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Data Politics, Data Markets and the Internet of Things
by Rachel O' Dwyer 16 Nov '16

16 Nov '16

Please find below details of a public event and postgraduate workshop on *Data Politics, Data Markets and the Internet of Things* in Dublin on November 30th that may be of interest to some of you. The public event will take place in Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin on the evening of the 30th but there is also a day-long workshop in Maynooth University with the speakers that is free and open to researchers from both social science/humanities and computer science/engineering backgrounds during the day. Details of the public event are here https://www.eventbrite.co m/e/data-politics-data-markets-and-the-internet-of-things-ti ckets-29216106160 and details of the workshop and how to apply are here https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/sociology/events/data -politics-data-markets-internet-things Best, Rachel -- openhere.data.ie #openhere +353 (1) 896 8443 +353 (85) 7023779

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1st Call for Papers: ACM RecSys 2017
by Christoph Trattner 16 Nov '16

16 Nov '16

** Please forward to anyone who might be interested ** -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1st CALL FOR PAPERS ACM Conference on Recommender Systems (RecSys 2017) to be held in Como, Italy, 27th-31th August 2017 https://recsys.acm.org/recsys17/ -------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear all, We are pleased to invite you to contribute to the Eleventh ACM Conference on Recommender Systems (RecSys 2017), the premier venue for research and applications of recommendation technologies. The upcoming RecSys conference will be held in Como, Italy, from August, 27th to August 31st, 2017. The conference will continue RecSys’ practice of connecting the research and practitioner communities to exchange ideas, frame problems, and share solutions. All the accepted papers will be published by ACM. We construe recommender systems broadly, including applications ranging from e-commerce to social networking, platforms from web to mobile and beyond, and a wide variety of technologies ranging from collaborative filtering to knowledge-based reasoning. Topics of interest for RecSys 2017 include (but are not limited to): - Algorithm scalability - Case studies of real-world implementations - Conversational recommender systems - Context-aware recommenders - Evaluation metrics and studies - Explanations and evidence - Field and user studies - Group recommenders - Innovative/New applications - Machine learning for recommendation - Mobile and multi-channel recommendations - Novel paradigms - Personalisation - Preference elicitation - Privacy and Security - Recommendation algorithms - Social recommenders - Semantic technologies for recommendation - Trust and reputation - Theoretical foundations - User interaction and interfaces - User modelling The authors will be asked to indicate whether their paper is primarily Algorithm or Application focussed. Algorithm papers should discuss novel algorithmic approaches to recommendation challenges, with appropriate evaluations and comparisons to baseline works. Application papers should discuss new domains or large-scale applications of recommenders or focus on user experience, interface, or impact. This will allow the PC Chairs to better assign reviewers and to balance the program. PAPER SUBMISSION CATEGORIES LONG PAPERS should report on substantial contributions of lasting value. The maximum length is 8 pages (plus up to 1 page references). Each accepted long paper will be included in the conference proceedings and presented in a plenary session as part of the main conference program. We expect the review process to be highly selective: the acceptance rates for full papers in the past three years were 20-24%. SHORT PAPERS typically discuss exciting new work that is not yet mature enough for a long paper. The maximum length is 4 pages (plus up to 1 page references). Each accepted short paper will be included in the conference proceedings and presented in a plenary session as part of the main conference. The presentation may include a system demonstration. Note that rejected long paper submissions will not be considered as short papers. SIGCHI SUBMITTER AGREEMENT RecSys 2017 is a SIGCHI conference and making a submission to a SIGCHI conference is a serious matter. Submissions require time and effort by SIGCHI volunteers to organise and manage the reviewing process, and, if the submission is accepted, the publication and presentation process. Thus, anyone who