Paradigm Shift: The New Promise of Information Technology

Authors

  • Don Tapscott
  • Art Caston

Keywords:

Information Technology, Integration, Management, Enterprise, Paradigm Shift

Abstract

This article presents the discussion on the paradigm shift of information technology into its’ second era, articulated by the change in the nature and application of technology in businesses. Driven by demands of competitive business environment and changes in computer technology, this shift is fundamental for new enterprises. The authors conceptualize paradigm shift and elaborates on research conducted on this shift to a new technology. The application of computers of this new technology improves performance of the entire workgroup, enables enterprises to work in a more cohesively and creates a network of inter-enterprise computing. Moreover, the authors discuss the critical technology shifts that must be undertaken by enterprises to fully integrate their businesses with this new technology and gain from its potentials. Changes and development in the existing software systems is one of them. The article also points out the three major challenges that organizations face due to the shift of technology in the business environment. These are referred as the “Three R’s” – reengineer, retooling and realign.

Author Biographies

Don Tapscott

Don Tapscott is President of New Paradigm Learning Corporation and an internationally sought consultant, speaker and author. His third book, coauthored by Art Caston, and entitled Paradigm Shift: The New Promise of Information Technology (McGraw-Hill, 1993) is an international best seller. He has given executive briefings and consulted to leading enterprises around the world. Mr. Tapscott has also consulted to governments in Canada, the United States, Europe and Australia on information technology
policy and strategy. He recently chaired the Advisory Committee on a Telecommunications Strategy for Ontario. In the 1970's Mr. Tapscott managed pioneering work at Bell Northern Research on "the Office of the future. " In 1986 DMR Group acquired the consulting practice of Trigon Systems Group, which he  cofounded in 1981. DMR is an international information technology services company. Mr. Tapscott was DMR's Vice President, Technology and, among other things, led a multi-million dollar research program
which led to the publication of Paradigm Shift. Mr. Tapscott holds a B.Sc. in Psychology and Statistics and an MEd. specializing in Research Methodology.

Art Caston

Art Caston is a leading international consultant on the strategic use of information technologies. His  independent consulting company assists clients to transform or "re-engineer" their organizations by  combining the best practices in organizational and business process redesign with the capabilities of current and emerging information technologies. Paradigm Shift is the culmination of twenty-five years of experience in working with innovative applications of technology in business. The past sixteen years were
spent at DMR Group Inc., where he was Vice President responsible for their Architecture Consulting Practice. He has worked closely with co-author Don Tapscott, DMR 's Vice President, Technology, over the past seven years building upon complementary backgrounds in systems and research studies which  identified the paradigm shift in the application of information technology which is now underway. Art is a frequent speaker at international conferences and seminars, and has contributed numerous articles and interviews on related topics. He is a Certified Management Consultant, a Professional Engineer, and a member of numerous associations. He is a graduate of the University of Alberta with a B.Sc. in  Engineering and obtained two Masters Degrees in the United Kingdom as an Athlone Fellow.

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Published

2021-01-25

How to Cite

Tapscott, D., & Caston, A. (2021). Paradigm Shift: The New Promise of Information Technology. Economic Development Journal of Canada, 62–66. Retrieved from https://ecdev.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/default/article/view/178

Issue

Economic Development Journal of Canada, 1994

Section

Articles

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

All content published in the Economic Development Journal of Canada is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Attribution (CC BY) International 4.0 license. The journal owns copyright for all works published prior to June 2020. The author(s) retain copyright for all works published after June 2020.