The Internet has grown so omnipresent today that it's easy to overlook the continuing role of 'sneakernets', or offline networks in which people transmit information by physically moving it from place to place. Whether it's a thumb drive passed between friends or a semi-trailer truck full of hard drives delivered to a server farm, sneakernets form countless links in our digital infrastructure, but nevertheless tend to pass unnoticed in favor of a totalized, global Internet. The purpose of Sneakercon is to reexamine the offline side of the digital age by foregrounding the prevalence, variety, and uses of offline networks during two days of talks, discussion panels, and workshops.
The inaugural Sneakercon will convene on August 25-26, 2017, at Columbia's Brown Institute for Media Innovation. Our audience of journalists, academics, developers, activists, and artists will collectively learn how to notice, measure, map, and otherwise make sense of an offline network -- while bearing in mind the potential risks and ethical concerns that may arise when you observe or enter into these communities.
Keynote talks by Nathan Freitas and Hans-Christoph Steiner of The Guardian Project will highlight the political and social stakes of sneakernets today. Lectures and panel discussions will provide a forum for experts to discuss the significance of different case studies and highlight both the challenges and the promise of offline networks. Finally, a series of workshops will allow the audience to focus on the specific technical, journalistic, ethical, or practical aspects of sneakernets that interest them most.
