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Society 5 plans to explore the past, present and potential futures of our society, initially as a blog at society5.net, and then as a book and beyond.

Do new information and communication technologies (ICTs) empower repressive regimes at the expense of civil society, or vice versa? For example, does access to the Internet and mobile phones alter the balance of power between repressive regimes and civil society? These questions are especially pertinent today given the role that ICTs played during this year's uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and beyond. Indeed, as one Egyptian activist stated, "We use Facebook to schedule our protests, Twitter to coordinate and YouTube to tell the world." But do these new ICTs-so called "liberation technologies"-really threaten repressive rule? The purpose of this dissertation is to use mixed-methods research to answer these questions.

The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies was formed to study and debate vital questions such as: Which technologies, especially new ones, are likely to have the greatest impact on human beings and human societies in the 21st century? What ethical issues do those technologies and their applications raise for humans, our civilization, and our world? How much can we extrapolate from the past and how much accelerating change should we anticipate? What sort of policy positions can be recommended to promote the best possible outcomes for individuals and societies?

Wikiprogress is a global platform for sharing information in order to evaluate societal progress. It is a place to find information and statistics to facilitate the exchange of ideas, initiatives and knowledge on "measuring the progress of societies". It is open to all members and communities for contribution - students and researchers, civil society organisations, governmental and intergovernmental organisations, multilateral institutions, businesses, statistical offices, community organisations and individuals - anyone who has an interest in the concept of "progress".

"Foundation For the Future launches its fifteenth year of operation with exciting plans for an extension of emphasis on the study of the relationship between the human genome and society. Our mission of increasing and diffusing knowledge will also mean sponsoring lecturers to bring to the public, free-of-charge, direct access to expert information on topics that impact humanity. And a "Humanity 3000" seminar will again bring together a roster of leading thinkers from multiple disciplines to discuss the critical issues that have emerged in recent years for our species and Planet Earth."

" Verbalizing visceral feelings about technology, whether attraction or repulsion, Kelly explores the "technium," his term for the globalized, interconnected stage of technological development. Arguing that the processes creating the technium are akin to those of biological evolution, Kelly devotes the opening sections of his exposition to that analogy, maintaining that the technium exhibits a similar tendency toward self-organizing complexity. Having defined the technium, Kelly addresses its discontents, as expressed by the Unabomber (although Kelly admits to trepidation in taking seriously the antitechnology screeds of a murderer) and then as lived by the allegedly technophobic Amish. From his observations and discussions with some Amish people, Kelly extracts some precepts of their attitudes toward gadgets, suggesting folk in the secular world can benefit from the Amish approach of treating tools as servants of self and society rather than as out-of-control masters. Exploring ramifications of technology on human welfare and achievement, Kelly arrives at an optimistic outlook that will interest many, coming, as it does, from the former editor of Wired magazine. --Gilbert Taylor "

Creepy video about how wonderful our "connected world" will be ............"Ericsson believes that in the Networked Society, more than 50 billion things will be connected, in order to make our lives and our businesses more efficient and more enjoyable."

"The Lifeboat Foundation is a nonprofit nongovernmental organization dedicated to encouraging scientific advancements while helping humanity survive existential risks and possible misuse of increasingly powerful technologies, including genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and robotics/AI, as we move towards the Singularity."

"The Future of Humanity Institute is a multidisciplinary research institute at the University of Oxford. It enables a select set of leading intellects to bring careful thinking to bear on big-picture questions about humanity and its prospects. The Institute belongs to the Faculty of Philosophy and the Oxford Martin School."