The co-author of 2007s business best seller Wikinomics, How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything, is the guest speaker at the 9th Technology in Business Conference, which takes place on Wednesday, November 28, in the Radisson Hotel, Little Island, Cork.

Anthony Williams leads a panel of the worlds top thinkers at this years conference. Williams and co will discuss how innovation and mass collaboration offers vast opportunities for Irish business at the conference, which this year carries the theme, ‘Connect and Innovate’.

‘Wikinomics’, which is simply bringing people across disciplines, borders and cultures together online, is the way forward for all Irish companies regardless of size according to Williams. A wiki, which allows people globally to edit the same website, is likely to radically change the way we all do business in the future.

Most of us are probably already familiar with the concept as a result of MySpace, YouTube and the online encyclopedia ‘Wikipedia’. Williams believes that by using the same principles across industries there are no limits to what we can achieve whether for commercial gain or human benefit.

This scale of global collaboration has the potential to deliver a cure for genetic diseases, predict global warming change or even find new planets and stars.

He will present many examples that support his argument that having millions of people worldwide working on your problem is likely to deliver far more profitable solutions. One such example, he says, is Goldcorp, the gold mining company who by offering a 575,000 reward to the public went from a worth of $100million to $9 billion. However, Williams warns companies that this shift in how they do business is not just optional, they will need to harness this new type of collaboration or fail.

A series of pre-conference podcasts has also launched by it@cork to explore the key themes which speakers will be covering on the day. The first two interviews are now available to download for free on http://blog.itcork.ie. Speaking about the upcoming Conference, Mr Tom Raftery, it@cork Conference Chair said, “We are delighted to be bringing a panel of world class speakers, led by Anthony Williams, to Ireland.

They are leading experts in the area of innovation and mass collaboration so have a wealth of knowledge to share with Irish business people. I would encourage anyone involved in any type of business to log onto the pre-conference podcasts, including one with ‘Wikinomics’ Guru Williams and pick up a wealth of information as well as a flavour of what to expect at the Conference.”

With just two weeks to go until the Conference, that now boasts an international reputation, a limited number of places remain. This event will be of interest to people from all business sectors and backgrounds.

The conference fee for it@cork members is €300 and the non member rate is €400 per person. For more information on the Technology in Business Conference or the podcast series visit www.itcork.ie or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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