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New book on how to fix a broken internet
by Rodney Jones 06 Nov '25

06 Nov '25

My new book on digital literacies is now available open access from Routledge: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mono/10.4324/9780429328480/innovatio… Innovations and Challenges in Digital Literacies: Literacies of Repair Innovations and Challenges in Digital Literacies questions whether the current theoretical frameworks and pedagogical practices around digital literacies are sufficient to confront the technological, social, and political crises around digital media that we are experiencing today. Drawing on extensive research in digital literacies, discourse analysis, and sociotechnical systems, Jones reimagines digital literacies not simply as skills for making meaning and navigating information but as a more holistic project of figuring out how to ‘fix’ what is ‘broken’ about the internet and our broader societies. The book focuses on seven key ‘sites of repair’―action, attention, affect, affinity, visibility, truth, and humanity―each site offering insights into how agency, emotions, relationships, knowledge, and ‘intelligence’ emerge through our entanglements with digital technologies. The text aims to provoke debate about how we define digital literacies in an age of political polarisation and rapid technological change. It provides powerful tools for teaching, learning, and living more ethically with digital media. With this book, Jones invites readers to see themselves not just as users of digital technology, but as fixers of broken systems―and caretakers of our increasingly fragile world. This approach provides a framework for educators, students, and researchers to collaboratively develop practical strategies to challenge the logics of technological and social systems, cultivating new literacies for an age of online misinformation, algorithmic governance, and generative AI. Open Access for this book was funded by the University of Reading, UK. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license. Reviews "Rodney Jones has written the book our moment needs. Literacies of Repair refuses the easy story that ‘the internet broke us’ and instead offers a humane, systemic way to mend―beginning with how people actually live, feel, learn, and act together. Jones moves beyond checklist ‘digital skills’ to show how action, attention, affect, affinity, visibility, truth, and humanity intertwine in real practices. This is not a cynical autopsy of platforms; it’s a design manual for communities who want to reclaim agency―what he calls agencing―and cultivate cultures of care." James Paul Gee, Regents’ Professor, Emeritus, Arizona State University "Rodney Jones offers a bold, pathbreaking vision of digital literacies as practices not just of critique but of repair. Urging us to confront the brokenness of the internet, and reorienting literacy towards care, agency, and collective action, this book is a powerful call to rediscover what truly matters in a digitally mediated, fractured world." Ron Darvin Associate Professor, The University of British Columbia About the Author Rodney H. Jones is Professor of Sociolinguistics and Digital Media in the Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics at the University of Reading, UK. He has published widely in the fields of digital literacies, health communication, and language and creativity. Rodney H. Jones FAcSS Professor of Sociolinguistics Director of Postgraduate Research Department of English Language & Applied Linguistics University of Reading

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Online events - Explore machine & AI ethics & blockchains in the transparent market
by Kitty Lo 06 Nov '25

06 Nov '25

As AI grows smarter and more autonomous, it’s stepping into roles that once need human judgment. But can machines truly understand right from wrong? Join us for an engaging talk on machine ethics — where philosophy meets technology. Discover how experts are teaching AI to make moral choices, what challenges lie ahead, and the crucial question: Whose morals should machines follow? This talk will be presented by Prof Marija Slavkovik<https://www.linkedin.com/in/marija-slavkovik-a61a101/>, Vice-president of European Association for Artificial Intelligence (EurAI)<https://www.eurai.org/>. Date & Time: 9 December | 1-3PM | Register here: https://tinyurl.com/4dznkhjb ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Public blockchains are transparent, but most data are too complex to use — until now. Blockchain intelligence tools turn raw data into insights, shaping markets, enabling smarter oversight, and supporting new business models. Join Jonathan Reiter, blockchain expert of 2 decades, to explore how transparency drives efficient, innovative digital asset ecosystems. Register now and see how blockchain intelligence is transforming markets! https://tinyurl.com/44sw33ky Date & Time: 3 December | 12-1PM kitty.lo(a)manchester.ac.uk<mailto:kitty.lo@manchester.ac.uk> | Communications and Engagement Coordinator | Research Platforms Team - Digital Futures<http://www.digitalfutures.manchester.ac.uk/> | The University of Manchester | Pronouns (She/her) Christie Building | The University of Manchester | Oxford Road | M13 9PL Sign up to the Digital Futures newsletter here - https://tinyurl.com/digitalfuturesuom We are on Bluesky! Follow Digital Futures: @digitaluom.bsky.social<https://bsky.app/profile/digitaluom.bsky.social>

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New report on high-influence public platform data
by Leticia Bode 06 Nov '25

