Science Foo Camp
Encyclopedia
Science Foo Camp, also known as SciFoo, is a series of interdisciplinary scientific conferences
organized by O'Reilly Media
(FOO stands for "Friends of O'Reilly"), Nature Publishing Group
and Google Inc.
, based on an idea from Linda Stone
. The event is based on the spirit and format of Foo Camp
, an unconference
focused on emerging technology, and is designed to encourage collaboration between scientists who would not typically work together. As such, it is particularly unusual among scientific conferences in three ways; it is invitation-only, the invitees come from many different areas of science rather than one subject (such as physics, chemistry or biology), and the meeting has no fixed agenda; the invited scientists, technologists and policy makers set the conference program during the conference itself, based on their shared professional interests and enthusiasms.
The first event in 2006 was held under the Chatham House Rule
(meaning that what is said at the conference cannot be attributed to a specific person). The policy at the second event was to allow open reporting by default; attendees were expected to indicate if their comments were off the record.
Science Foo Camp takes place annually at the Googleplex
campus in Mountain View, California
, United States
. It is currently organized by Tim O'Reilly
of O'Reilly Media
, Timo Hannay
of Nature and Chris DiBona
of Google
. The event has taken place five times:
A twelve-minute YouTube video made at SciFoo 2009 is available.
Academic conference
An academic conference or symposium is a conference for researchers to present and discuss their work. Together with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between researchers.-Overview:Conferences are usually composed of various...
organized by O'Reilly Media
O'Reilly Media
O'Reilly Media is an American media company established by Tim O'Reilly that publishes books and Web sites and produces conferences on computer technology topics...
(FOO stands for "Friends of O'Reilly"), Nature Publishing Group
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Publishing Group is an international publishing company that publishes academic journals, online databases, and services across the life, physical, chemical and applied sciences and clinical medicine...
and Google Inc.
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, based on an idea from Linda Stone
Linda Stone
Linda Stone is a writer and consultant who coined the phrase "continuous partial attention" in 1998. Stone also coined "email apnea" in 2008 which means "a temporary absence or suspension of breathing, or shallow breathing, while doing email."...
. The event is based on the spirit and format of Foo Camp
Foo Camp
Foo Camp is an annual hacker event hosted by publisher O'Reilly Media. O'Reilly describes it as "the wiki of conferences", where the program is developed by the attendees at the event, using big whiteboard schedule templates that can be rewritten or overwritten by attendees to optimize the schedule...
, an unconference
Unconference
An unconference is a participant-driven meeting. The term "unconference" has been applied, or self-applied, to a wide range of gatherings that try to avoid one or more aspects of a conventional conference, such as high fees, sponsored presentations, and top-down organization...
focused on emerging technology, and is designed to encourage collaboration between scientists who would not typically work together. As such, it is particularly unusual among scientific conferences in three ways; it is invitation-only, the invitees come from many different areas of science rather than one subject (such as physics, chemistry or biology), and the meeting has no fixed agenda; the invited scientists, technologists and policy makers set the conference program during the conference itself, based on their shared professional interests and enthusiasms.
The first event in 2006 was held under the Chatham House Rule
Chatham House Rule
The Chatham House Rule is a core principle that governs the confidentiality of the source of information received at a meeting. Since its refinement in 2002, the rule states:...
(meaning that what is said at the conference cannot be attributed to a specific person). The policy at the second event was to allow open reporting by default; attendees were expected to indicate if their comments were off the record.
Science Foo Camp takes place annually at the Googleplex
Googleplex
The Googleplex is the corporate headquarters complex of Google, Inc., located at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California, United States, near San Jose. "Googleplex" is a portmanteau of Google and complex, and a reference to googolplex, the name given to the large...
campus in Mountain View, California
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is currently organized by Tim O'Reilly
Tim O'Reilly
Tim O'Reilly is the founder of O'Reilly Media and a supporter of the free software and open source movements.-Life and career:...
of O'Reilly Media
O'Reilly Media
O'Reilly Media is an American media company established by Tim O'Reilly that publishes books and Web sites and produces conferences on computer technology topics...
, Timo Hannay
Timo Hannay
Timo Hannay is managing director of Digital Science in London, United Kingdom, which provides software and services aimed at scientific researchers and research administrators. He formerly worked for Nature, which, like Digital Science is owned by Macmillan Publishers.Hannay is a recognized expert...
of Nature and Chris DiBona
Chris DiBona
Chris DiBona is the open source and public sector engineering manager at Google. His team oversees license compliance and supports the open source developer community through programs such as the Google Summer of Code and through the release of open source software projects and patches on Google...
of Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
. The event has taken place five times:
- The first meeting was held in August 2006.
- Second scifoo August 2007
- Third scifoo August 2008
- Fourth scifoo July 2009
- Fifth scifoo July 2010
- Sixth scifoo August 2011
A twelve-minute YouTube video made at SciFoo 2009 is available.
External links
- http://www.nature.com/nature/meetings/scifoo/
- http://www.nature.com/scifoo/ Nature SciFoo aggregator
- Back To Silicon Valley's Future - Forbes, August 11, 2006
- Scifoo Was Scifood for the Brain