What does it mean to be human in the computational era?
How can we experience freedom and plurality in a hyperconnected reality?
Is the public/private distinction still relevant?
How can we endorse and attribute responsibilities in a world where artefacts become agents?


It is often thought that philosophy is a luxury for persons who enjoy the beauty of the world of 
ideas, only. However, answers to philosophical questions such as the ones above, have concrete 
and direct implications on the design of policy frameworks.The deployment and uptake of information
and communication technologies (ICTs) has a radical impact on the human condition, insofar as 
they modify relationships to ourselves, to others and to the world. In order to explore the 
policy-relevant consequences of the changes brought about by hyperconnectivity, a group of scholars
in anthropology, cognitive science, computer science, engineering, law, neuroscience, philosophy, 
political science, psychology and sociology initiated a collective thought exercise, the Onlife 
Initiative. The group, chaired by Prof Luciano Floridi - Professor of Philosophy, UNESCO Chair in 
Information and Computer Ethics at the University of Hertfordshire and Fellow of St Cross College, 
Oxford- has chosen to publish the Onlife Manifesto, which reviews the referential frameworks on 
which policies are built. This document will be released on the 8th of February so as to contribute
to the debate on the impacts of the hyperconnected era on public spaces, politics and societal 
expectations. This one-day event will be moderated in the morning by Mr Robert Madelin, Director 
General of DG CONNECT, and in the afternoon by Mr Constantijn Van Oranje-Nassau, Deputy Head of 
Cabinet of EC Vice President Neelie Kroes, in presence of very distinguished speakers from the academic, non-governmental, business and policy-making worlds.

Come, discover and react to the Onlife Manifesto
Engage and discuss societal expectations for policy-making in a hyperconnected world!
More information on the programme soon | 
Free registration - Webstreaming foreseen | 120 places available: first come first serve!
To register and for information : nicole.dewandre@ec.europa.eu