Web entrepreneur Cliff Sharples will give a lecture on the benefits of uniting business with information technology on Thursday, March 30, at 4 p.m. in room 01 of the F.W. Olin Science Center at Colby College. The lecture, "Breaking Rules and Challenging Norms: Entrepreneurship and Computer Technology As the Ultimate Change Agents," is open to the public and free of charge.

Sharples is president, CEO and co-founder of Garden.com, today’s leading gardening Internet retailer. He attended Colby, graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with a bachelor’s degree in information systems, and holds a master’s in management from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. Sharples led a successful career in information technology and management, serving as director of business development for pcOrder.com prior to the creation of Garden.com. His accomplishments have been recognized by the White House, where he was invited to represent internet retailers for President Clinton’s briefing on electronic commerce policy.

In his March 30 lecture, Sharples will discuss the Internet as an enabler of great change for consumers, society, industries and businesses worldwide. He also will explain how the Internet challenges old business methods and creates new approaches that better serve today’s world. He will point out unresolved problems and issues that must be faced in the future as information technology continues to change.

The lecture is part of the Science, Technology and Society Colloquium Series and is co-sponsored by the Colby College Computer Science Department.