The Digital Nation Format
The format for all Digital Nation seminars consists of an informal panel conversation session followed by a Q & A in front of an audience of around 120 business and government leaders interested in learning about different aspects of technology. There will also be a buffet and networking opportunity following each seminar.

Benefits of Attending Digital Nation

• Debate today’s key technology issues.
• Analyze the latest technology trends.
• Discover how technology can maximize your organization’s performance.
• Benchmark your ICT operations against other enterprises.
• Network with fellow senior-level executives in a stimulating and interactive environment.
  
   

1. Youth, Technology & Education, 23 February 2009
A new type of digital divide is fast developing in society. This is the division between the parallel worlds of learning at home and learning in the classroom.

Rows of students sitting in front of a blackboard is outmoded for teaching and learning in the 21st century. Without cutting-edge technology, the classroom is out of touch with its students and is unable to adequately prepare them for their futures.

Technology is a prerequisite for teaching and learning in today's schools. In its absence, schools are failing to make the most of their most valuable resource: the experience, skills and interests of their own students. The complex and more important challenge facing us is not putting technology into schools, it is about bringing the golden nuggets of out-of-school learning, into the classroom. Today, the majority of young people use new media as tools to make their lives easier and strengthening their existing friendship networks. And that almost all are now involved in creative production, from uploading to editing photos to building and maintaining websites.

It is vital that the classroom does not ignore and alienate these sophisticated learners, but incorporates the positive aspects of individuals' private experience with technology into the more formal learning process.

Unfortunately, the current generation of decision-makers, from teachers and parents to civil servants, are all at a serious disadvantage. We see the world from a very different perspective to the new generation, which does not recall a time without the instant answers of the Internet or the immediate communication of mobile phones.

Yet, it is these decision-makers who will shape the way that technology is used in the classroom. There needs to be a realization that to bridge the divide between formal and informal learning between home and school, decision-makers will have to develop strategies with the active involvement of students.

Working in collaboration with young people is the only way to find solutions that are in tune with reality. We should not miss out on the valuable resource that this generation provides us with - their experience, skills and interest.

We must recognize the potential technology has to transform learning and to enable both the teacher and student. We need to accept the rapid change in behaviour that technology has brought, to embrace it and use it to foster and encourage our common ambition.

2. Brave New Media, 4 May 2009
Once upon a time, there were radio, television and the press. Experienced journalists reported the news, producers made programs and skilled technicians made sure it reached the public. Then along came the Internet. In this seminar, we will discuss how IPTV, social networking, blogging, gaming and mobile technology are setting the new media agenda, and ask what will become of the old media.

We will also explore what future TV and radio have, if any, and what else technology could offer today’s ever tech-savvy consumer. And from the production point of view, who will be making content for tomorrow's media and how? This seminar will also address the question of what role public sector-run broadcasting might have in this new digitally-charged media landscape.

3. Renewable Energy & Green Technology, 5 October 2009
This seminar will provide an information-rich introduction to renewable energy technology and its application in the urban and suburban environment. It is an ideal opportunity for business people and government organizations wishing to get involved in this rapidly growing industry, for building engineers, architects and environmentalists to get an overview of renewable energy and see some of the best technology. The seminar is aimed at those who are relatively new to the field and no previous knowledge of renewable energy technologies is assumed on the part of participants.

4. e-Retail: Where Next to Shop, 23 November 2009
This seminar will explore how the consumer has changed the way he shops. In just a decade online shopping – buying goods on the Internet – has gone from being virtually non-existent to become worth billions of Rials each year. Books, CDs, clothes, electronics, groceries, furniture we go shopping online for them all, without ever leaving home.

Where we used to go into town or to a shopping mall, now we stay at home and surf the Internet. The widespread adoption of home computers and high-speed broadband connections, as well as the number of retailers offering goods online has created a shopping revolution.

Online shopping offers immense choice. Retailers with bricks-and-mortar premises are limited in the amount of goods they can show or even keep in their inventories. That’s perfectly understandable, since both represent a significant investment of capital. Internet retailers have no such constraints. They simply have to show pictures and offer descriptions of the entire range, making things much better for consumers.

No matter the economic climate, the forecast is that the amount spent shopping online will increase year on year. However, as there’s only a finite amount of money to be spent, if online spending increases, then spending elsewhere has to decrease, and retailers, whether chains or independently owned shops will be the casualties – it’s worth noting that most big retailers now also sell through the web.

Of course, online shopping won’t ever completely eliminate its physical counterpart. There are still areas where we prefer to go into a shop and select items – they’re part of any community, from newsagents to supermarkets. But there’s no going back, and online shopping will become an even more central part of our lives, growing more sophisticated with each passing year.

Sidebar
Online retailers are acquiring new customers at a 15% annual rate versus 2% for traditional brick and mortar retail outlets.
Consumers are 50% more likely to be influenced by blogs and e-mails than TV or radio advertising.
79% of small businesses shop online regularly.
16% of consumers say they would contact a vendor through e-mail.
68% of consumers say they would use the phone number listed on a website to contact a vendor.
54% of consumers referred a friend to a vendor found online.