ICT that makes the difference
The Future of Ambient Intelligence and ICT for Security
International Conference
Brussels, Belgium, November 22-25, 2009
Industry, R&D, European and national science policy authorities actively guide the computer and the internet towards new futures. New developments are expected to contribute to the economy, the goals of the Lisbon Strategy and the quality of life. ICT is playing an ever increasing role in national security and in overcoming the vulnerabilities of human life.
Industrial stakeholders and science policy officials have designed scenarios of future developments in ICT and their potential impact on the organization of work, government and family life. The ISTAG scenarios (http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/istag/home_en.html) are inspiring the design and set up of much research and development. Increasingly, the same developments are also addressed by social scientists and analysts of the social impact of science, resulting in a renewed attention for the study of Ethical, Socio-economic and Legal Aspects (ESLA) of science and technology.
While both groups of initiatives address the same issues, the future role of ICT in our society, in-depth interaction between the groups is only beginning.
The European Commission is encouraging all its ICT projects to pay explicit attention to the social context and it is inviting more social studies to focus on ICT-oriented topics. The conference is a first International Conference of an EU funded initiative aiming at developing a strong and operational link between both groups of activities.
Similar cross-border structures and discussions have been successfully established in the last 30 years between the scientific, industrial and social communities involved in biotechnology and biomedicine. The conference will pay special attention to lessons learned from this experience.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:
- The future of the computer (Ambient Intelligence; Disappearing computer; Intelligent business environments; Personal Health Systems)
- The future of the internet (Internet of things; Brains online; Distributed decision-making by non-humans; RFID)
- The future of the relation between the virtual and the real (ICT-Enhanced reality; Crime in cyberspace; Robots as experts in law and surgery; Robots as Personal Humanoid Assistant)
- The future of ICT for human security (ICT and national security ; ICT and the vulnerabilities of human life; Multiple identities; Biometrics)
- Ethical, Socio-economic, and Legal Aspects of ICT – ESLA (Privacy; Digital divide, e-Inclusion, Justice; ICT, the Lisbon Strategy, and social values; Intellectual property, copyright; SPAM and phishing; The abolition of man and human relationships; Open access; The 'digital' fix - 'Technological' fix, focussing on ICT)
- Lessons learned from biotechnology or biomedicine (Moratorium and ban; Containment; The 'four principles' (Beauchamp and Childress); Committees; Precaution; Public acceptance and public revolt; The role of the media; Human dignity)
Important dates
1 September 2009: Deadline for submission of abstracts and descriptionof posters
21 September2009:Acceptance notification
22 October 2009:Formatted abstract
22 November 2009:Posters (on display during conference)
22 December 2009:Full paper
Extended abstracts (up to 1500 words) and technical description of posters (up to 2 pages) must be submitted online via the conference website.
http://www.ictthatmakesthedifference.eu/2009.1122.cfabstracts/
Who should attend ?
- Researchers in ICT
- Researchers in Ethical, Socio-economic, and Legal aspects (ESLA) of science
- Strategic thinkers and planners in the field of science and technology
- Decision makers and advisors in industry and public policy
- Experts and other stakeholders involved in the development or analysis of biotechnology, biomedicine and other relevant sciences and technologies.
Why ?
Network with peers
Share information
Disseminate the results of your work
Be inspired by the results and work of others
Learn about the opinion and plans of leaders in the field
Initiators
The Conference is co-financed by the European Commission, DG Research,
Directorate Science, Economy and Society, ICTethics, Grant 230368
Guido Van Steendam, Leuven, Belgium (General Chair)
Ruth Chadwick, Lancaster, UK
Paul McCarthy, Lancaster, UK
Juliet Lodge, Leeds, UK
Stefano Rodota, Rome, Italy
The ICT Science Valley of The Budapest Meeting
The Security Science Valley of The Budapest Meeting
more information: chair.TBM2009@theIFB.eu
Network secretariat: The IFB, Craenendonck 15, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium.
