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International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration (VARIABILITY 2026): Last Call for Workshop Proposals
by Announce 20 Feb '26

20 Feb '26

*** Last Call for Workshop Proposals *** International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration (VARIABILITY 2026) 29 September - 2 October 2026, 5* St. Raphael Resort and Marina Limassol, Cyprus https://conf.researchr.org/home/variability-2026 VARIABILITY is a new conference that has been merged of three prominent conferences focussing on software and systems variability, configuration and reuse: SPLC (the International Systems and Software Product Line Conference, 29 successful editions, ranked as a top conference), VaMoS (the International Working Conference on Variability Modelling of Software-Intensive Systems, 19 successful editions), and ICSR (the International Conference on Systems and Software Reuse, 22 successful editions). We invite you to submit proposals for half-day or full-day workshops in any area related to the field of Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration, all of which fall under the broader area of Variability. In particular, workshops on challenging, emerging areas related to the conference topics are especially sought. We particularly encourage workshop proposals for highly interactive and collaborative workshops, rather than mini-conferences, e.g., apart from the traditional short and long papers, consider allowing position papers with only one page (not included in the proceedings) and focus on a lively discussion after the presentation, to foster new ideas and gather feedback (rather than just defending the presented work). The expected date of the workshops will be the September 29th, 2026, before the main track of the conference. Submissions / Publishing VARIABILITY workshop papers will be published in a volume of the conference proceedings published by Springer. Moreover, a one-page summary of each accepted workshop will be published in the proceedings as well. Workshop proposals should be authored by at least two organizers, preferably from different institutions, and they should contain the following three sections and address each corresponding point: 1. Organizers • Name: organizers’ full names • Contact information: affiliations, job titles, postal addresses, e-mail addresses, URLs, and phone • Brief biography: 100-200 words, focusing on the organizers’ expertise in the field and experience as workshop organizers 2. Workshop Content • Title: workshop title and acronym • Abstract: max 150 words describing the workshop (suitable for the conference’s website) • Tentative Website URL • Topics and motivation: • What are the topics, themes, and areas of interest of the workshop? • How is the workshop relevant to VARIABILITY? • How does the workshop connect VARIABILITY to other research communities? • Goals and expected results: • Explicitly state the goals of the workshop and how you intend to reach them • What are the expected results of the workshop? • How will these results be disseminated? • Format: • What is the planned workshop format (paper presentations, working sessions, invited talks (please note here that such talks are not financially supported by the conference), lightning talks, demonstrations, etc.)? • To avoid duplicated topics and cancellations, did you coordinate with or (plan to) merge workshops on the same/similar topics from previous years (if there are any)? • What will be done to stimulate collaborative interaction? • What are the planned pre- and post-workshop activities? • Participants: • What is the expected number of submissions and participants? Provide a plan for attracting sufficient submissions and promoting attendance • If applicable, please provide information from previous or related workshops. Have there been previous workshops on the same or a closely related topic? When, where and with how many participants? • Special room equipment (please note that VARIABILITY conference and the workshops are in-person events) like flip charts, microphone, etc. • Do you plan for a half-day or full-day workshop? • Program Committee: list of tentative program committee members, names and affiliations 3. Preliminary Call for Papers This will necessarily repeat some of the information from the previous sections but should be targeted towards prospective participants. It should address the following items: • Overview of the motivation, topics, and goals • Workshop format • Deadlines of the workshop (see dates in this call for proposals) • Submission guidelines and review process • References to previous workshops (websites) • Dissemination campaign to distribute the CFP 4. References to previous workshops (websites) Submission Instructions Please send your workshop proposals using EasyChair: https://easychair.org/conferences?conf=variability2026 A workshop proposal must be at most 8 pages long. Submissions must follow the Springer guidelines: https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu… Relevant supporting material, such as proceedings from previous editions of the proposed workshop or other workshops organized by the proposal authors, should be included if available but are not required for submission. Acceptance Criteria Each workshop proposal will be evaluated according to the relevance of its topic, the expertise and experience of the workshop organizers, and the workshop’s potential for attracting participants and generating useful results. We underline the importance of active and creative workshops that foster a collaborative environment of interest to both practitioners and researchers, aiming, e.g., to evolve the field of Variability and to identify elements of joint future work. To obtain a balanced and cohesive workshop program, the Organizing Committee will collaborate closely with workshop organizers and reserves the right to circulate proposals to other submitters in view of possible workshop mergers. The organizers of accepted workshops will be required to create and maintain a website in a timely manner to serve as a workshop information center and to provide a repository for documenting pre- and post-workshop activities. At least one author of each accepted proposal must register and attend VARIABILITY 2026 in order for the workshop to be accepted and the summary of the workshop published. The submission and review platform for workshop papers will be the one for the main conference (i.e., all workshops will be as different tracks under the same Easy Chair installation). Important Dates (AoE) • Workshop Proposals: 2 March 2025 • Notification of Acceptance: 16 March 2026 • Workshop Papers Submission: 15 June 2026 • Workshop Papers Notification: 7 July, 2026 • Camera-Ready Version Submission: 14 July, 2026 • Workshop Summary: 14 July, 2026 • Author Registration: 14 July, 2026 Organisation General Chairs • George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus • Gilles Perrouin, FNRS & University of Namur, Belgium Research Track Chairs • Thorsten Berger, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany • Ina Schaefer, KIT, Germany Industry Track Chairs • Shaukat Ali, Simula Research Lab and Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway • Martin Becker, Fraunhofer IESE, Germany Journal First Track Chairs • Mathieu Acher, University Rennes, Inria, CNRS, IRISA, France • Xhevahire Tërnava, LTCI, Télécom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, France Doctoral Symposium Track Chairs • Rick Rabiser, LIT CPS, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria • Iris Reinhartz-Berger, University of Haifa, Israel Demos and Tools Track Chairs • Sandra Greiner, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark • Leopoldo Teixeira, Federal University of Pernambuco Projects Showcase Chairs • Daniel Struber, Chalmers, University of Gothenburg, Radbound University, Sweden • Dalila Tamzalit, Nantes Université, France Hall of Fame Chairs • Martin Becker, Fraunhofer IESE, Germany • Goetz Botterweck, Lero - The Irish Software Research Centre and University of Limerick, Ireland • Natsuko Noda, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan Workshops Chairs • Lidia Fuentes, Universidad de Malaga, Spain • Malte Lochau, University of Siegen, Germany Tutorials Chairs • Loek Cleophas, Eindhoven University of Technology and Stellenbosch University, The Netherlands • Mahsa Varshosaz, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark Proceedings Chair • Sophie Fortz, King's College London, UK Publicity Chairs • Wesley Assunção, North Carolina State University, USA • Kentaro Yoshimura, Hitachi Ltd, Japan Local Organiser and Finance Chair • George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus

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Re: [Air-L] Internet Histories Seeking Book Reviewers
by Maemura, Emily 19 Feb '26

