Break out session at the XVII WCRMGL, 18 November, 2021
MW Dr. Jan E. Savarino, PGM ACGL, VGLvD Senate Member
At the 17th World Conference of Regular Masonic Grand Lodges, held in November 2021 in Berlin (for the first time in Germany!), I had the pleasure of hosting a breakout session with the visiting Grand Masters from around the world on the thrilling topic of digitalization in Masonry. After a short historic display of the IT revolution from the PC era in the early 80ies to the present Web 4.0 developments, I stated that we, in modern Masonry, cannot neglect the rapidly ongoing changes of AI, AR and IoT (and for those of you who – like me – are not so much into this whole IT thing: that’s Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality and Internet of Things). The thoughts of an approaching future with Web 5.0 (Hypernet, complete automation, nothing on earth will work without net connection anymore) and Web 6.0 (Technological Singularity, AI will develop without any human influence, the last human invention) indeed sound frightening to most of us, yet it is most likely and won’t take more than another 30 years, experts say. The time to think about the consequences and how to deal with it is now.
After this, I showed some examples on how we implemented digitalization in German Masonry, pointing out that the current pandemic was an accelerator of a digital revolution in the Masonic world. COVID-19 gave birth to uncounted Masonic educational programs on video network platforms, which we hope will continue. These events also helped bring together Brothers that are geographically separated. I also brought up the example from our Bavaria Lodge No. 935, where an Installation of Officers in open form was conducted as a hybrid event, which gave Brothers from overseas the opportunity to be part of the event.
Several Masonic Museums in Europe have developed modern era web appearances, like the German Masonic Museum in Bayreuth (www.freimaurermuseum.de) and the Masonic Museum Switzerland in Bern (www.freimaurermuseum.ch/en/). Both are good examples of modern web page programming and also offer a new way of fundraising (by offering virtual guided tours for a fee or donation). When it came to discuss the feasibility of virtual degree work (not rocket science today with a virtual Lodge room and the use of VR-goggles and gloves) nearly everybody opposed that thought – which I think is very comprehensible:
The mystic secret of our Craft unrolls by personal encounters – through the internet there will always be a part missing of the Masonic experience – my two cents worth. Meet you all soon IRL, Brothers! (In Real Life…)
“What is the future going to bring us?”
Break out session at the XVII WCRMGL, 18 November, 2021
Digitalization in Freemasonry – Future of a virtual Freemasonry?
MW Dr. Jan E. Savarino, PGM ACGL, VGLvD Senate Member
