Welcome to Being Human: Human-Computer Interaction in
the Year 2020

On March 15-16, 2007, a forum entitled HCI 2020: Human Values in a Digital Age, was held in Sanlúcar la Mayor, Spain, just outside Seville. Its purpose was to gather luminaries in computing, design, social sciences, and scientific philosophy to discuss, debate and help formulate an agenda for human-computer interaction (HCI) over the next decade and beyond.

The event—facilitated by Microsoft and convened by Richard Harper and Abigail Sellen of Microsoft Research Cambridge, Tom Rodden of the United Kingdom’s Nottingham University, and Yvonne Rogers of the Open University—resulted in a detailed report, released April 2 2008, called Being Human: Human-Computer Interaction in the Year 2020.  This report is for anyone interested in the ramifications of our digital future and in ways society must adjust to the technological changes to come.  It is also for those of us who work in the field of Human-Computer Interaction and who are concerned that our research agenda stays relevant in the years to come.