The fourth annual IT@Cornell Community Conference will be held June 25, with the theme “Connecting the Past, Present and Future” of technology. Panels will explore Cornell’s IT history in the days when “Cornell is wired!” was a startling announcement, and discuss the ways technology will be used in future research and teaching. The event is open to the Cornell community, and visitors from regional colleges and universities are expected.

The conference begins at 9 a.m. in Bailey Hall with a conversation between Ken King, who served as vice president for computer services at Cornell 1980-87, and Ira Fuchs, a co-founder of BITNET, an important precursor to the Internet and an internationally known authority on innovative technology solutions for higher education. They will discuss how Cornell helped develop and use the Internet.

The second morning plenary will feature Maria Klawe, a computer scientist and the fifth president of Harvey Mudd College, the private California liberal arts college with a focus on science, engineering and math; and Irene Qualters, division director of advanced cyberinfrastructure at the National Science Foundation, and previously dean of the school of engineering and applied science at Princeton University. They will speak on the future of technology in education and research.

The afternoon will offer workshop sessions in Martha van Rensselaer Hall. Topics include academic technologies, cloudification services, the IT career framework, and how to use and manage various enterprise systems in an academic environment.

Registration opens in early May. Cornell employees who register with their NetID automatically will be entered to win an iPad. Those who have registered by May 15 will receive two tickets for the iPad raffle. All Cornell employees who register and attend will receive a $10 lunch coupon for Trillium Café. The day will conclude with a wrap-up session with free ice cream from the Cornell Dairy Bar.