06 Nov '25

Dear all, Today, KGI is launching a report about high-influence public platform data, an important topic for many on this list. Online platforms shape what we know, how we connect, and who gets heard. >From elections and public health to commerce and conflict, they’ve become the core infrastructure of civic life. Yet as critical conversations unfold publicly on digital platforms, the ability to study them at scale has steadily diminished. While researcher access to public platform data is shrinking, the same data is being monetized by platforms, advertisers, data brokers, and AI firms. This imbalance – where companies profit while independent researchers are left in the dark – undermines transparency, limits free expression, and weakens oversight. Our new report Better Access: Data for the Common Good <https://kgi.georgetown.edu/research-and-commentary/better-access/>, developed by KGI’s Expert Working Group on Public Platform Data <https://kgi.georgetown.edu/expert-working-groups/publicly-available-platfor…>, offers a roadmap to advance transparency and accountability in the digital public sphere. Better Access puts forward a baseline framework for independent access to public platform data – the content, data, and information posted to platforms that anyone can access. But not all public data carries the same weight. From world leaders’ online statements to an influencer's viral videos that shape public discourse, Better Access focuses on high-influence public platform data – the narrow slice of public data with the greatest impact on civic life due to its reach, source, or role in shaping what people see online. The stakes could not be clearer: when independent access to high-influence public platform data disappears, so does society’s ability to understand and protect itself. Read the full report here: https://kgi.georgetown.edu/research-and-commentary/better-access/ The KGI Team

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First announcement and Call for submissions: NordiCHI 2026 in Vaasa, Finland, October 3-7 2026
by Laura Havinen 06 Nov '25

06 Nov '25

First announcement and Call for submissions: NordiCHI 2026 in Vaasa, Finland, October 3-7 2026 **Apologies for cross-postings** We are excited to open the Call for Submissions for NordiCHI 2026! Calls for research papers, critiques, panels, industry experience papers, arts-based approaches, workshops, tutorials, demos, late-breaking work, and doctoral consortium contributions for NordiCHI´26 are now available at the conference website: https://nordichi2026.org/ The biannual NordiCHI is one of the key venues for human-computer interaction (HCI) research in the world, bringing together a global community of researchers and practitioners, including you! In 2026, NordiCHI will take place in Vaasa, Finland on October 3-7. The conference is jointly organized by Åbo Akademi University and University of Vaasa. The conference theme is Pulse - exploring the energy that drives us, representing the dynamic highs and calm lows of life, keeping us thriving. Vaasa is known for both its vibrant energy industry as the Nordic energy cluster and the tranquility of its surrounding nature and UNESCO World Heritage site. Our ambition is for the conference to energize its participants through inspiring encounters and opportunities to truly feel the pulse of the HCI field. Submission deadlines: - April 16, 2026: Research Paper abstracts and metadata - April 23, 2026: Research Papers, Critiques, Panels, Arts-Based Approaches, Industry Experience - May 7, 2026: Workshops, Tutorials - May 18, 2026: Late-Breaking Work, Demos, Doctoral Consortium Join us in Vaasa for an inspiring NordiCHI 2026! Warm regards, Susanne Hägglund and Laura Havinen General Chairs NordiCHI 2026 https://nordichi2026.org/

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CfP Trust, Mistrust and Community - Annual Conference of the Association for Psychosocial Studies
by Jacob Johanssen 06 Nov '25

