On the occasion of the European Future Technologies Conference and Exhibition – Science beyond Fiction (FET09), we present an interview with Aleš Fiala, head of the unit of Future and Emerging Technologies – FET-Open (F2). FET09 is a new forum dedicated to frontier research in future and emerging information technologies. Leading scientists, policy-makers, industry representatives and science journalists will to discuss today’s science, tomorrow’s technologies and the impact of both on future on society in the future.