Ten Talking Points for Davos

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Collaboration in collecting data, verifying discoveries, and testing hypotheses is not only speeding things up; it's improving the veracity of scientific knowledge itself as a much greater proportion of the scientific community engages in the peer-review process. Projects such as MIT's OpenWetWare are already doing this and showing the way forward for a new era of collaborative science.

6. Global Civil Society—Power to the People

People outside the boundaries of traditional institutions have at their fingertips the most powerful tool ever for organizing collective action. But the so-called "smart mobs" and "wise crowds" of the past are being superseded by movements for social change on an unprecedented scale. This is not simply occurring within nation-states, where the third pillar of society (after corporations and governments)—the civil society—has historically addressed the needs of communities not met by the market or government. Increasingly, "the people" are organizing across borders and exerting their power and influence on the global scene.

7. Mass Collaboration and Evil

Past technological paradigms—the printing press, broadcast media, and the centralized model of the computer—were hierarchical, immutable, and centralized. As such, they carried the values of their powerful owners. By contrast, Web 2.0 is interactive, enriched with services, and control is distributed. As such it possesses an awesome neutrality—reflecting what is good and bad in society. Religious fundamentalists, terrorists, hackers, and criminal networks have harnessed the power of mass collaboration to promote hate and commit heinous acts. The key to global security and freedom may lie in harnessing this same power.

8. The Net Generation Grows Up

The largest generation ever—ages 13 to 29—thinks differently due to its exposure to interactive media. They have grown up bathed in digital bits and do not fear technology. As they enter the workforce and marketplace, they are a huge force for transformation in every institution. But are we ready? How are they different? What do companies, governments, educational institutions need to do to embrace them?

9. Radical Transparency

Transparency is a new force that can be harnessed for innovation, growth, and success. More than compliance with regulators, new research shows companies that share pertinent information about themselves with stakeholders can perform better, build trust, and develop sustainable business models. Employees of open enterprises have greater trust in one another and their employers—resulting in lower costs, improved quality, better innovation, and loyalty. Transparency is critical to business partnerships—lowering transaction costs between companies and enabling collaborative commerce. Transparency with customers builds trusting relationships. But how do you win in this new world?

10. The Digital Conglomerates

Google (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), eBay (EBAY), Yahoo! (YHOO), and even Microsoft (MSFT) represent a new business species—the digital conglomerate (DC)—expansionist business engines that challenge industry incumbents from automotive to telecoms. In seeking to respond, traditional companies face hurdles ranging from legacy offerings and technologies to creaky cultures and embedded business models. Some seek anti-competitive regulatory protections such as the elimination of Net neutrality, but likely winners will be more adaptive: Digital conglomerates present both threats and opportunities to incumbent players. Strategies for exploiting the opportunities include partnerships, acquisitions, and adoption (or at least mimicking) of DC business practices.

Don Tapscott is co-founder and chairman of the think tank New Paradigm, a BSG Alliance company. He is the author of 11 books. Most recently, with Anthony D. Williams, he wrote Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. Tapscott teaches at the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. He has participated in the Davos meeting of the World Economic Forum several times.