19 Feb '26

Dear AoIR community, Thank you for the (overwhelming!) interest in reviewing. We are all set for this list of books, and I will reach out as new opportunities arise in the future. Thanks, Emily ________________________________ From: Air-L <air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org> on behalf of Maemura, Emily via Air-L <air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org> Sent: Monday, February 9, 2026 5:00 PM To: Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org <Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org> Subject: [Air-L] Internet Histories Seeking Book Reviewers Dear AoIR community, I'm the Reviews Editor for the journal Internet Histories (https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rint20<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.tandfonline.com/journals/rint20__;!!…>) and we are seeking book reviewers. Our book reviews are generally between 1500 and 2000 words, focused on titles related to the cultural, social, political and technological histories of the internet and associated digital cultures. For instance, we are currently looking for reviewers for the following titles: * Archiving Machines: From Punch Cards to Platforms by Amelia Acker https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553247/archiving-machines/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553247/archiving…> * Digital Authoritarianism in the Making: Repression and Resistance on the Russian Internet Edited by Françoise Daucé, Benjamin Loveluck and Francesca Musiani https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553674/digital-authoritarianism-in-the-maki…<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553674/digital-a…> * Healthy Users: The Governance of Well-Being on Social Media by Niall Docherty https://www.ucpress.edu/books/healthy-users/paper<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.ucpress.edu/books/healthy-users/pape…> * Influencer Creep: How Optimization, Authenticity and Self-Branding Transform Creative Culture by Sophie Bishop https://www.ucpress.edu/books/influencer-creep/paper<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.ucpress.edu/books/influencer-creep/p…> * Mourning on Mobile Media: Everyday Affective Witnessing by Larissa Hjorth https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553551/mourning-on-mobile-media/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553551/mourning-…> * The Internet Stack by Amrit Tiwana https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553629/the-internet-stack/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/mitpress.mit.edu/9780262553629/the-inter…> * The Inattention Economy: How Women of Color Built the Internet By Lisa Nakamura https://www.upress.umn.edu/9780816699063/the-inattention-economy/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.upress.umn.edu/9780816699063/the-ina…> * The Routledge Companion to Transnational Web Archive Studies Edited By Susan Aasman, Anat Ben-David, Niels Brügger https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companion-to-Transnational-Web-Arch…<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Companio…> If you're interested in being added to the list of potential reviewers for these or other books in the future, please get in touch with me at emaemura(a)illinois.edu . Please also note that we do not accept unsolicited reviews, so please reach out to me first -- we may decline a reviewer or book title if determined to not be a good fit for our journal. Best, Emily Maemura Reviews Editor, Internet Histories _______________________________________________ The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/aoir.org__;!!DZ3fjg!6DJFJG4Znx1RJkQLetdGS…> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir…> Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.aoir.org/__;!!DZ3fjg!6DJFJG4Znx1RJkQL…> När du skickar e-post till Karlstads universitet behandlar vi dina personuppgifter<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.kau.se/gdpr__;!!DZ3fjg!6DJFJG4Znx1RJ…>. When you send an e-mail to Karlstad University, we will process your personal data<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.kau.se/en/gdpr__;!!DZ3fjg!6DJFJG4Znx…>.

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Information & Culture seeking book reviewers
by James Hodges 19 Feb '26

19 Feb '26

Hello all, I am the book reviews editor for *Information & Culture*, an information science journal published by University of Texas Press. Our reviews are open access via MUSE, available here: https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/111 I'm currently seeking reviewers for the following titles. *If you are interested, please respond to reviews(a)ischool.utexas.edu <reviews(a)ischool.utexas.edu>* "Artgames after GamerGate" by Rob Gallagher https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-04435-8 "Birth of Modern Facts: How the Information Revolution Transformed Academic Research, Governments, and Businesses" by James W. Cortada https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/birth-of-modern-facts-9781538173909/ "Graph Vision: Digital Architecture's Skeletons" by Theodora Vardouli https://direct.mit.edu/books/monograph/5871/Graph-VisionDigital-Architectur… "The Sage Handbook of Chinese Digital Media and Communication" edited by Jian Xu, Shaohua Guo and Weiyu Zhang https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/the-sage-handbook-of-chinese-digital-media… If you are interested, *please respond to reviews(a)ischool.utexas.edu <reviews(a)ischool.utexas.edu>*. Please include a link to your bio or attached sample of previous work. Best wishes, James -- *JAMES A. HODGES, PH.D. *(he/him/his) Assistant Professor San José State University School of Information http://www.jameshodges.net Senior Fellow, Rare Book School Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography <https://rarebookschool.org/admissions-awards/fellowships/sofcb/> Senior Book Reviews Editor Information & Culture <https://infoculturejournal.org/> Member, Committee on Publication Ethics <https://publicationethics.org/> (COPE)

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2 year appt. in AI and Information Literacies
by Jeremy Hunsinger 19 Feb '26

19 Feb '26

2 year appt. in AI and Information Literacies: Wilfrid Laurier University—The Department of Communication Studies invites applications for a 2-year Limited Term Appointment at the Assistant Professor level commencing July 1, 2026, subject to budgetary approval. Anticipated Salary Range: $90K to $110K. Actual salary to be commensurate with experience. We welcome applications from critical communication studies scholars with demonstrated expertise in critical data studies with a focus on artificial intelligence. We seek a scholar who regards AI as having profound political, economic and cultural implications, centering this in their research and/or teaching. We are particularly interested in receiving applications from scholars who work on information literacies in this context. Applicants must have a completed PhD in Communication Studies or a cognate discipline by the start of the appointment. The annual teaching workload for this position is five one-term courses, at the undergraduate and Master’s level. Applicants should submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae, up to two selected publications and a teaching dossier. The teaching dossier should include copies of course evaluations, selected course outlines and a brief reflection on teaching and the applicant's teaching experience. Candidates must provide contact information (names and email addresses) for two referees. more info here: https://lnkd.in/g6E7-vi3 -- jeremy hunsinger Associate Professor Communication Studies Wilfrid Laurier University Collaboratory for Digital Discourse and Culture Virginia Tech www.tmttlt.com () ascii ribbon campaign - against html mail /\ - against microsoft attachments http://www.stswiki.org/ sts wiki http://transdisciplinarystudies.tmttlt.com/ Transdisciplinary Studies:the book series I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it. -Pablo Picasso

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39th IEEE International Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems (CBMS): Last Call for Contributions
by Announce 19 Feb '26