submits to RecSys 2017 implicitly confirms the following statements: - I confirm that this submission is the work of myself and my co-authors. - I confirm that I or my co-authors hold copyright to the content, and have obtained appropriate permissions for any portions of the content that are copyrighted by others. - I confirm that any research reported in this submission involving human subjects has gone through the appropriate approval process at my institution. - I confirm that if this paper is accepted, I or one of my co-authors will attend the conference. Papers that are not presented at the conference by an author may be removed from the proceedings at the discretion of the program chairs. PAPER FORMAT AND SUBMISSION All submissions and reviews will be handled electronically. RecSys 2017 submissions should be prepared according to the standard double-column ACM SIG proceedings format. Additional information about formatting and style files is available online, see: http://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template Papers must be submitted to EasyChair by 23:59, AoE (Anywhere on Earth) on April 3rd, 2017, see: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=recsys2017 There will be no extensions to the submission deadline. The peer review process is double-blind (i.e. anonymised). This means that all submissions must not include information identifying the authors or their organisation. Specifically, do not include the authors’ names and affiliations, anonymise citations to your previous work and avoid providing any other information that would allow to identify the authors, such as acknowledgments and funding. Please take note that the official publication date is the date the proceedings are made available in the ACM Digital Library. This date may be up to two weeks prior to the first day of the conference. The official publication date affects the deadline for any patent filings related to published work. IMPORTANT DATES Abstract submission deadline: March 27th, 2017 Paper submission deadline: April 3rd, 2017 Author notification: June 12th, 2017 Camera-ready version deadline: July 7th, 2017 Deadlines refer to 23:59 (11:59pm) in the AoE (Anywhere on Earth) time zone. FOR FURTHER CALLS (Workshops, Tutorials.,...) see: https://recsys.acm.org/recsys17/call/ PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS (PROGRAM2017@…)* - Shlomo Berkovsky, CSIRO, Australia - Alexander Tuzhilin, New York University, USA --- ORGANIZATION GENERAL CO-CHAIRS (GENERAL2017@…)* - Paolo Cremonesi, Politecnico di Milano, Italy - Francesco Ricci, Free University Bozen-Bolzano, Italy PROGRAM CO-CHAIRS (PROGRAM2017@…)* - Shlomo Berkovsky, CSIRO, Australia - Alexander Tuzhilin, New York University, USA WORKSHOP CO-CHAIRS (WORKSHOPS2017@…)* - Giovanni Semeraro, University of Bari, Italy - Marko Tkalčič, Free University Bozen-Bolzano, Italy TUTORIAL CO-CHAIRS (TUTORIALS2017@…)* - Li Chen, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong - Martha Larson, Radboud University Nijmegen and TU Delft, Netherlands POSTER AND DEMO CO-CHAIRS (POSTERSDEMOS2017@…)* - Domonkos Tikk, Gravity R&D, Hungary - Pearl Pu, EPFL, Switzerland INDUSTRY CO-CHAIRS (INDUSTRY2017@…)* - Linas Baltrunas, Netflix, USA - Alan Said, University of Skövde, Sweden DOCTORAL SYMPOSIUM CO-CHAIRS (DOCTORAL2017@…)* - Robin Burke, DePaul University, USA - Bart Knijnenburg, Clemson University, USA PROEEDINGS CHAIR (PROCEEDINGS2017@…)* - Mehdi Elahi, Free University Bozen-Bolzano, Italy SPONSOR CHAIR (SPONSOR2017@…)* - Franca Garzotto, Politecnico di Milano, Italy LOCAL ARRANGEMENT CHAIR (LOCAL2017@…)* - Emanuele Rabosio, Politecnico di Milano, Italy PUBLICITY CO-CHAIRS (PUBLICITY2017@…)* - Christoph Trattner, Know-Center, Austria - David Elsweiler, University of Regensburg, Germany WEB CHAIR (WEB2017@…)* - Benedikt Loepp, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany * Replace dots with recsys.acm.org in the e-mail addresses. --- ------------------------------------------------------- Dipl.-Ing. Dr.techn. Christoph Trattner BSc Know-Center Research Center for Big Data Analytics & Data Driven Business Graz University of Technology, Austria E-mail: ctrattner(a)know-center.at Tel: +43 650 2402801 Homepage: http://christophtrattner.info ------------------------------------------------------- New book: Mining, Modeling, and Recommending 'Things' in Social Media* by M. Atzmueller, A. Chin, C. Scholz, C. Trattner (eds.) http://link.springer.com/978-3-319-14723-9 -------------------------------------------------------

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Job Offer: Digital Ethics
by Markus Christen 16 Nov '16

