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TKM's what KOM has been since its beginning - a trail-blazing innovation.
Knowledge Oasis Muscat
PO Box 200
Rusayl, 124
Sultanate of Oman
Phone: (+968) 24 155 100
Fax: (+968) 24 449 095
info@kom.om
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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
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.