Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Business and the World

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Trent University Presents Renowned Business Strategist, Author and Alumnus Don Tapscott on February 25

Wednesday, February 18, 2009, Peterborough

As the 2009 Tapscott-Lopes Business and Society Lecturer, best-selling author, business executive and Trent University alumnus Don Tapscott will give a public talk, based on his highly acclaimed recent book Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Business and the World, on Wednesday, February 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Wenjack Theatre.

“If you understand the Net Generation, you will understand the future,” says Mr. Tapscott, who has written extensively about the role of technology in business and society. “Simply put, the wave of youth, aged 12-30, are the first truly global generation, and they are impacting all institutions. Particularly, employers, instructors, parents, marketers and political leaders are finding it necessary to adapt to the changing social fabric due to this generation’s unique characteristics.”

During his presentation, which is based on a $4.5 million dollar study examining the Net Generation, Mr. Tapscott will discuss how today’s youth are reshaping the form and functions of school, work, and even democracy. He credits his time spent at Trent University as a formative experience in his intellectual development. “Trent is where I learned how to think, to write, to communicate. It is where I learned to see the big picture. I also developed the courage to tackle big problems and big issues," he says.

Themes to be explored during his presentation include:

• How the Net Generation can be the most innovative, collaborative, and productive cohort, if given the proper working environment.
• The benefits of a shift from a traditional, broadcast model of education to one that is customized, collaborative and interactive
• How the Net Generation’s ability to scrutinize and investigate is forcing a new model of democracy that will have to be transparent, collaborative and engaging
• How parents, teachers, and elder influencers can engage in open and informative discussions to ensure technology is properly used
• How marketers no longer control their brands and how to cope with this power shift that affords the advantage to the consumer

Don Tapscott is one of the world’s leading authorities on business strategy, with emphasis on how information technology changes business, government and society. He is the author or co-author of 13 widely-read books, including Wikinomics, which was the bestselling management book in the United States in 2007 and is now translated into 22 languages. He is chairman of nGenera Insight, a global business innovation company, headquartered in Austin, Texas with offices in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. Mr. Tapscott directs several of nGenera Insight’s research and education programs, which serve a marquee list of Global 2000 customers. Mr. Tapscott is also an adjunct Professor at the J.L. Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto.

The Don Tapscott and Ana Lopes Business and Society Lecture fund was established to support a lecture once a year to bring prominent speakers to the Trent University community to address issues of values and ethics as they pertain to business and society. Ana Lopes is a former member of Trent's Board of Governors. She founded Saralex Communications in 1995.

Past speakers include: David Suzuki, environmentalist and host of CBC’s The Nature of Things, Jim Griffen, CEO of Cherry Hill Digital, internationally renowned author Joel Bakan, the brains behind the book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power and its award-winning documentary, and John Elkington, a leading authority on sustainable development and triple bottom line business strategy.

This event is free and open to the public. Wenjack Theatre is located in Otonabee College on the East Bank of Trent University.

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For further information, or to set up an interview with Mr. Tapscott on February 25, please contact Marilyn Burns, director of marketing and communications at (705) 748-1011, ext. 6184