Information just wants to be free

Information just wants to be free

22 Feb 2011

Jack Klaff asks whether or not ‘Information just wants to be free?’. Head of Special Projects at the Wellcome Trust, Dr Daniel Glaser kicks off by defining ‘information’ as separate from its bedfellow ‘knowledge’. ‘The wise man’ he asserted ‘uses information as the drunk man uses a lamp-post; for support, not for illumination’. With this qualification, Glaser explains why he supports a recent open letter in The Lancet journal, which called for all data from medical research to be made freely accessible as a condition of receiving funding.

Arts Catalyst Director, Nicola Triscott, proffers that freedom of information was fine as long as the ‘harm principle’ is acknowledged i.e. one can say what they like as long as the information they divulge won’t harm another person. While the Times technology correspondent Murad Ahmed adopts a more topical tack, talking on the implications of the recent WikiLeaks deluge.

From here, with a huge audience contribution, Klaff fosters a lively discussion that touches on: the Times pay-wall and the importance of paying for good journalism (Murad Ahmed predicted that in the next three years, many more news websites would be subscription based); the naivety of young people in posting overtly candid photos of themselves on Facebook (no doubt a treasure trove for the News of the World in 20 years time); the same paper’s phone hacking scandal; and the awkwardness of tweeting on stage.

Speakers

Murad Ahmed

Technology correspondent, The Times
Daniel Glaser

Neuroscientist; Head of Special Projects, Public Engagement, Wellcome Trust
Nicola Triscott

Director of The Arts Catalyst