[Air-L] CALL FOR PAPERS

Mon Nov 3 10:58:20 PST 2008

 'MODERNITY 2.0': EMERGING SOCIAL MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR IMPACTS

9TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF SOCIOCYBERNETICS

'MODERNITY 2.0': EMERGING SOCIAL MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR IMPACTS

URBINO, ITALY 29 JUNE - 5 JULY 2009

CALL FOR PAPERS

In recent years, the Internet and other information and communication
technologies have had great impacts on almost all aspects of human life,
locally and globally. The extant of these impacts can be seen in the
ubiquity of the use of the prefix 'e-', as in e-commerce, e-business,
e-government, e-democracy, e-science, e-learning, e-entertainment  and so
on.
Thanks to the cheaper prices and ease of use of these technologies,  more
and more people are able to access digital contents, as part of a mass
audience, and more and more people are able to create and publish content
off their own initiative. The Web has moved from being a one-way
communication channel extending traditional media, to a complex
"peer-to-peer" communication space with a blurred author/audience
distinction and new ways to create, share and use knowledge in a social way.
This establishes new global fora, started by a few, and sustained by
millions of local acts.
This change of paradigm is currently profoundly transforming most areas of
our lives: our interactions with other people, our relationships, ways of
gathering, creating and disseminating information, ways of developing social
norms, opinions, attitudes and even legal aspects as well as ways of working
and doing business. It also raises a strong need for theoretical, empirical
and applied studies related to how people may interact on the Web, how they
actually do so and what new possibilities and challenges are emerging in the
individual, business and technology dimensions.
It is not the first time in the history of social media that a new
technology becomes suddenly available to a wider group of people due to a
specific social, economical and historical context. The last time something
similar happened, the availability and diffusion of the printing press,
according to many authors, the opportunities for the rise of modern society
emerged.
We are probably facing a similar new extraordinary change that we can barely
describe today.
According to the law of accelerated return identified by Ray Kurzweil, this
change is taking place at a much faster speed than before. This is a major
challenge for social science in a world where 'internet time' now runs at a
clock speed several orders of magnitude faster than that of academic
research.
In order to explore these possibilities and tackle the challenges, a more
interdisciplinary scientific approach is required.
The visionary founding fathers of cybernetics and systems theory urged for
this new vision of the sciences as soon as they started working on
teleological machines interacting with human beings during the Second World
War. Not surprisingly, today, Sir Tim Berners Lee (the inventor of the World
Wide Web) is developing a vision for new field of interdisciplinary study
called Web Science.
The goal of this conference is therefore to bring researchers and
practitioners together to explore within a sociocybernetic approach the
issues and challenges related to social aspects of the new communication
technologies and especially the Web.
Possible topics should include, but are not limited to:
o       Local issues with respect to a particular geographical region,
political entity or cultural or ethnic group;
o   Global issues affecting all mankind in the 21st century;
o       Emerging technologies and the link between the micro  and  macro
levels of individual actors and social institutions, respectively;
o    Social systems and economic models of the web;
o Y Generation and participation on the web (politics, business and
entertainment);
o     Culture, knowledge and social impact of the Semantic web;
o      e-Social Science;
o      Cyberculture, knowledge and local communities;
o Teaching the digital natives in networked space;
o       The public/private distinction on the Internet;
o        Cybernetics and Web Science;
o   Social capital in social network sites (SNSs).
Papers with a strong sociocybernetics orientation addressing other topics
(conceptual, methodological, practical) are also welcomed.

VENUE AND ACCOMMODATION
The 9th International Conference of Sociocybernetics will take place in the
Faculty of Sociology of University of Urbino "Carlo Bo".
Urbino is a walled city in the Marche region in Italy, south-west of Pesaro,
a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of
independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico
da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482. The town, nestled on a
high sloping hillside, retains much of its picturesque medieval aspect, only
slightly marred by the large car parks below the town. It hosts the
University of Urbino, founded in 1506, and is the seat of the Archbishop of
Urbino. Its best-known architectural piece is the Palazzo Ducale, rebuilt by
Luciano Laurana (taken form http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbino).
Urbino is located in the middle of the Apennines, 30 km from the Adriatic
coast. The town can be reached directly only by car or bus, not by train.
The closest towns to Urbino are Pesaro and Fano, where there are train
stations; trains from Milano, Bologna or Rome stop there.
The fastest way to reach Urbino is to fly to Bologna (or Ancona) and to rent
a car. Most major rental companies have offices in those two cities. This
will avoid waiting time for train or bus connections. Car sharing is an
option to reduce costs if you travel with other colleagues (or friends).
The cheapest way to reach Urbino is by bus from either Pesaro or Fano.
BY AIR
The closest Airports to Urbino are Ancona, Bologna, Rimini and Forlì.
Please follow the links below for detailed information.
ANCONA: Raffaello Sanzio Airport at Falconara Marittima
http://www.ancona-airport.com
45 Km South of Pesaro
Information office and bookings: Tel. +39-071-28271

