Name: Man-Sze Li
Affiliation: Director
IC Focus
Country: London, UK
URL: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/enet/fines-positionpaper_en.html
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| "There are no future facts. Alternative futures are possible. Two extreme future scenarios illustrate that Future Internet technologies can be harnessed to achieve dramatically opposite outcomes. Choices need to be made in the design of new technologies. Choices lead to tension. Design for the future must acknowledge the possibility of wild card."
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| "According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), many
Scenario-building initiatives have failed to adequately consider how the Internet and related ICTs are actually transforming institutions and governance, and impacting social development and environmental management."
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- Society of light
The first thing that strikes any visitor to this society is the general sense of well being. The streets are bright and the air is full of joy. The inhabitants are healthy with a long life expectancy. They are articulate, confident of themselves and proud of their endeavors. They are at the same time keen to absorb new ideas and learn from others, which they do continuously and easily. They are optimistic about the future, not just for themselves and those close to them, but also the future of future generations.
- Society of darkness
Not much is known about this society. Visitors to this society are few because they are not welcome. The few who have been there are afraid to talk about their visit in fear of their lives. It is rumored that the vast majority of the inhabitants live in some kind of cyber “cage”. Real or virtual, or “virtually real”, many bad things apparently happen in the cage, even though it is widely believed everything in the cage is being constantly monitored and meticulously patrolled, and punishment is severe.
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"Despite all the efforts, productive or otherwise, there is no room for certitude, least of all complacency. The future – bright or bleak or "more of the same" - does not, and will not, somehow take care of itself. We are facilitators and potential creators of future(s), bearing in mind that there is potentially an infinite variety of Internet of Futures, awaiting human endeavor to build, or to destroy." |
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