16 Nov '16

The UZH Digital Society Initiative / Institute of Biomedical Ethics & History of Medicine of the University of Zurich/Switzerland offer a Post-Doc position "Digital Ethics" (80-100%) for 2 years, earliest start in January 2017. The position is funded by the Swiss National Research Program "Big Data" and the European CANVAS Consortium - Constructing an Alliance for Value-driven Cybersecurity. Deadline for applications is December 15 2016 (remains open until position is filled). Big Data and Cybersecurity pose important and urgent ethical problems. The position will allow to carry out research on ethical challenges of applying Big Data in the insurance industry and on the ethics of cybersecurity. The Postdoctoral Researcher will review the literature, elaborate new analyses and hypotheses, and publish the results, in collaboration with two research teams coordinated by PD Dr. sc. ETH Markus Christen, PI of the project "Between Solidarity and Personalization - Dealing with Ethical and Legal Big Data Challenges in the Insurance Industry" and coordinator of the Horizon 2020 project CANVAS. The selected candidate will also contribute to the dissemination of the findings through presentations, the organization of workshops, participation into conferences, and several output deliverables of CANVAS such as a MOOC on the Ethics of Cybersecurity. We seek for candidates who have completed a doctorate in Philosophy or any other relevant discipline (for example Computer Science, Economics, Geography, Law, Psychology, or Sociology) with a demonstrable strong interest in ethics. Excellent writing, presentation abilities, and analytical skills are required. A record of publications in international peer-reviewed journals and the proven ability to obtain research funding, are desirable. Knowledge of German is of advantage. We offer a challenging position in an inspiring environment, bridging science and industry, ethics, law and technology. The position will allow for networking with leading industry partners such as Swiss Re or F-Secure. You will be integrated in the UZH Digital Society Initiative, which is the new platform of the University of Zurich for promoting critical, interdisciplinary reflection and innovation on all aspects of the digitization of society and the sciences. The research group is located at the Institute of Biomedical Ethics & History of Medicine and consists of an interdisciplinary group at the interface of health, science and society. Your Supervisor is PD Dr. sc. ETH Markus Christen, who is also the Managing Director of the UZH Digital Society Initiative. Apply: Please email a cover letter, CV, and writing sample plus contact details of two referees to PD Dr. Markus Christen (christen(a)ethik.uzh.ch <mailto:christen@ethik.uzh.ch> ). For all further informal enquiries, please contact Markus Christen. There will be a screening and interview process.

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Tenure track positions at UW HCDE (Seattle)
by Daniela Rosner 16 Nov '16

16 Nov '16

The Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) at the University of Washington seeks up to two top caliber researchers and teachers to join our growing and dynamic department in 2017. The department is seeking applicants at the Assistant Professor level. Applicants must have an earned doctorate by the date of appointment. We are interested in candidates whose research is outstanding in quality and originality. The specialty of the position is open; related areas include: Human Centered Data Science, Engineering & Computing, Visual Analytics, Collaborative Systems, Learning Technologies, Connected Devices, Tangible & Embodied Interaction, Inclusive Design, Game Design, Research-through-Design, Biologically Inspired Interaction Design, Human-Robot Interaction, Science & Technology Studies, and Technology Innovation. We are also interested in candidates who engage critically with theory and think globally in their research. Our department has a core interest in research-based approaches to design that place people at the center of activity. HCDE is an interdisciplinary community that incorporates a range of research traditions. We will consider candidates from a range of disciplinary backgrounds who use innovative methodological and theoretical approaches to address current challenges in human-centered design and engineering. We expect our new colleagues to be engaged with emerging research trends in their area(s) of expertise. Successful candidates are expected to develop substantial programs of research including peer-reviewed publications and external funding. Candidates should show evidence of strong promise in teaching as well as scholarship. HCDE offers BS, MS, and PhD degrees and is a founding contributor to three interdisciplinary graduate degrees: the Masters of Human-Computer Interaction+Design (MHCI+D), the Masters in Data Science (MSDS), and the Masters of Science in Technology Innovation (MSTI) as part of the Global Innovation Exchange (GIX). Candidates will teach undergraduate and graduate courses and will supervise doctoral dissertations. The yearly teaching load is three courses (one per quarter) plus supervision of research groups. Teaching opportunities will be based on our current course offerings and the individual’s areas of scholarly expertise.Successful candidates will join a vibrant faculty conducting interdisciplinary research in human-computer interaction and the design of sociotechnical systems. Current faculty research includes work in human-computer interaction, data science, health and behavior change, visualization, computer-supported cooperative work, crowdsourcing, computer-mediated communication, research through design, ICT4D, STS, engineering design, scientific collaboration, infrastructure studies, emerging communication technologies, and engineering education. The department is the home of dynamic, collaborative faculty labs, and faculty members regularly collaborate with colleagues across campus. The College of Engineering regularly sets visions for strategic research areas; current areas can be found here <https://www.engr.washington.edu/facresearch/strategicareas>. Faculty members also routinely engage in research projects with affiliates from the region’s noted high-tech industry. Seattle is home to many prominent technology companies, along with a robust startup and global health community. The University of Washington is building a culturally diverse faculty and encourages applications from women and minority candidates. Appointment begins in Autumn 2017. *Review of applications will begin January 5, 2017*. https://www.hcde.washington.edu/employment *Application Instructions* To apply, send (1) a letter of application, (2) current c.v., (3) statement of research and teaching goals, (4) up to three representative papers and (5) and at least three letters of recommendation. Materials should be addressed to Dr. Gary Hsieh, Search Committee Chair, at hcdefac(a)uw.edu. Inquiries: Stacia Green: greens6(a)uw.edu or Gary Hsieh: garyhs(a)uw.edu. -- ~-:~-:~-:~-:~-:~-:~-:~ Daniela K. Rosner danielarosner.com

