March 2017 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Postdoctoral Researcher position with the Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics (FATE) group at Microsoft Research New York City (MSR NYC)
by Solon Barocas 20 Mar '17

20 Mar '17

The FATE group (Fairness, Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics) at Microsoft Research New York City (MSR NYC) is looking for a postdoctoral researcher to start in July, 2017. This one-year position is an ideal opportunity for an emerging scholar whose work focuses on the social impacts of machine learning and AI. Postdoctoral researchers receive a competitive salary and benefits package, and are eligible for relocation expenses. Candidates must have completed their PhD, including submission of their dissertation, prior to joining Microsoft Research (i.e., PhD received in late 2016 or to be conferred by July 2017). We encourage candidates with tenure-track job offers from other institutions to apply, provided that they are able to defer their start date to accept our position. Application deadline: April 3, 2017. Microsoft Research provides a vibrant multidisciplinary research environment, with an open publications policy and close links to top academic institutions around the world. Postdoctoral researcher positions provide emerging scholars with an opportunity to develop their research career and to interact with some of the top minds in the research community. Postdoctoral researchers define their own research agenda. Successful candidates will have a well-established research track record, evidenced by top-tier journal or conference publications, as well as a strong service record (e.g., participation on program committees, editorial boards, and advisory panels). While each of the Microsoft Research labs has openings in a variety of different disciplines, this position with the FATE group at MSR NYC is specifically intended for researchers who are interested in challenges related to fairness, transparency, accountability, and ethics in machine learning and AI. The FATE group includes Kate Crawford (http://www.katecrawford.net/) Hanna Wallach (http://dirichlet.net/) and Solon Barocas (http://solon.barocas.org) for a sampling of recent publications see their websites. We will consider candidates with a background in a technical field (such as machine learning, AI, or NLP) as well as candidates who study socio-technical questions in the fields of anthropology, media studies, sociology, and/or science and technology studies. The ideal candidate should have a demonstrated interest in the social impacts of machine learning and AI, and be interested in working in a highly interdisciplinary environment that includes computer scientists, social scientists, critical humanists, and economists. To apply, please submit an online application on the Microsoft Research Careers website: https://careers.research.microsoft.com/ In addition to your CV and names of three or more referees (including your dissertation advisor), please upload the following materials: * Two journal/conference publications, articles, thesis chapters, or equivalent work samples (uploaded as two separate attachments). * A research statement (maximum length four pages) that 1) outlines your research agenda (~two pages); 2) provides a description and, if appropriate, a chapter outline of your dissertation (~one page); 3) offers an explanation of how your research agenda relates to fairness, accountability, transparency, and ethics (~one page). Please indicate that your location preference is "New York" and include "Kate Crawford" as the name of a Microsoft Research contact (you may include additional contacts as well). Note: if you do not do this, it is *very unlikely* that we will receive your application. After you submit your application, a request for letters will be sent to your referees on your behalf. You may wish to alert your referees in advance so that they are ready to submit your letter by April 3, 2017. Note: you can check the progress on individual letter requests by clicking the "status" tab within your application page. Microsoft is committed to building a culturally diverse workforce and strongly encourages applications from women and minorities.

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2017 Dissertation Award Nominations
by Michelle, AoIR Association Coordinator 20 Mar '17

20 Mar '17

The Association of Internet Researchers calls for submissions for the 2017 AoIR Dissertation Award. To be eligible for the AoIR Dissertation Award, a PhD dissertation in the area of internet research must have been filed in the 2016 calendar year. Nominations (self and other) must be received by 15 April 2017. All methods and disciplines are welcome. Submissions Details: - A nomination letter that explains why the dissertation is deserving of the award - How it contributes to internet research - A PDF copy of the dissertation should be emailed - The graduate or their supervisor must be a member of AoIR - Self-nominations are permitted - Filed in 2016 (meaning fully defended, all edits complete, filed/published with a 2016 copyright) The recipient of this award will be announced this summer. In addition to winning a cash prize, the individual will also be invited to present their research in a session at AoIR 2017 in Tartu, Estonia, 18-21 October 2017. The committee this year is comprised of Jeremy Hunsinger, Daren Brabham, Jill Rettberg Walker, Tim Highfield and chaired by Mathias Klang. For any questions please contact Mathias Klang dissertationaward(a)aoir.org or Jenny Stromer-Galley prez(a)aoir.org. Regards, Michelle AoIR Association Coordinator

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Social Computing in the Big Data Era
by Angeliki Gazi 19 Mar '17

