The Growth of Internet Services and Energy Demand – Is there a Limit

Ethics of Big Data Seminar Series addressing Big Data, Materiality and the Environment. 

Register now for ‘The Growth of Internet Services and Energy Demand – Is there a Limit’ seminar here.

Speaker: Dr Mike Hazas (University of Lancaster)

Data is commonly conceived of as intangible and ubiquitous, driving decisions through a series of bits, codes and mathematical algorithms. At the same time, it is both material and localised, composed of structures, buildings, devices and people. In Lent Term we explore the material aspects of data and how these feed into the discussions of 'ethics' in a data driven world.

Our invited speakers, drawn from disciplines that range from materials science and computer science to sociology, anthropology and art, will address a wide range of issues. These include the energy demand of data infrastructures, initiatives to bring the material nature of electronic devices to wider attention through the creation of jewellery, and the localised impact of the data centre industry through an ethnographic case study in Sweden.

See http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/programmes/ethics-of-big-data-research-group for full details