TPRC is an annual conference on communication, information, and internet policy that convenes international and interdisciplinary practitioners and researchers from academia, industry, government, and nonprofit organizations together with policy makers. The 2008 conference will be held September 26 – September 28, 2008 at The National Center for Technology & Law, George Mason University School of Law, Arlington, VA.

TPRC is now soliciting abstracts of papers, student papers, panel proposals, and student posters for presentation at the 2008 conference. Proposals should be based on current theoretical or empirical research relevant to communication and information policy, and may be from any disciplinary perspective. TPRC seeks submissions of disciplinary, comparative, multi-disciplinary or interdisciplinary excellence.

Subject areas of particular interest include, but are not limited to the following (for more detailed descriptions see http://tprcweb.com):

• Network Competition, Policy and Management
• Next Generation and all-IP Networks: Policy, Regulatory, Architectural and Societal Issues
• Spectrum Management and Wireless Futures: Anywhere, Anytime Communications and its Implications
• Societal Issues: Universality and Affordable Access; ICTs for Development and Growth
• The Transformation and Future of Media in an Age of User- and Community-Produced Creativity
• The Transformation and Future of Intellectual Property and Digital Rights
• Privacy, Security, Identity and Trust
• Internet Governance and Institutional Strategies for Information Policy
• Other Emerging Topics

Submissions are due by May 2, 2008. Please see the guidelines for authors for additional information.

With best regards,

Johannes M. Bauer

Johannes M. Bauer
Professor, Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media
Co-Director, Quello Center for Telecommunication Management & Law
Michigan State University
409 Communication Arts and Sciences
East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1212
Fixed +1.517.432.8003, mobile +1.517.944.4154, Fax +1.517.432.8065
Web http://www.msu.edu/~bauerj and http://quello.msu.edu

Inaugural Research Institute for the Science of Socio-Technical Systems

Ann Arbor, MI – July 20 to 25, 2008

Application deadline: February 28, 2008

Background

—————

A science of socio-technical systems is emerging from research in the
fields of HCI, social computing, social informatics, CSCW, sociology of
computing, and other domains.  The Consortium for the Science of
Socio-Technical Systems (CSST) is a new organization devoted to
advancing research on socio-technical systems. As its inaugural
activity, the CSST will be hosting a summer research institute for
advanced doctoral students and pre-tenure faculty on the campus of the
University of Michigan from July 20 to 25, 2008.  A primary goal of the
institute is to build a new cohort of faculty and graduate students who
are interested in research on the design and interplay of technology and
humans at the level of individuals, groups, organizations, and larger
communities.  Examples of this kind of work include research on:

*       social computing (e.g., online communities, social network
sites);
*       distributed work (e.g., collaboratories, virtual teams and
organizations);
*       new technologies (e.g., recommender systems, prediction markets,
ubiquitous computing);
*       novel forms of production (e.g., open source software,
Wikipedia);
*       new forms of expression and entertainment (e.g., blogs, wikis,
massive multiplayer online role-playing games); and
*       information and communication technologies for developing
regions (e.g., cell phone-based applications to assist economic
development).

Institute faculty

——————-

With funding from the NSF, the institute will bring together a faculty
of distinguished scholars in the domain of socio-technical systems with
up to 30 students, drawn from among advanced doctoral students and
pre-tenure faculty conducting research on socio-technical systems. The
distinguished faculty invited to participate include:

Tom Finholt, University of Michigan (director)

Steve Sawyer, Penn State University (associate director)

Mark Ackerman, University of Michigan

Steve Barley, Stanford University

Kevin Crowston, Syracuse University

Paul Dourish, University of California, Irvine

Jonathan Grudin, Microsoft Research

Pam Hinds, Stanford University

Wendy Kellogg, IBM Research

Sara Kiesler, Carnegie Mellon University

Gloria Mark, University of California, Irvine

Beth Mynatt, Georgia Tech

Bonnie Nardi, University of California, Irvine

Leigh Star, Santa Clara University

Institute goals

—————–

The goals of the institute are to:

*       Build a cohort group of new researchers who will then have a
network of colleagues spread out across the world.
*       Guide the work of the new researchers by having experts in
socio-technical systems research give advice.
*       Provide encouragement and support for the selection of
socio-technical systems research topics.
*       Illustrate the interrelationship and diversity of the field of
socio-technical systems research.

