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Collaboration on a very large scale

May 15, 2007

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According to Don Tapscott, mass collaboration describes a simple theory which is revolutionizing the way people conduct business today. Rather, the ability to collaborate with many people is changing the way we interact with each other, and the way we look for new business opportunities.

However, this collaboration occurs in a frontierless economy, thanks largely to modern Internet technology.

Tapscott's new book, entitled Wikinomics: Harnessing the Power of Mass Collaboration, was published at the beginning of this year and is popular among many business leaders and IT professionals.

The premise outlines the four key drivers for this trend: IT (information technology), the Internet generation, social revolution and the economic revolution.

According to Tapscott, the theory of mass collaboration is “the knowledge, resources, and computing power of billions of people self organizing through blogs, wikis and peer-to-peer networks, into a massive collective force.”

This trend has already started to emerge. Citing successful initiatives from organizations such as MySpace, Craigslist, Flickr, Wikipedia, IBM and Goldcorp, organizations have already begun to embrace the theories espoused by Tapscott and his team.

Today, IT enables this collaborative activity, through features such as broadband mobility, widespread Internet access and XML formatting. The new Internet generation helps boost online collaboration.

This is the generation who grew up with computers, with IT and with the "Net". They are pool resources by nature and therefore have a unique way of approaching ideas, work and life, thanks for their personal online experience.

With online content vehicles such as MySpace and Craigslist, people can create and organize content, and use the Web sites as a social network.

Finally, there is the economic revolution which is unfolding with this combination of information technology, the newer generation and the social revolution that ensues. Opportunities emerge for users to work with others, regardless of locations or national bounderies, through technology.

This results in enhanced business opportunities, improving business operations and processes.

We're not sure which came first, Tapscott's idea of mass collaboration, the research to prove the theory, or the idea for organizations to look outside of their doors to reach a new audience, both in selling products and in developing new ideas.

But Tapscott's presentation is an invigorating way to kick off the inaugural IT-360 conference, especially considering the integral manner in which technology affects the concept of mass collaboration, and therefore the significant role our industry plays in the future of business practices.

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Source: IT World Canada