Notes on Science Online – Science Communication 50 years from now (John Gilbey)

Tries to speculate on what science communication could be like in 50 years’time.

Has developed a model organism: The University of Rural England. Develops characters (students and faculty members with the normal human weaknesses…) Things are not always what they seem….

Now looking at an old Nature issue from 186…we’d recognise it now and an 1869 reader would recognise ours. But are moving towards things that make us loose the connection to the old journal

Speculation 1: The World will change dramatically in 50 years time. Who will sponsoer research then and how free will science be?

Sepculation 2: Virtual reality will become ubiquitous in society across the globe. Location becomes irrelevant, scientists become fully nomadic, opportunities for citizen science increase

Speculation 3: Significant environmental events will spur major increases in research activities. Science profile is raised significantly….

Speculation 4: Society crashes totally following an unrecoverable internet failure: science knowledge critical for recovery, trust in science is key, think what that means for data storage and management

Common threats: science must be trustworthy, science must be open, science must be answerable to society, science communication must be open and science must be available offline.