Oxford professor discusses information geography at UT

The quick development of information technology has brought the development of several geographic regions and created knowledge–based peripheries and centres. On 9 November at 14:15 in the University of Tartu’s assembly hall, Professor Mark Graham of the University of Oxford will talk about uneven geographies of power and participation in the internet era and ask why the digital divide has not been reduced more.

According to Mark Graham, professor at the University of Oxford’s Internet Institute, the geographic aspect in receiving and spreading information is important because it shapes our ability to find and comprehend the different parts of the world—places with little or no representation are invisible.

Graham’s presentation “Uneven geographies of power and participation” inquires why the digital divide has been reduced so little, bringing out a widespread vision of the online as the bringer of radical change which can alleviate the lag in information technology.

Graham claims that achieving better connectivity is not only a natural process but it also plays an important role in shaping people’s opinions and economic situation in global information society. So, there are still several social, economic, political, regulative and infrastructure–related barriers which promote the continuing of information peripheries.

The lecture is followed by a discussion which among other things covers Estonia’s experience in providing knowledge-based development aid to such regions.

The lecture will be opened by Tomas Matraia, Policy Officer of the European Commission Directorate–General for Research and Information, and Mehmet Erdogan, United Nations Development Programme’s Communications Specialist. In addition to the lecture, there will be comments by Research Fellow at UT Institute of Government and Politics and lecturer at the UT European College Dr Stefano Braghiroli and Külli Taro, Programme Manager at the Foundation Estonian Cooperation Assembly. The discussion is moderated by Kaspar Korjus, Programme Director of the Estonian e-Residency project.

Mark Graham’s lecture is part of the international lecture series “Kapuscinski Development Lectures”. The lecture series is organised in Estonia by the UT European College in cooperation with the UN Development Programme and the European Commission.

The previous lecture in the same series took place in Estonia in 2012 with former president of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberg who discussed the role of the new EU members as donors.

See the lecture

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Additional information: Silver Bohl, Marketing Specialist at UT European College, tel. 737 6379, 5647 2286, e-mail: silver.bohl@ut.ee.