WCIT Colloquium

Updated 17 July 2001

Welcome to the Web Page for the WCIT Colloquium on the Ethical and Spiritual Implications of the Internet (formerly "the new IT & Telecoms Environment")

We have so far held three 'physical' Colloquia at the House of Lords

The first 'physical' Colloquium was held on 10 February 1997 chaired by Sir Michael Marshall MP (then Chairman of PITCOM - he retired at the May 1997 election) and began with short keynote addresses by

Bishop Richard Chartres (The Bishop of London) [see Bp Richard's talk here] and by
Steve Shirley OBE (Life President of the FI Group) [see Steve's talk here]

A summary of the discussion is available

The second was on October 15th 1997, chaired by Sir Robert May FRS and hosted by Bishop Richard with two keynote speakers:

Revd David Prior, Director of the Centre for Marketplace Theology
Chris Rees, director of Charteris Management Consulting

A summary of this discussion is now also available

The third was on February 17th 2000, Chaired by Elizabeth France (The Data Protection Registrar) and hosted by Bishop Tom Butler CEng , with keynote talks from:
- David Svendsen (Chairman of Microsoft UK until 1 March 2000)
- Prof Harold Thimbleby (co-author of Cybernauts Awake!)
A summary discussion is now on the web.

EMail if you would like to be kept informed on this.

There are also comments from people who have participated in the debate either in person or over the Net.

The Colloquium is organised by the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, which is the one hundredth livery company, dedicated to promoting the art and science of IT in the widest sense, through our Religion and Spiritual Development Panel, which aims to encourage the development of the religious and spiritual dimensions of daily life in the IT-related industries.

We believe that it is increasingly important to address the Ethical and Spiritual implications of the new IT & Telecoms environment, and in each colloquium we have brought together some 40 key people to initiate a high-level debate on these subjects. There was a highly interactive discussion, and we are continuing this debate in various ways including over the Web and the Net.

Further information about the Colloquiua will be posted on these pages as they develop.

Disclaimer

These pages are working notes and are not to be taken as the official position of the WCIT or of any organisation. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the WCIT and the fact that a link is referred to on these pages does not of course mean any endorsement of the positions taken or information therein.