Direct flights with low cost companies are available from London
(www.ryanair.com ), Barcelona and Paris (www.evolavia.com ). Suggested
route: From the airport take the bus to the train station in Ancona and from
there take a train to Pesaro (about 30 min) and from Pesaro take the Bus
(see section below)  to Urbino
BOLOGNA: Aereoporto G. Marconi
http://www.bologna-airport.it/
Bologna is the largest international airport of the area and is only a
two-hour drive from Urbino. It is served by many low cost airlines, please
refer to the airport website for details.
Information office and bookings: Tel. +39-051-6479615
FORLI'
http://www.forliairport.com
Information office and bookings: Tel. +39-0543-474991
Forlì is a very small airport, but the low cost airline Ryanair runs flights
from major European cities (www.ryanair.com)
Suggested route: From the airport take the bus to the train station in
Forlì, from there take a train to Pesaro (about 1:20h) and from Pesaro take
the Bus (see section below).
RIMINI: Aeroporto Federico Fellini
http://www.riminiairport.com
Information office and bookings Tel. +39.0541.715711
Rimini is also a very small airport, but the low-cost airline Easyjet
(www.easyjet.com) flies there. Rimini can be also useful for connections
from Rome with Alitalia (www.alitalia.com) or other major European cities
such as London, Amsterdam or Brussels.
Suggested route: From the airport take a bus to the train station in Rimini.
>From there take a train to Pesaro (about 15-20 min.) and from Pesaro take
the bus (see section below).
For detailed information regarding flight schedules and airlines please
refer to the airport links.
BY BUS
Buses from Pesaro or Fano to Urbino run frequently, for schedule information
please visit the website: http://www.autolineebucci.com/
There are daily buses into the Urbino-Montefeltro area from Rome
(http://www.autolineebucci.com/), but they do not run on Sundays.
If you are coming from Tuscany you can travel via San Sepolcro, but it is
quite a lengthy trip.
BY CAR
>From Rome, follow the old Via Flaminia through the Scheggia Pass, using the
E45 via Perugia;
from Florence and Arezzo, follow the Bocca Trabaria, Bocca Serriola, Badia
Tebalda or Viamaggio passes.
>From Bologna take the A14 motorway and go south. Use the following exit:
"Pesaro-Urbino" to reach Urbino.
>From the "Pesaro-Urbino" exit you should take the SS 423 Urbinate, Urbino is
28Km from the highway exit. It will take you about 30-45 min.
>From Ancona take the A14 motorway and go north. Use the following exit
"Fano" to reach Urbino.
>From the "Fano" exit you should take the superstrada and follow signs to
Urbino. It will take you about 30-40 min.
BY TRAIN
The recommended stations are Pesaro (if you are traveling from the north) or
Fano (if you are traveling from the south).
If you are travelling from Rome, the closest station is Fossato di
Vico-Gubbio which is about a two hour train ride from the capital. From
Fossato, however, there are few bus connections, and taxis are quite
expensive (about 65¤) so we suggest travelling to Pesaro by changing trains
at the Falconara Marittima station.
Important: For all information related to train schedules and costs, please
visit the website:  http://www.trenitalia.it
ACCOMODATION
A limited numbers of rooms will be available at the cost of 25 ¤ a night at
the university colleges.
Hotel facilities are still under negotiation.
Additional information will be sent out later.
CONFERENCE FEES
Conference fees are for:
- RC51 Non-members 100 Euro
- RC51 associate members (non-ISA): 50 Euro
- RC51 regular members in good standing (ISA and RC51): No fee
In special cases (e.g., students) exemptions can be granted upon request.
SESSIONS AND LANGUAGES
The official language of the conference will be English.
ABSTRACTS AND THE REVIEW PROCESS
Please submit a 500 to 1000 word detailed abstract for the review process
and for assignment to a particular session. In addition, 250 word regular
abstracts are needed for the Conference Programme and Abstracts booklet and
for publication on the RC51 website.
All abstracts should be sent to the Chair of the Abstracts Committee,
Michael Paetau (michael.paetau at sociocybernetics.eu).
DEADLINES
February, 1 2009: 500-1000 word detailed abstracts
March, 1, 2009: Notification of acceptance
May, 3, 2009: 250 word regular abstracts
May, 24, 2009: Registration
June, 14, 2008: Full paper
CONTACTS AND INFORMATION
For any further questions and information, please consult the RC51 website
at http://www.unizar.es/sociocybernetics/ . You may also directly contact
any of the members of the International Organizing Committee or the
Coordinator of the National Organizing Committee.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Chair, Bernard Scott, President RC51, B.C.E.scott at rmcs.cranfield.ac.uk
Eva Buchinger, Vice-President RC51 eva.buchinger at arcs.ac.at
Chaime Marcuello, Secretary RC51, chaime at posta.unizar.es
Karl-Heinz Simon simon at usf.uni-kassel.de
Michael Paetau michael.paetau at sociocybernetics.eu
NATIONAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Chair, Dr. Fabio Giglietto (Coordinator), University of Urbino "Carlo Bo",
fabio.giglietto at uniurb.it
Tel: + 39 0722 305726
Fax: + 39 0722 305727
Prof. Lella Mazzoli, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo",
lella.mazzoli at uniurb.it
Prof. Giovanni Boccia Artieri, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo",
giovannibocciaartieri at uniurb.it
Dr. Luca Rossi, University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", luca.rossi at uniurb.it

Please forward the Call for Papers to your friends and colleagues who may be
interested in attending the conference.

-- 
__
Chaime Marcuello Servós
E.U. Estudios Sociales
Universidad de Zaragoza
Violante de Hungría,23
50009-Zaragoza
España

(voice) +34-976-76 1000  ext.4528
       +34-976-76 2121  ext.4528

(Fax)  +34-976-76 1920

http://www.unizar.es/geses/
http://www.unizar.es/sociocybernetics/
http://www.unizar.es/gidid/

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