06 Nov '25

*Trust, Mistrust and Community* *Annual Conference of the Association for Psychosocial Studies (APS)* *12-13 June 2026* *St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London TW1 4SX * https://www.psychosocial-studies-association.org/conference-2026/ *Call for Papers* *Deadline: 10 February 2026* Trust is a fundamental aspect of human life, bound up with care, security, dependence, interdependence, and the unknown. Both trust and mistrust are necessary, if not foundational, to individual relationships, political and social life. They affect the ways in which we lean on and critically evaluate the socio-technical systems, analogue and digital, that form the infrastructures of contemporary societies. Trust also draws on fantasy as a constructive dynamic, enabling imaginations that contain aspects of the unknown and the incomprehensible. Mistrust on the other hand fuels dystopian imaginaries that stimulate conspiracies, cultural contagion and echo-chambers leading to social defences against invasion, contamination and overwhelm. Despite its apparent commonsense nature, trust rarely invites reflection. Related concepts such as faith, confidence, mistrust, and distrust form a complex family. In post-truth times, where misinformation and disinformation proliferate, deciding what or whom to trust has become both crucial and increasingly fraught. Trust and mistrust operate dialectically: trust is conditional and requires scepticism and criticality, while unmitigated mistrust becomes corrosive, undermines discernment and elicits paranoia. This can foster collapse into narcissistic isolation. The challenge today is how to understand and calibrate trust and mistrust without collapsing into distrust and powerlessness. Truth has long been linked to trust, yet many perspectives propose that truth itself is unstable and socially constructed. Can we bear this instability and the responsibility that it entails? We welcome contributions that may help us deepen our understanding of these aspects of our entangled conscious and unconscious psychic, social and political lives. Papers may address the following and other aspects: - The role of trust in the therapeutic alliance and the effect of current social dynamics in relational and therapeutic practices - Trust, mistrust and the challenge of community building in an age of individualism - Political trust, mistrust and distrust, feelings of powerlessness and the possibilities of agency - The difference between mistrust and distrust in political and social life: the border between critical thinking and persecutory feelings - Trust, agency and their relation to the dynamics of rupture and repair - The entangled relations between truth and trust and/or truth and knowledge - Achieving basic trust: developmental challenges in the age of fake facts and false facts - The portrayal of issues related to trust in popular culture - Trust in the media and mediatised mistrust - Trust in not knowing - Intergenerational and intersectional dynamics of trust and mistrust - Trust in nature, the non-human and the other-than-human - Trust in the future *Participation:* We invite clinicians, practitioners, and academics from various disciplines such as arts, humanities, and social sciences, and other fields to contribute. We welcome submissions for academic papers, but also for experiential events and artistic productions. Individual paper presentations are 15 minutes long. As well as new thinking and exchange of ideas, our conferences have always stimulated working relationships, partnerships and collaborations. We therefore encourage in-person attendance to foster the engagement of our psychosocial community through social events, interpersonal encounters, meals, and coffee breaks. We will work hard to make this conference an enlivening and convivial experience able to hold and metabolise the anxiety and disquiet that the theme of crisis will provoke. We hope to include an experiential stream of containment, transitional experience and reflexivity in parallel to scholarly and practitioner focussed papers. However, we also offer online participation for those who cannot attend in person due to health, environmental or financial considerations. *Conference organising committee* Jacob Johanssen (St Mary’s University) Lynn Froggett (University of Lancashire) Lita Crociani-Windland (University of the West of England) Marilyn Charles (Austen Riggs Center) María Mirón (Universidad de Monterrey) David Jones (The Open University) Rhea Gandhi (University of Edinburgh) Liz Frost (University of the West of England) Thi Gammon (University of Nottingham)

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Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: Balancing Equity, Access, and Innovation
by Mark Carrigan 06 Nov '25

06 Nov '25

Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: Balancing Equity, Access, and Innovation Dates: Tuesday 9th – Wednesday 10th June 2026 Venue: Online and in person at the Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK Organiser: Manchester Institute of Education, The University of Manchester Generative AI is rapidly changing higher education. Alongside excitement about new possibilities for learning and research, there are growing questions about who benefits and who might be left behind. This conference explores how GenAI could be used to make higher education more equitable and accessible, and how it might deepen existing divides. Bringing together researchers, educators, students, technologists, accessibility professionals and policymakers, we’ll consider the practical, ethical, and policy challenges of using GenAI to support diverse learners and learning processes. The event will mix keynotes from leading educators, researchers, and policymakers, reflective discussions, lightning talks, a workshop and research posters to create space to share ideas, surface tensions, and imagine more inclusive futures with AI in higher education. We are inviting submissions for both lightning talks and research posters. The conference will be held in a hybrid format. The lightning talks will take place in person, while research posters can be presented either online or in person. Additional information can be found below; Call for in-person Lightning Talks We invite proposals for 5–7 minute reflections on one of the following themes: 1. Highlighting best practice. Examples of what’s working, what feels promising, or what we can learn from early experimentation of using GenAI in HE. This might involve teaching, research, design, policy, or support work that uses generative AI to enhance participation, accessibility, or inclusion. 2. Reflections on challenges. Honest accounts of difficulty, tension, or uncertainty when using GenAI in HE. We’re particularly keen to hear about things that haven’t gone to plan, or that raise wider questions about equality and inclusion in the AI moment. The lightning talks are about starting conversations, not delivering finished answers. If you’ve been trying something out, or thinking critically about what others are doing, we’d love to hear from you. Call for in-person or online Research Posters We’re also inviting submissions of proposals for research posters that explore the relationship between AI, accessibility, and inclusion in higher education. This could be based on empirical research, conceptual work, a co-designed project, or an initiative still taking shape. We will ask those successful to provide a printed hard copy (in A1) to be displayed on the day, but also a digital copy so we can share it with participants online. We envisage the poster session to be a space to exchange ideas, connect across disciplines, and share work in progress as well as completed studies. We especially welcome posters that foreground student perspectives, marginalized experiences or inclusive approaches to research and design. Submission Information Please complete the submission form below by December 20th with a title and up to 150 words describing your proposed lightning talk or research poster. https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/hjQYZjPtL2 We’ll notify contributors of outcomes by January 31st 2026. Dr Mark Carrigan FRSA Senior Lecturer in Education Manchester Institute of Education University of Manchester www.markcarrigan.net *I occasionally send e-mail outside of normal hours as my preferred way of balancing multiple commitments. Please don't feel obligated to respond to this e-mail until your own working hours have resumed. * *Latest book: *Platform & Agency - Becoming Who We Are <https://www.routledge.com/Platform-and-Agency-Becoming-Who-We-Are/Carrigan/…> *Latest paper*: Teacher agency and generative artificial intelligence <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17439884.2025.2575993> *Latest chapter: *Generative AI and the next phase of the platform university <https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003442264-9/generat…> *Latest guest blog: *A new academic year has begun, but UK universities are still struggling to respond to AI <https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2025/09/26/a-new-academic-ye…>

