Professor Silver gives keynote at Haifa conference

Areas of Study , Faculty , IT / Information Systems , Stories Stories from Abroad | Jul 18, 2012 | Nicole Gesualdo

Professor Mark Silver, second from left, with conference co-chairs and University of Haifa professors Irit Hadar, Daphne Raban and David Bodoff.

Dr. Mark Silver, professor of information systems at the Fordham Schools of Business, gave the keynote address this month at the Israel Association for Information Systems conference, held at the University of Haifa.

Professor Silver’s speech anchored a slate of 25 presentations given by academics from across Israel as well as from North America. Topics discussed at the conference included the time-zone-challenged workplace, marketing using social media, how electronic medical records are shaping doctor-patient communication, software architecture, and the approachability of health-related information on the web.

In his keynote, Professor Silver talked about the fact that while information technology is everywhere today, we as a society still lack the ability to think critically and comprehensively about technology. We are experts at manipulating our apps and devices, but how often do we stop to contemplate how our lives are affected, for better or for worse, by the ways in which we use them?

Professor Silver phrased it this way in the abstract to his address: “Such comprehension — knowing how to think about IT — is essential for anyone who wants to flourish, or even survive, in the high-tech world of the 21st century.” In his speech, he offered his fellow conference participants a set of fundamental principles for analyzing the role of information technology in our world and discussed what those principles might mean for how we choose and use certain devices.

Congratulations from the Fordham Schools of Business on Professor Silver’s selection as the keynote speaker for the conference!