How the institute will be conducted

——————————————-

The institute will be conducted as a residential program with morning
small group sessions devoted to feedback on students’ research, and
afternoon full group sessions consisting of presentations by the
institute faculty (e.g., work in progress, instruction in new methods,
instruction in new analytic techniques) and moderated discussions (e.g.,
on career development, how to obtain funding, publication strategies).
Evenings will be reserved for informal activities, such as group outings
and picnics. All costs of participation, including travel, food and
accommodations, will be covered by the institute.

How to apply

—————-

Participants in this institute will be restricted to advanced doctoral
candidates through pre-tenure faculty at US institutions. Interested
applicants should submit the following to csst.institute2008@umich.edu
by February 28, 2008:

1) 150 word abstract summarizing your research;

2) two-page research statement;

3) current vita; and

4) letter of recommendation from your thesis advisor (doctoral student
applicants only).

Selection and notification

——————————-

Participants will be chosen by a committee of the institute director,
associate director, and selected institute faculty.  Selection will
reflect these criteria:

*       Research focused on the design, effects and interplay of
technology and humans at the level of individuals, groups,
organizations, and larger communities.
*       Research ideas and approaches that are novel and innovative.
*       Research that has broad social impact.

Accepted students will be notified by April 30, 2008.

Additional information

—————————

For further information please consult si.umich.edu/csstinstitute or
send email to csst.institute2008@umich.edu

Workshop at Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) conference 2008:
Building an International Community: Designing Interactive Systems for/ with
Communities in the Developing World

SUBMISSIONS
To participate in this workshop at DIS 2008, please submit a 1- or 2-page
position paper describing your experience, findings or interests relevant to
the themes of the workshop.

Deadline for submissions is January 14, 2008.
Notification of acceptance by January 21, 2008.

A large body of work in the field of International Development emphasizes
the need for host communities in development projects to be empowered in
designing and controlling these projects. Many projects are designing and
applying information and communication technologies (ICTs) as part of their
plan.  However, there have been few explicit efforts to bring together
practitioners and researchers from the Global South and those in the Global
North engaged in international development work to share their mutual
experiences.

The aim of this workshop is to facilitate a networking opportunity between
Global South and Global North researchers and practitioners engaged in
technology design in international development work for mutual learning and
sharing. We aim to discuss projects, methods, challenges and issues when
working in development and research in both hemispheres, and to collectively
work towards improving our relations, and uncovering techniques and issues
in community centered design and development work.

This workshop will offer a space to exchange experiences, to explore
differences between developed and developing world contexts, to develop new
partnerships, and to learn from each other about problems we have
encountered and the techniques that work that we have discovered. It will be
open to anyone with experience or interest in user-centered and
participatory design, and/or international development.

The workshop will be held over two days (February 23-24, 2008).
*       On Day 1, participants will briefly present their position papers
and identify relevant common themes. Participants will select a small number
of design challenges for practical brainstorming and collaborative
exploratory design activities. In the evening, an informal dinner will be
organized to facilitate relationship-building between participants.
*       On Day 2, participants will share their experiences, insights and
analysis of relevant projects that relate to the identified themes.
Opportunities for collaboration will also be identified. The possibility of
developing joint projects as an output of the workshop will also be
discussed, such as a book, film, publications, human network, specific
project and policy development.

In addition, we will hold an optional immersion day on February 22, 2008
prior to the workshop. This will be particularly for researchers who are not
familiar with the specific context of South Africa to experience local
sights and ICT-assisted development projects in and around Cape Town.
Participants will be divided into groups and attend 1-2 events and
activities around the city of Cape Town to see the local culture and to find
out more about local projects. The cost of the immersion visits will be
approximately 400 Rand (dependent on numbers). Our hope is to film these
experiences and edit this into a short documentary film as an output for the
workshop on local culture and projects.
SUBMISSIONS
To participate in this workshop at DIS 2008, please submit a 1- or 2-page
position paper describing your experience, findings or interests relevant to
the themes of the workshop.

Deadline for submissions is January 14, 2008.
Notification of acceptance by January 21, 2008.

Papers can be submitted by email to Andy Dearden at a.m.dearden@shu.ac.uk.
Organizers:

Nuray Aykin, The New School (USA)
Michael Best, Georgia Institute of Technology (USA)
Marshini Chetty, Georgia Institute of Technology (USA)
Andy Dearden, Sheffield Hallam University (UK)
Susan Dray, Dray and Associates, Inc. (USA)
Matthew Kam, University of California, Berkeley (USA)
Andrew Maunder, University of Cape Town (South Africa)
John Thomas, IBM T.J. Watson Research Center (USA)
Heike Winscheirs, Polytechnic of Namibia (Namibia)

(Early reg deadline is on Nov 15th.)

