The Guardian ran a conference called Activate 09 on 01/07/09 which was all about how we can use creativity and technology to alleviate some of the burning issues affecting our planet (excuse the pun). The day was packed full of intelligent debate and insight and if you want a succinct breakdown look no further than this brilliant summing up, posted by Roo Reynolds.
For me the highlights were definitely Gerry Jackson from SW Radio Africa, Matt Webb from Schulze and Webb, and Sugata Mitra, as I heard him speak on BBC Radio 4 a while ago and was really interested in his work. His hole in the wall experiments are truly humbling and challenge our assumptions about how children learn and about people living in poverty. I did my dissertation on the Digital Divide about ten years ago (as mentioned previously here) and it’s so great that people from all industries are now coming together, more and more, to discuss how we can use technology to make differences locally and globally. I also went to Reboot Britain this week and will write about that in a separate post, but it really has struck me, because of these two conferences, that people who work in digital media are at the centre of the drive for change because we are designers, communicators, socialites and entrepeneurs – we really understand how a simple thing can make a big impact and that we are only at the beginning of understanding the possibilities of a networked, connected life. It might sound grand, and I still love analogue adventures, but I am finding the interest I have in the web renewed and refreshed by these events. It’s all good.
