[Air-L] Conference on the Post-truth society. From Fake News, Datafication & Mass Surveillance to the Death of Trust.

[Alex Grech]

The Commonwealth Centre for Connected Learning
<https://connectedlearning.edu.mt/> is organising an international
conference - *Understanding the Post-truth Society. From Fake News,
Datafication & Mass Surveillance to the Death of Trust* - at the
Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, Malta on 10-11 October, 2019.

Early Bird Registration is available till 31 July - Register on this link
<https://connectedlearning.edu.mt/register-post-truth-conference-2019/>.


A Conference about the New Normal

This interdisciplinary conference starts with the basic premise that truth
does matter; and that norms associated with a democratic society, such as
the common good, responsibility, ethics and civic engagement are under
attack with the emergence of the post-truth society.


The objective is to explore four interconnected sectors – Education,
Technology, Media and Government – and assess their roles both as solutions
and contributors to post-truth society. Keynotes and workshops address
facets of the 'new normal' such as lies, fake news, hacks, datafication,
trolls, populism, polarisation, hyper-partisanship, attention deficits,
echo chambers, and conversion of popularity into legitimacy.


Keynotes & Your Contribution

Expert keynotes set the stage for focused breakout sessions and workshops.
Speakers will also lead discussions on specific subjects within the
overriding themes. The programme is structured to ensure every opportunity
for delegates to engage and have a voice in shaping the conference outcomes.


Speakers <https://connectedlearning.edu.mt/speakers/> confirmed to date
include:


Michael J. Casey <https://www.michaeljcasey.com/> -  Author of five books,
including The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything,
educator, media entrepreneur and advisor on the economics of blockchain and
digital innovation.


Kenneth Cukier <http://www.cukier.com/> - The Economist’s senior editor of
digital products, overseeing data analytics and managing the media group’s
new digital product development. Cukier is also a former business,
technology and foreign correspondent at the Economist.


*Vivian Onano <https://www.vivianonano.com/>* - Social entrepreneur and
humanitarian who is recognised as an emerging woman leader with the courage
to lead change on the African continent. Vivian is a youth advisor to
Global Education Monitoring Report, UNESCO and the Founder/Director at
Leading Light Initiative. Vivian is a recipient of the 2017 New African
Woman on the Rise Award and 2016 MTV “Africa Re-Imagined” Award.


Marc Cohen <https://mco.dev/> - Marc works for Google and builds tools,
demos, codelabs and other things to make the Google Cloud Platform
<https://cloud.google.com/> easier and more fun to use.


JOIN US  to be part of defining a shared agenda and a collective response
to the challenges of the post-truth society.  Agenda outputs will be
presented in a post-conference publications and manifesto and will be
followed by a further conference in Italy in 2020.


REGISTER on
https://connectedlearning.edu.mt/register-post-truth-conference-2019/

Further information on this link
<https://connectedlearning.edu.mt/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Post-truth-Conference-2019-Flyer.pdf>
or
please email me directly if you wish to disuss contribution or
participation.

*Dr Alex Grech <https://www.um.edu.mt/profile/alexgrech>*
Executive Director, Commonwealth Centre for Connected Learning
University of Malta, Faculty for Media & Knowledge Sciences
Twitter @alexgrech