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Join our team at the Oxford Internet Institute: we’re hiring a Data Scientist / Data Hacker
by Mark Graham 15 Nov '16

15 Nov '16

*Data Scientist/Data Hacker <http://geonet.oii.ox.ac.uk/blog/join-our-team-were-hiring-a-data-scientist-…>* Oxford Internet Institute, 1 St Giles, Oxford Grade 7: £31,076 – £38,183 p.a. The Oxford Internet Institute is a leading centre for research into individual, collective and institutional behaviour on the Internet. We seek a full-time Data Scientist <https://www.recruit.ox.ac.uk/pls/hrisliverecruit/erq_jobspec_details_form.j…> to work with Professor Mark Graham on two projects: (1) the University of Oxford funded incubator on ‘big data and human development <http://bigdatadevelopment.oii.ox.ac.uk/>’, which seeks to understand how we can address key issues in development with computational approaches; (2) the European Research Council funded Geonet project <http://geonet.oii.ox.ac.uk/> which seeks to map and measure the geographies of the internet. In this exciting role, the researcher will work with small teams from around the university on short development-related projects. They will be in charge of collecting data via APIs, web scraping, and collaborations with platform owners, apply standard statistical analyses as well as bespoke computational analyses to address questions of economic, social, and policy relevance, and produce eye-catching visualisations of the results. They will also contribute to the dissemination of the findings through academic publications, reports, presentations, and social media. The position is suited to candidates who have recently completed a postgraduate degree in computer science, GIS, economics, quantitative geography or sociology or other relevant discipline. Good programming skills and an interest in economic development are required. Based at the Oxford Internet Institute, this position is available immediately for 12 months, in the first instance, with the possibility of renewal thereafter, funding permitting. To apply for this role and for further details, including a job description, please click on the link below. https://www.recruit.ox.ac.uk/pls/hrisliverecruit/erq_ jobspec_details_form.jobspec?p_id=126297 Only applications received before 12.00 midday on Monday 12 December 2016 can be considered. Interviews for those short-listed are currently planned to take place on week commencing 16 January 2017. ------------------------------------------ Mark Graham Professor of Internet Geography Oxford Internet Institute University of Oxford Faculty Fellow The Alan Turing Institute Research Affiliate School of Geography and the Environment University of Oxford Visiting Fellow Department of Media and Communications London School of Economics and Political Science oii.ox.ac.uk/people/graham <http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/people/graham> | geospace.co.uk <http://www.geospace.co.uk> | Information Geographies <http://geography.oii.ox.ac.uk> | wikichains.org <http://www.wikichains.org> | @geoplace <http://twitter.com/geoplace> | zerogeography blog <http://www.zerogeography.net/> | Connectivity, Inclusion and Inequality Group <http://cii.oii.ox.ac.uk/> | GEONET <http://geonet.oii.ox.ac.uk> <http://twitter.com/geoplace>

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Re: [Air-L] job opportunity at the Web Foundation
by Dhanaraj Thakur 15 Nov '16