19 Feb '26

*** Last Call for Contributions *** 39th IEEE International Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems (CBMS 2026) June 3-5 2026, 5* St. Raphael Resort and Marina, Limassol, Cyprus https://2026.cbms-conference.org (*** Submission Deadline: February 27 2026 (extended) ***) Attracting a worldwide audience, CBMS is the premier conference for computer-based medical systems, and one of the main conferences in the fields of medical informatics and biomedical informatics. CBMS allows the exchange of ideas and technologies between academic and industrial scientists. The scientific program of IEEE CBMS 2026 will consist of regular and special track sessions with technical contributions reviewed and selected by an international program committee, as well as, keynote talks and tutorials given by leading experts in their fields. The CBMS 2026 edition also aims to host high-quality papers about industry and real case applications as well as allow researchers leading international projects to show to the scientific community the main aims, goals, and results of their projects. We solicit submissions on previously unpublished research work. The conference will feature three keynote talks by Professor Metin Akay ("Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Biomarkers for Personalized and Dynamic Pain Assessment"), Professor Dimitrios I. Fotiadis ("From Data Scarcity to Trustworthy AI: The Transformative Role of Synthetic Data in Healthcare"), and Professor Domenico Talia ("Techniques for Exploiting Machine Learning and Explainable Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare"). CALL FOR PAPERS Example areas include but are not limited to: • Active and Healthy Ageing System • Analytics and solutions in Public Health • Artificial intelligence in healthcare • Big Data Analytics in Healthcare • Bioinformatics • Biomarker Discovery and Drug Design • Biomedical Signal and Image Processing and Machine Vision • Cognitive Computing in Healthcare • Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Healthcare (CSCW) • Databases and blockchain in Medicine or Healthcare • Data Analysis and Knowledge Discovery in Medicine or Healthcare • Decision Support and Recommendation Systems in Medicine or Healthcare • Digital Twins / Personalized AI Models • e-Health • Ethics in the application of ICT to biomedicine • Explainable AI for Decision Support • Generative AI and Foundational Models for Biomedicine • Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in Healthcare • Knowledge Representation in Medicine or Healthcare • m-Health • Medical education using ICT • Medical Robotics, Intelligent Medical Devices, and Smart Technologies • Metaverse, Augmented and Intelligent Reality • Multimodality Data Analysis • Network and Telemedicine Systems • Pervasive Computing for Wearables • Privacy and Security in Healthcare • Radiomics and Radiogenomics • Serious Games for Healthcare • Software Systems in Medicine • Technology in Clinical and Healthcare Services Research • Web-Based Delivery of Medical Information Special Tracks CBMS 2026 will also feature a number of special tracks: • Green-Aware Artificial Intelligence for Network and Text Mining in Computational Biology and Medicine https://sites.google.com/unicz.it/greenai-nettext/ Multimodal Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare https://sites.google.com/view/maih2026/home GEAI4ND — Generalizable & Explainable AI for the Care Continuum of Neurodegenerative Disease http://geai4nd-cbms2026.conf.uoi.gr/ Interoperability and Federated Analytics in Biomedical Data Using OMOP CDM https://bioinformatics-ua.github.io/ieee-cbms-st-IFABD/ Network Medicine https://medal.ctb.upm.es/CBMS26_ST_NM.html Image Processing and Machine Vision for Intelligent Healthcare https://sites.google.com/view/2026-cbms-impvih Artificial Intelligence for Inclusion, Accessibility and Well-Being of Vulnerable Populations https://www.uco.es/kdis/cbms-2026/ Synthetic Healthcare Data Generation and Clinical Decision Support https://is-innovation.eu/CBMS2026/search-workshop.htm Computational Intelligence in Medical Imaging (CIMI) https://sites.google.com/view/cbms/cbms-cimi Management and Quality of Data Lifecycle in Health and Medicine https://raise-suite.eu/management-and-quality-of-data-lifecycle-in-health-a… Prospective authors are expected to submit their contributions to the general track or one of the special tracks if relevant. Please see the submission guidelines for further details. Submission Guidelines Papers must be submitted electronically using the EasyChair conference management system (see link below). All submissions will be peer-reviewed at least by two Program Committee members. All accepted papers (Regular, Short, and Posters) will be included in the conference proceedings and will be published by IEEE Xplore. Publication in proceedings is conditioned to the registration and presentation of the paper at the conference by one of the authors. Type of Submissions Each contribution must be prepared following the IEEE two-column format, whose template is available at https://www.ieee.org/conferences/publishing/templates . The authors may choose LaTeX or Microsoft Word templates. CBMS 2026 accepts three types of submissions: • Regular papers: The length of the contribution is limited to 6 pages, but it is possible to extend the paper length up to 8 pages by paying for each extra page. Check fees for more information. • Short papers: The length of the contribution is limited to 4 pages and no less than 3 pages, not being possible to extend the paper length. The duration of the oral presentation of short posters will be less than regular ones. • Posters: The length of the contribution is limited to 2 pages. Poster papers will be included in the proceedings but won’t include oral presentations during the conference. The authors of a poster also need to prepare a real poster to be shown during the conference. For presentation purposes at the conference, the authors must prepare the poster in portrait format. The accepted dimensions are 60 (width) x 80 (length). CALL FOR SHOWCASE / RESEARCH PROJECTS CBMS 2026 will have a special showcase/research projects track session, where we invite (a) scientific papers, (b) demonstrations/posters and (c) research-projects descriptions. Scientific papers: We invite papers (not exceeding 6 pages in length), describing innovative computer-based medical devices or software applications, including practical experiences with such innovations. The papers should be scholarly articles presenting scientific methods, measurements, and experiments. Marketing and sales materials will not be accepted. These papers will be evaluated based on practicality, innovation, scientific rigor, value of the device or application to users, and novelty. They will be published in the proceedings of the conference along with the other papers under this track. Examples of such papers could include but are not limited to: • Computer-based medical devices that have technical/scientific novelty • Computer-based medical applications intended for or recently introduced in the field • Novel uses of traditional equipment in practice • Experience papers based on use and data from the field • Insightful measurement-based analysis of computer-based medical systems from the field • Novel analysis providing new insights from data collected from the field • New and practical data analytics useful in practice • Real deployments of AI solutions in medicine Demonstrations: A demonstration is more appropriate if the value can be better expressed with a demonstration rather than in a full-length paper. The topics for the demonstration papers are the same as the scientific for this track. Please submit a proposal of your demonstration with a limit of two pages. Research projects/initiatives: CBMS aims in this edition to receive submissions about research or innovation projects funded by, mainly, competitive calls to present their project. We foresee to receive submissions which include details about the project goals, consortium and results (expected and any tentative result obtained so far). Only projects funded by competitive calls or with strong potential interest for the community will be considered. International projects organized in a consortium of several countries will have preference. Submissions in this context should be a one/two-pages document with at least the following information: • Project/initiative title • Description • Participant entities • Project goals • Funding agency (when applies) or agencies • Results obtained so far (publications, patents, ...) The contribution must be prepared following the regular paper. The length of the contribution must be between 4 and 6 pages. Submission Guidelines Papers must be submitted electronically using the EasyChair conference management system (see link below). All submissions will be peer-reviewed at least by two Program Committee members. All accepted contributions will be included in the conference proceedings and will be published by IEEE Xplore. Publication in proceedings is conditioned to the registration and presentation of the paper at the conference by one of the authors. CALL FOR DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM The Doctoral Consortium for CBMS 2026 will provide an opportunity for PhD students to present their research plans or their preliminary work in an informal and supportive atmosphere. The PhD students will be able to discuss the problems that their PhDs are addressing, any preliminary results, and their future plans. The DC will offer them an opportunity to discuss any problems that they have come up against, and gain valuable advice and constructive feedback from experienced researchers in the field.The Doctoral Consortium will involve presentations by participating PhD students (selected by the Doctoral Consortium chairs) as well as a number of invited talks / tutorials on different related topics in the field. Submissions Doctoral Consortium submissions should focus specifically on a PhD thesis or subsection of a thesis. To apply for participation at CBMS 2026 Doctoral Consortium, please submit a research plan on a topic related to the areas covered in the general call for papers for the conference. Each submission should be in the same format as the main conference papers except it should consist of approximately 3-5 pages describing your research work. In particular: • Title and author • The research problem that your PhD addresses • Your planned approach and methods for solving the problem • How your approach compares to other known approaches • Any preliminary results or expected results • Future plans and directions with specific questions Papers must be submitted electronically using the EasyChair conference management system (see link below). Doctoral Consortium papers/contributions will be included in the IEEE proceedings in a specific “Doctoral Consortium” section. SUBMISSION LINK FOR ALL TYPES OF CONTRIBUTIONS https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ieeecbms2026 Please choose the track that best fits for your submitted paper. OTHER INFORMATION For more information, please contact ieeecbms2026 AT easychair.org . IMPORTANT DATES (all types of contributions) • Submission Deadline: February 27, 2026 (extended, AoE) • Notification of Acceptance: April 10, 2026 • Camera-Ready Due: April 24, 2026 (AoE) ORGANIZATION CBMS SC Chair • Rosa Sicilia, University Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Italy General Chairs • Mario Cannataro, University "Magna Graecia" of Catanzaro, Italy • Constantinos S. Pattichis, University of Cyprus, Cyprus Program Chairs • Panagiotis Bamidis, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece • Efthyvoulos Kyriacou, Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus • Andreas S. Panayides, CYENS Centre of Excellence, Cyprus Publication Chairs • Sameer K. Antani, National Library of Medicine & National Institutes Of Health, USA • Bridget Kana, Karlstad University, Sweden Special Tracks Chairs • Pietro Cinaglia, University "Magna Graecia" of Catanzaro, Italy • Christos Loizou, Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus Showcase / Research Projects Chair • Pietro Hiram Guzzi, University "Magna Graecia" of Catanzaro, Italy Doctoral Consortium Chair • Marios Pattichis, University of New Mexico, USA Sponsorship Chair • KC Santosh, University of South Dakota, USA Local Organizing and Finance Chair • George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus

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Join our "Workshop on workshopping" if you're in the Netherlands next week!
by amarkham＠gmail.com 19 Feb '26

19 Feb '26

Hello Aoir-friends! Are you in the Netherlands Feb 26j, 15-17h? Join us in Utrecht for a workshop on workshopping! Coffee, Tea, Cookies, a Fishbowl, and Demos! TL;DR It should be fantastic, if I don’t say so myself. Join us by learning more here A bit more backstory: The [1]Futures+Literacies+Methods Lab has teamed up with the Skagen Institute to invite a small group of research colleagues to participate in a 2-day workshop, Transgressive methods: at the intersection of futures, literacies, and participatory engagement. On day 1, we are conducting a 2 hour public workshop to discuss and showcase workshoppping techniques. Even more detail: Workshops are increasingly employed for participatory engagement. But what does it mean to approach workshop as a method? This workshop is an opportunity to discuss as well as engage with practices researchers have refined over time to design and facilitate workshops and prompt meaningful interaction. Open to anyone interested in developing or using workshops, the session will involve participation in pressure cooker demos with experts where participants will experience different styles and modalities of workshops, followed by a fishbowl style discussion about the intersection of futures, literacies and participatory engagement. Curated by Taylor Annabell, Ana Kubrusly, and Levien Nordeman. Includes demos from (notice the AoIR members!): Anna Hickey-Moody, Rebecca Coleman, Adi Kuntsman, Riccardo Pronzato, Christine Fox, Jessica Enevold Duncan, Joy Y. Zhang, Levien Nordeman, and yours truly. Learn more and sign up! [2]https://fll.pubpub.org/pub/24hnndae Warm Regards from Utrecht, annette Annette N. Markham (she/her) | Chair, Professor of MediaLiteracies and Public Engagement | Utrecht University | [3]Department of Media and Culture Studies | Faculty of Humanities | Muntstraat 2a, 3512 EV Utrecht | Room 2.04 | [4]a.n.markham(a)uu.nl |[5]www.uu.nl/staff/anmarkham | professional website:[6]https://annettemarkham.com Recent Publications: Markham, A. (2024). Algorithms as conversational partners: Looking at Google auto-predict through the lens of symbolic interaction. New Media & Society, 26(9), 5059-5080. [7]https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241251800 Markham, A., & Pronzato, R. (2023) A critical (theory) data literacy: Tales from the field. Information and Learning Sciences, 125(5/6), 293-320. [8]https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-06-2023-0087 References 1. https://fll.pubpub.org/ 2. https://fll.pubpub.org/pub/24hnndae 3. https://www.uu.nl/en/organisation/department-of-media-and-culture-studies 4. mailto:a.n.markham@uu.nl 5. http://www.uu.nl/staff/anmarkham 6. https://annettemarkham.com/ 7. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241251800 8. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-06-2023-0087

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RECORDINGS - State of the Internet 2026
by Joly MacFie 18 Feb '26