19 Mar '17

Dear colleagues, warm greetings from Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus. We would like to inform you for our summer school, Social Computing in the Big Data Era, offered by our university 17-21 July 2017, in Limassol City, of Cyprus Island. Limassol is one of the most beautiful Mediterranean Cities and has been ranked by Trip Advisor as the 3rd up-and-coming destination in the world, in its Top 10 Traveler’s Choice Destinations. Cyprus University of Technology is located at the historical center of Limassol City, 10 min walking distance from the most wonderful beaches of the island: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0XWHCCOo50&t=24s Our summer school Social Computing in the Big Data Era covers topics from a broad range of domains which contribute to advancing the field of Big Data. The programme will enable participants to select and combine appropriate research methods, technologies and theories in fields such as: Big Data and Technologies@Facebook, Crowdsourcing, Online Social Networks and Targeted Advertising, Dimensions of Political and Social Changes in the Big Data Era. We encourage submissions from Postgraduate and PhD students with interest in Social Computing. ¬Detailed information about the program: http://summerschools.socialcomputing.eu/?page_id=326 ¬1 WEEK LEFT TO APPLY: http://summerschools.socialcomputing.eu/?page_id=79 Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/notre.project/ Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/notre_social Website: http://notre.socialcomputing.eu/ <https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnotre.socialcomputing.eu%2F&h=A…> Thank you very much for your kind attention. Angeliki Gazi, PhD Assistant Professor Faculty of Communication and Media Cyprus University of Technology P.O. Box: 50329 CY 3036, Limassol, Cyprus T:+35725002334 E-mail:angeliki.gazi@cut.ac.cy This email communication (and any attachments) are confidential and are intended only for the individual(s) or entity named above and others who have been specifically authorized to receive it. If you are not the intended recipient, please do not read, copy, use or disclose the contents of this communication to others. Please notify the sender that you have received this email in error by replying to the email or by phone at +35725002334. Please then delete the email and any copies of it. This information may be subject to professional or other privilege or may otherwise be protected by work product immunity or other legal rules. Thank you. <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> Virus-free. www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>

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CfP: Data for Policy 2017 - Government by Algorithm?, 6-7 September, London
by Zeynep Engin 19 Mar '17

