[Air-L] Call for Submission: 2017 International Conference on Deliberation and Decision Making (DDM2017)

[Weiyu Zhang (Ivy)]

*2017 International Conference on*

*Deliberation and Decision Making (DDM 2017)*

*Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Civic Tech*



*June 23-24, 2017*

*Singapore*



The 2017 International Conference on Deliberation and Decision Making (DDM
2017) will bring together researchers and practitioners who focus on
deliberation and decision making – in individuals, groups, organizations,
communities, governments, and machines. For historical, institutional, and
other reasons, deliberation and decision making researchers have been
separated into different academic enclaves, sometimes debating but often
talking past each other across disciplinary divide, with different
definitions, assumptions, and methodologies getting in the way of knowledge
accumulation and mutual understanding. This has not served the world of
practice very well, and DDM 2017 aims to address these divisions by calling
together researchers and practitioners from interdisciplinary perspectives
in one conference, to explore, analyze and reflect on these perspectives
and to find common ground.



The conference aims to discuss specific theoretical and practical advances
from a number of disciplinary perspectives (such as behaviour science,
communication, computer science, decision science, human-computer
interaction, information science, political science, policy studies, and
more). It is organized by key experts in the field and is supported by an
interdisciplinary programme committee.



The conference organizers hope to produce a series of DDM conferences in
the coming years. For this first one, we have chosen to focus on *Civic
Tech*, which is technology that opens up government or is used for
community action. Online Deliberation was one of the earliest visions of
using ICTs towards civic ends. As ICTs developed over years, efforts to
promote civic engagement through technologies have been broadened to many
other non-deliberation based activities, which can be grouped under the
concept of *Civic Tech*. These developments challenge the presumptions of
what online deliberation is about and contribute to innovations in the
field.



DDM 2017 follows in a line of previous high-level scientific conferences
that have focused on Online Deliberation, but with the intention of
broadening the focus to explicitly include *decision making*, and
specifically, *Civic Tech* that supports DDM.

The DDM 2017 conference focuses on, but is not limited to, the following
topics:

   - links between *theories* of collective decision making (such as
   deliberative democracy, behavior sciences, decision sciences) and
   technologies (such as crowdsourcing, argument visualization, and big
   data);
   - current *research* on civic techs that enable deliberation and
   decision making both online and face to face; research challenges posed
   for researchers, governments, communities and citizens in applying
   technologies for civic purposes;
   - civic tech *interventions* using novel settings, modes or approaches;
   and descriptions of tools and techniques that are already being tested or
   fielded; case studies in applying and evaluating civic tech in various
   formal and informal engagement domains



*Guidelines for papers and other submissions *

The conference allows for four distinct types of submissions:

   1. Research papers
   2. Exploratory papers on ongoing research and innovative projects
   3. Technology demonstrators
   4. Panels on pertinent issues



*Research papers *
These papers should have a strong focus on scientific rigour and may be a
maximum of 20 pages (excluding references, tables/figures, and appendix).
Papers in this track will be peer reviewed for rigour, relevance,
originality and clarity of presentation. Abstracts or incomplete papers
will not be accepted.


*Exploratory papers *These papers describe novel concepts,
works-in-progress, reflections, manifestos or other ideas and issues that
are not currently suitable for a complete research paper. They may be a
maximum of 5 pages. Papers in this section will also be peer reviewed, but
the focus is on relevance more than scientific rigour.



*Technology demonstrators *
Proposals for technology demonstrators (two pages) should include a
description of the demo, objectives, examples of testing and application
and, if possible, a URL where the technology can be viewed.



*Panels *
Proposals for panels (two pages) should include motivation, objectives,
expected outcomes, approach to audience interaction and panel members.
Panels are currently planned to be 1.5 hours long. Panels proposal will
also be peer reviewed.



All submissions must be made via the conference submission system web site.
Submissions should be written in English and non-English speakers are
encouraged to have their submissions reviewed for language prior to
submission. Submissions should be formatted using 12 point Times-Roman font
on A4 sized paper. Accepted research and exploratory papers should be
revised according to reviewer comments and resubmitted by the deadline.



*Publication options *

Option 1: Both research papers and exploratory papers are eligible for
inclusion in a conference proceeding.

Option 2: Research papers are eligible for inclusion in a journal special
issue. A further selection process will be implemented.


*Sponsored by:*

Ministry of Education of Singapore through National University of Singapore



*Local Chairs:*
Weiyu Zhang, Department of Communications and New Media, National
University of Singapore

Simon Perrault, Yale-NUS, National University of Singapore

*Research Papers and Panels Chairs: *

Anna Przybylska, Center for Deliberation, University of Warsaw, Poland

Todd Davies, Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford
University, USA

*Exploratory Papers and Technology Demonstrators Chairs: *

Lu Xiao, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, USA

Tatsuro Sakano, Department of Social Engineering, Tokyo Technical
University, Japan



*Contact Details:*

For further information please email: 2017ddm at gmail.com



*Submission site (open on January 1, 2017):*

https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ddm2017



*Important Dates*

January 1 2017

Submission system available

*March 15, 2017*

*Research papers & panel proposals due*

*March 30, 2017*

*Exploratory papers & technology demonstrators due*

April 30, 2017

Notices of acceptances

May 1, 2017

Registration begins

*May 30, 2017*

*Revised research and exploratory papers due*

June 23 – 24, 2017

Conference





-- 
Weiyu Zhang (PhD, UPenn)
Associate Professor
Department of Communication and New Media
National University of Singapore