18 Feb '26

<https://isoc.live/20101> [image: ISOC LIVE] <https://isoc.live/20101> VIDEO <https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMCTOgS5GuYzh-TTOOwm1dfVCY0Z4wH-9> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/compress/sotn2026/formats=VBR%20MP3&file=/sotn2026.zip> | RECAPS EN <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/sotn2025.EN.zip> / ES <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/sotn2026.ES.zip> / FR <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/sotn2026.FR.zip> | ARCHIVE <https://archive.org/details/sotn2026> | PERMALINK <https://isoc.live/20101> On Monday February 9, 2026 the Internet Education Foundation <https://www.neted.org/> presented the 2026 State of the Internet <https://www.stateofthenet.org/> (SOTN) conference in Washington DC. Annually attracting over 600 attendees, the State of the Net Conference provides unparalleled opportunities to network and engage on key policy issues. It is also the only Internet policy conference with over 50 percent of Congressional staff and government policymakers in attendance, making it the perfect setting to explore important, emerging trends. AGENDA https://sotn26.sched.com/ PLENARY + BREAKOUT 1 P-1 – Welcome / Introductions Tim Lordan – Executive Director, Internet Education Foundation VIDEO <https://youtu.be/0QtFUdt2e0g> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/P-1_welcome.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150956277/> P-2 – Keynote with Arpan Sura Arpan Sura – Senior Counsel and Chief AI Officer, Federal Communications Commission VIDEO <https://youtu.be/RA9csTCzw9w> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/P-2_arpan_sura.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151066222/> P-3 – Fireside Chat with Congresswoman April McClain Delaney The Honorable April McClain Delaney – Representative of Maryland’s 6th Congressional District, U.S. House of Representatives Patience Haggin – Reporter, The Wall Street Journal VIDEO <https://youtu.be/ep0kH7UGhvw> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/P-3_april_mcclain_delaney.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150956920/> P-4 – Keynote with Commissioner Anna Gomez The Honorable Anna Gomez – Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission VIDEO <https://youtu.be/xhgbybtoQzs> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/P-4_anna_gomez.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150956623/> 1-1 – 30 for 30: 30 Years of Broadband Competition, 30 Years of What’s Next Evan Swarztrauber – Senior Fellow, Foundation for American Innovation David Don – Senior Vice President, Public Policy, Comcast Blair Levin – Policy Analyst, New Street Research Christopher Lewis – President & CEO, Public Knowledge Moderator: Kelcee Griffis – Telecom Reporter, Bloomberg News VIDEO <https://youtu.be/ZpIEkx4I2UE> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/1-1_30_for_30.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150610434> 1-2 – The Future of AI Infrastructure: Affordably Securing Energy for Innovation Lindsey Baxter Griffith – Chief Executive Officer, Clean Tomorrow Steve DelBianco – President & CEO, NetChoice Tanya Das – Vice President of Strategy, Dataerai Marsden Hanna – Head of Energy and Sustainability Policy, Google Moderator: Rebecca Kern – Senior Correspondent, The Capitol Forum VIDEO <https://youtu.be/N2ajkIEjeZk> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/1-2_ai_infrastructure.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150949938/> P-5 – Keynote with Cory Gardner The Honorable Cory Gardner – President & CEO, NCTA VIDEO <https://youtu.be/fQarqeSvj00> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/P-5_cory_gardner.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150948108/> P-6 – Keynote with Commissioner Olivia Trusty The Honorable Olivia Trusty – Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission VIDEO <https://youtu.be/gE_Mw-MV4OU> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/P-6_olivia_trusty.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150948558> P-7 – Fireside Chat with Deputy Secretary Keith Sonderling The Honorable Keith Sonderling – Deputy Secretary of Labor, Department of Labor Steve DelBianco – President & CEO, NetChoice VIDEO <https://youtu.be/fe8Lqm-eiNc> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/P-7_keith_sonderling.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150949073/> 1-3 – Verifying the Future: The Paxton Decision, Age Assurance, and the Next Phase of Online Safety Ariel Fox Johnson – Senior Advisor, Common Sense Media Sarah Scheffler – Assistant Professor, Carnegie Mellon University Jessica Melugin – Director, Competitive Enterprise Institute Jon Schweppe – Senior Advisor, American Principles Project Moderator: Ashley Gold – Senior Tech Policy Reporter, Axios VIDEO <https://youtu.be/eGid6DbsYvE> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/1-3_age_assurance.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150950445/> P-8 – Fireside Chat with Assistant Secretary Arielle Roth The Honorable Arielle Roth – Administrator, National Information and Telecommunications Administration Moderator: Daniel Lyons – Professor, Boston College Law School VIDEO <https://youtu.be/izu2ZLHXSRY> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/P-8_arielle_roth.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150946777> P-9 – Fireside Chat with Senator Scott Wiener Senator Scott Wiener – Senator for Senate District 11, California State Senate Makena Kelly – Senior Writer, WIRED VIDEO <https://youtu.be/e-jdouXqcvo> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/P-9_scott_wiener.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150949369> P-10 – Wrap Up Shane Tews – Internet Education Foundation VIDEO <https://youtu.be/KcROUqHI2BM> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/P-10_wrapup.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151064517/> BREAKOUT 2 2-1 – Hitting Refresh on Cybersecurity to Address Emerging Technologies Camille Stewart Gloster – CEO and Founder, CAS Strategies, LLC James Lewis – Distinguished Fellow, Center for European Policy Analysis Michael Daniel – President & CEO, Cyber Threat Alliance Rob Knake – CEO, TPO Group Moderator: Shane Tews – President, Logan Circle Strategies VIDEO <https://youtu.be/0OBrjG9QhXw> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/2-1_cybersecurity.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150954510/> 2-2 – Making BEAD a Success To Connect All Americans Nicol Turner Lee – Senior Fellow, Governance Studies and Director, Center for Technology Innovation, The Brookings Institution Lyndsay Moyer – Vice President, State Government Affairs, Comcast Paul Garnett – Founder and CEO, Vernonburg Group Joseph Wender – Executive Director, SHLB Coalition Moderator: Chris Teale – Managing Editor, Route Fifty VIDEO <https://youtu.be/pMMHbyFOck4> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/2-2_bead.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150950857/> 2-3 – Sovereign AI and the New Internet Order: Governing Intelligence Across Borders Kellee Wicker – Vice President of the Center for Technology, Innovation, and Space, Meridian International Center Caitlin Clarke – Senior Director for Cybersecurity Services, Venable LLP Morgan Reed – President, ACT | The App Association Adrian Shahbaz – Vice President, Research and Analysis, Freedom House Moderator: Nancy Scola – Journalist VIDEO <https://youtu.be/yWEeOHuwLHA> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/2-3_sovereign_ai.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150951219/> BREAKOUT 3 3-1 – Chatting with Machines: Mental Health, AI Companions, and the New Psychology of Connection Amina Fazlullah – Head of Tech Policy Advocacy, Common Sense Media Amanda Lenhart – Senior Fellow, Joan Ganz Cooney Center Adam Thierer – Senior Fellow, R Street Institute Shae Gardner – Director of Policy and Research, LGBT Tech Moderator: Amrith Ramkumar – Reporter, The Wall Street Journal VIDEO <https://youtu.be/yRLNpf97suo> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/3-1_ai_companions.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150954165/> 3-2 – AI Liability: Who’s Responsible When Machines Act? Tod Cohen – Partner, Manatt, Phelps & Phillips Helen Toner – Interim Executive Director, Center for Security and Emerging Technology Neil Chilson – Head of AI Policy, Abundance Institute Aaron Rieke – Senior Partner, Clarion AI Partners Moderator: Miranda Bogen – Director, AI Governance Lab, Center for Democracy & Technology VIDEO <https://youtu.be/van5-ZEKQu0> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/3-2_ai_liability.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150955982/> 3-3 – The New Frontiers of Speech Ashkhen Kazaryan – Senior Legal Fellow, Future of Free Speech at Vanderbilt University Corbin Barthold – Internet Policy Counsel and Director of Appellate Litigation, TechFreedom Joel Thayer – President, Digital Progress Institute Moderator: Luke Hogg – Director of Policy and Outreach, Foundation for American Innovation VIDEO <https://youtu.be/sWMwjUGNvJQ> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/3-3_speech.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/150955555/> LIGHTNING TALKS L-01 – The Missing Network Layer: Why AI Needs Its Own ARPANET Moment Andrew Trask – Executive Director, OpenMined VIDEO <https://youtu.be/1yyy5neLvNI> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-01_missing_network_layer.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151041878> L-02 – Time to Prove We’re Human Nick Pickles – Chief Policy Officer, Tools for Humanity VIDEO <https://youtu.be/q251lnnqRYM> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-02_time_to_prove_were_human.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151043314/> L-03 – The State of the Open Web Stan Adams – Lead Public Policy Specialist, Wikimedia Foundation Lila Bailey – Senior Policy Counsel, Internet Archive VIDEO <https://youtu.be/lDQHQLgyOho> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-03_state_of_the_open_web.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151043627/> L-04 – Open Sourcing Safety: Why The Internet Needs Shared Tools, Not Silos Naren Koneru – Vice President of Engineering, Roblox VIDEO <https://youtu.be/NPKAYlnkK_Y> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-04_open_sourcing_safety.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151044139/> L-05 – Lightning Talks Session 1 Q&A Andrew Trask – OpenMined Nick Pickles – Tools for Humanity Stan Adams – Wikimedia Foundation Lila Bailey – Internet Archive Naren Koneru – Roblox VIDEO <https://youtu.be/07vYnh2u4_E> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-05_lightning_talks_session_1_qa.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151044440/> L-06 – From Research Labs to Policy Agendas Jeremy Epstein – Co-Director, Institute for Cybersecurity and Resilient Infrastructure Studies, Georgia Tech VIDEO <https://youtu.be/4bb0nNUPHVw> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-06_research_labs_to_policy_agendas.…> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151044685/> L-07 – A Proactive Response to AI-Driven Job Displacement Revana Sharfuddin – Research Fellow, Mercatus Center at George Mason University VIDEO <https://youtu.be/S31KpjiX9-s> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-07_ai_driven_job_displacement.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151044990/> L-08 – What’s the Value of Privacy? A New Approach to Regulating Data Sydney Saubestre – Senior Policy Analyst, Open Technology Institute, New America VIDEO <https://youtu.be/cENCZ9FgZIc> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-08_value_of_privacy.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151045270/> L-09 – Cybersecurity for AI that Acts: Agents and Vulnerability Management Heather West – Senior Director, Cybersecurity and Privacy Services, Venable LLP VIDEO <https://youtu.be/WcZoNTPYaNE> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-09_cybersecurity_for_ai_agents.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151045678/> L-10 – AI Memory as a Governance Surface: Prioritizing User Privacy and Control Ruchika Joshi – AI Governance Fellow, Center for Democracy & Technology VIDEO <https://youtu.be/9-Ij5Gib3Gs> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-10_ai_memory_governance.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151046363/> L-11 – Lightning Talks Session 2 Q&A Jeremy Epstein – Georgia Tech Revana Sharfuddin – Mercatus Center Sydney Saubestre – New America Heather West – Venable LLP Ruchika Joshi – Center for Democracy & Technology VIDEO <https://youtu.be/BTWECggMHlY> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-11_lightning_talks_session_2_qa.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151047382/> L-12 – Defining Technologies: Which Definition of AI Should Policymakers Use? Nicholas Garcia – Senior Policy Counsel, Public Knowledge VIDEO <https://youtu.be/p4vec-EvHLo> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-12_defining_ai_for_policymakers.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151047749/> L-13 – Why 7 GHz Spectrum Matters for the Future of Wi-Fi Rikin Thakker – Chief Technology Officer, NCTA – The Internet & Television Association VIDEO <https://youtu.be/Ain_OL4CS2Q> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-13_why_7ghz_spectrum_wifi.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151049349/> L-14 – What 6G Should Be: Ubiquitous and Seamless Connectivity, Not Just Another ‘G’ Michael Calabrese – Director, Wireless Future at New America VIDEO <https://youtu.be/0UYH6KIHFIw> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-14_what_6g_should_be.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151049613/> L-15 – The Hidden Regulators: Public Utility Commissions and AI Governance Scott Babwah Brennen – Director of the Center on Technology Policy, New York University VIDEO <https://youtu.be/HTYdZ8Q39V8> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-15_public_utility_commissions_ai.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151049991/> L-16 – Balancing Privacy and Power: How Data Governance Will Shape AI’s Future Lauren Culbertson Grieco – President, The Ledyard Group VIDEO <https://youtu.be/dWe-fuqo9T4> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-16_data_governance_ai_future.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151050541/> L-17 – Lightning Talks Session 3 Q&A Nicholas Garcia – Public Knowledge Rikin Thakker – NCTA Michael Calabrese – New America Scott Babwah Brennen – NYU Lauren Culbertson Grieco – The Ledyard Group VIDEO <https://youtu.be/1wTr-gvKhgU> | AUDIO <https://archive.org/download/sotn2026/L-17_lightning_talks_session_3_qa.mp3> | RECAP <https://www.patreon.com/posts/151050920/> - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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DIGITOX March 17 on digital disconnection and wellbeing + more seminars/conferences
by Trine Syvertsen 18 Feb '26

