Jorge Garcia Highlights 2013 ASIS&T Annual Meeting

Abstract

At the 2013 ASIS&T Annual Meeting, Jorge García discussed the transformation of new information technologies from imagined abstractions to reality. Through old and current advertisements and interviews with futurist Arthur C. Clarke and communication theorist Marshall McLuhan, García illustrated the progressive revolutions embodied by the telephone, a shift from commuting to communicating, early visions of the Internet, new media and big data. Handling the change requires a continuous process of abstracting reality, augmenting, assimilating and creating models to represent its key features. García recognized data as an asset to be distilled and classified, stored in expanding volumes and transmitted at astounding speeds. Layered with contextual information and supportive technology, data can be used to enhance human intelligence and capability. García closed with an admonition to limit potential negative effects of technology by implementing clear and ethical practices in data and information use.