New models for the new realities

por DON TAPSCOTT
DON TAPSCOTT | Columnist profile | E-mail
Davos, Switzerland— Special to Globe and Mail Update
Published Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011 7:08AM EST
Last updated Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011 2:28PM EST

Artículo completo en The Globe and Mail

On Wednesday I had the pleasure of hosting a session on the new realities with the World Economic Forum’s community of young global leaders. The session addressed the question: If structural change is becoming the norm globally, then what are the major adjustments looming ahead and how should leaders face them?

We had seven groups that each tackled one of the following topics: The schools and education system in the digital age; the newspaper in the digital age; the university: moving to collaborative learning; government as a platform; healthcare: achieving collaborative health; democracy 2.0; and global problem-solving: beyond nation states.

The sessions are private but I can say a few words about my views on the topics and how I introduced the discussion.

Schools and the education system

We need to rethink the model of pedagogy for the digital age. One of the smartest IT investments a country can make today is giving young students an education suitable for the 21st century. A world leader is Portugal. Nearly nine out of 10 students in Grades 1 to 4 have a laptop. The impact on the classroom has been tremendous. In the classrooms I visited I watched children collaborating. They were working at their own pace. The laptops changed the relationship they had with their teacher. Instead of fidgeting in their chairs while the teacher lectures and scrawls some notes on the blackboard, they were going online and being the explorers, the discoverers, and the teacher was their helpful guide.

Newspapers

I believe a new, more dynamic news industry looms on the horizon. Newspaper executives need to reinvent their value proposition and business models. First, listen to today’s youth, because within their culture is the new culture of news and information. Second, commodity news won’t cut it for any audience, so create a distinct offering. Third, develop rich, multimedia experiences for new digital platforms and devices. Finally, embrace collaborative innovation by creating an open platform so that others can help you invent new sources of value.

Collaborative learning

The transformation of the university is not just a good idea—it is an imperative. Two things need to happen. First, we need to toss out the old industrial model of pedagogy—how learning is accomplished —and replace it with a new model called collaborative learning. Second, we need an entirely new modus operandi for how the content of higher education—the subject matter, course materials, texts, written and spoken word and other media—is created. Rather than the old textbook publishing model, which is both slow and expensive for users, universities professors and other participants would contribute to an open platform of world-class educational resources that students everywhere can access throughout their lifetime.

Government as platform

Just as new waves of innovation are washing over the private sector, opportunities to harness new models of collaboration and innovation are arriving at the doorstep of governments everywhere. Indeed, if mass collaboration is changing how enterprises innovate, orchestrate capability, and engage their stakeholders, why can’t the public sector seize networked business models to cut across departmental silos, improve policy outcomes, reduce costs, and increase public value?