Cloud Matters: Ethics and Policy in the Digital Age

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Cloud Matters: Ethics and Policy in the Digital Age

6th July 2010, 10.00 – 17.00, The Royal Society, London

Jointly hosted by the RCUK Digital Economy Programme and the Royal Society

The emergence of cloud computing and the establishment of commercially viable cloud based services offers tremendous potential for a future digital economy. Many companies are already providing utility computing services with on-demand access to storage and computation facilities. The advocates of cloud computing suggest that the move to utility computing represents a paradigm shift in how we might exploit computer systems and the Internet and that it will promote creativity and the new forms of entrepreneurship needed to fuel the growth of a digital economy. They also suggest that this will have a profound impact on us all and will shape an increasingly digital society.

Cloud computing requires us to embrace a globally connected infrastructure with data and computation moving away from our personal control to reside within a complex global infrastructure that crosses international boundaries and is accessible by billions of potential users. This shift raises significant ethical and policy challenges that will need to be addressed if we are to reap the benefits of cloud computing. How might an individual control access to their personal data if they are unsure of where it is stored? What are the legislative implications of an infrastructure where storage and computation span the globe? How might we govern Cloud computing to ensure that we accrue benefit from its potential while avoiding the pitfalls that may arise from the inappropriate use of this emerging technology? What are the issues around inclusion and availability if citizens increasingly require access to a global computational infrastructure?

Cloud computing requires increased cooperation between those involved in realizing the underpinning technologies, those exploiting these emerging facilities and those involved in its governance and legislation. In this event we wish to stimulate the debate needed between these often disparate groupings to consider the implications of cloud computing for us all.

Keynote speaker: Charles Leadbeater, author of We Think: The Power of Mass Creativity and leading authority on creativity and innovation

Panel Debate Chair: Aleks Krotoski, internet ethics researcher and journalist

RSVP to digitaleconomy@epsrc.ac.uk by 16th June to secure your place. Attendance is by invitation only and places will be allocated on receipt of confirmation as numbers are strictly limited.

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