Computopia, anyone? - School of Computing Seminar Series

Start date and time

Wednesday 20 September 2017

Location

Core44, Room C44, Merchiston Campus

Coined in Japan, the idea of computopia enjoyed brief popularity in the 1960s and '70s. Subsequent developments, including privacy invasions and other abuses of information technology, have made it seem implausible, even laughable. This talk will revisit the concept, and make the case for computopia, or at any rate computopia 2.0, as a viable social and political goal. The seminar will take the form of a short talk followed by open discussion.


Alistair Duff is research professor in information policy, SACI, and a member of IIDI-CSI. With a background in political philosophy as well as information and communication studies, he has presented and published widely on the societal impact of new technology. He recently concluded an AHRC project entitled Informing the Good Society: New Directions in Information Policy (legacy website at www.informingthegoodsociety.com).