15 Nov '16

Hi all, Please see below and share with interested colleagues. take care, Dhanaraj *Policy Fellow* We’re recruiting a Policy Fellow to work directly with our founding director, Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Fellow will support Sir Tim in existing policy issues where the Foundation is active and will also help to research possible future trends globally in the web and internet policy space. She or he will assist with strategy and forecasting on emerging issues, conduct desk research and lead on producing related policy materials aimed at key decision-makers. The Fellow will also collaborate closely with our policy and communications teams to translate findings into action, and ensure that Sir Tim’s and the Foundation’s voice influences key debates and decisions globally. This is a unique role for a talented and motivated person who is able to apply academic acumen to real world policy challenges facing the internet. Please note that candidates should be in possession of a doctorate, or close to completing one (ABD stage), or alternatively possess a relevant Masters’ degree and further research and policy analysis experience equivalent to a doctorate. Interested candidates should read the full job description <http://webfoundation.org/docs/2016/11/Web_Foundation_Policy_Fellow_JobPosti…> and apply by sending a cover letter and CV to jobs(a)webfoundation.org <mailto:%20jobs@webfoundation.org> with “Policy Fellow” in the subject line. *Deadline:* 30 November 2016 -- Dhanaraj Thakur Research Manager Alliance for Affordable Internet <http://a4ai.org> +1 240 232 5878 (USA) skype: dhanaraj.thakur *World Wide Web Foundation | **1110 Vermont Ave NW, Suite 500, Washington DC 20005, USA.*

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2 weeks till Moneylab #3 !
by Max Dovey 15 Nov '16

15 Nov '16

*MoneyLab #3 Failing Better * Symposium | Workshops | Exhibition 1 - 2 December 2016 Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam *A two-day symposium featuring talks, workshops and performances that confront the notion that finance is too big to fail.* *Themes* Universal Basic Income, Feminist Economics, Global Finance, Financial Surveillance, Post-Work Society, Decentralized Democracy, Blockchain Governance, Smart Contracts, Credit Unions, DAOs, Publishing Models, P2P Distribution, Copyright Law, Streaming Models, Platform Cooperativism, Community Currencies, Commons Transition *Background* After Bitcoin forked, and remains in tatters, it is now blockchain technology that ignites visions of deregulated and decentralized organization, while it is simultaneously sanitized by commercial banks. Meanwhile the sharing and “service” economy lost its innocuous veneer and streaming services have failed and continue to fold the music industry. Despite the mutation of crowdfunding into crowd-equity and platform co-operatives, artists and designers continue to struggle to financially support themselves. All the while the financial mediators of the previous centuries continue to drag themselves onward into global debt. We are failing better, nonetheless. Workers’ unions are on the rise and numerous collectives are working together to collectively ensure their own wellbeing and build alternative models of social governance. The aspirations of grassroots organizations such as DiEM25, that promise to liberate social democracy from the stronghold of global finance, are gaining momentum across Europe. People’s parties such as Podemos and the Five Star Movement get closer to an electoral majority. This momentum has thrust radical economic alternatives onto center stage and some governments in Europe have begun experimenting with progressive policies such as a living working wage and a universal basic income. MoneyLab #3 will assess the ambition of financial provocations that have ignited to establish a terrain of social and political reform, from decentralized networks to state governments. The rift we find ourselves in goes much further than 'the banks’ and financial retaliation can be considered more than attempts to fail better. *Speakers * Virginia Alvarez, Tori Abernathy, Steyn Bergs, Anne Breure, Ruth Catlow, Alex Foti, Frank Jan de Graaf, Max Haiven, Austin Houldsworth, Dmytri Kleiner, Bindu De Knock, Jeroen Van Loon, Thomas Kern, Richard Kohl, Silvio Lorusso, Nathalie Maréchal, Renzo Martens, Nick McGuigan, Dan Mihaltianu, Sabine Niederer, Johannes Ponader, Patrice Riemens, Arthur Röing Baer, Emily Rosamond, Trebor Scholz, Brett Scott, Matthias Tarasiewicz, Cassie Thornton, Nathaniel Tkacz, Ben Vickers, Henry Warwick & Koos Zwaan. *Workshops* The Accountability Institute, Baltan Laboratories, Bitcoin Wednesday, Feminist Economics Department, FIBER, Fine Art Financ€ Lab, Furtherfield, Nethood, PublishingLab & University of the Phoenix. *Evening Program * Thursday 1 Dec: Fiscal Drag Live, Mezrab, Amsterdam Friday 2 Dec: Failing Better Afterparty, Roest, Amsterdam *Practical information* Tickets: € 10 per session € 30 per day € 60 two day pass Students: 50% discount on all tickets All tickets include lunch and evening program. Full program available here <http://networkcultures.org/moneylab/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2016/11/ML3…> *bit.do/moneylab3* <http://bit.do/moneylab3> *networkcultures.org/moneylab* @INCAmsterdam <https://twitter.com/@incamsterdam> #MoneyLab -- Forget Network - a monthly radio show on Itunes <https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/forgetnetwork/id1111827614> and Soundcloud <https://soundcloud.com/max-dovey> MoneyLab <http://networkcultures.org/moneylab/> | 1 & 2 Dec 2016 | Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam <http://www.maxdovey.com/>

