[Air-L] IDIA2020 Virtual Conference participation

[Mamello Thinyane]

Hi all,


We have the pleasure of inviting you to participate in the upcoming IDIA2020 Virtual Conference, which is organized by the United Nations University in Macau for three days from 25th to 27th March 2020. Over the three days, there will be a virtual workshop, a keynote, and 19 research presentations.


The keynote, which is titled "Privacy by Design for the Next Billion," will be delivered by Payal Arora, a digital anthropologist, author, consultant, founder, editor, and professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam. She is the author of the "The Next Billion Users" with Harvard Press and has been named by Forbes as the "next billion champion" and “the right kind of person to reform tech”. Further details at https://www.idia2020.com/keynotes/


To participate, register now at https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEudOirqD4iuVr4N3sQ63E-U5imbAWYnw  and reserve your place - the Zoom meeting link will be provided in the registration email.


We are hosting a workshop titled “Using creative problem solving methods with applied improvisation to increase communication and innovation across multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams” which will be run by Russel Mcmahon. The workshop aims to introduce participants to alternative ways of conducting creative problem-solving sessions and to teach methodologies that can be used for creating better cross-cultural teams in terms of communication, collaboration, and cultural understanding. Further details at https://www.idia2020.com/workshops/


The following are some of the papers that will be presented at the conference:


- "Towards a Human Rights-Based Approach to AI: Case Study of Apprise," by Hannah Thinyane and Francisca Sassetti

- "After the Smartphone has arrived in the Village. How practices and proto-practices emerged in an ICT4D project", by Larry Stillman, Mauro Sarrica and Tom Denison

- "Towards a resilience framework for integrating and using mobile technologies in South African public rural schools: theoretical considerations" by Sifiso Dlamini and Marita Turpin

- "The Effect of a Digital Community-Based Tourism Platform on Hosts' Livelihood" by Pietari Keskinen, Niina Arvila, Heike Winschiers-Theophilus, and Marko Nieminen

- "Development Tendency of Double-Layers Digital Divide in Mainland China: A Longitudinal Study Based on Group Segmentation Perspective" by Longxiang Luo and Zhiwei Lin


The full program is available at https://www.idia2020.com/programme/


Please share and distribute this widely in your networks.


We are looking forward to seeing you.


Kind regards,


IDIA2020 Organizing Committee


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Keynote abstract: "Privacy by Design for the Next Billion"


Radical cost reductions in data pricing and mobile phones in the Global South have brought the next billion users online, many from the lower socio-economic segment. Global tech companies are expanding their data empires with the next billion users fast becoming their biggest data producers and consumers. Governments and development organizations view the rise of these mobile platforms as a novel opportunity as they embark on building service applications to connect with and mobilize these long-neglected demographics. They are doing so by partnering with tech companies in what is seen as a win-win relationship. As data becomes the so called fuel that is meant to feed into the smart and AI (artificial intelligence) driven economy, there urgently needs to be a far more rigorous discussion on what constitutes as global privacy values. Also, we need to ensure that already disadvantaged populations do not become victims of data breaches, privacy violations and targets of unsolicited and misinformed content, amplifying their vulnerability.


The fact is that as of now, the concept of privacy continues to be viewed through a market-based and ethnocentric lens, disproportionately drawing from empirical evidence of perceptions and behaviors of Western-based, white, male, and middle-class demographics. Traditional development paradigms continue to view privacy as a luxury while they tackle what they see as the more urgent needs and wants of daily sustenance. We need to break away from these traditional constraints and radically rethink tech and development frameworks long dictating the global South. We need to channel our energies to pioneer privacy by design frameworks that optimize for civility, dignity, and pleasure, broadening the prevalent emphasis on optimizing for profit and efficiency. These pathways can pave the way for a global and ethical standard for privacy governance worldwide, particularly for the marginalized majority.


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Workshop abstract: Using creative problem solving methods with applied improvisation to increase communication and innovation across multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural teams


Improv is not just for comedy theatre. The concept of using applied improvisation for creative problem-solving (CPS) grew out of the 1990s from those who did human resources and talent development training. Improvisation also makes use of the CPS process in a very informal but explicit manner as performers create a story “out of nothing” to create a work of art that is both entertaining and thought provoking. One of the most common forms of long-form improvisation is called the Harold and it involves both divergent and convergent thinking at multiple stages of the show which allows the performers to create multiple-phase vignettes using just-in-time thinking which is a keystone of CPS as well.


The Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem-Solving process was developed in the 1950s. The CPS process involves four stages and explicit process steps within each stage that involves both divergent and convergent thinking. The Creative Education Foundation’s (CEF) Creative Problem Solving Institute (CPSI) conference grew out of this work and has been held for more than 60 years. It is from this work that methodologies such as design thinking arose. In the 1980s, Min Basadur developed the Basadur Simplexity system which is an enhancement of original CPS process and includes the use of an innovation profile and challenge maps.


Activities proposed for this workshop will include an overview of the Basadur Simplexity CPS. This workshop will also teach participants some of the techniques of improvisation and ideas on how it can be used to develop better diverse teams that work together toward a common goal. There is research that supports the use of applied improvisation, including the work done by the Alan Alda Center for the Communication of Science at Stony Brook University which was the site of the Applied Improvisation Network 2019 Conference.


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More information on participating in IDIA2020: https://www.idia2020.com/virtual-participation-information/

--
Mamello THINYANE
Conference Co-chair
IDIA2020

Principal Research Fellow
United Nations University

Casa Silva Mendes, Estrada do Engenheiro Trigo No 4, Macau SAR
Tel: +853 2871-2930 | mamello at unu.edu<mailto:mamello at unu.edu> | Website<http://cs.unu.edu/>| www.unu.edu<http://www.unu.edu/>