Wikinomics voted Highams Business Technology Book of the Year

Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams has been awarded the Highams Business Technology Book of the Year award.

The award recognises the growing importance of technology within all walks of business life and celebrates the IT developments that have had the most impact in the working world over the past year.

A panel of five judges, all influential individuals from the IT and business space, voted Wikinomics winner from a shortlist which also included:

• IT and the East – James Popkin and Partha Iyengar

• Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days – Jessica Livingston

• Riding the Whirlwind: Connecting people and organisations in a culture of innovation – Fons Trompenaars

• The Cult of the Amateur – Andrew Keen

Published by Atlantic Books, Wikinomics discusses the ways in which traditional local collaboration, such as in meetings rooms and conference centres, has been superceded by collaborations on a global scale. Based on a $9million research project led by author Don Tapscott, the book shows how the masses can participate in the economy like never before, and was previously shortlisted for the Financial Times / Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award 2007.

Don Tapscott is an internationally renowned writer, consultant and speaker and is currently the Adjunct Professor of Management at the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Co-author Anthony D. Williams has been researching and writing about trends in technology and society for over a decade and holds a Masters in Research from the London School of Economics.

The winner was announced at a ceremony at ‘the Gherkin’ in London on 24 June, where Toby Mundy, CEO of Atlantic Books, accepted the award on behalf of the authors. Speaking through his publisher, Tapscott remarked, “Anything that recognizes new thinking is to be supported and Anthony and I are honoured to be recipients of the Highams Business Technology Book of the Year. There is, as our book argues, a revolution going on. The Internet is a weapon of mass collaboration changing how we work, play, live and love. It presents challenges but also huge opportunities for those prepared to think outside the Gherkin.”

Judge, Sir Eric Peacock, Chairman of The Academy of Chief Executives, explained his choice saying, “Wikinomics zags whilst others zig and it is counter intuitive. It opens up for those who embrace the sharing approach, and offers a unique way of generating competitive advantage and acceleration on the value proposition”.

Other judges included Alan Howarth, Chairman of Highams Group, who commented that Wikinomics is “a challenging book in so much that it presents the opening of a totally different world and one that changes the very way we will think and act”, and Mark Samuels, editor of Computing Business magazine, who added that “Wikinomics provides a thorough investigation of the significant issues, such as leading pioneers, effect on the workplace and key platforms”.

Dave Pye, CEO of Highams Group, also adds, “We are delighted that the first Highams Business Technology Book of the Year award has been such a success. As a recruiter in the IT industry Highams sees how important it is to bridge the business and technology divide, and each of the shortlisted writers has contributed greatly by bringing new insight on this. Therefore it is with great pleasure that we can announce Wikinomics as the winner, and we look forward to seeing which books are shortlisted for next year’s award.”