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Qualitative Content Analysis sampling methodology advice needed?
by Alicia BR 15 Nov '16

15 Nov '16

Hello all, I am looking for reading suggestions for how to develop a robust sample for qualitative content analysis of web content that is not specific to a particular platform or period of time. Here's the scenario: We are looking to create a comparative analysis of 'screen time' advice available for parents. This includes advice from commercial providers, government, NGOs, peer-to-peer discussion sites, bloggers and beyond. We can create a typology of these different categories of advice-givers and once the sample is generated will be using a deductive analysis framework based on the parental mediation literature (in part looking to see if popular advice and research literature match up). But before we get there we are struggling to generate a sample that is both purposive (representing the different categories of institutions and individuals acting as advice-givers) and yet also representative within those categories. Sonia Livingstone and I conducted a short version of this exercise for a policy brief <http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/66927/> on screen time earlier this year, but now want to extend this into a more detailed study. Any suggestions for methods readings and/or examples of work that have achieved something similar are most welcome! Best, Alicia Dr Alicia Blum-Ross Research Officer, Parenting for a Digital Future Department of Media & Communications London School of Economics and Political Science www.parenting.digital

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CFP - ICA 2017 Pre-Conference "The challenges and promises of participatory policy-making: Communication practices, design considerations and socio-technical processes."
by Dmitry Epstein 15 Nov '16