19 Mar '17

*Call for papers, presentations, sessions, and workshops – Deadline: 8th May* 3rd Annual International Conference *DATA FOR POLICY 2017* Government by Algorithm? 6-7 September 2017 | London dataforpolicy.org | @dataforpolicy <https://twitter.com/dataforpolicy> Governments are being transformed under the impact of the digital revolution, although the speed of change is behind that of the commercial sector. Policy-makers in all domains are facing increasing pressures to interact with citizens more efficiently, and make better decisions in the light of data flooding in all forms, sophisticated computing technologies, and analytics methods. The hierarchical structures of governments are also being challenged as these technologies equip individuals and informal networks with the necessary tools to better participate in public decision making processes, and have a societal impact at a much faster pace than ever before. The concepts and tools from artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), and now blockchain technologies are also likely to automate many services in the public sector, greatly increasing its efficiency but at the cost of potentially millions of jobs. ‘Smartification’ of people, devices, institutions, cities, and governments also brings constant, ubiquitous surveillance which, together with inference and recognition technologies, creates the potential to regulate human behaviour and may even threaten democracy. The third of the *Data for Policy* conference series highlights *‘Government by Algorithm?’ *as its main theme, while also welcoming contributions from the broader Data Science and Policy discussions. All relevant formats including research and policy presentations, workshops, fringe events and other innovative formats will be considered by the committees. *Topics invited include but are not limited to the following:* - *Government & Policy:* Digital era governance and democracy, data-driven service delivery in central and local government, algorithmic governance/regulation, open source and open data movements, sharing economy, digital public, multinational companies (Google, Amazon, Uber, etc.) and privatization of public services, public opinion and participation in democratic processes, data literacy, policy laboratories, case studies and best practices. - *Policy for Data & Management: *Data governance; data collection, storage, curation, and access; distributed databases and data streams, psychology and behaviour of decision; data security, ownership, linkage; data provenance and expiration; private/public sector/non-profit collaboration and partnership; capacity-building and knowledge sharing within government; institutional forms and regulatory tools for data governance. - *Data Sources:* Open, commercial, personal, proprietary sources; administrative data, official statistics, user-generated web content (blogs, wikis, discussion forums, posts, chats, tweets, podcasting, pins, digital images, video, audio files, advertisements, etc.), search engine data, data gathered by connected people and devices (e.g. wearable technology, mobile devices, Internet of Things), tracking data (including GPS/geolocation data, traffic and other transport sensor data, CCTV images etc.,), satellite and aerial imagery, and other relevant data sources. - *Data Analysis:* Computational procedures for data collection, storage, and access; large-scale data processing, real-time and historical data analysis, spatial and temporal analysis, forecasting and nowcasting,dealing with biased/imperfect/missing/uncertain data, human interaction with data, statistical and computational models, networks & clustering, dealing with concept drift and dataset shift, other technical challenges, communicating results, visualisation, and other relevant analysis topics. - *Methodologies:* Qualitative/quantitative/mixed methods, secondary data analysis, web mining, predictive models, randomised controlled trials, sentiment analysis, Blockchain distributed ledger and smart contract technologies, machine learning, Bayesian approaches and graphical models, biologically inspired models, simulation and modeling, small area estimation, correlation & causality based models, gaps in theory and practice, other relevant methods. - *Policy/Application Domains:* Public administration, cities and urban analytics, policing and security, health, economy, finance, taxation, law, science and innovation, energy, environment, social policy areas (education, migration, etc.), humanitarian and development policy, crisis response, public engagement and other relevant domains. - *Citizen Empowerment: *Online platforms and communities, crowdsourcing, citizen science, community driven research, citizen expertise for local & central decision-making, mobile applications, user communities, other relevant topics. - *Ethics, privacy, security:* Data and algorithms in the law; licensing and ownership; using personal or proprietary data; transparency, accountability, participation in data processing; discrimination- and fairness-aware data mining and machine learning; privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) in the public sector; public rights, free speech, dialogue and trust. Extended abstracts for individual submissions should not exceed 1000 words and group/special session submissions are limited to 4500 words (including general session description and abstracts for each of the presentations in the session). All submissions will also be considered for post conference publications and those selected will be invited to submit full discussion papers prior to the conference. *Submissions are accepted through the official conference website – * *dataforpolicy.org* <http://dataforpolicy.org/> Special discounts with conference registration fees will be applied to students and early career researchers. Limited funding is also available to support travel expenses of exceptional candidates. For those wishing to be considered for travel support please send a CV and covering letter to the conference team after completing your submission and before the submission deadline. Partnership and exhibition opportunities are available and organisations can get in touch with the Data for Policy Team (team(a)dataforpolicy.org) to discuss opportunities for collaboration. All general enquiries about the conference should be directed to the Data for Policy Team at team(a)dataforpolicy.org *Important Dates: * Abstract submission deadline: Monday, 8 May 2017 Notification of acceptance: Wednesday, 14 June 2017 Presenters’ registration deadline: Tuesday, 1 August 2017 Discussion Paper submission deadline: Friday, 18 August 2017 Public registration deadline: Friday, 25 August 2017 Conference: Wednesday-Thursday, 6-7 September 2017 *Organising Bodies & Institutions: * *Data for Policy* is an independent initiative launched in 2015 at its inaugural conference *“Policy-making in the Big Data Era: Opportunities and Challenges” *that was hosted by the University of Cambridge. The second conference *“Frontiers of Data Science for Government: Ideas, Practices, and Projections”* was also held at the same venue in 2016. The series has proven to be a key international discussion forum around the theory and applications of Data Science as relevant to governments and policy research, and supported by a large number of key stakeholders including prestigious academic institutions, government departments, international agencies, non-profit institutions, and businesses. The *Government Data Science Partnership* brings together capability from ONS, GDS and GO-Science to support departments in applying data science and big data techniques to challenges. There are four activity streams: - Working in an open and ethical way - Unlocking practical barriers - Creating and developing data science projects - Building data science capability across government The Government Data Science Partnership vision is to improve government capacity to use data science to underpin decision-making, policy development, tailor services, and work efficiently. In doing so the UK government will be recognised as world leading in its use of open and ethical data science. The *All-Party Parliamentary Group on Data Analytics* is a new cross-party group of MPs and peers established by Daniel Zeichner MP to connect Parliament with business, academia and civil society to promote better policy making on big data and data analytics. *Policy Connect* is a not-for-profit social enterprise with two decades in policy work, overseeing the research and delivery of more than 50 key publications. We have a long history of success in running engaging forums, commissions and All-Party Parliamentary Groups. Data for Policy is grateful to the following institutions for their continuing support: - University College London - University of Cambridge - UK Government Data Science Partnership: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Government Digital Service (GDS), Government Office for Science (GO-Science) - All Party Parliamentary Group on Data Analytics - Imperial College London - London School of Economics and Political Science - University of Oxford - The Alan Turing Institute - Royal Statistical Society - European Commission - New York University - Leiden University

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21st European Conference on Advances in Databases and Information Systems (ADBIS 2017): Fourth Call for Doctoral Consortium
by Announce Announcements 19 Mar '17

