July 2025 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Dr Tomas Walker-Borsa is the winner of AoIR’s 2025 Annual Dissertation Award
by AoIR Association Coordinator 02 Jul '25

02 Jul '25

It gives us great pleasure to announce that the recipient of the 2025 Annual Dissertation Award is Dr. Tomas Walker-Borsa, Oxford University, for the outstanding dissertation ‘Future Proof: the Meanings and Makings of The Fibre Project on Haida Gwaii’. This award is for the best dissertation submitted in English; we will be announcing the winner of the best dissertation submitted in Portuguese soon. Dr. Walker-Borsa’s dissertation demonstrates excellence in the execution of a critical ethnography and an infrastructures approach to the fibre network of the islands of Haida Gwaii. This is an extensive and in-depth account of the development of a full-fibre network in a rural setting. It makes a strong methodological contribution, combining surveys, news analysis and ethnographic approaches including interviews, participation and photography. It is theoretically rich, reflective and informed. It addresses a wide range of issues related to internet access, infrastructure, community and alternative networks, Indigenous-led rural broadband development. The project makes a very strong contribution to the field, particularly in debates about digital sovereignty and self-determination. By focusing on the communities in which the network was developed, the research contributes to a deeper understanding of infrastructure’s cultural and social dimensions. The committee also recognises Dr. Louisa Bartolo, Queensland University of Technology with an Honourable Mention. Dr. Bartolo’s dissertation, entitled ‘Algorithmic Recommendation as Repair Work: Towards a More Just Distribution of Attention on Cultural and Entertainment Platforms’ is an exemplary, original, empirical study of algorithmic recommendation systems. The project develops an empirically grounded conceptual approach to algorithmic recommendation, and presents clear recommendations for how this could be done otherwise. The dissertation clearly articulates the findings of empirical evidence of recommendation systems across two platforms. It also offers alternative designs for recommender systems to work towards more reparative ends. It makes strong methodological contributions, as well as an original contribution to the field, and is highly relevant to debates about platform politics and algorithmic culture. AoIR is grateful for the hard work by this year’s AoIR Dissertation Award committee: Kate O’Riordan (Chair), Vanessa Valiati, Jean-Christophe Plantin and Usha Raman. Thank you for your hard work and professionalism during the review process.

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WEBCAST JUL 2-3 - Pacific Internet Governance Forum 2025 (PacIGF)
by Joly MacFie 01 Jul '25

