Written by Sean C. Stacey and Brooke Thompson

The afternoon keynote address was presented by John de Mol, founder of Talpa and Co-Founder of Endemol. Talpa may be recognized for, among other things, its questionable contribution to society of the Big Brother and Extreme Makeover television properties. His appearance was quite a coup for the Cross Media Week Foundation, as he very rarely makes any public appearances or speeches.

Mr. de Mol posited that we were entering what he termed the “Application Age,” meaning that the real value of technology is in how it is used and applied. The Internet enables content production, content delivery, mass communication and discussion of information and issues. This has already begun to be wholly embraced by the younger generation that has grown up with access to the Internet and, more recently, high speed broadband. Ninety percent of consumer created content is developed by users under the age of 30. These youths are digital natives, navigating cyberspace effortlessly in comparison to their parents’ and grandparents’ generations.

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