‘Virtual’ innovations change our lives for real

Just how – and how much – is the dotcom world changing our lives? In a V.I.P.-studded attempt to answer this question, the Harvard community is hosting the third Internet & Society Conference in Sanders Theatre from Wednesday, May 31, Friday, June 2. Keynote speakers include Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus Development Corporation; Andy Grove, chairman of the board of Intel; Candice Carpenter, the CEO of ivillage.com; Jerry Greenberg, Sapient’s co-CEO; and Peter Neupert, the CEO of Drugstore.com.

In one of the conference highlights, Fast Company founding editor Alan Webber will interview Black Entertainment Television (BET) and BET.com executive vice president Scott Mills on how the Internet is changing the focus of both entertainment and educational media.

One innovative component of each keynote will be an interview with a senior Harvard representative. In one such interview, Graduate School of Education Dean Jerome Murphy will discuss the development of online communities with Candice Carpenter and explore how her own background in “experiential education” set the stage for her later interest in both real and virtual communities and their ability to change the nature of social relationships.

In another keynote interview, Professor of Public Health Practice at the School of Public Health Deborah Prothrow-Stith and Professor of Medicine Anthony Komaroff will review with Peter Neupert some of the pragmatic and ethical issues related to the Internet’s role in consumer education on public health issues.

Satellite conferences held at the Harvard Medical Campus and at the Kennedy School will expand the investigation into the myriad ways the Internet is changing society, addressing issues ranging from cyber medicine to the use of technology in political campaigns.

Harvard community members are encouraged to explore the conference site at http://www.is2k@harvard.edu, or to send e-mail to is2k@harvard.edu for more information on events and group discount rates.