The “Evolution” of ICT: Greater benefits and greater challenges

Norberto Patrignani is a Lecturer in Computer Ethics at the Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy, and has a longstanding interest in Information and Communication Technologies having seen its development over the last 45 years. Laura Colucci-Gray is a Lecturer in Science Education at the University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom and member of the Editorial board of Visions for Sustainability. For a long time, she has been interested in controversies arising at the interface between scientific and technological developments, the environment and society. While Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has been around for some time, citizens’ interest and awareness of its applications, consequences and impacts on all sectors of civic society is relatively recent, and even more so in education. In the following dialogue, Laura and Norberto exchange their thoughts on the immense challenge of seeking to understand digital technologies which continue to influence and shape our ways of thinking and making decisions in our everyday lives.