CSPC 2018

Organized by: David Johnson Research + Technology Park, University of Waterloo

Whether its climate change skepticism, falling vaccination rates, or the public pressure to shape policy that contravenes research findings, scientific information in all arenas struggles against waves of misinformation and disinformation that confirm our biases and reinforce the stories we want to tell ourselves about the world and how it works. As journalist Elfa Ýr Gylfadóttir noted in 2017, “It has even been said that, despite the easy access to knowledge, we as a human kind, are now living in the era of misinformation or disinformation.” (https://njc.dk/article/the-challenge-in-an-era-of-misinformation-and-disinformation/)

This isn't a new phenomenon – indeed the communication challenges facing science have deep historical roots – however, the rapid acceleration of digital technologies has given rise to a plurality of powerful, non-traditional voices who handily circumvent the gatekeeping and agenda setting functions of traditional institutions and outlets, planting the seeds of skepticism, mistrust and confusion. Meanwhile traditional information outlets continue to find themselves increasingly short on the time and resources necessary to fully investigate these stories, widening the gap between the general public and trusted, evidence-based information. This panel brings together experts from industry, academia, and media to discuss the historical challenges of communication and story-telling facing science and to explore how we can work together to create a stronger public discourse built on sound, evidence-based information to re-establish public trust and develop better policies. We’ll explore the historical challenges of scientific communications and how those are rapidly evolving in the digital era; how institutions, government, and industry and respond and leverage these emerging technologies to share information; and attempt to examine how we can work together to approach science communication at a broader policy level.