BT. Bringing it all together
Facilitator:
Esther Dyson
Host:
Ben Verwaayen – Chief Executive, BT Group;
Event:
Live broadcast from BT Centre, London, UK
Date:
Tuesday, 10th April, 2007
Time:
UK - 16:00hrs BST / 15:00hrs GMT
US - 08:00hrs PST / 10:00hrs CDT /
11:00hrs EDT
Duration:
1 hour
Overview
We live in an age of increased transparency – where it’s easy to find out almost anything about almost any person or organisation.This social / political phenomenon has been enabled and fostered by the Internet and by search tools – but is transparency uniformly good? Fast, convenient access to data can be abused, making it hard to maintain confidentiality and safeguard privacy. The online medium can also offer a conduit for the rapid dissemination of false information or misinformation.
It’s little wonder that this is creating a climate of increasing concern. Employers can now delve into aspects of employees' lives that were previously off-limits while worries about protecting individuals' privacy in a world of direct marketing, online commerce and unregulated communication are increasingly on the radar.
What can companies do to manage increasing transparency? How should an organisation react to the disclosure of secret information or to negative online comments about its products and services? Silence has been the traditional response but some companies are now embracing transparency, offering a prompt reply and utilising the comments to rectify the situation and turn it to their advantage.
Transparency has also shone a spotlight on individual responsibility - how should employees conduct themselves online, and what responsibility does their employer have for their comments and their behaviour? We’ll be discussing all these questions and more during a lively - and public – debate.
Discuss this and other issues in our BT Big Thinkers. [Click here]
Esther Dyson
Esther Dyson (born in Zurich, Switzerland) is a noted expert and philosopher in the field of emerging digital technology. Esther specialises in analysing the impact of emerging technologies and markets on the economy and society.
Ben Verwaayen, Chief Executive, BT Group
Ben Verwaayen was appointed to the Board on 14 January 2002 and became Chief Executive on 1 February 2002. He chairs the Operating Committee.
