FM1 New Definitions: Value, Community, Space

First Monday & International Institute of Infonomics

November 4-6, 200
Heerlen/Maastricht

The issues

The impact on society of the technologies of "digitisation" has transcended the limits of any single discipline. It is universal and ubiquitous, affecting everything.

This leads us to ask whether-and how-digitisation affects our basic concepts about society. Basic concepts such as value, community, law, space-these cut across boundaries of scientific discipline, and they cross the lines between policy-makers, business and academia.

Do these concepts change with the impact of new information and communication technologies? If so, how much, and what are these changes?

The questions
This conference will bring together the world's leading thinkers and doers in various fields-from anthropology to law, economics to information technology-to ask: What, if anything, is new about the way we redefine our understanding of these concepts?

How do we adjust our notions of value, given the rise of non-monetary activities of production and consumption such as in the world of free software? How do we measure value, without prices? What is the meaning of money, with the emergence of new electronic currencies and payment systems?

What do we think of community, when the scope of this word seems both broader and narrower than ever before? How are communities being built and how are they held together, with ties that now seem so intangible? What happens when trust and reputation are of increasing importance to form social networks, but your identity is so hard to prove? What happens to law and order, when the borders that used to define jurisdiction disappear?

Have our notions of space changed-and how does navigating through cyberspace relate to working one's way through brickspace? What role does space-geographical, economic-play in deciding the impact of digitization? Space can be trancended through new media to increase freedom and democracy-but is a new space emerging that increases inequality?

The format
This conference is uniquely designed to contrast opinions from different disciplines in sessions linked by common themes: Value, Community, Space. A special Crosstalk session each day brings together participants from the different themes in debate, to elicit a broader understanding of the issues that face us.

Who will speak
This conference emerges from First Monday's reputation as a source of quality ideas and research on digitisation and society. Beginning with keynote presentations from two of First Monday's well-known editorial board members, this conference draws on First Monday's long list of authors, some of the foremost thinkers in their fields.

Who should attend
This conference will offer insights into issues that are critical to economic, social and technological development in Europe as well as worldwide. It will appeal to everyone concerned with the emerging understanding of digitization and its impact on society, policy and business. We expect as participants academics, corporate officers, government policy makers, thinkers and activists from around the world.