De Montfort mixes arts and science research cocktail

In a bid to encourage more collaboration between the Arts and Sciences, De Montfort University Leicester is launching a new research institute it says will "defy the traditional boundaries of computer science, digital arts and humanities".

Howard Rheingold, something of an internet guru, will be opening a small curtain at the new Institute of Creative Technologies (IOCT) tomorrow.

The university bigwigs are stressing that while the IOCT is an academic institute, the business world is interested in what is going on there, too.

Jerry Fishenden, Microsoft's national technology officer, added his comments to the press release, arguing that the IOCT is a blueprint for a new way of approaching R&D:

"I find the arts/science divide both pointless and an artifice. It's refreshing to see this new Institute of Creative Technologies breaking down these artificial schisms and setting out an innovative plan to create breakthroughs in a whole host of areas by bringing together disciplines in new and exciting ways," he said.

Howard Rheingold, who will be a visiting professor at the IOCT, will give a keynote address at the opening on "Cooperation and the Revival of the Commons". He is expected to liken the internet and the electromagnetic spectrum to so-called common land, that is, that these are resources that belong to us all.

Other luminaries lined up to join the fun include computer scientist Steve Grand, and digital artist and author Chris Joseph.

You can read more about the institute here. ®