15 Nov '16

Dear colleagues, Apologies for cross-posting, but I hope you will fine the attached CFP of interest. Please feel free to share with others. Best, Dmitry --- Dmitry Epstein Assistant Professor of Digital Policy Department of Communication University of Illinois at Chicago www.thinkmacro.org comm.uic.edu 2017 International Communication Association Preconference *The challenges and promises of participatory policy-making: Communication practices, design considerations and socio-technical processes.* Hosted by: CalIT2, UC San Diego Supported by: CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, UC Berkeley Department of Communication, University of Illinois at Chicago Co-sponsored by: ICA Communication and Technology Division ICA Communication Law and Policy Division Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet) May 25, 2017 | San Diego, CA Room 5302, Atkinson Hall, UC San Diego *Extended abstracts due: January 18, 2017* *Final manuscripts due: April 24, 2017**Submit at: **http://tinyurl.com/ica2017policy <http://tinyurl.com/ica2017policy>* Tied to the ICA ’17 conference theme of interventions, this pre-conference asks to unpack how the socio-technical design of online civic engagement in policy-making may “alter and disrupt” democratic processes, practices, and occurrences. As such it explicitly deals with “communication practices that engage with a political event, social phenomena, industrial or socio-cultural practice.” The growth of online tools for civic engagement has ignited the imagination of researchers and practitioners of democratic participation. The internet harbored great promise for cheaper, broader and more inclusive public engagement in politics through self organization, dissemination of information, and transparency. It has also harbored a promise to disrupt the ways government interacts with its citizens through open data, provision of services or engagement of citizens in policy deliberation and crowdsourcing. Interactive, informed, and meaningful civic engagement in government decision-making processes has been viewed as the pinnacle of participatory government efforts. In the US, on his second day in the office, President Obama addressed senior staff and cabinet secretaries, urging them to “find new ways of tapping the knowledge and experience of ordinary Americans.” In Iceland, the government used crowdsourcing in drafting a new constitution. Locally, municipalities experiment with combining both online and offline methods to engage members of the public in participatory budgeting exercises. In the area of internet governance, remote participation has been an important component in efforts to develop effective arrangements for multistakeholder deliberations and decision-making. There is a variety of activities that fit under the broad umbrella of civic engagement or e-participation in policy-making. Those range from purely consultative engagements such as virtual town halls, through policy ideation and crowdsourcing, to binding decision making such as participatory budgeting, rulemaking or the development of internet standards. While significant focus has been placed (in both research and practice) on technological solutions involved in effective online civic engagement in participatory and direct democracy activities, less attention has been paid to the systemic understanding of how these technological solutions interact with the social, political, institutional, and educational arrangements of such engagements and their potential to disrupt and alter traditional democratic practices. This pre-conference focuses on unpacking the black box of online civic engagement for planning and policy-making activities from a systemic perspective. We invite competitive submissions of empirical analysis, case studies, and conceptual work that review the continuum of offline and online participation arrangements through a socio-technical systems lens—an interaction between human participants, institutional arrangements, and affordances of online participatory tools. We envision this workshop as a boundary searching—or boundary expanding—exercise that will tackle three major aspects of research of online civic engagement: (a) conceptual and theoretical work for describing and analyzing the socio-technical nature of online participatory policy-making tools, (b) methodological approaches to studying those phenomena with an emphasis on interdisciplinarity and system design, and (c) cases and datasets that invite and enable systemic analysis of both tools and social, political, institutional, and educational arrangements as they traverse both online and offline environments. Our goal is to engage with scholarship on digital divide, online cooperation, informed participation, psychology, internet governance, and computer mediated communication, in order to inform research on civic engagement that goes beyond the analysis of solely technical aspects of platform design and data mining. Theoretical areas and empirical contexts may include but are not limited to: - Conceptual and empirical work on participatory and crowdsourced policy-making. - Empirical case studies of the use of online ideation and participatory tools in rulemaking, participatory budgeting or internet governance deliberation. - Studies of controversies, successes, and failures in technology-driven participatory civic engagement. - Conceptual and empirical explorations of socio-technical considerations in the design of participatory platforms. - Analysis of interactions between offline and online processes and practices of policy-making. - Unpacking of tensions between expert and citizen knowledge and authority in policy deliberation. - Discussions of contextual factors that influence online civic engagement in policy-making (e.g., digital divide, literacy, motivation, political efficacy). *Submission details* At this time we invite authors to submit extended abstracts (800-1000 words) that describe the main thesis, research goals, and to the extent possible, the methodological background and findings of their paper. All extended abstracts must be uploaded through EasyChair at http://tinyurl.com/ica2017policy by 18 January 2017, with all identifying information removed. All contributions will be blindly peer-reviewed, and acceptance notifications will be sent out before the end of February 2015. Authors of the accepted abstracts will be asked to submit a full original manuscript of approximately 4000 to 8000 words, which has not been published elsewhere, by 1 May 2016. *Pre-conference logistics* The preconference will take place on Thursday, 25 May 2017 in Room 5302, Atkinson Hall, UC San Diego. Presenters are expected to register for the pre-conference, but registration is open to both presenters and non-presenters. At the moment, the registration fees stand at 25 USD. *Timeline:* - Extended abstracts due by January 18 (via EasyChair) - Notifications sent by Feb. 24 - Full paper drafts due by May 1 *Organizing Committee* - Brandie Nonnecke, PhD, CITRIS and the Banatao Institute, UC Berkeley - Dmitry Epstein, PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago - Tanja Aitamurto, PhD, Stanford University

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2017 ISA Junior Scholar Meeting
by Leonie Tanczer 15 Nov '16

15 Nov '16

*Apologies for any cross-posting* If you are attending ISA's 58th Annual Convention next February, the STAIR/ICOMM Junior Scholar Meeting might be of interest to you: The ISA Junior Scholar Meeting is a facilitated meet and greet where established academics engage with prior selected junior scholars. Early career scholars ranging from PhD students to Post-Docs (i.e., a recent PhD graduate who had their doctorate awarded within the last three years) are eligible to apply. For more information and guidelines on the application process: https://isaicomm.wordpress.com/2017-isa-junior-scholar-meeting/ Application Deadline: December 7, 2016 ___________________________________________ Leonie Maria Tanczer PhD Student School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics Queen's University Belfast Twitter: @leotanczt<https://twitter.com/leotanczt> Website: http://www.leonietanczer.net/ Key Fingerprint: F9A6 3C62 DE8E B52F CBB6 14D0 65CC 15A4 4A57 D0C1

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