The World Resources Institute (WRI) is hosting a conference called “Creating Digital Dividends: Applying Digital Technology to Sustainable Development” in Seattle, October 16-18. Its aim is to organize the digital industry to become pro-active on social and environmental agendas. They are limiting attendance to 300 participants; the group of leaders will explore untapped business opportunities by expanding digital technologies into regions, industries, and applications where they are most needed. Case studies of innovative business models that apply digital technologies to unconventional markets will be presented and then small groups will explore practical solutions and new business opportunities.
Harvard University’s biannual “Internet and Society” conference is May 31 to June 2. The theme is, The Power of Information: Opportunities and Ethical Dilemmas in the Internet Age. How will society keep pace with the changes brought by the Internet? Will cyberspace create a new social elite or lead to further democratization? How will new Internet technology restructure life in the 21st century?
The conference is built around four tracks: business, design/technology, politics/law, and society/health. One session is on the effect of the Internet on the built environment: e-Commerce, Remote Presence, Tele-work and the Built Environment. Will the Internet affect sprawl, the number of miles traveled, the number of shopping centers and schools built?
Two focused conferences precede the main event: The Internet and Governance and “The Internet and the Public’s Health: Impact on Individuals, Communities, and the World.”
During the health conference, there will be 24 web-based demonstrations that relate to its main themes: the impact of the Internet on supporting the doctor-patient relationship, reaching the U.S. underserved, improving the healthcare system, and enhancing health in the developing world.
Also in May (12-14) in San Francisco, is the Planetwork Conference on Global Ecology and Information Technology. Planetwork’s organizers promise to “bring together leading innovators from a wide spectrum of fields – from information technology to ecology and biology, from the arts and education to environmental activism – to share their visions, and initiate a new network phenomenon.”
Creating Digital Dividends: [sorry this link is no longer available]
Internet & Society: [sorry this link is no longer available]
Planetwork: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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