19 Mar '17

*** Fourth Call for Doctoral Consortium *** 21st European Conference on Advances in Databases and Information Systems ADBIS 2017 Hilton Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus 24 - 27 September, 2017 http://www.cs.ucy.ac.cy/~george/lm/lm.php?tk=YWlyLUwJCQlhaXItTEBsaXN0c2Vydi… The internationally recognized ADBIS conference already for 21 years is gathering researchers and practitioners around topics related to databases, data processing, and information systems, in general. The conference is run in Europe but attracts researchers from all over the world. The 21st ADBIS conference will be held in Nicosia, Cyprus. The conference is accompanied by satellite events, including doctoral consortia and workshops. DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM The Doctoral Consortium (DC) is a forum where PhD students can present their research ideas, confront them with the scientific community, receive feedback from mentors, and tie cooperation bounds. Students will receive inspiration from their peers and will have a chance to discuss their research objectives with senior members of the community in the context of an established international conference. The DC session will take place on September 24, in parallel with the workshop sessions. Each participant will present her/his work, followed by a discussion with senior researchers. ELIGIBILITY We seek PhD students who have either determined the direction of their thesis research (probably with some preliminary results already published), but who still have substantial work to complete, or PhD student participants who are in the early stages of their dissertation year. It is not required to have a paper accepted for the main conference in order to participate in the DC. SUBMISSIONS To apply to the DC, please submit a single-authored paper (which will appear in the proceedings of DC), accompanied by a short email from the thesis advisor stating support for your participation in the DC, describing the current status of the thesis research, and giving your expected date of graduation. The papers for DC should be at most 12 pages in Springer format (formatting instructions can be obtained via http://www.cs.ucy.ac.cy/~george/lm/lm.php?tk=YWlyLUwJCQlhaXItTEBsaXN0c2Vydi… and describe the state of the whole PhD project, rather than a specific completed result. The paper should outline the objectives, the problem, state of the art, results obtained so far, and what is still to be done in the frame of the PhD project. If an author prefers to present a completed research result, the paper should be submitted to the main conference or one of accompanying workshops. A paper submitted to the DC may not be under review for any other conference or journal during the time it is being considered for the DC. Submissions should be made electronically in PDF format at CMT: http://www.cs.ucy.ac.cy/~george/lm/lm.php?tk=YWlyLUwJCQlhaXItTEBsaXN0c2Vydi…. In case of multiple files, please submit a single compressed file (zip or rar). After logging into CMT, please choose the "ADBIS 2017 Doctoral Consortium" track. REVIEW PROCESS Each paper submitted to the DC will be reviewed by at least two members of the DC program committee and will be judged based on originality, technical merit, presentation quality, and relevance. The authors of successful submissions must take into account the reviewers' comments during the preparation of the final version and describe the changes in a separate document to be submitted together with the final camera-ready version. The program committee reserves the right to reject a paper if the final version does not meet the requirements above. Applications not adhering to the provided guidelines (including page limits) will not be considered. The authors of accepted papers must register to the conference, attend the DC and present their work. PROCEEDINGS The DC papers will be published by Springer, together with the ADBIS workshops proceedings, in the Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing series. IMPORTANT DATES · Submission: May 19, 2017 · Acceptance/Rejection Notification: June 30, 2017 · Camera-ready Submission: July 14, 2017 · Doctoral Consortium: September 24, 2017 COMMITTEES Steering Committee Chair · Leonid Kalinichenko, Russian Academy of Science, Russia General Chair · George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus Program Chairs · Marite Kirikova, Riga Technical University, Latvia · Kjetil Norvag, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway Proceedings Chair · Christos Mettouris, University of Cyprus, Cyprus Workshops Chairs · Johann Gamper, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy · Robert Wrembel, Poznan University of Technology, Poland Doctoral Consortium Chairs · Jerome Darmont, Universite Lyon 2, France · Stefano Rizzi, University of Bologna, Italy

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Reminder/20 March Abstract Deadline: International Digital Divide Conference 24-26 May 2017, San Diego, California, USA
by Grant Blank 18 Mar '17

