Cambridge Business Association
Blueprint to the Digital Economy
Book

Blueprint to the Digital Economy

Creating Wealth in the Era of E-Business

Don Tapscott, Alex Lowry and David Ticoll
McGraw-Hill, 1998
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Editorial Rating

5

Qualities

  • Overview

Recommendation

Drawing this blueprint to the digital economy required the combined labors of three editors (Don Tapscott, Alex Lowry and David Ticoll) and various expert authors from academia, research and corporate leadership. The 20 essays that make up the book focus on industrial transformation, new rules for competing in the e-age, the computer-based network model and changes in government structure and policy in a networked world. The high-level authors contribute thoughtful articles, though some ideas overlap and some thick spots of techie language and academic theorizing emerge along the way. More problematic, since the e-commerce environment changes so quickly, the book has a slight air of déja-vu. Its discussion of emerging trends freezes in flight and becomes a kind of fluid history of a particular time in e-business’ evolution. Still, getAbstract recommends this book - for the fascinating movement it captures - to the general reader interested in business- and information-age topics and to top managers.

Summary

Trends in the Digital Economy

The computer revolution’s first 40 years have been just a beginning. More change is coming as computers combine with communication technology. This will change a vast range of business and consumer activities, and will transform organizations that provide products and services.

Part of the coming change will result from the arrival of a new generation that has been raised in the developing e-economy. This is the "Net Generation" or "N-Gen," made up of those who ranged from two to 22 years old in 1999. They will play an increasingly critical role in e-commerce as they enter schools, colleges and the workforce.

The new digital economy, which has enabled the recent expansion of e-business communities, stems from improved direct business-to-business and business-to-consumer trading. Costly supply chains are less necessary and companies can respond to consumer demands more quickly. These trends have greatly reduced the cost of business.

Four basic types of developments have changed the marketplace:

  • New rules for competition have emerged - Firms that work with co-suppliers and customers to create and provide better...

About the Authors

Don Tapscott  is the author of The Digital Economy, Growing Up Digital and Paradigm Shift. He is an authority on informational technology. He is chairman of the Alliance for Converging Technologies, where Alex Lowry  is managing partner and David Ticoll  is president. All three are consultants and speakers.

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