wells@Compass.COM (Ian Wells) (12/28/89)
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THE SOCIAL IMPACT GROUP
OF
THE BOSTON COMPUTER SOCIETY
The purpose of the Social Impact group is to provide a forum for the
discussion of social and ethical concerns related to information
technology.
The Social Impact group is one of the many subgroups of the Boston
Computer Society. The BCS is the world's largest organization of
personal computer users. The Social Impact group has been meeting
monthly since 1983 and produces the quarterly newsletter 'IMPACT'.
The group meets at 7:30PM the first Wednesday of each month in
downtown Boston. Our meetings typically consist of a 20 to 30 minute
presentation and 30 to 60 minutes of questions and answers. Speakers
and the audience have especially enjoyed the Social Impact meetings
because of this lively discussion period. The audience we draw is
usually from 10 to 30 in number and from a wide variety of technical
and non-technical backgrounds - industry, academia, non-profit and
computer hobbyists.
Issues occuring on the interface of technology and society often
emerge first in the Boston area, because of the high concentration of
high-tech industry and services in this area. Part of our work is to
disseminate the information from our meetings. Several of our meeting
have been taped on audio cassette and are available from the
"Powersharing Series" in conjunction with the BCS. All Social Impact
meetings are written up in "IMPACT". If you are a member of BCS and
want to receive "IMPACT", notify BCS at 617-367-8080 that you want to
sign-up for the Social Impact SIG.
Notices of our meetings appear in the monthly BCS UPDATE magazine and
are distributed on netnews (ne.seminars) and on an Internet
distribution list.
Here is a summary of some previous meetings:
Marv Goldshmitt, Vice President of Lotus and Richard Stallman,
developer of GNU, debated software protection.
Fred Hapgood, science writer, described his strategy for predicting
the the directions of technological change.
Vin McLellan, journalist, Sandy Sherizen President of Data Security
Systems, and Grace Hammonds, director the proposed BCS subgroup on
Computer security, debated how we should respond to computer viruses.
Dr. Ronni Rosenberg, with Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility, presented the results of her study of computer
literacy in schools, which suggested the euphoria about computers in
schools is unjustified.
Mario Pagnoni, high school computer teacher, and Stefan Blumquist,
teacher at Waldorf schools, debated what is the best age to introduce
children to computers.
Medard Gabel, director of the World Game Institute in Philadelphia,
described how the World Game, invented by Buckminster Fuller, is
building a Hypercard database to store world resource information.
Bob Weber, who works in the Office for Information Technology at
Harvard University, discussed the open versus closed responses to
computer viruses and how to defeat virus attacks in a networked world.
Dr.Joseph Weizenbaum questioned the rush to introduce computers into
schools.
Sherry Turkle gave a summary of her book, ``The Second Self''.
Alex Beam, who was Business Week bureau chief in Moscow for many
years, described his observations of personal computers in the USSR.
Scott Mize, an entrepreneur, described his vision for a non-profit
organization to feed the hungry in Cambridge. With volunteers from
this meeting, this non-profit is in the process of obtaining funding.
Peter B. Miller, director of the PACRAT Associates non-profit
organization described how PACRAT is providing desk-top publishing
technology to Non-profits.
Dr. Shoshona Zuboff,Professor at the Harvard Business School and
author, discussed her studies of computers in the workplace.
The founder of Tecnica, Michael Urmann, discussed his volunteer
organization which provides technical assistance to Nicaragua.
Lisa Breit described CONNECT, a non-profit providing computer
assistance to non-profits.
Dr. Maud Chaplin, discussed technology and human freedom from a
philosophical and ethical point of view.
Mike Basch, of Synectics Inc, desribed how he incorporates computers
into problem solving workshops.
Social Impact sponsored a panel discussion on Home Based Enterprises
and helped form this new BCS group.