18 Mar '17

** Please pass this message on to colleagues, networks, and lists to whom it would be of interest. Thank you! ** PARTNERSHIP FOR PROGRESS ON THE DIGITAL DIVIDE (PPDD) 2017 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 24-26 May 2017 Best Western Plus Island Palms Hotel & Marina San Diego, California USA http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2017/ In conjunction with the 67th International Communication Association Annual Conference Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide (PPDD) is the only academic professional organization in the world focused solely on the digital divide and on connecting research to policymaking and practice to strategize actions and catalyze solutions to this pressing societal concern. The academic research and practitioner community represented by PPDD stands ready to advance the agenda on broadband and the digital divide, to address the many challenges and opportunities presented by the digital world, and to further evidence-based policymaking and practice so that all citizens can participate fully in the digital, networked age. The interdisciplinary Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide 2017 International Conference brings together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners for an extended, in-depth dialogue about key issues that inform information and communication technologies and the digital divide around the world. The Conference works to identify new areas of necessary, productive focus, foster greater understanding, advance research, and enlighten policy and practice going forward. Confirmed speakers include leaders from the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and The French Digital Agency within the Government of France Ministry for the Economy and Finance. In addition, an optional 23 May 4-Hour Field Trip to our Local Digital Inclusion Program Hosts’ sites offers the opportunity to learn firsthand about innovative initiatives to bridge the digital divide in San Diego. As a major outcome of PPDD 2017, we plan to produce an edited volume of the top papers as well as special issues of our Publishing Partners' journals on specific themes within the digital divide area. If you would like to present and discuss your work during PPDD 2017 and have it included in the online PPDD 2017 Conference Proceedings and/or if you would like to provide a Position Paper for inclusion in the PPDD 2017 E-Book, please see the Call for Participation ( http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2017/cfp/) for instructions on how to submit your work for consideration. If you would like to just attend PPDD 2017 to explore the issues and grow your knowledge and network of connections, please know that you are very welcome and valued in the PPDD Conference Community. Please join PPDD, our Local Digital Inclusion Program Hosts, and an unprecedented broad multi-disciplinary coalition of co-sponsoring organizations from academic and practitioner communities to share your insights and expertise. Together, we will enrich the dialogue, connect research, policy and practice, and advance the agenda on the digital divide. Please contact conference [at] ppdd [dot] org with any questions. ---------------------------------------------------- CALL FOR PARTICIPATION ---------------------------------------------------- If you would like to 1) present and discuss your work during PPDD 2017 and have it included in the online PPDD 2017 Conference Proceedings, and/or if you would like to 2) provide a Position Paper for inclusion in the PPDD 2017 E-Book, we look forward with enthusiasm to your contribution and ask that you please follow the instructions provided at http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2017/cfp/ to submit your work. Submissions are welcome from researchers, policymakers, and practitioners at all stages of their careers, from any theoretical and methodological approach, and across multiple disciplines. 1) Deadline to Submit Your 250-Word-Maximum Abstract for Consideration for Presentation: 20 March 2017 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Time Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: 31 March 2017 If you have visa or other time-sensitive concerns, please submit your work as quickly as possible and email conference [at] ppdd [dot] org to request an expedited review so you can receive notification shortly after submission. Before we can address the digital divide, we must first understand the nature of life in the digital age, the many challenges and opportunities it presents, and the interplay of influence between technological and social change. Then, in turn, we can fully understand digital inequality; its place alongside other long-standing, persistent issues of social equity, social justice, and media justice; and what it means to be disconnected from the most important technological advancement in communication in a generation and the myriad possibilities it facilitates. Thus, PPDD 2017 invites work that informs issues related to information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the digital divide broadly defined, including but not limited to: - gaps in access and connectivity - digital inclusion - digital exclusion - digital (dis)engagement - challenges and opportunities - social and cultural aspects of the divide - the skills and digital/information literacy needed to interpret, understand, and navigate information presented online and the requisite curriculum - effective use by individuals and communities - the impact of socioeconomic factors on user behavior - the role of motivation, attitudes, and interests - differences in patterns of usage - characteristics and conceptualizations of non-users - the ways in which people use the Internet to create content - content creation and inequality - different forms of capital and power relationships, including in terms of content creation, labor, and ownership - the role of theory in understanding ICTs and digital inequality - the impact of new and evolving technologies - the mobile divide - the interplay of influence with mobile technologies - human-computer interaction, human factors, and usability - social media - digital games - apps - socioeconomic and cultural effects - social equity, social and economic justice, and democracy - media justice and ICTs - the ethics of digital inequality - community informatics - social informatics - urban and regional planning - social planning - international development - indigenous populations - children and childhood - education - ICTs and well-being - health - disability and accessibility - politics, digital government, digital citizenship, smart cities/citizens/government, civic engagement, adoption issues, and (in)equality - global citizenship - policy discourse - law and policy and its impacts, including information/telecommunications policy, net neutrality, open access, open source, copyright, Internet filtering software, and censorship - the digital security divide - the digital privacy divide - big data and inequality - organizations and ICTs - public access initiatives - anchor institutions - practitioner-oriented topics considering aspects of design, management, implementation, assessment, collaboration, challenges, problem solution, and opportunities - architectural challenges and deployment experiences - Internet access cost analyses - the application of research to communities, practice, and public and private sector initiatives 2) Deadline to Submit a Position Paper for the PPDD 2017 Conference E-Book: 17 April 2017 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Time All PPDD 2017 attendees may submit a position paper and all submissions that follow the guidelines provided at http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2017/cfp/ will be included in the PPDD 2017 Conference E-Book. --------------------------------------------------------------- HOTEL AND OPTIONAL ACTIVITIES --------------------------------------------------------------- On the PPDD 2017 Hotel and Optional Activities page ( http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2017/hotelactivities/) you will find full details about the PPDD 2017 Conference hotel, optional 23 May 4-Hour Field Trip to our Local Digital Inclusion Program Hosts’ Sites Plus Early-Bird Group Dinner, optional 25 May Group Dinner at a Polynesian Restaurant Overlooking San Diego Bay, and sightseeing information about the San Diego area as well as helpful information if you are also attending the ICA Annual Conference. We have secured extremely low room rates at a beautiful waterfront hotel with great amenities: Best Western Plus Island Palms Hotel & Marina 2051 Shelter Island Drive San Diego, California 92106 USA To make your hotel room reservation, please call +1-800-922-2336 or +1-619-222-0561, or email res(a)islandpalms.com and be sure to identify yourself as part of the PPDD group to be eligible for the deeply-discounted rate of $135USD/night (plus tax), including complimentary Internet access, recreational activities, parking, and more. PPDD 2017 room rates are available from 20 May through 29 May -- please see http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2017/hotelactivities/ for complete details. Reservation Deadline: This special discounted room rate will be available until 24 April or when the group block is sold-out, whichever comes first. For those attending ICA as well as PPDD, there is easy access from PPDD’s hotel to the ICA Hilton Bayfront Hotel via an inexpensive, approximately 20-minute Uber or taxi ride. ------------------------------------ REGISTRATION ------------------------------------ The PPDD 2017 Conference registration fee is: $99USD for students $129USD for college/university/non-profit/NGO affiliates $179 for for-profit corporate affiliates and includes full access to the Conference as well as hot buffet lunches on 24, 25, and 26 May plus the Conference reception and banquet dinner after the Conference programming on 24 May. Registration will open in late March 2017. Please visit http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2017/registration/ for complete details. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- YOUR PPDD 2017 CONFERENCE LEADERSHIP TEAM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conference Organizer Susan B. Kretchmer, Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide Europe Organizer Grant Blank, Oxford University and Oxford Internet Institute Africa Organizer Bill Tucker, University of the Western Cape and Bridging Application and Network Gaps Asia, the Pacific, and the Middle East Organizer Ellie Rennie, RMIT University Canada Organizer Richard Smith, Simon Fraser University and Centre for Digital Media United States Organizer Susan B. Kretchmer, Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide Latin America and the Caribbean Organizers Laura Robinson, Santa Clara University Hopeton S. Dunn, University of the West Indies, Jamaica and Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication Policymaker, Practitioner, and Stakeholder Liaisons Gary Knight, San Diego Futures Foundation Angela Siefer, National Digital Inclusion Alliance ------------------------------------ CO-SPONSORS ------------------------------------ American Anthropological Association Committee on the Anthropology of Science, Technology, and Computing American Library Association Office for Information Technology Policy American Political Science Association Information Technology and Politics Section American Public Health Association Health Informatics Information Technology Section American Sociological Association Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology Section Community Informatics Research Network International Association for Media and Communication Research Communication Policy and Technology Section International Association for Media and Communication Research Digital Divide Working Group International Association for Media and Communication Research Global Media Policy Working Group International Communication Association International Communication Association Communication and Technology Division International Communication Association Communication Law and Policy Division International Communication Association Mass Communication Division iSchools National Digital Inclusion Alliance NTEN: The Nonprofit Technology Network Urban Libraries Council, Edge Initiative Cheers, Grant --------------------------------------------------- Dr Grant Blank University of Oxford | Oxford Internet Institute 1 St Giles, Oxford OX1 3JS, United Kingdom email: grant.blank(a)oii.ox.ac.uk http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/blank/ ---------------------------------------------------