01 Jul '25

*YouTube Playlist* <https://bit.ly/pacigf2025live> [image: ISOC LIVE] <http://isoc.live/>On *Wednesday – Thursday 2-3 July, 2025* the *Pacific Internet Governance Forum <https://pacificigf.org/pacific-igf-2025>* (PacIGF2025) will be convened with the theme: ‘*Digital Inclusion and Safety*‘ at the National University of Samoa. PacIGF2025 is hosted by the *Samoa Information Technology Association <https://www.sita.ws/>* (SITA), and is organized by the *Pacific Chapter of the Internet Society <https://picisoc.org/>* (PICISOC) in partnership with various key stakeholders. PacIGF is the premier annual regional venue to discuss, collaborate, and shape the future of the Internet in the Pacific region. *PROGRAM https://pacificigf.org/pacific-igf-2024-progra <https://pacificigf.org/pacific-igf-2024-progra>m* (pdf) *https://pacigf.eventify.io/ <https://pacigf.eventify.io/> *(interactive) All times are West Samoa Time (WST) = UTC+13 Wednesday, 2 July 2025 *MORNING https://youtu.be/pMRM0IhLnYM <https://youtu.be/pMRM0IhLnYM>* *09:30 – Opening Session* MC: *Muliagatele Fainuulelei James Ah Wai* – SITA Prayer: *Rev. Malotau Lafolafoga* (Church of Samoa) Keynote Address: *Hon. Fiame Dr Naomi Mataafa*, Prime Minister of Samoa *10:00 – Session 1 – Opening Plenary* *Andrew Molivurae* – Pacific IGF / PICISOC *Sarai Tevita* – Pacific IGF / PICISOC EU Representative *Vivien Maidaborn* – InternetNZ *Bruce Tonkin* – .auDA APNIC Representative *Sohini Rajiyung* – ISOC Asia Pacific APTLD Representative *11:30 – Session 2 – Inclusive Technologies* *Swaran Ravindra* – Fiji National University (FNU) *Sakaio Manoa* – Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) Moderator: *Crystal Kewe*, PICISOC *AFTERNOON https://youtu.be/xftsLXWS4Rg <https://youtu.be/xftsLXWS4Rg>* *14:00 – Session 3 – Safety and Security in the Pacific* *Jobenz Manoa* – Government of Samoa / President, SITA *Pua Hunter* – GFCE Pacific Hub *Terry Sweetser* – APNIC Moderator: *Savenaca Siwatibau* *16:00 – Session 4 – Strengthening Resilience* *Dr Paul Twomey*, former CEO, ICANN *Prof Ioana Chan Mow* – National University of Samoa (NUS) *Fiafaitupe Tuiloma-Lafaele* – National University of Samoa (NUS) *Pepe Christian Fruean* – Samoa Submarine Cable Company *17:00 – Session 5 – Community Engagement and Awareness 1* Sakaio Manoa – Forum Fisheries Agency Kenneth Katafono – Traseable Solutions Moderator: Sanjesh Roy Lal Thursday, 3 July 2025 *MORNING https://youtu.be/3oGstBro7iM <https://youtu.be/3oGstBro7iM>* *09:30 – Session 6 – Digital Safety* *Rebecca Adams* – Australian Government *Patrick Donaldson* – Identity Digital *Vui Athena Matalavea* – Samoa Ministry of Communications & Information Technology Moderator: *Jobenz Manoa* – Government of Samoa / SITA *11:30 – Session 7 – Group Discussions* (will not be streamed) *12:30 – Group Report Backs* *1. Safe Online Behaviour – Sohini Rajiyung*, ISOC APAC *2. Digital Rights & Ethics – Crystal Kewe*, PICISOC *3. Inclusive Design – Letitia Masaea* *4. Cybersecurity Awareness – Savenaca Siwatibau* *5. Digital Literacy – Sanjesh Roy Lal* *AFTERNOON https://youtu.be/MXcW77MOiGw <https://youtu.be/MXcW77MOiGw>* *14:00 – Session 8 – Community Engagement and Awareness 2* *Swaran Ravindra* – Fiji National University *Ashutosh Maharaj* – Fiji National University *Vivian Maidaborn* – InternetNZ *Maureen Hilyard* – PICISOC *Bree Alexander* – Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development *Elenoa Naivalu* – National Training & Productivity Center *16:00 – Session 9 – DNS and DNSSEC* *Savenaca Vocea* – ICANN *Russell Deka Harada* – pg ccTLD *17:30 – Pacific IGF Summary & Closing Remarks* *Andrew Molivurae* – Pacific IGF / PICISOC *Sarai Tevita* – Pacific IGF / PICISOC Closing Prayer: *Savenaca Siwatibau* SIMULCASTS <https://bit.ly/pacigf2025live> *https://www.facebook.com/liveisoc <https://www.facebook.com/liveisoc>https://www.facebook.com/isocasiapacific/ <https://www.facebook.com/isocasiapacific/>https://www.facebook.com/picisoc <https://www.facebook.com/picisoc>https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive <https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive>https://x.com/ISOC_Live <https://x.com/ISOC_Live>* *#pacigf #pacigf2025 #picisoc* ** ISOC.LIVE is a free webcasting support service for the Internet Society Community - if you would like to become a monthly sponsor, or need support - contact support(a)isoc.live ** - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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Special Issue on “Negotiating Digital Visibility in Asia” published in Convergence
by Saif Shahin 01 Jul '25

01 Jul '25

Dear friends! Our special issue on "Negotiating Digital Visibility in Asia" has just come out in Convergence journal. Please take a look. https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/CON/current The issue comprises 19 articles examining the practices, motivations, challenges, and concerns about digital visibility from Azerbaijan to Japan, China to the Philippines. We have tried to foreground themes, communities, and locations that are less visible in academic literature — including racialised and gendered minorities, underground artistic groups, diasporic communities and so on. But the articles also look at the reasons why some highly visible phenomena, such as K-pop, achieved their success. Many thanks to all the authors, reviewers as well as friends who helped publicise our call for papers — including many on this listserv. As guest editors, we worked on putting this issue together for two years and are quite proud of the result. We hope that you would find it interesting and useful for your own work. Best wishes, Saif, also on behalf of Qian, Jing and Hiromi _____ *Saif Shahin, Ph.D.* Assistant Professor <https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/staff/s-s-shahin> of Digital Culture Director, Digital South Research Lab <https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/research/humanities/digital-south-lab> Tilburg University, Netherlands Associate Editor <https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/witp20/about-this-journal#editorial-bo…> Journal of Information Technology & Politics Google Scholar <https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pzy87iEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao> | ResearchGate <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Saif-Shahin> Recent articles Fractured Spectacle <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13548565251335427> ( *Convergence*, 2025) #StopAsianHate as Hashtag Activism <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20563051241309701> (*Social Media + Society*, 2025) Black Lives Matter Goes Global <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14614448211057106> (*New Media & Society*, 2024) Platform Affordances and Spiral of Silence <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160791X23002361> (*Technology in Society*, 2024)

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