DIGITAL NATIVES

In the course of the next 10 years, a new generation—Generation C—will emerge. Born after 1990, these "digital natives," just now beginning to attend university and enter the workforce, will transform the world as we know it. Their interests will help drive massive change in how people around the world socialize, work, and live their passions—and in the information and communication technologies they use to do so. As they grow up, this highly connected generation will live "online" most of their waking hours, comfortably participate in social networks with several hundred or more contacts, generate and consume vast amounts of formerly private information, and carry with them a sophisticated "personal cloud" that identifies them in the converged online and offline worlds.
As a consequence, this generation will expect fast, reliable connectivity through which they will create direct commercial links with a multitude of online business partners—today we call them application players. And the Internet will evolve into a largely "centerless" cloud with no obvious control points.
In the face of declining revenues from traditional services, the challenge for the communication and technology industries will be to abandon successful but outlived business models and refocus on what it takes to thrive in the Generation C environment. This shouldn’t be taken as bad news, however; the rise of ubiquitous broadband, and of newly connected populations from emerging economies, will enable operators to capitalize on a vast new array of services. The "smart pipe," an intelligent communication infrastructure, will be at the heart of many new value pools in industries as diverse as healthcare, energy, transportation, and media. Communication and technology players are well positioned to jump on the bandwagon today to help shape the future of these industries—and to capture significant new revenues as the industries change and grow. 2
Booz & CompanyBy the year 2020, an entire generation will have grown up in a primarily digital world. Computers, the Internet, mobile phones, texting, social networking—all are second nature to them. And their familiarity with technology, reliance on mobile communications, and desire to remain in contact with large networks of family members, friends, business contacts, and others will transform how we work and how we consume. This is the demographic group we call Generation C—the "C" stands for connect, communicate, change (see "What Is Generation C?").What will the world of 2020 look like? In hopes of better understanding the depth of the changes Generation C will bring with it, and of helping leaders in the information and communication technology (ICT) industries, as well as their colleagues in a variety of related industries, think about and prepare for these changes, Booz & Company has embarked on a long-term project designed to explore the shape of the world inhabited—and influenced—by Generation C. Our goal is not to determine the exact shape of the future, or to promote a particular vision of that future, but rather to investigate the trends that we believe will affect the next decade, and to define the parameters of what should be an ongoing debate about what that future will look like and how business leaders should respond.
THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COMEWhat Is Generation C? They are realists, they are materialists. They are culturally liberal, if not politically progressive. They are upwardly mobile, yet they live with their parents longer than others ever did. Many of their social interactions take place on the Internet, where they feel free to express their opinions and attitudes. They’ve grown up under the influence of Harry Potter, Barack Obama, and iEverything—iPods, iTunes, iPhones. Technology is so intimately woven into their lives that the concept of early adopter is essentially meaningless.
They are Generation C—connected, communicating, content-centric, computerized, community-oriented, always clicking. As a rule, they were born after 1990 and lived their adolescent years after 2000. In the developed world, Generation C encompasses everyone in this age group; in the BRIC countries, they are primarily urban and suburban. By 2020, they will make up 40 percent of the population in the U.S., Europe, and the BRIC countries, and 10 percent in the rest of the world—and by then, they will constitute the largest group of consumers worldwide.
Having owned digital devices all their lives, they are intimately familiar with them and use them as much as six hours a day. They all have mobile phones and constantly send text messages. More than 95 percent of them have computers, and more than half use instant messaging to communicate, have Facebook pages, and watch videos on YouTube.
Consider the typical Gen C "digital native" in 2020. Colin is a 20-year-old computer science student in London, where he lives with two other students on the equivalent of about €600 a month. He enjoys backpacking, sports, music, and gaming. He has a primary digital device (PDD) that keeps him connected 24 hours a day—at home, in transit, and at school. He uses it to download and record music, video, and other content, and to keep in touch with his family, friends, and an ever-widening circle of acquaintances. His apartment is equipped with the latest wireless home technology, with download speeds mandated by the government. 3