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Digital futures:
perspectives and possibilities

A public talk organised by the Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology and The Open University in the North West

6.30 for 7.00 to 9.30,  Weds 8th July,  The 1894 Suite, City of Manchester Stadium , Rowsley St., M11 3FF

The Open University, which is celebrating its 40th birthday this year, is a creature of technology. It was originally conceived by Harold Wilson as a ‘University of the Air’ to make quality higher education available to all. Since its inception  it has been at the forefront of using technology to support learning, most visibly in collaboration with the BBC.  Since 1969 there have been great changes in information and communication technologies: in the same year that the OU was born, the ARPAnet, the forerunner of what we now know as the internet , was commissioned in the US. Twenty years ago, Tim Berners-Lee circulated his proposal for managing information which  gave birth to the world wide web.

Universities, along with many others, are trying to understand both how to respond to, and how to shape, emerging digital technologies. To explore some of the possibilities for our digital futures,  the Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology and the Open University in the North West have invited three distinguished speakers to share their thoughts at a public talk and panel discussion:
  • Prof. John Naughton, Professor of the of Public Understanding of Technology, Open University, and  'Observer’ columnist - 7 Things (plus or minus 2) That Everybody Needs to Know about the Internet
  • Dr Adrian Woolard, Director, Project Lead, R&D North Lab, BBC Research & Development - Innovation in creative industries: a BBC perspective
  • Shaun Fensom, Chair, Manchester Digital - Thoughts on the Connection between Universal Happiness and Practical Mechanics (or, What Robert Owen might have said about the internet)
Tickets are free, available from Jean Rigby at jean.rigby@open.ac.uk or 0161 956 6864. Numbers are limited, and will be first come, first served. Light refreshments will be available before the talk and a bar will be open afterwards.

Instructions on finding the venue by road and by public transport can be found at: http://www.cityofmanchesterstadium.co.uk/

For more information contact Dr. Adrian Jackson (a.r.jackson@open.ac.uk) or Dr. Steve Walker (s.walker@open.ac.uk) at the Open University in the North West.