18 Feb '26

Welcome to the International Seminar Series on Connection and Disconnection. March 17. 14:00 – 15:00 on digital disconnection and wellbeing: motivations, effects, and expressions, with Douglas Parry and Alicia Gilbert. Details here https://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/research/projects/digital-disconnection/e… Contact me for a Zoom link, or join the DIGITOX mailing list (below), where the links are published More seminars: March 17. 14:00 – 15:00 on digital disconnection and wellbeing: motivations, effects, and expressions, with Douglas Parry and Alicia Gilbert. April 30, 14:00 - 15:00 on online/offline experiences and tensions in social spaces: coffee shops, libraries and cultural events, with Alexanda Kviat, Gunn Enli and Kari Spjeldnæs. More seminars will be scheduled for the spring term PRECONFERENCE: The fifth disconnection preconference will be held at the upcoming ECREA conference in Brno, the Czech Republic, in 2026. The call is here: https://ecrea2026brno.eu/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/6.-CFA_ECREA26_Preconfe… The organisers also use the disconnection list (below) to inform about the preconference. Best regards, Trine ------ We run two mailing lists, join DIGITOX list for our digital seminars. DIGITOX MAILING LIST: digitox-info: info from Digitox about our seminar series. To join, write an email to sympa(a)media.uio.no and write subscribe digitox-info in the subject field. To unsubscribe: Write an email to sympa(a)media.uio.no and write unsubscribe digitox-info in the subject field (or let me know that you want to be taken off the list). DISCONNECTION-LIST (general list) disconnection-research: to post information about research, publications, events etc. All members can post. To join: write to sympa(a)media.uio.no and write subscribe disconnection-research in the subject field. DO YOU HAVE A NEW PUBLICATION? OR A CFP? NOTIFY PEOPLE USING THE DISCONNECTION LIST; ALL MEMBERS CAN POST ON THIS LIST ------------------------------------------------------- Trine Syvertsen, professor, IMK, UiO Project: Intrusive media, ambivalent users and digital detox (NFR) Author of Digital detox: The politics of disconnecting (Emerald 2020) Newest book: The Digital Backlash and the Paradoxes of Disconnection (open access, Nordicom, 2024) https://www.nordicom.gu.se/sv/publikationer/digital-backlash-and-paradoxes-…

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Call for Papers: Online Symposium on Influencer Diplomacy [24 April 2026]
by Faye Mercier (Student) 17 Feb '26

