LIFT conference in Geneva
posted Feb 9th 2007, 23:37 under conference, geneva, LIFT
I am now in Geneva, attending LIFT: a conference about the challenges and opportunities of technology in our society.
This conference is at its second edition and is boosting +500 participants from diverse fields such as web development, blogging, design, and everywhere between art and technology. It is quite a heteroclite audience, but the common denominator seems to be technology, especially people with laptops. Welcome to connected-land, where people type, browse, click and blog more than they eat!
More seriously, the 3 days of the conference were packed with talks and activities. Some of them were good, some of them were very 'soft' I would say. I expected more thought-provoking or eyes-opener presentations, but I am a bit new to these conferences. Maybe I expected too much. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed most of the activities. Also, it was a good forum to meet people, great thinkers or just plain good colleagues in this large technology+people community.
I would like to present my highlights of the conference. These were the presentations and workshops I particularly enjoyed and found valuable in regard to my degree project. The LIFT website is offering presentation files, photos and videos of event. Hopefully, they will post all the videos of the conference for you personal viewing pleasure. So here we go in no particular order:
Workshop: Designing the Future with Bill Cockayne
Can designers beat luck when envisioning the future? What tools, methods and mindset can help designing the future? How do we see our society and our cities in 20, 50 and 100 years from now? Are these visions possible, realistic, probable?
This half-day workshop was an eyes-opener for me. Even in our all-connected life today, our society changes very slowly. Our infrastructures (cities, communities, etc) take decades or many generations to evolve. Looking at the past is primordial to see where we are now, and we are (or should be) going. M. Cockayne presented the Walt Disney's plan for EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) developed in the 60's. A nice piece of work, brilliantly presented. Video available on youtube.com.
Industrial Ecology - the future of hyperindustrial economy by Suren Erkman
This presentation offers interesting views on sustainability development. Looking how life need be to self-sustainable in a space mission, we can reapply this knowledge to our life down on Earth. Our industrial system needs to switch to an 'industrial ecology' where all systems, actors and metabolisms are interconnected and interdependent. Even as we are shifting towards a knowledge-based economy, immaterial economy doesn't signify dematerialized economy.
Literacy, Communication & Design by Jan Chipchase
How mobile phones were designed for people who can read and write. How illiterate users are using the devices today. How they can manage it, at what cost and can we offer solutions that are reaching out to these users. This presentation was a great insight at the global phone market and how Nokia supports (or at least trying to) user with no or limited formal learning experience. As M. Chipchase pointed it out, illiteracy is not only found in developing countries, it is also increasingly present is our occidental society. Related post on the author's website.
Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control by Nathan Eagle
When 1st Life Meets 2nd Life by Julian Bleecker
CERN's 27km Big Bang machine by Brian Cox