——————————-

ICTD2007 Call for Participation
——————————-

2nd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD2007)

http://research.microsoft.com/workshops/ictd2007

December 15-16, 2007
Bangalore, India

Following on a successful conference at Berkeley in May of 2006 (http://sims.berkeley.edu/ictd2006), we are pleased to announce the second ICTD conference to take place in Bangalore, India!

India is home to a robust IT and telecommunications industry as well as a huge agrarian economy which supports many of the world’s poor. As such, it is an ideal setting for a conference focusing on information and communication technologies (ICT) and socio-economic development. Every sector is involved – governments, academia, small start-ups, large corporations, inter-governmental organizations, and non-profits and non-governmental organizations. In spite of the tremendous energy and resources behind these projects, scientifically sound research in this space is still just beginning to emerge: What is the actual impact of ICT projects? What novel technology is required to meet development needs? What methodologies lead to success or failure of a project?

The goal of the ICTD conference is to provide a forum for academic researchers working with ICT applied to development. The conference will be scientifically rigorous and multi-disciplinary – papers reporting high-quality original research were subject to double-blind peer review by a program committee of leading scholars in the field. The conference will bring together researchers in both the social and technical sciences, with anticipated representation from anthropology, sociology, economics, political science, computer science, electrical engineering, industrial design, and so on.

Conference details are available at the ICTD2007 website: http://research.microsoft.com/workshops/ictd2007.

PLEASE NOTE THAT REGISTRATION FEES WILL INCREASE ON NOVEMBER 15 AND AGAIN ON NOVEMBER 30. EARLY REGISRTATION IS RECOMMENDED.

- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

Chair: Kentaro Toyama (Microsoft Research India)

Program Committee Chairs: Balaji Parthasarathy (IIIT Bangalore), Krithi Ramamritham (IIT Bombay)

Advisory Committee: VS Arunachalam (CSTEP), Michael Best (Georgia Tech), Ken Keniston (MIT), Raj Reddy (CMU), S. Sadagopan (IIIT Bangalore), AnnaLee Saxenian (UC Berkeley), Ernest Wilson (U Maryland)

Local Arrangements Chair: Balaji Parthasarathy (IIIT Bangalore)

Publications Chair: Rahul Tongia (CMU)

Sponsors:

International Development Research Centre (Canada)
Microsoft Research India
Alliance for Technology, Learning, and Society (Univ. of Colorado)

Conference held in association with…

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore

Program Committee

Richard Anderson University of Washington
Akhtar Badshah Microsoft
V Balaji ICRISAT
Anupam Basu Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
John K. Bennett University of Colorado, Boulder
Michael Best Georgia Tech
Subhash Bhatnagar Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
John Canny University of California, Berkeley
John Chuang University of California, Berkeley
Royal Colle Cornell University
Chris Coward University of Washington
Rahul De Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
M. Bernardine Dias Carnegie Mellon University,Qatar
Jonathan Donner Microsoft Research India
Kevin Fall Intel Research Berkeley
Pat Hall Open University
Claire Heffernan University of Reading
Bill Hefley Carnegie Mellon University
Arding Hsu Siemens Research China
Heather Hudson University of San Francisco
Mahad Ibrahim University of California, Berkeley
Ashok Jhunjhunwala Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Atreyi Kankanhalli National University of Singapore
G.R. Kiran London School of Economics
Jim Koch Santa Clara University
Beth Kolko University of Washington
Richa Kumar Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Suresh Lodha University of California, Santa Cruz
Colin Maclay Harvard University
Shirin Madon London School of Economics
Margaret Martonosi Princeton University
Shrikant Naidu Motorola Labs
Brian O’Connell University of Connecticut
Joyojeet Pal University of California, Berkeley
Govindan Parayil University of Oslo
Tapan Parikh University of Washington
Nimmi Rangaswamy Microsoft Research India
Tony Salvador Intel Research
Nirvikar Singh University of California, Santa Cruz
K R Srivatsan International Institute of Information Technology and Management, Kerala
Christoph Stork University of the Witwatersland
Eswaran Subrahmanian Carnegie Mellon University
Rahul Tongia Carnegie Mellon University
Tim Unwin University of London
Zubin Verghese Siemens

Workshop on IUI4DR – Intelligent User Interfaces for Developing Regions
(in conjunction with IUI ’08)
Canary Islands, Spain
January 13, 2008

http://research.ihost.com/iui4dr

Organisers:

* Sheetal K. Agarwal, IBM Research, India
* John Canny, UC Berkeley, USA
* Apala Lahiri Chavan, Human Factors International, India
* Nitendra Rajput, IBM Research, India

Advisory Committee:

* Michelle X Zhou, IBM T J Watson Research Center, USA

Program Committee:

* Ravin Balakrishnan, University of Toronto, Canada
* Michael Best, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
* Mary Czerwinski, Microsoft Research, USA
* Gary Geunbae Lee, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea
* Sougata Mukherjea, IBM Research, India
* Oscar Murillo, Microsoft, Colombia
* Shimei Pan, IBM T J Watson Research Center, USA
* Pearl Pu, EPFL, Switzerland
* Anxo Cereijo Roibas, Vodafone, UK
   * Andy Smith, Thames Valley University, UK
* Andrew Thatcher, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Theme:

Information Technology has had significant impact on the society and has
touched all aspects of our lives. So far, computers and expensive devices
have fueled this growth. It has resulted in several benefits to the
society.
The challenge now is to take this success of IT to its next level where IT
services can be accessed by masses. “Masses” here mean the people who
(a) are not yet IT literate and/or
(b) do not have the purchase power to use the current IT delivery mechanisms (PC centric model) and/or
(c) do not find current IT solutions and services relevant to their life or business.

Interestingly, a huge portion of the world’s population falls in this category. To enable the IT access to such masses, this workshop aims to focus on easy-to-use and affordable, yet powerful, user interfaces that can be used by this population.

The workshop aims to bring together researchers in the industry and the academia to focus on user interface issues related to designing interfaces for this population.

Topics of Interest:

Considering the social, cultural, educational and economic diversity of
developing regions, the challenge is to develop appropriate and effective
interfaces/interaction techniques that will enable these users to access
services that currently remain elusive to them. The focus areas of the
workshop include, but are not limited to:

* Novel and effective interfaces that reduces the cognitive load on the
users who usually operate in chaotic environments:
People in developing regions often would access these interfaces
in noisy and crowded surroundings. Providing privacy through the
          intelligent UI and handling the noise would be a challenge for such
interfaces.
* Interfaces for semi-literate and illiterate users:
Iconic interfaces, speech-based interfaces and multimodal
interfaces offer promising solutions to overcome literacy issues.
Any other interface that does not need language skills will be of
interest to this workshop.
* Designs tailored to factor social and cultural issues:
If an interface technology is culturally not acceptable to a
society, it may not have  acceptability. So interfaces that reflect the
culture of the society are bound to be promising.
* Shared user interfaces and devices:
People developing regions seldom own a computing device on an
individual basis. Access to applications or services is mainly through
kiosks or phones. Most families now own a cell phone that is shared
among family members.
* Cost-effective interfaces:
Since the purchase power of this society is not high, expensive
and sophisticated interfaces may not be the right choice. Intelligent
use of cost-effective devices will therefore be more  acceptable
for this population.

We seek original, unpublished papers in the following three categories:
(a) Position papers that describe novel ideas that can lead to interesting
research directions, (b) Early results or work-in-progress that has significant promise, or, (c) Full papers. Papers should be of 4-6 pages in length in the IUI publication format. The LaTeX (http://www.iuiconf.org/LaTeXclassfile.zip) and Microsoft Word (http://www.iuiconf.org/chi2008pubsformat.doc) templates are available through these links. All submissions should be in the PDF format and should be submitted electronically through the IUI4DR Easychair Conference site (http://www.easychair.org/iui4dr08). Since the submission deadlines are dependent on the IUI conference, we will not be able to grant any extensions in any circumstances.

Since the workshop also aims to be a meeting point for researchers working in this area, atleast one author of accepted papers should attend the workshop to present their work.

Demos:

In addition to the papers, participants are also invited to submit interesting demonstrations of working systems. These demos should reflect the usability of the systems for developing regions. A one page description of the system should be submitted through the workshop submission site by November 11, 2007. The description should also provide any equipment that is required for the demo. Needless to say, if accepted, the demonstrators should be able to travel to the workshop for presenting their work.

Key Dates

* Paper/Demo Submission Deadline: Nov 11, 2007 (11:59 pm Spain Time)
* Notification:                                   Dec 01, 2007
* Early Registration Deadline:            Dec 03, 2007
* Workshop:                                    Jan 13, 2008.

Websites

* IUI4DR Workshop: http://research.ihost.com/iui4dr
* IUI ’08 Conference : http://www.iuiconf.org/