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Call for Participation: Archives Unleashed 4.0 in London, England, June 2017
by Ian Milligan 17 Mar '17

17 Mar '17

Dear all – Please find this call for participation below. This datathon is part of a broader "Web Archiving Week," to be held in London between June 11th and 16th. You can see more details about that here: http://netpreserve.org/general-assembly/2017/overview. Any questions, please do let us know! Ian Call for Participation: Archives Unleashed 4.0 Web Archive Datathon http://archivesunleashed.com The British Library June 11 – 13, 2017 Travel grants will be available for US-based graduate students. Applications for all attendees are due 31 March 2017. Call for Participation This event is the fourth workshop in the Archives Unleashed series. Each event is a standalone datathon aimed at building the Web Archiving community and providing a forum for interdisciplinary collaboration. The World Wide Web has a profound impact on how we research and understand the past. The sheer amount of cultural information that is generated and, crucially, preserved every day in electronic form, presents exciting new opportunities for researchers. Much of this information is captured within web archives. Web archives often contain hundreds of billions of web pages, ranging from individual homepages and social media posts, to institutional websites. These archives offer tremendous potential for social scientists and humanists, and the questions research may pose stretch across a multitude of fields. Scholars broaching topics dating back to the mid-1990s will find their projects enhanced by web data. Moreover, scholars hoping to study the evolution of cultural and societal phenomena will find a treasure trove of data in web archives. In short, web archives offer the ability to reconstruct large-scale traces of the relatively recent past. While there has been considerable discussion about web archive tools and datasets, few forums or mechanisms for coordinated, mutually informing development efforts have been created. Our series of datathons presents an opportunity to collaboratively unleash our web collections, exploring cutting-edge research tools while fostering a broad-based consensus on future directions in web archive analysis. This event will bring together a small group of 35 – 45 participants to collaboratively develop new open-source tools and approaches to web archives, and to kick-off collaboratively inspired research projects. Researchers should be comfortable with command line interactions, and knowledge of a scripting language (such as but not limited to Python) is strongly desired. By bringing together a group of like-minded scholars and programmers, we hope to begin building unified analytic production effort and to continue coalescing this nascent research community. At this event, we hope to continue to converge on a shared vision of future directions in the use of web archives for inquiry in the humanities and social sciences in order to build a community of practice around various web archive analytics platforms and tools. The event is sponsored by the British Library (lead sponsor), Rutgers University, University of Waterloo, the National Science Foundation and the International Internet Preservation Consortium. In addition, there will be a reception the first night and a dinner the second night, supported by funding from the NetLab at Aarhus University, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and Rutgers University. We are also providing sample datasets for people to work on during the datathon, or they are happy to use their own. Included datasets are: • The .gov web archive covering the American government domain • The End of Term Web Archives (.gov/.mil), from 2008, 2012, and 2016 • Social media collections from the 2016 archive • Canadian Political Parties and Political Interest Groups collection and other datasets to be announced Those interested in participating should send a 250-word expression of interest and a CV to Ian Milligan (i2millig(a)uwaterloo.ca) by 7 April 2017 with “Archives Unleashed” in the subject line. This expression of interest should address the scholarly questions that you will be bringing to the datathon, and what datasets you might be interested in either working with or bringing to the event. Applicants will be notified by 15 April 2017. We expect to be able to issue a limited number of travel grants available for US-based doctoral students; preference will be given to those who have not participated in the Archives Unleashed program in the past, although we welcome returning participants. These grants can cover up to $1,000 USD in expenses. If you are in an eligible position, please indicate in your statement of interest that you would like to be considered for the travel grant. On behalf of the organizers, Matthew Weber (Rutgers University), Ian Milligan (University of Waterloo), Jimmy Lin (University of Waterloo), and Olga Holownia (British Library/IIPC). -- *Ian Milligan* Assistant Professor Department of History University of Waterloo 200 University Ave W. Waterloo ON N2L 3G1 Canada http://ianmilligan.ca @ianmilligan1 <https://twitter.com/ianmilligan1>

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VIDEO: Geoff Huston on the future directions of the Internet
by Joly MacFie 17 Mar '17

17 Mar '17

To my own credit. I actually raised the 'content castles' issue with the Dynamic Coalition on Core Internet Values way back in 2012 at the Azerbaijan IGF. https://youtu.be/Je36zEtQSvk?t=2811 Unfortunately I did not get much of a response. joly posted: "At the recent APRICOT Conference in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Geoff Huston, Chief Scientist at APNIC, gave a rather dystopian view of the Internet's future, referring to the current period as a "gilded age" - a late 19th century trope, coined by Mark Twa" At the recent *APRICOT Conference <https://2017.apricot.net/>* in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, *Geoff Huston*, Chief Scientist at APNIC, gave a rather dystopian view of the Internet's future, referring to the current period as a "*gilded age <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilded_Age>*" - a late 19th century trope, coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, that described the rise of an oligarchic veneer that masked underlying social malaise. What provokes Huston is after the Internet disrupted the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), it is now in danger of being disrupted itself. The rise consolidation of ubiquitous major Content Delivery Network nodes connected via private networks, is 1) belaying the need for, and thus investment in, global Open Internet infrastructure, and also 2) removing all options for public oversight of these networks. His closely argued views are well summarized by *Don Dambandaraska* in *this news story <https://disruptive.asia/transit-dead-content-literally-rules/>*, and are expounded on at length by Huston himself in a *Circle ID post <http://www.circleid.com/posts/20170311_the_internet_gilded_age/>*, and expressed succinctly in the video interview below. *View on YouTube*: https://youtu.be/447HL2ePPBU Comment <http://isoc-ny.org/p2/9067#respond> See all comments <http://isoc-ny.org/p2/9067#comments> *Permalink* http://isoc-ny.org/p2/9067 -- --------------------------------------------------------------- Joly MacFie 218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast -------------------------------------------------------------- -

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CFP: Thematic Issue of Media and Communication. Topic: Media History & Democracy.
by Park, David 16 Mar '17

