The social and cultural impact of the internet: A British perspective

Rewley House

20 Mar 2024
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm

Grant Blank, Visitor at Oxford Internet Institute & Senior Research Fellow of Harris Manchester College

The United Kingdom has always been one of the world leaders in Internet use. I will talk about the current state of Internet use in the UK, with emphasis on trends in Internet use and the digital divide. The conclusion will summarize some of the current issues in digital divide research.

Bio

Grant Blank (Ph.D. University of Chicago) is a Visitor at the Oxford Internet Institute and Senior Research Fellow of Harris Manchester College, both part of the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. He is a sociologist specializing in the social and cultural impact of the Internet, the digital divide, statistical and qualitative methods, and cultural sociology. Author or co-author of about 60 papers and six books, in 2015 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Communication, Information Technology and Media Sociology section of the American Sociological Association. He can be reached at grant.blank@gmail.com; see https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantblank/

Hybrid Meeting

This event will be held both “in person” and “via Zoom”.

“In Person” Logistics

The “in person” meeting will be held at our new meeting place: Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JA. The meeting will commence at 7:30pm, and an assortment of light refreshments will be available beforehand. Please register for the event as usual using the Eventbrite link on the website or via MeetUp, where you will be able to indicate whether you are attending via Zoom or in person.

COVID-19

BCS is following government guidelines and we would ask attendees to continue to also follow these guidelines. Please go to https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ for more information, advice, and instructions.

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BCS’ Fellows Technical Advisory Group (F-TAG) was formed two years ago to provide insight on cutting-edge technologies and professional practice.

The group has had a transformational impact in that time, working closely with the Policy and PR team, to grow our reputation for thought leadership with government departments, sector bodies, the media and our membership community.

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A paper on The Online Safety Bill produced with input from key member groups such as Law, AI and Software.

A proactive position paper arguing against a ‘pause’ on AI development.

Leading the development of BCS’ open letter calling for AI to be seen as force for good, rather than an existential threat, which was covered by the BBC.

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