Don Tapscott

“During the winter nights, the starlings create one of the most spectacular things in nature. It’s called a murmuration, in reference to the murmuring of the wings of the birds. The murmuration functions on the basis of interdependence. Somehow the birds behave as if the interests of the individual bird is consistent with the interests of the murmuration as a whole, and there’s a huge integrity to this thing, such that they collectively do fight off a fearsome predator. What if we were able to connect ourselves on a global basis with this massive network, these pipes of glass and air? I think that humans are capable of great things. They’re capable of love.”

Don Tapscott is a Canadian visionary, communicator, consultant, entrepreneur, cyber-guru and a leading authority on innovation in business management, media and technology. He has introduced pioneering concepts for three decades, reliably identifying imperatives and strategies needed in increasingly changing and challenging landscapes. Don’s expertise ranges from big-picture perspectives on technology, business, and society to practical applications of new developments in IT and open city design.

After focusing on psychology, statistics and education in university, Don studied and envisioned the Internet before it existed in the 1970s as part of a research project exploring what might come about if people had their own personal computers and connected them to a vast network of information. He has long described the Web as the first global platform for collaboration in history. Confident about the new generation’s digital ease and the transformational power of the Internet, he sees our era as one of significant opportunity for reinvention and greater integrity, transparency and empowerment, and travels the world to spread enthusiasm about our new digital ecosystem, emerging networked economy, self-organized connected communities and the massive collective force of open source sharing and social media.

Tapscott has authored or co-authored 14 widely read books, introducing concepts such as ‘the Net Generation,’ the ‘digital divide’ and ‘the business web.’ His books include Paradigm Shift; The Digital Economy; Growing Up Digital; Digital Capital; Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, which was translated into over 25 languages; and Macrowikinomics: Rebooting Business, described by Huffington Post as “nothing less than a game plan to fix a broken world.” His newest title is an eBook called Radical Openness: Four Unexpected Principles for Success, based on his 2012 TEDGlobal talk.

Described as insightful, charismatic and inspiring, Don Tapscott has delivered hundreds of keynotes and presentations around the world. Along with a team of experts within The Tapscott Group, he offers advisory services to businesses and government leaders. He is a frequent writer for The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Business 2.0, The Financial Times and USA Today. He has been interviewed and quoted widely in the broadcast media, including on CNN, NBC, CBS, NPR, and the BBC. He was the host of ReCivilization on CBC Radio, a five part series exploring how we may address global challenges by way of digital innovation in various fields.

In 2011, Don was named one of the world’s most influential management thinkers by Thinkers50. He is an Adjunct Professor of Management for the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, and Trent University’s newly appointed chancellor. He is Chairman of the innovation think tank Moxie Insight, where he directs research and education programs, and a fellow of the World Economic Forum.

According to Tapscott, the global economic crisis we face is a wakeup call to mend our broken world, and requires the reinvention of our institutions and the creation of a new operating model — one based on transparency, global governance, and the sharing of intellectual property.

In his spare time Don is part of a dance music band that plays for fund-raising and charity events, called Men in Suits.

Visit his website:
http://dontapscott.com/

Books by Don Tapscott:
http://dontapscott.com/books/

On Macrowikinomics and murmuration (4 min)