17 Feb '26

*Call for Papers: Influencer Diplomacy Symposium, Friday, 24 April 2026 (Online)* *Applications now open, closing 16 March 2026* *For more details, click here https://ierlab.com/influencer-diplomacy/ * ** The Influencer Ethnography Research Lab (IERLab) is calling for submissions for our upcoming symposium on Influencer Diplomacy, to be held online via Zoom on 24 April 2026. Recent research on influencers has highlighted their growing presence in political arenas. Concepts such as ‘political influencers’ (Schwemmer & Riedl 2025), ‘political relational influencers’ (Goodwin et al. 2023), ‘propaganda influencers’ (Woolley 2022), or ‘influencers as ideological intermediaries’ (Arnesson 2023) capture the varied ways creators engage with political content, whether by shaping public opinion, amplifying state messaging, or embodying ideological narratives. Within these political capacities, influencers are playing an increasingly prominent role in diplomacy, though their involvement is met with mixed responses. For example, the European Union’s use of influencers on platforms such as TikTok to engage younger audiences reflects an institutional embrace of influencer-led diplomacy (DiSario 2026), as does the positive reception of American streamer iShowSpeed’s state-sanctioned tour of China (Latifah Aini 2025). By contrast, Chachavalpongpun (2025) critiques how influencers have leveraged the Thai–Cambodian border conflict to expand their digital visibility in ways that intensify geopolitical tensions, while Colombian influencers have faced backlash for promotional activities in Israel (Freixes 2025). Together, these examples reveal that the involvement of influencers in diplomatic arenas warrants closer attention, as they are not merely amplifying diplomatic messages but are actively shaping diplomatic processes, mediating between publics, political conflict, and state agendas. Research on political influencers has shown how digitally native creators blend advocacy (Riedl et al. 2021; Martin et al. 2024), self-branding (Ong et al. 2022), and platform vernaculars (Harris et al. 2023) to engage audiences through affective and narrative labour (Goodwin et al. 2023; Martin et al. 2024). While this literature has focused primarily on domestic politics, recent studies demonstrate growing overlaps between influencer practices and diplomacy. For example, Lo Presti et al. (2025) identify ‘geopolitical influencers’ shaping public discourse around international conflicts, while Arnesson (2024) shows how state-sponsored trips by Swedish influencers function as soft power and perception management. Influencers also enact diplomacy through semi-official and spontaneous practices, including war influencing (Divon & Eriksson Krutrök 2025; Taher et al. 2025;) and activist interventions that reshape international perceptions of nationhood (Casas 2025). Taken together, these studies reveal influencers operating across multiple diplomatic registers, yet without a shared definition of ‘influencer diplomacy’. The uncertain boundaries of ‘influencer diplomacy’ reflects broader transformations in diplomacy itself. Diplomacy has traditionally been understood as negotiation among states through official representatives (Cornago 2022). However, diplomacy has expanded beyond its traditional focus on state actors, to include a broader range of actors and practices. Cultural diplomacy shifts representation away from diplomats, with the state using culture to foster trust, promote the nation, and shape international perceptions (Kim 2017). Citizen diplomacy moves diplomacy further from the state, as individuals undertake diplomatic work through journalism, activism, and community initiatives, acting as political agents in their own right (Anton & Moise 2022). Meanwhile, everyday diplomacy highlights how diplomacy unfolds in ordinary, mundane encounters, showing how international relations are experienced and enacted outside formal state institutions (Jones & Clark 2015; Marsden et al. 2016). In the age of influencers, diplomacy is shaped further by branding infrastructures, visibility economies, and platform logics. For example, government–influencer collaborations are often regulated through commercial frameworks that inadequately capture their political implications (Annabell et al. 2025), while political and diplomatic communication increasingly adopts influencer-oriented logics of metrics, relatability, and attention—or ‘wanghong thinking’—shaping practices in China (Xu 2024). Meanwhile, influencers on platforms like TikTok also enable states to reach foreign audiences while circumventing official restrictions (Fjällhed et al. 2024), raising concerns about instrumentalisation and blurred boundaries with propaganda (Ong et al. 2022; Reveilhac 2025; Wooley 2022; Xu & Schneider 2025). Scholars further question who counts as an influencer and what agency these actors hold: Anton and Moise (2022) situate influencer diplomacy within citizen and informal diplomacy; Casas (2025) includes artists, minor celebrities, activists, and indigenous cultural producers; and Tian et al. (2025) and Manfredi et al. (2024) highlight overlaps between politicians, influencers, and citizen journalists, underscoring the lack of a shared definition. Context-specific studies illustrate how influencer diplomacy operates across multiple registers and produces varied impacts. In Indonesia, for example, influencers can soften national symbolism, potentially signalling shifts in paternalistic governance, while also intersecting with nation branding moments such as sporting events (Li & Feng 2022; Ratriyana et al. 2024). In China, state-curated collaborations privilege particular racialised and national subjectivities, raising questions about imagined diplomatic audiences, while foreign YouTubers are incorporated into official networks through reposting by diplomats and state media (Brockling et al. 2023; Cho-Li et al. 2025). In Russia, unofficial actors such as the Night Wolves biker group are embedded within national influence ecosystems (Boichak 2023). Wartime and border-region contexts further illustrate these dynamics: Brazilian influencers shape narratives around the Russia-Ukraine war (Pelevina & Salojärvi 2025), and 'pro-China foreign political influencers' share content across borders in international contexts to reshape global reputation and national image (Tian et al. 2025). Studies also highlight influencers’ own strategies, balancing official collaborations, spontaneous content, personal branding, audience expectations, and political sensitivities, while leveraging participation for visibility and professional gain in China and Korea (Lee & Abidin 2022; Lee & Alhabash 2022; Xu & Qu 2025). At the level of everyday diplomacy and transnational imaginaries, Chinese vloggers also participate in shaping ‘unofficial geopolitics’ in Pakistan (Zoppolato & Culcasi 2026). In this symposium, we focus on the generative concept that we call influencer diplomacy. We see this as the ways in which influencer cultures, practices, and industries impact diplomatic processes, from influencers assuming diplomatic roles and politicians adopting influencer strategies, to marketing firms leveraging influencer infrastructures in the mediation of international relations. Influencer diplomacy operates not only at formal state and institutional levels but also intersects with everyday politics, shaping public discourse and social engagement. Moreover, it must account for how influencers, as platform-savvy actors, tailor diplomatic communication to the vernaculars, norms, and affordances of specific digital platforms. To explore this phenomenon in more detail, the Influencer Ethnography Research Lab (IERLab) will be hosting a one-day online symposium (on Zoom) to examine the evolving practice of influencer diplomacy. We invite submissions from humanities and social sciences, including but not limited to media studies, cultural studies, sociology, anthropology, political science, area studies, and international relations. We particularly welcome submissions that focus on empirically grounded research and comparative case studies. Selected papers will be considered for a peer reviewed edited collection. As such, we are only able to consider original, previously-unpublished abstracts/papers. Suggested topics include but are not limited to: * Influencers as official and unofficial intermediaries in diplomatic endeavours * Motivations, labour, and negotiation in influencers’ diplomatic practice * Politicians adopting influencer strategies in international communication * The role of affect, intimacy, authenticity, and storytelling as diplomatic resources * Audience participation, public formation, and the politicisation of influencer collaborations * Influencer diplomacy as both a practice and a governing logic: how diplomacy increasingly ‘thinks like an influencer’ * Influencer diplomacy in crisis, conflict, humanitarian, and wartime contexts * Regulation, disclosure, and governance of state–influencer collaborations To be considered for the symposium, please submit a 250-word abstract and 100-word bio via the Google form below by 1700hrs (GMT+8) 16 March 2024. Notifications of acceptance will be sent on 20 March 2024. We gladly welcome co-authored submissions; to keep presentations consistent, each submission is limited to one presenter, preferably the corresponding author. Please submit via this form: https://forms.gle/7EWBPEuR4gk3ceKK7 All enquiries should be directed to contact(a)IERLab.com<mailto:contact@IERLab.com> Key Dates: * 16 March 2026: Abstracts and biographies due * 20 March 2026: Notifications of acceptance * 24 April 2026: Influencer Diplomacy Symposium We look forward to receiving your submissions. Faye Mercier, Wuxuan Zhang, Prof. Crystal Abidin Influencer Ethnography Research Lab (IERLab), Curtin University References: Aini, Fauzia Latifah. 2025. ‘Changing China’s Global Image through IShowSpeed Visit’. Modern Diplomacy, April 26. <https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2025/04/26/changing-chinas-global-image-through-…> https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2025/04/26/changing-chinas-global-image-through-…. Annabell, Taylor, Catalina Goanta, Thijs Kelder, and Felix Pflücke. 2025. ‘Sponsored by the State: The Private Regulation of Government Influencers’. Journal of Consumer Policy, ahead of print, September 16. <https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-025-09598-x> https://doi.org/10.1007/s10603-025-09598-x. Anton, Anca, and Raluca Moise. 2022. ‘The Citizen Diplomats and Their Pathway to Diplomatic Power’. In Diplomacy, Organisations and Citizens: A European Communication Perspective, edited by Sónia Pedro Sebastião and Susana de Carvalho Spínola. Springer International Publishing. <https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81877-7_13> https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81877-7_13. Arnesson, Johanna. 2023. ‘Influencers as Ideological Intermediaries: Promotional Politics and Authenticity Labour in Influencer Collaborations’. Media, Culture & Society 45 (3): 528–44. <https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437221117505> https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437221117505. 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Freixes, Josep. 2025. ‘Controversy over Colombian Influencers’ “War Tourism” in Israel’. Colombia One: News from Colombia and the World, November 12. <https://colombiaone.com/2025/11/12/colombia-influencers-war-tourism-israel/> https://colombiaone.com/2025/11/12/colombia-influencers-war-tourism-israel/. Goodwin, Anastasia, Katie Joseff, Martin J. Riedl, Josephine Lukito, and Samuel Woolley. 2023. ‘Political Relational Influencers: The Mobilization of Social Media Influencers in the Political Arena’. International Journal of Communication 17 (February): 21–21. Harris, Brandon C., Maxwell Foxman, and William C. Partin. 2023. ‘“Don’t Make Me Ratio You Again”: How Political Influencers Encourage Platformed Political Participation’. Social Media + Society 9 (2): 20563051231177944. <https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231177944> https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231177944. Jones, Alun, and Julian Clark. 2015. ‘Mundane Diplomacies for the Practice of European Geopolitics’. Geoforum 62 (June): 1–12. <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.03.002> https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2015.03.002. Kim, Hwajung. 2017. ‘Bridging the Theoretical Gap between Public Diplomacy and Cultural Diplomacy’. The Korean Journal of International Studies 15 (2): 293–326. <https://doi.org/10.14731/kjis.2017.08.15.2.293> https://doi.org/10.14731/kjis.2017.08.15.2.293. Lee, Heijin, and Saleem Alhabash. 2024. ‘The Role of Social Media Influencers in Public Diplomacy and Relationship Building with Foreign Publics’. SSRN Scholarly Paper No. 4915071. Social Science Research Network, August 3. <https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=4915071> https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=4915071. Lee, Jin, and Crystal Abidin. 2022. ‘Oegugin Influencers and Pop Nationalism through Government Campaigns: Regulating Foreign-Nationals in the South Korean YouTube Ecology’. Policy & Internet 14 (3): 541–57. <https://doi.org/10.1002/poi3.319> https://doi.org/10.1002/poi3.319. Li, Xiufang (Leah), and Juan Feng. 2022. ‘Influenced or to Be Influenced: Engaging Social Media Influencers in Nation Branding through the Lens of Authenticity’. Global Media and China 7 (2): 219–40. <https://doi.org/10.1177/20594364221094668> https://doi.org/10.1177/20594364221094668. Lo Presti, Letizia, Veronica Capone, and Giulio Maggiore. 2025. ‘Geopolitical influencers: examining their role in shaping opinions on international conflicts’. Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy 19 (2): 245–63. <https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-12-2024-0300> https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-12-2024-0300. Marsden, Magnus, Diana Ibañez-Tirado, and David Henig. 2016. Everyday Diplomacy. The Cambridge Journal of Anthropology. September 1. <https://doi.org/10.3167/ca.2016.340202> https://doi.org/10.3167/ca.2016.340202. Martin, Zelly, Gabrielle D. Beacken, Inga K. Trauthig, and Samuel C. Woolley. 2024. ‘Embodied Political Influencers: How U.S. Anti-Abortion Actors Co-Opt Narratives of Marginalization’. 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Schwemmer, Carsten, and Magdalena Riedl. 2025. ‘From Hashtags to Ballots: Conceptualizing Political Influencers and Evaluating Their Impact on Election Outcomes’. PLOS ONE 20 (5): e0321592. <https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321592> https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321592. Taher, Ahmed, Hoda El Kolaly, and Nourhan Tarek. 2025. ‘Examining Crisis Communication in Geopolitical Conflicts: The Micro-Influencer Impact Model’. Journalism and Media 6 (3). <https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia6030116> https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia6030116. Tian, Leiyuan, Fan Liang, and Zhao Alexandre Huang. 2025. ‘China Defenders From Abroad: Exploring Pro-China Foreign Political Influencers on X/Twitter’. Social Media + Society 11 (3): 20563051251358526. <https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251358526> https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051251358526. Woolley, Samuel C. 2022. ‘Digital Propaganda: The Power of Influencers’. Journal of Democracy 33 (3): 115–29. 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The World According to Military Targeting, online book talk and discussion with Erik Reichborn-Kjennerud, 25th Feb 3-5pm CET
by Patrick Smith 17 Feb '26

