The Hyperconnected Contemporary Society

This chapter presents the perspective of the 27-year-old Brazilian research center at the University of São Paulo – School of the Future USP – representing the institution’s views on our hyperconnected contemporary society. The discussion of key concepts, focusing on the Internet of things and big data, grounds the analysis of symptomatic shifts centered on mobility and connectivity. In addition, the manuscript highlights the new roles of actor-network structures in the new economy, emphasizing new literacies and trends in open and coding culture. Authors such as Bruno Latour, Manuel Castells, Luciano Floridi, Paul Gilster, and many others support the approach, which provides a fruitful theoretical framework that will guide the center’s research in the next coming 15 years, and likely influence other research groups studying society and hyperconnection.