For information about audio tapes, phone 1-800-535-TALK or (CT and
world) 203-637-0270. For further information about the Social Impact
group or to receive our Internet email distribution, contact Ian
Wells, director, at 617-665-5136 (8:00 - 10:00pm) or by email at
bcs-ssi@compass.com.
1990 SCHEDULE
January 17th - The BCS Public Service Program - What It Can be and
How Communities in Need Can Use It - A Panel and Audience Discussion
Jose Duran - Hispanic Office of Planning and Evaluation
Joe Gannon - Institute for Commmunity Based Computers
Mel King - Community Fellows Program, M.I.T.
Diana Lam - Chelsea Superintendent of Schools
Antonia Stone - Playing to Win
Moderator: Lisa Breit - Connect
February 7th - On Influence, Power, and Control in the Networks of
the Nineties - William H. Murray, Fellow, Ernst and Young
JOINT MEETING of
Public Service Committee
and the Social Impact Group
of the Boston Computer Society
The BCS Public Service Program - What It
Can be and How Communities in Need Can Use It
A Panel and Audience Discussion
Jose Duran - Hispanic Office of Planning and Evaluation
Joe Gannon - Institute for Commmunity Based Computers
Mel King - Community Fellows Program, M.I.T.
Diana Lam - Chelsea Superintendent of Schools
Antonia Stone - Playing to Win
Moderator: Lisa Breit - Connect
7:30 Wednesday January 17th 1990
The BCS Social Impact group and the Public Service Committee jointly
present a panel and audience discussion on the BCS Public Service
Program - what it can be and how the community in need can use it.
For many low income individuals and community groups, the upward
mobility, access to information, and empowerment that personal
computers can offer are not readily available. What kinds of efforts
are being made to narrow the gap between the haves and the have-nots?
What roles should the BCS assume to become a more proactive, public
service institution? This meeting, cosponsored by the Social Impact
User Group and the BCS's new Public Service Committee, will feature a
panel discussion by local community leaders Jose Duran, Joe Gannon,Mel
King, Diana Lam and Antonia Stone, who will describe their efforts
to bring technology resources to individuals and groups who generally
do not have access to technology resources. The panel will be followed
by an open forum for all BCS members and interested guests to share
their ideas for public service projects, and to learn about existing
volunteer opportunities through the BCS Public Service Committee. The
discussion will be moderated by Lisa Breit, Program Director for
CONNECT, a program of the Technical Development Corporation, which
helps non-profit organizations use computers more effectively.
The location is Room 190 Building 2 at M.I.T., Cambridge, MA. This is
next to the M.I.T. Memorial Library on the M.I.T. Campus on Memorial
Drive, 5 minutes walk from the Kendall Square T stop. There is parking
in the M.I.T. lots and on Memorial Drive.
For information about the Public Service Committee, contact April Andrews
(617-868-5851 evenings). For information about the Social Impact group,
contact Ian Wells (617-665-5136 8-10pm or Internet email to
bcs-ssi@compass.com)
Meeting of
the Social Impact Group
of the
Boston Computer Society
On Influence, Power, and Control in the
Networks of the Nineties
William Hugh Murray
Fellow, Information System Security
Ernst & Young, Cleveland, Ohio
Phone BCS-INFO for Downtown Boston Location
The networks of the nineties will be the primary economic
infra-structure. They have the potential to enhance social
productivity, increase wealth, and reduce want. Alternatively, they
include the risk of introducing chaos in our markets and exposing us
to computer terrorism. This presentation will discuss the behavior,
individual and collective, social and political, national and
international, most likely to realize the potential and limit the
risk.
Before William Murray took up his present position, he worked at IBM
as Program Manager for Data Security in the Information Systems and
Communications Group.
For further information about this meeting, contact Ian Wells, the
Director of the Social Impact group (617-665-5136 8-10pm or Internet
email bcs-ssi@compass.com).
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|Ian Wells | Phone: +1 617 245 9540 |
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