We are in the midst of an explosion of technology and knowledge.
Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, facial recognition, Internet surveillance, and data science promise to bring a new dawn of safety and insights to improve society—while simultaneously raising legitimate questions about unforeseen consequences or malicious uses.
Just the speed at which new technologies are being developed and introduced prompts us to ask:
- Is technology moving faster than our ability to understand it?
- Will technologies such as big data, Internet surveillance, robotics, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology provide the solutions society's largest problems and usher in a new era of security and convenience? Or will these technologies put our jobs or personal wellbeing at risk?
- Is space travel and exploration an expensive luxury or a necessity?
- Is public policy effectively dealing with new technologies, or is the tech world moving too fast for effective legislation and regulation?
These are the questions discussed at the two-day conference at Purdue University, "Dawn or Doom2: The Risks And Rewards Of The New Technology Explosion."
At the event, Purdue faculty experts and leading national authorities will present their perspectives on the current technology explosion, explore conditions that will foster innovation and investment into the next generation of technology, and address the big-picture issues where both excitement and alarm are appropriate responses.
CONFERENCE TRACKS
Planned conference tracks include:
"Data science, privacy, and surveillance"
"Tech policy and legislation in a gigaspeed world"
"Advanced manufacturing, robotics, and artificial intelligence"
"Space travel and exploration"
See the listings of tracks and speakers for full descriptions.
RELATED EVENTS
In addition, in 2015 we are pleased to offer four additional conference events:
Outdoor Movie Night
Back to the Future
Date & Time Wednesday, September 23 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Location Purdue Memorial Union Front Lawn
Description Pre-conference outdoor movie night on the lawn of the Purdue Memorial Union At last year's Dawn or Doom event we discovered that the lawn of the Purdue Memorial Union is a great place to watch an outdoor movie—and it's even more fun when you have a second screen showing everyone's snarky Twitter comments about what's happening on the big screen. Join us this year on Dawn or Doom Eve (Wednesday, September 23) for another showing of one of Hollywood's over-the-top portrayals of technology in our world.
Writing about technology panel discussion
Panel discussion: "Writing About Technology"
Date & Time Thursday, September 24 10:00am - 11:30am
Location Stew Fowler
Speakers Jennifer Bogo Ben Gruber Torie Bosch Steve Lohr
Description
"Writing about technology" panel discussion
An argument can be made that all journalism now is tech journalism, and perhaps the same can be said for much of today's non-fiction writing.
Technology has become so pervasive and ubiquitous in the modern industrialized world that almost any subject will have a tech component.
Do you need to speak geek to write about technology? Is the ability to speak geek enough?
Join a few of the nation's leading tech journalists as they discuss what it takes to write about technology well, and future considerations for those
interested in writing about technology and its place in our lives.
Links
Streaming
http://www.kaltura.com/tiny/q7670
Dawn or Doom writing contest
Dawn or Doom art exhibit
Thursday, September 248:00am-8:00pm Robot Futures Artifact Display
10:00am-5:30pm Art Exhibit "Discontinuities, Dreams and Diversions"
Friday, September 25
10:00am-5:30pm Art Exhibit "Discontinuities, Dreams and Diversions"
2:00pm-3:30pm Art Exhibition reception: "Discontinuities, Dreams and Diversions"
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Sponsored by 
Barton Gellman
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has been writing about NSA surveillance for The Washington Post based on documents provided to him by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Gellman is also the author of an upcoming book on Internet privacy & surveillance
Steve Lohr
Technology reporter for The New York Times, and author of a new book on data science, Data-ism: The Revolution Transforming Decision Making, Consumer Behavior, and Almost Everything Else.
Dr. Gerry McCartney
Vice President for IT, System CIO, & Oesterle Professor of IT
Diana Hancock
Commercialization Director,
Office of the Vice President for IT
Conference attendees at the Dawn or Doom Art Exhibit
REGISTRATION & SOCIAL MEDIA
Registration for Dawn or Doom2 is now closed. We look forward to seeing you next year for Dawn or Doom3!
Follow Dawn or Doom on Twitter and Facebook to receive advance updates and event information.
ORGANIZERS
Now in its fourth year, Dawn or Doom enables open-minded and thoughtful consideration of the potential risks and rewards posed by rapid, disruptive and seemingly continuous technological change that may be moving faster than our ability to understand it. The conference on Purdue’s West Lafayette, Ind., campus Sept. 26 and 27, 2017, is free and open to the public. Dawn or Doom '17 is directed by Purdue CIO and Oesterle Professor of Information Technology, Gerry McCartney, with the generous assistance of corporate sponsors.
If you’d like to be a sponsor of the event please contact Diana Hancock at hancockd@purdue.edu.
SPONSORS
EMC2 — Cisco — HP — Matrix Solutions Inc.