17 Feb '26

Dear colleagues, With apologies for cross-posting. The Emergent Nonfiction Lab (part of the Counter Evidentiary Futures project) at the University of Salford welcomes Erik Reichborn-Kjennerud (Senior Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs) for this online talk on his recent book The World According to Military Targeting, on 25th Feb 3-5pm CET. You can register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-world-according-to-military-targeting-ta… “The World According to Military Targeting engages directly with our grave world condition, asking how we ended up in a “closed world” made for military targeting by military targeting. In this book, Erik Reichborn-Kjennerud explores how the operational logics and seductive forces of targeting produce a world in which the only ways to think about politics and security is through military supremacy, endless war, and global domination, with serious implications for social and political life. Offering a critical investigation of military targeting through the lenses of its historical formation, current operations, and future implications, the author presents an innovative investigation into targeting’s radical knowledge production, how it abstracts and brings into being new worlds, and the violence and destructive effects it generates. Through an interdisciplinary lens, the book draws attention to military doctrine and methodologies; statistical thought and practice; the mathematical and computational techniques of data production, processing, and modeling; and the so-called machine-learning algorithms and AI of today. The resulting narrative provides novel insights into how imagining the world, producing the world, and operationalizing the world are always wrapped up in each other and profoundly embedded in sociotechnical systems” - MIT Press. “Providing a master class in deep and generative scholarship, Reichborn-Kjennerud chronicles the deadly logics that perpetuate worlds of warfighting, from the systems thinking of the last century to the data-driven algorithms of the present - Lucy Suchman, Professor Emerita, Lancaster University. Erik Reichborn-Kjennerud holds an PhD in War Studies from King’s College London and an MA in Security Policy Studies from The George Washington University. His research interests include contemporary Western warfare, war and technology, military theory and operational thinking and practice, critical IR theories and Science and Technology Studies. Best, Patrick -- Dr. Patrick Brian Smith Assistant Professor and University Fellow School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology University of Salford

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