The Information Society: Innovation, Legitimacy, Ethics and Democracy In Honor of Professor Jacques Berleur s.j.: Proceedings of the Conference "Information Society: Governance, Ethics and Social Consequences", University of Namur, Belgium, 22-23 May 2006

Chrisanthi Avgerou TC9 chair Professor of Information Systems London School of Economics c.avgerou@lse.ac.uk A conference to honour the professional life of Jacques Berleur has inevitably been a platform for debate on the most fundamental issues that pre-occupy the working groups of the IFIP Technical Committee 9 (TC9) on the 'Relationship between Computers and Society'. Jacques Berleur has of course been one of those few ICT experts who, since the 1970s, has tirelessly worked within the IFIP community to expose the nature of the ethical dilemmas of a society increasingly relying on the complex ICT infrastructures, to raise awareness of the social challenges this poses, and to influence action compatible with the ethical values of western democracy. And while Jacques, in the wake of his retirement from his university post is accelerating the pace of building his oeuvre, we can take the opportunity of this event to reflect on the critical stance towards the Information Society he has contributed to form within the TC9, which he chaired for many years.