[Air-L] CFP-Workshop on Robust Socio-technical Architectures in Support of Displaced Persons

[Andrea H. Tapia]

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION – CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - DEC. 4-5, 2013
Workshop on Robust Socio-technical Architectures in Support of Displaced Persons  (DPEW ‘13)
Population displacement is a growing problem, with 41.3 million persons displaced globally in 2011. Whether driven from their homes by armed conflict, natural disasters, or climate change, the displaced experience acute demands for connectivity, communication and connectedness.
This workshop will define a research agenda with the goal of helping displaced persons meet their information and communication needs. By defining research goals in areas spanning technical designs, theories of information needs and organizational IT governance, the resulting socio-technical architecture will promote development of robust and rapidly deployable technologies.  We seek talented and imaginative academics and practitioners from a variety of scientific disciplines, including computer, information, organization and geographic information sciences, communication and refugee studies, as well as practitioners with experience related to shelter or refugee camp management.
Examples of topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
•                Wireless network access technologies for limited power and backhaul in dense populations
•                Social network and self-organization technologies for displaced persons
•                Conflict and convergence in meeting aid organizations’ and individuals’ information needs
•                Integrated mapping and social networks for personal safety
•                Challenges for implementing research on displaced persons
The workshop will be held in Cape Town, South Africa on Dec. 4-5, 2013, in advance of the joint ACM DEV Conference and 6th International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICTD2013), being held jointly at the University of Cape Town, Dec. 6-10, 2013.
The workshop will be small (~25 participants) and highly participatory. Applicants are asked to submit 1) a 1-page, single-spaced position paper highlighting their intellectual contribution to the workshop, 2) a 1-page biography or 2-page CV, including a website link where available, and 3) up to three published articles.
Submissions are due Monday, September 9th and notifications will be made by Wednesday, September 25th.  For those invited to participate, the workshop will provide hotel rooms (double occupancy) and meals for all participants. Additionally, participants will receive full or partial travel reimbursement, with the amount dependent on country of residence. Non-U.S. participants will receive $800, and U.S. participants will receive a maximum of $1,970 for allowable expenses. Prior to workshop attendance, participants will be required to submit payment forms, with all payments to be made following the workshop.
For more information and submission instructions see the workshop website at https://sites.google.com/site/dpew13/ or email the organizers (Carleen Maitland, Penn State University and Elizabeth Belding, UC Santa Barbara) at displaced-workshop at ist.psu.edu.

This workshop is made possible through a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation.