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Call for Papers: “Resistance and Resilience: Gender/Sexuality in Digital Culture”
by Han, Woori 11 Dec '23

11 Dec '23

Call for Papers: “Resistance and Resilience: Gender/Sexuality in Digital Culture” May 16, 2024 Exeter, UK Department of Communications, Drama, and Film, University of Exeter Deeply embedded in our everyday life and our body, digital media have transformed gendered and sexual cultures and practices. Gender and sexuality as the performative have also transformed digital cultures, carving out important spaces for resistance and resilience in the face of systemic dehumanization. We have been witnessing how increasing (self-)representations of feminisms and LGBTQ people in the digital media landscape challenge and provoke backlash and how digitally mediated bodies (expressive form of gender and sexuality) complicate sexual and gendered norms. For example, the #MeToo movement has since evolved into a global phenomenon, symbolising the anti-sexual harassment movement in the digital age. Critical analysis within tweets, vlogs, TikToks and memes have become essential to deconstructing the transphobic rhetoric of the mainstream media. The dialectics of gender/sexuality and digital media urge us to question changing forms, nature, and modes of resistance and resilience practices around patriarchy, heteronormativity, and cis-normativity at the intersection of racism, nationalism, colonialism, and neoliberalism. To tackle this question, and to launch a new Research Centre for Gender, Sexuality, and Digital Culture, we invite scholars from all disciplines to join us at the Resistance and Resilience conference to engage in conversations about how networked digital media complicate national and cultural belonging and rearrange gendered, sexual, and bodily norms that move beyond colonial and neoliberal resilience. The topics include but are not limited to: * Feminist and LGBTQ digital activism, solidarity, and resistance in the rising backlashes * Popular feminisms and/or neoliberal feminisms * Digital embodiment of gender and sexuality * Fandoms, celebrity and influencer culture * Representations of women and LGBTQ people in games * Queer Diasporas * Body weight, health, beauty, cisnormativity and queer bodies online * Digital sex work and heteronormativity, romance and intimacy online * Postcolonialism and critical race theory in digital spaces The conference organizers welcome abstracts from Early Career Researchers and particularly encourage academics from marginalized groups to apply. The conference committee invites proposals for individual 20-minute papers: Please email a 350 word abstract (+50word bio) in a single Word document to Dr. Woori Han (w.han(a)exeter.ac.uk<mailto:w.han@exeter.ac.uk>) by Jan 18, 2024. Key dates: Submission Deadline Jan 18, 2024 Decision Notification: Feb 26, 2024 Conference: May 16, 2024 Keynote speakers: To be Confirmed Organizing Committee Drs. Amelia Morris, Haili Li, and Woori Han Department of Communications, Drama, and Film, University of Exeter Dr. Woori Han Lecturer in Media and Communications Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences University of Exeter Office 5, White House, Thornlea, Exeter, EX4 4LA, UK Office hours: Thursday 11:30-12:30 pm and Friday 12:30-1:30 pm,

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DEADLINE EXTENSION: The In-Betweenness of Play
by David Murphy 11 Dec '23

11 Dec '23

Hello Friends, In response to multiple extension requests, the organizing committee has changed the submission deadline for the In-Betweenness of Play joint hybrid conference to January 3rd. This conference is free of charge for those who choose to present online and the CFP can be found below. CALL FOR A PAPERS DIGRA Brazil / British DIGRA Joint Hybrid Conference The In-Betweenness of Play As part of a broader initiative aimed at amplifying diverse voices within the interdisciplinary field of game studies, DIGRA Brazil and British DIGRA invite short panel and paper proposals to a special two-day joint hybrid conference on the 'in-betweenness' of play that will take place from April 12-13 at Staffordshire University London. In 1971, Brazilian Cultural Critic Silviano Santiago introduced the concept of 'in-betweenness' as a vital lens for understanding the intricate dynamics emerging from the clash of modern Western theories with the complexities of contemporary non-Western cultural production. It offered depth to the experiences of artists and intellectuals involved in the production of identities, economies, and aesthetic strategies caught between nativism and cosmopolitanism while challenging the untrustworthy, often exploitative, Western notions of cultural originality. It also helped shape the understanding of the ongoing influence of colonial legacies and power dynamics in cultural encounters. In addition to outlining a critical position, the concept of in-betweenness also refers to productive spaces where new collaborations can flourish—spaces where shared feelings of cultural in-betweenness give-rise to the creative reimagining of ontologies, technologies, methodologies and practices. A space in-between, in other words, is also a place of learning by way of emulation, adaptation, collaboration and critical reflection. To promote as much participation as possible, panel (750-1000 words including bibliography) and paper (250-500 words including bibliography) proposals on any aspect of game or gaming adjacent research written in English or Portuguese are welcome. Attendees can present online or in person; the deadline for submissions is Wednesday, January 3rd, 2024, and proposals can be sent to inbetweenessofplay(a)googlegroups.com. Online participation is free and both organizations are also seeking postgraduate student support for this and future events, so if you are an MA or PhD student interested in volunteering for the event planning committee please send a short email expressing your interest to inbetweenessofplay(a)googlegroups.com. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to, research on the spaces in-between: - Sustainability and Development - Accessibility and Design - Analog and Digital Games - Amateurs and Professionals - Studios, Workers, and Publishers - Players, Fans, and Spectators - Bodies and Affects - Labour and Leisure - Storytelling and Design - Platforms and Cultures - Learning and Teaching - Institutions and Esports - Research and Practice - Representation and Identity - Post-colonialism and Decolonization - Posthumanism and Agency - Automation and Art CHAMADA DE TRABALHOS Conferência Híbrida Conjunta DIGRA Brasil/British DIGRA Os Entre-Lugares do Jogo Como parte de uma iniciativa mais ampla destinada a ampliar vozes diversas no campo interdisciplinar dos game studies, os chapters brasileiro e britânico da Digital Games Research Association - DIGRA Brasil e British DIGRA, respectivamente - convidam propostas curtas de painéis e artigos para uma conferência híbrida especial de dois dias sobre a 'intermediariedade' do jogo, que acontecerá de 12 a 13 de abril de 2024 na Universidade de Staffordshire, em Londres. Em 1971, o crítico cultural brasileiro Silviano Santiago introduziu o conceito de 'Entre-Lugar' como uma lente vital para entender as dinâmicas intrincadas que surgem do choque das teorias ocidentais modernas com as complexidades da produção cultural contemporânea não-ocidental. Isso ofereceu profundidade às experiências de artistas e intelectuais envolvidos na produção de identidades, economias e estratégias estéticas presas entre o nativismo e o cosmopolitismo, desafiando também as noções ocidentais de originalidade cultural. Além disso, ajudou a moldar a compreensão da influência contínua das heranças coloniais e das dinâmicas de poder nos encontros culturais. Além de delinear uma posição crítica, o conceito de Entre-Lugar também se refere a espaços produtivos onde novas colaborações podem florescer - espaços onde sentimentos compartilhados dão origem à recriação criativa de ontologias, tecnologias, metodologias e práticas. Um espaço intermediário, em outras palavras, é também um lugar de aprendizado por meio de emulação, adaptação, colaboração e reflexão crítica. Para promover o máximo de participação possível, são bem-vindas propostas de painéis (750-1000 palavras) e artigos (250-500 palavras) sobre qualquer aspecto da pesquisa de jogos ou relacionada a jogos, escritas em inglês ou português. Os participantes podem apresentar online ou presencialmente; o prazo para envio de propostas é terça-feira, 3 de janeiro de 2024, e as propostas podem ser enviadas para inbetweenessofplay(a)googlegroups.com. Tópicos sugeridos incluem, mas não se limitam a, pesquisa sobre os espaços intermediários: - Sustentabilidade e Desenvolvimento - Acessibilidade e Design - Jogos Analógicos e Digitais - Amadores e Profissionais - Estúdios, Trabalhadores e Editores - Jogadores, Fãs e Espectadores - Corpos e Afetos - Trabalho e Lazer - Narrativa e Design - Plataformas e Culturas - Aprendizado e Ensino - Instituições e Esportes Eletrônicos - Pesquisa e Prática - Representação e Identidade - Pós-colonialismo e Descolonização - Pós-humanismo e Agência - Automação e Arte - Bibliografia Selecionada *Selected Bibliography* Amaro, M., & Fragoso, S. (2020). East meets South: The creative appropriation of Nintendo and Sega videogames in Brazil. *In Proceedings of the 2020 DIGRA International Conference: Play Anywhere*. http://www.digra.org/digital-library/forums/digra2020/page/11/. Blanco, B., & Job Da Silca, A. C. (2021). From The Scratchware Manifesto to Game Workers Unite: manifestos and labor claims in two decades of indie video games. *Contracampo*, 40(2). Chia, A. (2022). The artist and the automaton in digital game production. *Convergence*, 28(2), 389-412. de Paula, B. (2021). “Emergent countries play, too!”: The Zeebo console as a (partial) decolonial project.*Contracampo*, 40(2). Gallagher, R. (2022). Humanising gaming? The politics of posthuman agency in autobiographical videogames. *Convergence*, 28(2), 359-373. MacCallum-Stewart, E. (2013). Diggy Holes and Jaffa Cakes: The rise of the elite fanproducer in video-gaming culture. *Journal of Gaming & Virtual Worlds*, 5(2), 165-182. Ruffino, P., & Woodcock, J. (2021). Game workers and the empire: Unionisation in the UK video game industry. *Games and Culture*, 16(3), 317-328. Trigo, A. (2004). *The Space In-Between: Essays on Latin American Culture*. By Silviano Santiago. Edited by Anna Lúcia Gazzola. Translated by Tom Burns, Ana Lúcia Gazzola, and Gareth Williams. Durham: Duke University Press, 2001. Pp. 188. Webber, N. (2020). The Britishness of ‘British Video Games’. *International Journal of Cultural Policy*, 26(2), 135-149.

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CAiSE'24 Ph.D. Award: First Call for Applications
by Announce 11 Dec '23

11 Dec '23

*** Ph.D. Award: First Call for Applications *** 36th International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering (CAiSE'24) June 3-7, 2024, 5* St. Raphael Resort and Marina, Limassol, Cyprus https://cyprusconferences.org/caise2024/ (*** Submission Deadline: 1st March, 2024 AoE ***) The deadline to apply for the CAiSE 2024 PhD Award is March 1st 2024. The conditions to apply are: • having participated as an author in a previous CAiSE Doctoral Consortium or at a main CAiSE Event: either the main conference, the CAiSE Forum, EMMSAD, or BPMDS; • having successfully defended the PhD thesis in the last two years (i.e., since January 2022). The application must be submitted electronically to the PhD Awards track of CAiSE 2024 via EasyChair <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=caise2024> . The application must be a single PDF file containing: • a short cover letter that includes the list of PhD committee members, • a support letter from the thesis advisor, • the candidate's defended PhD thesis, • the candidate’s CV. About the PhD Award The CAiSE PhD Award 2024 is granted annually to an outstanding recent PhD thesis in the field of Information Systems Engineering. The award is co-sponsored by the CAiSE Steering Committee and Springer. It consists of a certificate, free full registration (5 days) to the next two editions of the CAiSE conference, and a book voucher for a free selection worth EUR 500 from Springer’s printed books collection. In addition, the selected thesis will be recommended for publication as a monograph in the LNBIP series published by Springer, provided that Springer’s publication conditions are met. The PhD theses submitted for the award will be reviewed by a standing committee of senior members selected from the CAiSE Advisory Committee, the CAiSE Steering Committee, and the CAiSE Program Committee. Award Chair Professor Andreas L Opdahl, University of Bergen, Norway Key Dates • Submission of application: 1st March, 2024 (AoE) • Notification: 15th April, 2024 Past Recipents • 2023: Anna Bernasconi, PhD from Politecninco Milano (Italy), thesis title “Model, Integrate, Search... Repeat: a Sound Approach to Building Integrated Repositories of Genomic Data” (link to the forthcoming monograph: https://link.springer.com/book/9783031449062) • 2022: Volodymyr Leno, PhD from University of Melbourne (Australia), thesis title “Robotic Process Mining: Accelerating the adoption of Robotic Process Automation” (link to the thesis: https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/ 11343/297274/98f9efca-4dd2-eb11-94dc-0050568d0279_manuscript.pdf) • 2021: Orlenys Lopez Pintado, PhD from University of Tartu (Estonia), thesis title “Collaborative Business Process Execution on the Block Chain: the Caterpillar System” (link to the thesis: https://dspace.ut.ee/items/1e09072c-5442-463a-b8c6-0425951cb90b) • 2020: Steven Mertens, PhD from Ghent University (Belgium), thesis title “Enabling process management for loosely framed knowledge-intensive processes” (link to the published monograph: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030661922) • 2019: Giovanni Meroni, PhD from Politecnico di Milano (Italy), thesis title “Artifact-driven business process monitoring” (link to the published monograph: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030324117) • 2018: Wei Wang, PhD from University of Queensland (Australia) thesis title “Integrated Modeling of Business Processes and Business Rules” (link to the published monograph: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030118082) • 2017: Marcela Ruiz, PhD from the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (Spain), thesis title “TraceME: A Traceability-Based Method for Conceptual Model Evolution” (link to the published monograph: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319897158) • 2016: Le Minh Sang Tran, PhD from University of Trento (Italy), thesis title “Managing the Uncertainty of the Evolution of Requirements Models” (testimony of the 2016 CAiSE PhD Award winner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-vvlH66lC4)

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CFP:Generative AI Age in Journalism: Unveiling Artificial Intelligence’s Potential and Challenges in the News Industry Worldwide
by allen munoriyarwa 11 Dec '23

11 Dec '23

Hello Everyone, I am writing to draw your attention to the special Issue below: *Generative AI Age in Journalism: Unveiling Artificial Intelligence’s Potential and Challenges in the News Industry Worldwide* Link: https://bit.ly/GenerativeAIAgeJournalism. *Guest Editors:* *Allen Munoriyarwa* *Department of Media Studies, University of Botswana* *Department of Communication and Media, University of Johannesburg * *Mathias-Felipe de-Lima-Santos* *Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam* *Digital Media and Society Observatory (DMSO), Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp)* D*eadlines: * - *Abstract Submission:* January 5th , 2024 - *Paper Submission: *June 30th, 2024 - *Expected Publication Date:* Q4 2024 – Q1/2025 In recent years, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in journalism and media production has sparked a global transformation in the way information is gathered, produced, and disseminated (de-Lima-Santos & Ceron, 2021). The term AI broadly refers to a field of computer science methods “dedicated to replicating human intelligence" (Broussard et al., 2019, p. 673). These technologies offer new possibilities for enhancing news gathering, content generation, audience engagement, and data analysis. Furthermore, they possess immense capabilities and offer incredible promises of transformation to media and journalism. Moreover, the AI-driven journalism landscape has witnessed a remarkable boom in the development and utilization of generative AI technologies, such as ChatGPT and DALL-E (Gondwe, 2023). The surge of generative AI has had a profound impact on news production, where AI algorithms can generate articles, summaries, and even assist in investigative reporting. These technologies have provided easy to use tools for media organizations in creating content at scale, automating repetitive tasks, and enhancing data analysis. While AI-driven journalism has garnered substantial attention and analysis in different media landscapes, there is a growing recognition of the unique implications, challenges, and opportunities posed by AI in the news industry worldwide (Broussard et al., 2019). This special issue aims to fill this knowledge gap by exploring the appropriation of AI technologies in news production across different media contexts. The application of AI in different regions brings with it a set of complexities that necessitate in-depth investigation. For example, previous research has indicated that media professionals’ inclination toward AI skepticism in Africa is influenced by concerns about potential job cuts, the expenses associated with such deployment, inadequate training, ethical dilemmas surrounding these emerging technologies, and doubts regarding its effectiveness in the democratic process (Munoriyarwa et al., 2021). Conversely, Latin American practitioners hold mixed feelings, with both optimistic and pessimistic views about the application of AI in journalism. However, they mostly perceive such tools as an opportunity rather than as a threat (Soto-Sanfiel et al., 2022). Within this rich tapestry, media and journalism play vital roles in shaping societies, enabling civic engagement, and reflecting the voices of marginalized communities across the world. The significant influence of AI deployment, as shaped by the dynamics among platforms, governments, and media, is also noteworthy worldwide. This power dynamics could lead to more influential actors gaining control over media production and information dissemination, consequently impacting the media ecosystem (de-Lima-Santos et al., 2023; Kuai et al., 2022). Understanding the nuanced landscape of AI-enabled journalism requires considering a range of crucial factors. These include the vast linguistic diversity, with hundreds of languages spoken, making language processing and content personalization a unique challenge (Gondwe, 2023). Cultural sensitivity is paramount, as news and information production must respect the values and norms of diverse societies, often vastly different across the world (Kothari & Cruikshank, 2022). Furthermore, each region faces specific challenges related to media sustainability, including economic constraints, political pressures, and issues of representation. While AI has the potential to address some of these challenges, its application is far from uniform (de-Lima-Santos et al., 2021). Local news ecosystems, for instance, play a vital role in their communities, and understanding how AI can strengthen local journalism while maintaining cultural relevance is of utmost importance. This special issue seeks to shed light on these intricacies, explore the impact of AI on journalism and media moving beyond “North” and “South” dichotomy, and delve into the challenges and opportunities that arise of AI in news context. While countries in the Global North can actively experiment with AI solutions in their newsrooms (Jones & Jones, 2021; Pashevich, 2018; Stray 2021;), those in the Global South are often either playing catch-up or simply acting as recipients of the experiments conducted by these Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic (WEIRD) nations. Thus, this special issue also aims to address the pressing concern of the “AI divide” across these regions, discussing the unequal access to AI technologies and knowledge, which can exacerbate existing (news production) inequalities within countries and across geographies. This can impose additional constraints on the global expansion of emerging technologies within the news media (Jamil, 2020). Understanding and mitigating this divide is a central concern, and this special issue will be a platform for scholarly inquiry and debates into these critical areas from a global perspective. With an eye on bridging gaps, promoting inclusivity, and narrowing the AI divide, this special issue seeks to gather research and insights that can inform the future of AI-enabled journalism within the “North” or the “South” in socioeconomic and political terms. We invite contributions that address but are not limited to the following themes in the context of the AI and journalism: - *AI deployment:* Comparing the development of AI technologies in newsrooms worldwide. - *Generative AI*: Leveraging this technology across the entire news value chain, transforming traditional processes and enhancing various aspects of news production, distribution, and consumption, while also necessitating careful consideration of ethical, human, and editorial implications - *AI tools for news production*: Exploring the use of AI technologies in newsrooms, including automated content generation, sentiment analysis, and fact-checking. - *Ethical and societal implications*: Examining the ethical considerations and societal impacts of AI-driven journalism in culturally and politically diverse regions. - *AI for media sustainability:* Examining innovative AI applications that promote sustainability in media organizations, revenue models, and content creation. - *AI and indigenous knowledge:* Investigating how AI technologies can promote or affect indigenous knowledge and cultural heritage in media coverage. - *AI for disaster reporting:* Analyzing the use of AI tools in disaster reporting, early warning systems, and response efforts in disaster-prone regions. - *Audience engagement and personalization*: Investigating AI-driven strategies for audience engagement, content personalization, and the role of AI in addressing language diversity. - *Media capture and democratization*: Analyzing the influence of AI on media capture, control, and the democratization of information in the Global North and South. - *Platforms dependence*: Analyzing the influence of platforms on AI deployment in the news industry. - *AI, censorship, and freedom of expression:* Assessing the impact of AI on freedom of expression, censorship, and surveillance in politically sensitive environments. - *AI and local news ecosystems: *Understanding the potential of AI in strengthening local journalism and addressing issues of representation. - *AI in investigative reporting*: Exploring the application of AI in investigative journalism, data mining, and open-source intelligence. - *AI in fact-checking*: Exploring the application of AI in fact-checking practices. - *AI and data-driven storytelling*: Investigating how data journalism is advancing worldwide and the role of AI in helping these practices, such as extracting, analyzing, and visualizing data. - *AI and health communication:* Exploring the use of AI applications in health journalism, pandemic coverage, and the dissemination of public health information. - *AI and environmental and humanitarian communication:* Exploring the use of AI applications in environmental journalism, climate crises, and humanitarian action. - *AI literacy:* Investigating the role of AI literacy in the context of technological innovations and its impact on newsrooms. - *AI and inclusivity:* Exploring how AI technologies can enhance or suppress media inclusivity and accessibility for underserved communities, including issues of language, accessibility, and representation. - *AI divide*: Addressing disparities in AI access, knowledge, and impact in the Global South in comparison to Global North/Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic (WEIRD) countries. - *AI and power: *AI and power dynamics in newsrooms - *AI and journalistic role:* Global perceptions of journalistic roles in the age of AI - *AI and representations*: Exploring how AI represents North-South newsrooms, journalism, and media. We look forward to receiving your contributions and exploring the dynamic intersection of artificial intelligence and journalism. Follow the link here for more details: https://bit.ly/GenerativeAIAgeJournalism. Thank you and regards, Dr Allen Munoriyarwa PhD, Journalism, University of Johannesburg, (South Africa) Google Scholar link: https://bit.ly/3fxdWPp. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5064-3192 Coordinator: British Academy Research: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/research/sociology/projects/w… Board member: Intelwatch; https://intelwatch.org.za/ Email: allenmunoriyarwa(a)gmail.com.

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WEBCAST Dec 9 – Digital Freedom Summit 2023 in Kathmandu, Nepal
by Joly MacFie 08 Dec '23

08 Dec '23

This is just starting. No real time text since dual language, but it is mostly English. EN AI Captions are on in the zoom. Last year's event is just now archived <https://archive.org/details/digitalfreedomsummit2022> *[image: isoc live] <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=d1cc4875eb7b4bfbb260b3fe…>On Saturday 9 December 2023, the Digital Freedom Coalition <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=47fdde0fb3089fad43643ea8…> presents Digital Freedom Summit 2023 <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c56695ef289cc919f15e19c9…> in Kathmandu, Nepal. Under the theme 'Nurturing An Inclusive Digital Future', this year’s summit aims to further explore the evolving landscape of digital freedom in Nepal addressing the panel discussions, workshop and capacity building over critical issues surrounding digital freedom. This annual event serves as a catalyst for in-depth discussions, knowledge sharing, and collaboration, with the ultimate goal of democratizing Nepal’s digital transformation.* *AGENDA https://digitalfreedom.org.np/#!/schedule <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=b8c644b09a876ede1516f668…>* *NPT / UTC 09:30 / 03:45 Opening Ceremony* *Ananda Gautam*, Chair, Youth IGF Nepal *Dipesh Bista*, Chief Executive Officer, E-Governance Commission *Michael Croft* - Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to Nepal - UNESCO *Prof. Dr. Rohan Samarajiva*, Chair, LIRNEasia, Sri Lanka Professor Dr. Kilnam Chon, Founder of Internet in Asia Hon. Indira Rana Magar, Deputy Speaker, House Of Representatives 11:00- / 05:15 Regulation of Cyberspace : Lessons for Nepal Moderator: Laxman Dutt Pant, President, Media Action Nepal Netra Prasad Subedi, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Communication and IT (MoCIT) Taranath Dahal, Executive Chief, Freedom Forum Nepal Samiran Gupta, Vice President, Government and IGO Engagement APAC & Stakeholder Engagement South Asia, ICANN Prof. Dr. Rohan Samarajiva, Chair, LIRNEasia, Sri Lanka Victoria Hyde, Asia Internet Coalition, Singapore 12:00 / 06:15 Freedom to Digital Infrastructure: Ensuring Inclusive Internet Moderator: Birodh Khatiwada, President, Disabled Care Nepal Hon. Prakash Panth, Member of Parliament, National Assembly, Nepal Er. Min Prasad Aryal, Director, Nepal Telecommunications Authority Sagar Prasai, Founder & Managing Director, Diverse Patterns Pvt. Ltd. Dr. Bimal Acharya, Manager, Nepal Telecom (TBC) Susmeera Aryal, Co-founder/Executive Director, Women’s Group for Disability Rights 14:00 / 08:15 Internet Fragmentation in Nepal :Issues and Perspectives Moderator: Ujjwal Acharya, Founding chair, CMR Nepal Prakash Rayamajhi, IT Expert, Rht. Hon. Pushpa Kamal Dahal Sangeeta Pahadi, Managing Director, Nepal Telecom (TBC) Bikram Shrestha, President, Nepal Internet Foundation, Santosh Sigdel, Executive Director, Digital Rights Nepal Shashank Mohan, CCG, National LAw Univercity, New Delhi 15:00 / 09:15 Truth and Trust: Ethical and Legal Responses to Misinformation Moderator: Bhakta Bishwokarma, Media Expert Anil Kumar Dutta, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Communications and IT Narayan Amrit, Chief Editor, NepalClicks.Com Nirjana Sharma, Head, Communications, UNESCO Kathmandu Office Avijeet Anturker, Advocate, Anturker and Associates, Pune, India Victoria Hyde, Asia Internet Coalition, Singapore/London 16:30 / 10:45 Regulation of Artificial Intelligence: What Parliament Thinks About? Moderator: Babu Ram Aryal, Chair, Digital Freedom Coalition Hon. CK Raut, Chairman and Member of Parliament, Janamat Party Hon. Jeevan Pariyaar, Member of Parliament, Nepali Congress Hon. Yogesh Bhattarai, Member of Parliament, CPN, UML Hon. Sumana Shrestha, Member of Parliament, RSP Hon. Bhanubhakta Jaisi, Member of Parliament, CPN (Unified Marxist) 17:30 / 11:45 Closing Ceremony *LIVESTREAM https://livestream.com/internetsociety/digitalfreedomsummit2023 <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=af4b2957f9015b5f4e2f9a4a…>* *PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM https://bit.ly/49ZQd5n <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=d932796bacaf24b37935f166…>* *REAL TIME TEXT* (see *ISOC.LIVE <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=05682a46cd9c6fab9498038a…>* ) *TWITTER #digitalfreedomsummit <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=aa3bce61b1bd4f857745c865…> #nepal @igovinstitute @DigitalMediaNP @MediaActionNpl @Educating_Nepal @yigfnepal @AntennaFN #Nepal @isoc_community* *MASTODON #digitalfreedomsummit <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=c5f21387e5ea7047183d3a73…>* *SIMULCASTS* *https://twitter.com/ISOC_Live <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=ef145916936f183d5f46389c…>* *https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=d828f6b56570e8db05093653…>* *https://www.facebook.com/liveisoc/ <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=4979d129ad1254e1aa7c278c…> *(AI Captions) *https://www.facebook.com/isocasiapacific/ <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=de00e7949ca9be0319ddefdb…> *(AI Captions) *ARCHIVE* *https://archive.org/details/digitalfreedomsummit2023 <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=3c55cb9c58d6a1237ef6192c…>* Permalink https://isoc.live/17114 -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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New tripleC article by Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski: Against the Power of Computers and the Destruction of Reason. For the Development of Human Creativity and Judgement. Remembering the Critical Intellectual Joseph Weizenbaum on the Occasion of his 100th Birthday
by Christian Fuchs 08 Dec '23

08 Dec '23

Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski: Against the Power of Computers and the Destruction of Reason. For the Development of Human Creativity and Judgement. Remembering the Critical Intellectual Joseph Weizenbaum on the Occasion of his 100th Birthday tripleC 21 (2): 140-146 DOI: https://doi.org/10.31269/triplec.v21i2.1479 Abstract This article is a reflection on the relevance of Joseph Weizenbaum’s ethics today on the occasion of his 100th birthday. Today, there are many debates about the impact of AI technologies such as ChatGPT on society. Weizenbaum understood himself not as a computer and AI critic, but as a critic of society. He situated the problems of computing in the context of society. The paper shows that in the spirit of Weizenbaum we should also in the contemporary age of advanced AI remind ourselves that computers cannot understand, do not have feelings, and therefore cannot do many things that humans actively and consciously do. Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski is a German computer scientist and philosopher of science. He was a Professor of Information Processing at Humboldt University in Berlin. In 2022, he was awarded the Wiener-Schmidt-Price by the German Society for Cybernetics (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kybernetik).

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CFP SI Eptic journal - Artificial intelligence through the lenses of Marxism and critical thinking
by Jonas Valente 08 Dec '23

08 Dec '23

* Call for papers: Artificial intelligence through the lenses of Marxism and critical thinking* Artificial intelligence is a subject that has been increasingly popular in academia, in public debates, among authorities, and in mass media. Therefore, different knowledge fields have been dealing with it, pushing the debate out of the limits of exact sciences and computer science. In the fields of the humanities and social sciences, artificial intelligence has been analyzed through different approaches, such as power relations (Dyer-Whiteford et al., 2019), the limits of autonomy and its relation to humankind (Davies, 2008), the impacts on the relations of production (Benanav, 2020), the adverse effects such as in discriminatory practices (Benjamin, 2023), and the automation of human activities in areas such as law (Pasquale, 2019) and education (Zhai et al. 2021). Nevertheless, it is worth noting that a significant part of these approaches, far from the critique of political economy, falls under the traps of fetishism (Marx, 2013, 2014, 2017) and does not reveal the essential aspects hidden in the manifestations of the phenomenon. But there are exceptions, such as the works of Dyer-Whiteford et al. (2019), Lindgreen (2023), Steinhoff (2021), Gong (2021), Yi (2020), Cole et al. (2022) and Verdegem (2021), among others. However, these kinds of efforts need to be further expanded. It is urgent to adopt Marxist thinking and the arms of critique to unveil and analyze the social form that artificial intelligence assumes as an instrument of capital, as well as an instrument of alienation and estrangement of human labor, of labor instruments, of fruits from labor, and, ultimately, of human essence (Marx, 2004). Eptic Journal (ISSN 1518-2487) invites authors to submit articles to the dossier entitled *Artificial Intelligence through the lenses of Marxism and critical thinking.* Articles can be submitted until 16 February 2024. Texts must follow the journal's standard format <https://periodicos.ufs.br/eptic/announcement/view/444>. *We will receive submissions that deal with the following subjects:* - Labor and social relations in the realm of artificial intelligence. - How artificial intelligence affects working relations and capitalist exploitation in different sectors of the economy. - Aspects of formal subsumption and real subsumption of labor under capital in the context of artificial intelligence. - Impacts of artificial intelligence on the technical division of labor and the social division of labor. - How economic agents design and/or adopt artificial intelligence techniques. - Policies concerning the development and use of artificial intelligence. - The struggles in the sphere of regulation of artificial intelligence. - How the process of production and distribution of value and wealth are affected by the adoption of artificial intelligence. - Dependence and economic subordination of periphery countries in relation to countries that lead the design and use of artificial intelligence. - Artificial intelligence as a capitalist instrument of economic, symbolic, and political power. - Impacts of artificial intelligence in communication and culture from Marxist and critical perspectives. - Ethics challenges in the field of artificial intelligence from a critical perspective. - Resistances and possibilities of use of artificial intelligence as an instrument to face the capital order and its sociability. The focus of the dossier will be theoretical and empirical analyses based on the critique of political economy, as well as Marxist and critical thinking. *Deadline to submissions: 16 February, 2024* *Editors:* James Steinhoff - University College Dublin Jonas Valente - Oxford Internet Institute Rodrigo Moreno Marques - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Instructions for submissions are available at revistaeptic.net.br Kind regards, *Dr Jonas C L Valente* Postdoctoral Researcher, Fairwork Project Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford -- Jonas Valente http://twitter.com/jonasvalente

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CfA: “Digital Twinning”, New Media & Society, Special Issue
by Christoph Borbach 08 Dec '23

08 Dec '23

Dear colleagues and AoIR fellows, We would like to draw your attention to the following call for abstracts of the journal /*New Media & Society*/ for a special issue on “*Digital Twinning*”. We look forward to receiving your paper proposals until December 31! Please feel free to forward the CfA to potentially interested colleagues. thanks & best greetings, Christoph ___ *Call for Abstracts: _/New Media & Society/_, Special Issue “Digital Twinning” /Ed. Christoph Borbach, Wendy Chun, and Tristan Thielmann/* Datafication in the analogue era followed a different logic than do today’s media processes, with all their entanglements and interdependencies with and within the ‘real’ world. Human bodies, system processes, and their data traces and virtual models are deeply intertwined in current postdigital—or rather, more-than-human (Lupton 2019)—media cultures. It is surely not a new idea that data and the technologies of its collection, storage, circulation, and evaluation are shaping how societies and individuals see themselves. But it is a novelty that processes of datafication within the context of ‘digital twinning’ and their future predictions and simulations of behavior—mostly systems behavior but also human purchasing and movement behaviors, with their political implications—are fundamentally changing the methods of production planning, processes, and products. Technologies of digital twinning ask once more how data practices affect and mold decision-making within institutions (Vertesi 2020). ‘Digital twins’ are currently the most important drivers of the fourth industrial revolution. These ever-more-complex technical products and processes are now developed and tested in the virtual sphere as software models before they emerge in the ‘real’ world. The paradigm of digital media technologies is therefore subject to fundamental change through the prevalence of digital twins in industry and research. The digital is no longer a real-time virtual representation of a real-world physical object: it is exactly the opposite and concurrently much more than that, allowing new forms of “premediation” (Grusin 2010), in the analysis of future performances of objects without the physical presence of the objects. Digital twinning therefore promises not only the potential of making futures predictable through recognition and correlation of digital and analog, virtual and physical (Chun 2021), but the ability to do so without physical counterparts. Digital twinning is no longer restricted to single entities—like objects being studied—but allows for modeling complex chains of co-operations. What is most striking from a media theory perspective is that technical objects, models, services, operations, or even entire cities, metro systems, or logistical architectures can be objects of digital twinning. Digital twins make clear that the real world is just one possible realization of the primarily virtual world. At the same time, digital twins and other haunting ‘data doppelgangers’ allow overarching data exchange and cooperation. They are more than pure data, proving once more that so-called “raw data” does not exist (Bowker 2005; Gitelman 2013). Digital twins consist of technical and social models of acting objects, and integrate various embedded sensors related to vital areas of functionality that make things and processes ‘sense-able’ (Gabrys 2019). Digital twins can therefore also include simulations and services, asking anew if there is anything worldly which may must remain “uncomputable” (Galloway 2021). Taking digital twinning as an analytic lens, the special issue will also try to understand aesthetics, politics, genders, and economies of ‘data doubles.’ These new symptoms of postdigital media and data cultures differ from previous motifs of doubles, e.g. literary doppelgangers as in the work of E. T. A. Hoffmann, among others. Selfies are emblematic of digital data cultures and their visual regime (Eckel et al. 2018), as are avatar images in avatar-based gaming (Klevjer 2022), since they are not mere pictorial representations but digital images of self-perception and self-modeling. They stand as digital doubles exemplary for the self in extended realities (XR), self-embodiment in digital spheres, and the continuum between offline and online (Coleman 2011). Similar to digital twins, digital ‘doubles’ even without a physical ‘original’ can unfold influence, literally, as virtual influencers or actors such as Hatsune Miku demonstrates. Media practices of doubling and storing the self might have predigital histories (Humphreys 2018). But only digital tracking applications can be regarded as real-time feedback loops that influence human behavior. This can be seen positively since it transforms the way humans self-optimize, e.g. their athletic behavior, as quantified self-movement shows. But it can also be critically reflected from a political standpoint, since it evokes a shift from individuals to ‘dividuals’ and an interpretation of human beings as conglomerates of sensor technology, flesh, and data doubles within surveillant assemblages (Haggerty and Richard 2000). To account for this complex technological situation and its social impacts, the special issue “Digital Twinning” will bring together researchers from different fields: engineering and social science, informatics and media studies. The aim is to understand concepts and practices but also politics and aesthetics of data doubling and digital twinning that are not restricted to purposes of system and production monitoring, maintenance, and simulation—that is, processes of digital engineering. We will also expand the scope, to include real-time interrelations of digital data acquisition and simulation, on the one hand, and the physical performance of humans, things, and systems, on the other. We are seeking *abstracts* (500 words) for submissions until *December 31, 2023* (to be sent to *christoph.borbach(a)uni-siegen.de, subject: “NM&S Special Issue: Digital Twinning”*), that might address—but are not limited to—one or more of the following topics: * how is data agential (in digital twinning)? * interrelations and interdependencies between physical and digital twins and doubles * politics, (data) economies, and technologies of digital twinning and doubling * boundaries in the modeling of twins * (de)central places of twinning: where is it to be done, and by whom? * twinning as labor: precarious work, and/or precarious for workers? * histories of twinning: from science fiction, to NASA, to the public? * future digital practices of twinning * imaginaries and aesthetics of twinning * gendering and aesthetics of avatars * challenges and difficulties of data governance, data rights, and data sustainability * sensor ecologies and their impact on digital twinning * media and social theories of digital twinning * digital methods, ethnographic, and ethnomethodological approaches for further research on digital twinning * applications for digital twins in the industrial and consumer metaverse -- Dr. Christoph Borbach Team »Science, Technology and Media Studies« www.mobilemedia.uni-siegen.de University of Siegen

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New Book: Invocational media: Reconceptualising the computer
by Chris Chesher 07 Dec '23

07 Dec '23

New book: Invocational media: reconceptualising the computer Chris Chesher Bloomsbury Invocational Media: Reconceptualising the Computer: Chris Chesher: Bloomsbury Academic<https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/invocational-media-9781501363627/> Invocational Media critiques the sociotechnical power of digital technologies by introducing the concept of invocational media. What is an invocation? Ask your voice assistant and it will define it for you. It is a media artefact that responds to many invocations such as seeking the weather forecast, requesting any song you can name, or turning on the lights, almost magically. This contemporary manifestation of the ancient practice of invocation gives an immediate response to your call in a way that Chris Chesher argues is the characteristic power of all computers, which he redefines as invocational media. This book challenges the foundations of computer science by offering invocation as a powerful new way of conceptualising digital technologies. Drawing on media philosophy, Deleuze, Guattari, Heidegger, Latour, Austin, Innis and McLuhan, it critiques the representationalism of data processing, artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Invocational media seem to empower individuals, but necessarily subject users to corporate and government monopolies of invocation. They offer many 'solutions', but only by reducing everything to the same kind of act. They complicate agency in their indifference as to whether invokers are human or non-human. With robotics they invoke material form to act physically and autonomously. People willingly make themselves invocable to surveillance and control by creating their own profiles and marking themselves with biometrics. This ground-breaking book will change how you think about digital media by showing they are, in fact, invocational media. Turning away from computational media as "digital" and instead theorizing computers through their capacity to invoke, to call things up and respond, Chris Chesher's Invocational Media provides a staggeringly original perspective on technology that thrillingly reimagines almost all foundations of digital culture. ― Grant Bollmer, Associate Professor of Media Studies, NC State University, USA In a time where we are all mesmerized by the magic of ChatGPT and similar AI technologies, Chris Chesher's book is highly welcomed and timely. Using the concept of invocation and engaging with a wide range of relevant media philosophy, Invocational Media offers an interesting and highly original way to theorize how we design, experience and interact with digital technologies and, more precisely, how they design us. This is an important contribution to the philosophy of media and compulsory reading for everyone puzzled by the mystery of contemporary AI. ― Mark Coeckelbergh, Professor of Philosophy of Media and Technology at the University of Vienna, Austria Just at the moment when the interactive interface is newly ascendant and we thought that all had been said, along comes this gift of a book. Thinking with the generative trope of invocational media, Chesher refigures the power and limits of computation. Invocational Media offers a history of the present of human-computer interaction, and a proposal for how we can rearticulate its future. It will be of interest to anyone engaged with the invocations, avocations and evocations that comprise relations at and through the interface. ― Lucy Suchman, Professor Emerita of Sociology, Lancaster University, UK -- DR CHRIS CHESHER | Senior Lecturer in Digital Cultures Degree Director Digital Communication and Culture Department of Media and Communications School of Literature, Art, and Media | Faculty of Arts THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY Rm N222, Woolley A20 | The University of Sydney | NSW | 2006 T +61 2 9036 6173<tel:+61290366173> | F +61 2 9351 2434<tel:+61293512434> | M+61 404 095 480<tel:+61404095480> E chris.chesher(a)sydney.edu.au<mailto:chris.chesher@sydney.edu.au> | W http://sydney.edu.au/arts/digital_cultures/ Map- http://sydney.edu.au/arts/about/maps.shtml?locationID=A20 Recent publications: https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/invocational-media-9781501363627/ The emergence of autolography: the ‘magical’ invocation of images from text through AI https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X231193252 This email plus any attachments to it are confidential. Any unauthorised use is strictly prohibited. If you receive this email in error, please delete it and any attachments.

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Deadline Extended: Sign up by January 15 to run a Wikipedia assignment in Winter/Spring 2024!
by Helaine Blumenthal 07 Dec '23

07 Dec '23

There's still time to run a Wikipedia assignment next term: You can now sign up by January 15 to run a Wikipedia assignment next term! If you're concerned about how to help your students navigate today's information landscape, you're not alone! There's still a lot you can do though to ensure the integrity of information available to the public at large. In an age of generative AI, Wikipedia stands out as a place driven by human curated knowledge. Your students can participate in this critical endeavor. Incorporate a Wikipedia assignment into your course next term! Visit teach.wikiedu.org <https://wikiedu.org/teach-with-wikipedia/> to find out more about Wiki Education's free support and how to get started for the spring term. Attend an upcoming workshop! Attend <https://wikiedu.org/webinars/>one of our upcoming workshops to learn more about this unique pedagogical opportunity. Click here <https://wikiedu.org/webinars/> to register for a session. Wiki Education's support is fully funded, and there are no fees to participate. The program is open to post-secondary institutions in the U.S. and Canada. Please reach out to me directly with any questions about Wiki Education! -- Helaine Blumenthal,Ph.D. (she/her) Senior Program Manager Wiki Education teach.wikiedu.org <https://wikiedu.org/teach-with-wikipedia/> Twitter <https://twitter.com/WikiEducation?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7C…>, Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/WikiEducationFoundation/> -- Helaine Blumenthal,Ph.D. (she/her) Senior Program Manager Wiki Education teach.wikiedu.org <https://wikiedu.org/teach-with-wikipedia/> Twitter <https://twitter.com/WikiEducation?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7C…>, Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/WikiEducationFoundation/>

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