. 17. “There are heavy-handed regulations by dictators and undemocratic countries that seek to ban cryptocurrencies and ICOs and there are approaches taken by smart democratic countries that want to build an innovative economy.”
“In the case of Korea, it’s not clear which way the country will go. But there is an optimal and correct direction. It’s not that complicated.”
Will Trump in Davos be the elephant in the china shop?
The World Economic Forum in Davos started today, and US president Donald Trump is attending. He is no doubt happy to be invited. Last year I described him as “the elephant not in the room.” This year he’s more likely to be the elephant in the china shop.
The theme of the meeting is Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World. Discussions will focus on finding ways to reaffirm international cooperation on crucial shared interests, such as international security, the environment and the global economy.
“We need collaborative efforts,” Forum founder and executive chairman Klaus Schwab said earlier this week. He warns that “There is today a real danger of a collapse of our global systems… It is in our hands to change the state of the world.”
Read the full article on Quartz
Photo: Reuters/Denis Balibouse
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