At the time of the Internet, smartphones and social media there seems to be virtually no part of society that is not affected by the diffusion of digital technology. From the private to the public, from personal relationships to the economy and political movements we are witnessing a great transformation whose magnitude is similar to the one brought in the 19th century by capitalism and industrialization. But what do the different changes brought by digital technology share in common? What is the overarching logic guiding the digital transformation of society? And is it changing society for better or worse?

We will discuss these issues with a number of leading scholars in the field of digital culture:

Tim Jordan is Professor and Head of School of Media, Film and Music at Sussex University. He is the author of a number of influential books including Cyberpower: The Culture and Politics of Cyberspace and the Internet (1999), Activism!: direct action, hacktivism and the future of society (2002), and Information Politics (2015).

Joanna Zylinska is a writer, lecturer, artist and curator, working in the areas of new technologies and new media, ethics, photography and art. She is Professor of New Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London. She is the author of a number of influential books including Life after New Media (2012/ with Sarah Kember) and The Cyborg Experiments (2002).

Mark Coté is a leading researcher in the social, cultural, political and economic dimensions of big data. He has received numerous research grants from the AHRC and EU-Horizon 2020 as both PI and CI, partnering with the Open Data Institute, British Library, Aarhus University, the University of Pisa and many others. His work has been published widely across leading journals including Big Data & Society.

Mercedes Bunz is a German art historian, philosopher and journalist. She has worked as the technology correspondent for the Guardian and is currently senior lecturer journalism and digital media, University of Westminster and has been involved in digital publishing and open access project. She is the author of The Silent Revolution: How Digitalization Transforms Knowledge, Work, Journalism and Politics without Making Too Much Noise (2014).

The conversation will be moderated by Paolo Gerbaudo, Director of the Centre for Digital Culture.