The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) is pleased to announce a Distinguished Lecture on Monday, May 12, 2014 at 2:00 pm (EDT) by Dr. Erik Brynjolfsson titled The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies. Brynjolfsson is the Schussel Family Professor at the  MIT Sloan School of Management , Director of the MIT Center for Digital Business, Chair of the MIT Sloan Management Review, and the Editor of the Information Systems Network. His research and teaching focuses on how businesses can effectively use information technology in general and the Internet in particular.

Abstract:

We are at an inflection point in our economy.  A wave of exponential, digital and combinatorial new technologies is accelerating innovation, automating many jobs, and fundamentally changing work.  This has created a multi-trillion dollar opportunity for wealth creation, but the benefits are very uneven, with many people and businesses worse off than they were before. In this talk, I will draw on my research work with Andrew McAfee and colleagues at MIT to explain the causes and consequences of these changes, including
·      The recent trends in productivity, profits, investment, GDP and employment;
·      The “Great Decoupling” and what it means for business and labor;
·      The unusual economics of the digitization;
·      The three types of biased technical change and who wins and loses from each; and
·      Implications for individuals, business and society.

To view the webinar of this lecture, please register here by 11:59 PM EDT on Sunday, May 11, 2014.