[Our digital lives] - Call for « futures fragments »

Why?

In 25 years, Internet has become the infrastructure for a major part of our activities, interactions, information and transactions. In 15 years, the smartphone became a life accessory for half of humanity. Today, we see the spread of new connected objects (from sensors to autonomous cars, to home automation and CCTVs), new networks (5G), new forms of interaction (virtual and augmented reality)...

Digital is of course not the only source of change in our daily lives. Many other factors are in play, which, in turn, influence what digital services and technology become: population ageing, climate change, the rise of inequalities… and perhaps, in some parts of the population, the emergence of a more or less global backlash against digital technologies and its perceived effects.

We are not all living the same “digital experience”. While some feel empowered by digital tools and services, others experience it as constant injunctions and decisions about them, over which they have little control; and many of us oscillate between both feelings. We laud and/or criticize digital’s impact on work, the environment, freedom, inequalities, privacy… We worry about the deluge of personal data and the power it grants to private platforms and sometimes dictatorships, but we also use digital to fight them. We find it too prominent in our lives, but we fall back on it during confinement. Our relationship to Digital? “It’s complicated”, and not the same for everybody.

So what will it be 10 years from now, in even more digitized societies? How will we live with the Digital we will use, and the one that will surround us? How will we use it in our daily lives, at work, in our relationships to others, as citizens? What role will personal data play in our lives? What level of control will we enjoy? What differences between user populations? Will it hand us more or less power over our lives and our environment? Within that society, will we be more or less equal in our interactions with corporations or public institutions? Which small and large transformations will Digital enable, and what say will we have about them? What will we disagree on when we’ll talk about Digital?

What?

We are looking for artistic, fictional, speculative and utopian works looking at different aspects of life in a highly digitized society in 2030 and beyond. Content dealing with inequalities, power imbalances, and personal data, is of course of particular interest to us, but do not feel restricted by this condition: all forms, medias and directions are welcome. You can share your own creation, or that of others (with references); past works, works in progress, or even intentions…

What For?

• A shared platform will durably host all received content, providing a reference point on imaginaries of digital lives in the near future.
• A publication (early 2021) will feature a selection of the content received, as well as futures scenarios and design fiction proposals.

To Contribute:

Before October 2, 2020… Post links, texts, images, videos, etc. on https://corpora.latelier-des-chercheurs.fr/digital-lives-2030
Or send us your contribution via email: imaginaires - at - cnil.fr