[Air-l] [EURICOM-L] Call for Papers: International Colloquium -- Communication and Democracy: Technology and Citizen Engagement (fwd)

[Barry Wellman]

fyi. Please note that for some of us it is just before the Amer Soc Assoc
conf in SFO.

 Barry
 _____________________________________________________________________

  Barry Wellman         Professor of Sociology        NetLab Director
  wellman at chass.utoronto.ca  http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman

  Centre for Urban & Community Studies          University of Toronto
  455 Spadina Avenue    Toronto Canada M5S 2G8    fax:+1-416-978-7162
	     To network is to live; to live is to network
 _____________________________________________________________________

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 11:41:43 -0500
From: "Bill McIver, University at Albany" <mciver at ALBANY.EDU>
To: EURICOM-L at listserv.albany.edu
Subject: [EURICOM-L] Call for Papers: International Colloquium --
       Communication and              Democracy: Technology and Citizen
    Engagement

  * *


  * *


  *Call for Papers*



International Colloquium


  *Communication and Democracy: Technology and Citizen Engagement*

Wednesday, August 4 - Friday, August 6, 2004

Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada



Sponsors



University of New Brunswick, Department of Sociology and

Office of Research Services

National Research Council Canada Institute of Information Technology,
Atlantic

Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia



Since the early 1990s, governments, industry and commercial
organizations, public agencies, non-governmental organizations,
communities and individual citizens have embraced the Internet and other
information and communication technologies (ICT), expending extensive
resources on their deployment and adoption.



Along this digital journey, on one end of a continuum, claims have been
made about the revolutionary and emancipatory potential of ICT.
Promoters exhort the urgency of its adoption to realize citizen
empowerment, institutional transformation and transparency, direct
democracy, and the erasure of time and space to create an electronic
global village.



At the other end of this continuum of debate, critics argue that the
potential benefits of ICT are being outweighed by a growing digital
impotence for citizens, who are increasingly bound by new forms of
regulation, institutional electronic rigidities, market regulation, the
extension of commercial practices deeper into social life, and technical
design myopic of human needs.



The broad themes of citizen engagement, democratic inclusion, and
socio-economic betterment for citizens, communities and nations have
emerged as key research concerns that cut across issues such as the
digital divide, convergence, e-commerce and the dot com bomb,
e-learning, e-health, gaming, virtual communities, community
informatics, connectivity, broadband, and government online.



Now, ten years into the popular development of the Internet, it is
opportune to critically reflect on where we have been, where we are
supposed to be, what we have learned, or what we should have learned,
where we should be going, and what questions we should be asking as we
continue further on this journey.




The purpose of this colloquium is to reflect on the core issues of
communications, democracy and citizen engagement and to push the margins
of thinking and debate around entry points such as methodologies, social
practices, theoretical frameworks, technical design, institutional
relations and citizen needs. It will bring together up-and-coming
researchers and established experts to exchange ideas about current
research and theories - and rethink the ways forward. Presentations can
be based on local, national or international research.



To facilitate open discussion and full involvement all sessions will be
plenary.



Central themes for panels (papers) include, but are not restricted to:



*Technology R&D and Citizen Needs*



This panel focuses on user needs and applications research and
development. Featuring social scientists and computer science
researchers, half the presenters discuss communication from a user needs
perspective, and other presenters discuss the process behind the design
of community informatics and other applications. One goal of the panel
is to encourage debate among social and computer scientists about
citizen needs and technology research and development. Needs assessment,
the socio-economic aspects of the communication relationship, and
technology designed to meet user needs are possible theme areas.



*Research Methodologies*



Various qualitative and quantitative methods offer a number of
possibilities for research on citizen needs, democratic communications,
community communications, human/technology interface, and community
informatics, among others. This panel discusses such questions as: what
are the 'right' research questions that should be asked, and why? What
are different methodologies that should be employed? Empirical examples,
theoretical and methodological examples or possibilities could be explored.



*Citizen Engagement and E-Democracy*



Panelists will discuss findings of research on ICT used to facilitate
citizen engagement in communities and between citizens, in relation to
community organizations, government agencies and the state. What do
"engagement" and "e-Democracy" mean to citizens, governments and
communities, and what should they mean? What are the best means,
channels or practices to attain them?



*
*

*Organizers*

* *

Andrew Reddick, Ph.D. Group Leader, e-Government/e-Citizen Group,
National Research Council Canada, Institute for Information Technology,
Fredericton, NB, Canada andrew.reddick at nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
<mailto:andrew.reddick at nrc-cnrc.gc.ca>

Vanda Rideout, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Sociology,
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada vrideout at unb.ca
<mailto:vrideout at unb.ca>

Mary C. Milliken, MA, Ph.D. candidate, UNB, Conference Organizer,
NRC-CNRC IIT, mary.milliken at nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
<mailto:mary.milliken at nrc-cnrc.gc.ca>



*Submission of Abstract*



Faculty, researchers and graduate students are encouraged to submit 250
word abstracts in .doc or .pdf format, for peer review, to the attention
of Mary C. Milliken, mary.milliken at nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
<mailto:mary.milliken at nrc-cnrc.gc.ca> by 1 April 2004. Authors will be
notified of acceptance by 30 April. The deadline for full papers is 12
July 2004. Discussants will provide comments on final papers.



For further information about this event, please refer to our web site
at http://www.unb.ca/technocitizen/ or contact Mary at the above e-mail
address.