16 Mar '17

A special issue of Media and Communication, to be published in March of 2018, will accept abstract submissions on or before 30 June 2017. The topic for this special issue will be Media History and Democracy. It is easy to imagine that historical scholarship concerning the internet becoming an important part of this special issue. Information related to this special issue can be found below. Please do consider submitting your work. Thank you, Dave Park Volume 6, Issue 1 Title: Media History and Democracy Editor: David W. Park (Lake Forest College, USA) Deadline for Abstracts: 30 June 2017 Deadline for Submissions: 30 September 2017 Publication of the Issue: March 2018 Information: The journal Media and Communication hereby announces a thematic issue (to be published in 2018) dedicated to the topic of media history and democracy. Democracy, in its many guises, has long been an influential concern for media historians. The emphasis on democracy in this thematic issue is intended to link up with media histories that take on the intersection of democracy and media as understood through any one of a number of lenses. The issue of democracy brings this thematic issue in contact with numerous approaches to media history. Authors will find connections to be made between democracy and concerns for: history of technology, social history, cultural history, political history, the history of social networks, intellectual history, and more. Democracy need not be conceptualized as a formal political system for this thematic issue, and many authors may find it fruitful to consider the multifarious aspects and meanings of democracy as they reflect on how they might draft a submission to this thematic issue. Media and Communication is an international journal, and we are particularly interested in programming a thematic issue that features historical scholarship from around the world, including manuscripts that address transnational communication flows. This thematic issue of Media and Communication would be a good match for articles addressing the following topics: The history of democratic ideals in the development of media technology; Considerations of democratic formations as they relate to journalism history and historical understandings of the role of journalism; Histories of media as they relate to political activism; The history of alternative and independent media outlets as they relate to democratic processes; The history of public service broadcasting and its applications worldwide or transnationally; Histories of media reform movements; Treatments of the history of literacy and its political meanings; Internet histories as they relate to citizenship or democracy; The historical roles of interpersonal communication and social networks as they relate to democracy; The history of media policies and regulation designed to arrange for (or thwart) democratic communication; Historical themes concerning the relationship between capitalism and democracy. Instructions for Authors: Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal’s instructions for authors (http://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/pages/view/forauthors) and to send their abstracts (about 200–250 words, with a tentative title and reference to the thematic issue) by email to the Guest Editor (Dave Park: park(a)lakeforest.edu<mailto:park@lakeforest.edu>) by 30 June 2017. Open Access: The journal has an article processing charge to cover its costs, so authors are advised to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication fees. Further information about the journal’s open access charges and institutional memberships can be found here: http://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/about/editorialPolicies…

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Digital Objects, Digital Subjects: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on Activism, Research & Critique in the Age of Big Data Capitalism
by Christian Fuchs 16 Mar '17

16 Mar '17

Digital Objects, Digital Subjects: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on Activism, Research & Critique in the Age of Big Data Capitalism The 6th ICTs and Society Conference May 20-21 University of Westminster, London Hosted by the Westminster Institute for Advanced Studies Speakers: Toni Negri, Jodi Dean, David Chandler, Christian Fuchs, Paolo Gerbaudo, Orit Halpern, Kylie Jarrett, Jack Linchuan Qiu, Antoinette Rouvroy, Etienne Turpin Registration, all abstracts and more info: http://icts-and-society.net/events/digital-objects-digital-subjects-a-sympo… Presenters at the symposium will engage with questions of the digital in respect to activism, research and critique. The conference will engage with the possibilities, potentials, pitfalls, limits, and ideologies of digital activism. It will reflect on whether computational social science, the digital humanities and ubiquitous datafication enable new research approaches or result in a digital positivism that threatens the independence of critical research and brings about the death of the social sciences and humanities. The conference will explore the futures, places and possibilities of critique in the age of digital subjects and digital objects. Talks: - Toni Negri: The Incorporation of the Digital Machine: A Metaphor? - Jodi Dean: Critique or Collectivity? - David Chandler: Governmentalities of the Digital: Mapping, Sensing and Hacking - Christian Fuchs: Karl Marx in the Age of Big Data Capitalism - Paolo Gerbaudo: The Platform Party: The Transformation of Political Organisation in the Digital Era - Orit Halpern: The Smart Mandate: Ubiquitous Computing, Environment, and “Resilient Hope” - Kylie Jarrett: The Digital Housewife: Labour at the Intersection of Culture and Economy - Jack Linchuan Qiu: Goodbye iSlave: Rethinking Smartphone, Activism, and Chinese Labour - Antoinette Rouvroy: Revitalizing Critique Against the Critical Sirens of Algorithmic Governmentality - Etienne Turpin: The Same River Twice: Torrential Formations of the Anthropocene

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