For fifty years, the University of Illinois has stood on the forefront of computing. Researchers at Illinois, along with members of the local community, have been in the vanguard, providing actual and virtual digital tools for people in their everyday lives and in civil society.
The campus will look back on fifty years of innovation at a conference to be held on April 15 and 16 at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center in Urbana, Illinois. "50 Years of Public Computing at the University of Illinois" will bring back original developers and current scholars to discuss ten important advances made at Illinois.
The event is free and open to the public, but registration is necessary as space is limited. The conference is co-sponsored by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS), the Department of Computer Science, and the Office of Public Engagement.
The campus will look back on fifty years of innovation at a conference to be held on April 15 and 16 at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center in Urbana, Illinois. "50 Years of Public Computing at the University of Illinois" will bring back original developers and current scholars to discuss ten important advances made at Illinois.
The event is free and open to the public, but registration is necessary as space is limited. The conference is co-sponsored by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS), the Department of Computer Science, and the Office of Public Engagement.
GSLIS assistant professor Kate Williams is coordinating the conference. She said, "We are amazed at what people have invented here, on campus and off, North and South of Green Street—especially in collaboration. The point now is to bring all these experiences together and use them to point a way forward."
Projects include PLATO (1960), Project Gutenberg (1971), Urbana Free Library remote online catalog access (1984), CCNet (1993), Prairienet (1994), U-C Independent Media Center (1999), C-U Wireless Network (2001), eToysIllinois (2004), I-LLINI Partnerships (2006), and Assess As You Go (2009).
Williams added, "We're doing this conference when $7.2 billion in broadband investment in communities is about to jump off. Because of this, from now into 2012, the nation is going to be experimenting with and implementing all kinds of new technologies in local communities. Quiet as it's kept, the University of Illinois knows a lot about this. Why leave the nation to reinvent the wheel when we have done so much heavy lifting?"
Panelists will address questions such as: How did these innovations happen? Who led, and how? How can Illinois and local residents continue to innovate for the next fifty years?
Other sponsors and supporters include the College of Education, CITES, I-3, the Community Informatics Initiative, the University Library, and the Center for Democracy in a Multiracial Society.
For more information and to register, visit http://50years.lis.illinois.edu/.
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