Fathers of the Internet

Organised by: dick_reckard

An ongoing exploration of the entanglements of artificial intelligence, patronage and government.

In 2013, Belgium universalist, pacifist and feminist Paul Otlet was recognized as ’a founding father of the Internet’. Simultaneously, Google adopted the remains of Otlet’s archive at the Mundaneum in Mons, not only home town of prime minister Elio Di Rupo but also conveniently located next to their large datacenter in St. Ghislain. Since than, the Mundaneum proudly advertises itself as Google on paper and The great ancestor of Google.

This session wants to be an informal moment of discussion on this specific case and on other similar stories that evidence some specific power dynamics of our time.