A business entrepreneur has warned new graduates to keep up with the rapid pace of change, or "be run over by the train''.

"If you're sitting out there now with nice, neat little outlines for the next ten years, you'd better think again,'' said Peter Durhager, president of Logic Communications Ltd.

"Life may have other plans.'' Speaking at the Saltus Grammar School's graduation ceremony at the Anglican Cathedral yesterday, Mr. Durhager told the 61 students to look to the past to realise "the only constant is change''.

"The fact is that our Tourism product is broken, and has been for years,'' he said.

"We did it well, and got copied. Lots of other destinations took the concept and did it better, faster and cheaper.'' And Mr. Durhager said Bermuda needed to respond to similar challenges to maintain the continued development of international business.

"Being an offshore jurisdiction in the future will require us to anticipate the requirements of our clients in terms of regulation, legislation, political stability, infrastructure development and sophistication, quality of service and hospitality.

"We will have to create and maintain a unique product set, one not easily replicated by competing domiciles and one which continues to develop and change in lock step with the needs of our clients. ... we must apply the knowledge gained from the past in order to guarantee future success.'' Mr. Durhager also spoke of technological developments as a major force of change.

"The compelling truth is that entire civilisations will skip the printed age and move from illiteracy straight to hi-tech.

"Technology and communications have altered international boundaries and distance is eliminated.'' But Mr. Durhager -- who attended Saltus -- said the students should not feel overwhelmed by the magnitude and rapidity of changes in the emerging "global village''.

"It's important to recognise that individuals still make a difference,'' he said .

And he cited the examples of Bill Gates, founder of the world's largest software company, and Saltus' own headmaster, Trevor Rowell, as leaders who had made a difference.

"For you, the leaders of the future,'' he added, "the ability to learn, not what you know or learn, is one of the most powerful factors in the ability to adapt to, manage or even create change.'' MARCHING INTO THE FUTURE -- Some of Saltus Grammar School's finest students file into the Anglican Cathedral for their graduation ceremony.