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Three year postdoc in critical data studies in Stockholm
by Francis Lee 06 Nov '25

06 Nov '25

Please circulate widely. More information about the project and how to apply here <https://www.sh.se/english/sodertorn-university/meet-sodertorn-university/th…>. Deadline for applications: 25 Nov 2025. If you have any questions send an email to francis(a)francislee.org <mailto:francis@francislee.org>. Looking forward to your application! Francis -- Francis Lee Professor of Media Technology | Science & Technology Studies Södertörn University, Stockholm francislee.org | francis(a)francislee.org

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CFP: 21st International Conference on Persuasive Technology #Persuasive2026
by Nili Steinfeld 06 Nov '25

06 Nov '25

****** Join us in Hakodate, Japan for the 21st International Conference on Persuasive Technology ****** === The 21st International Conference on Persuasive Technology (Persuasive2026) will be held *from March 11 to 13, 2026, in Hakodate, Japan.* Persuasive Technology is an interdisciplinary field that investigates how interactive systems can influence human attitudes and behaviors through persuasion and social influence—without coercion. Since its inception in 2006, the conference has served as a global forum for researchers, practitioners, and designers interested in behavior change, digital intervention, and human-centered technologies. In 2026, the conference will be held in the scenic city of Hakodate, renowned for its blend of history, nature, and innovation. The venue, Future University Hakodate, offers a creative atmosphere that supports interdisciplinary dialogue and collaborative thinking. This year, Persuasive2026 will be co-located with the 8th International Conference on Activity and Behavior Computing (ABC2026), providing opportunities to connect with related communities and expand the scope of discussions. We look forward to welcoming you to an engaging and memorable event in northern Japan *The scope of the conference* includes, but is not limited to, the following topics: • Persuasive systems design • Behavior change support systems • Interaction with persuasive systems, interfaces, and visualizations • Interactive agents and (generative) AI for persuasion • Tailored and personalized persuasion • Gamification • Evaluation and validation methodologies • Smart environments, IoT, and contextual persuasion • Digital marketing, eCommerce, and smart cities • Motivation, cognition, perception • Application domains: health, safety, sustainability, education, work • Ethical considerations, privacy, and trust • Counter-persuasion, resilience, and social media influence *Keynote Speakers* Catherine Pelachaud (CNRS / Sorbonne University): Socially Interactive Agents as Support for Behavior Change Hiroshi Ishiguro (Osaka University / ATR): Avatar and the Future Society *Submission Deadlines* Workshop & Tutorial Proposals: October 15, 2025 Full/Short Papers: November 7, 2025 Late Breaking Results (LBR): January 11, 2026 Posters / Demos / Doctoral Consortium: January 11, 2026 Find us on: • Website: https://2026.persuasivetech.org • LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/persuasive-2026 • Twitter Account: https://x.com/Persuasive_conf *Kind Regards, * *Dr. Nili Steinfeld* Senior Lecturer, School of Communications, Ariel University Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, Cyprus University of Technology

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International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration (VARIABILITY 2026): Last Call for Research Papers (1st Round)
by Announce 06 Nov '25

06 Nov '25

*** Last Call for Research Papers (1st Round) *** 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<http://www.cs.ucy.ac.cy/~george/GPLists_2021/lm.php?tk=YWlyLWwJCQlhaXItbEBs…> The International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration (VARIABILITY 2026) invites high-quality contributions from researchers and practitioners in software engineering, systems engineering, and related disciplines focussing on a broad spectrum of methods, concepts, and tools for variability. VARIABILITY aims to be the premier forum for the exchange of ideas, experiences, and results in all aspects of software and systems variability management, reuse, software configuration, and customization. As software and systems become increasingly configurable, reusable, and adaptable, managing their variability across all lifecycle phases is more critical—and more challenging —than ever. VARIABILITY 2026 seeks to bring together the diverse communities that address these challenges from theoretical, technical, and practical perspectives. VARIABILITY results from a merge 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), 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). VARIABILITY is by design open as a conference. It welcomes new fields of variability- intensive research, such as artificial intelligence, hybrid software-hardware systems, etc. For this first edition of VARIABILITY, we strive to continue the success of the predecessor conferences ICSR, SPLC, and VaMoS by welcoming high-quality submissions for the research track in numerous closely related areas, such as systems and software product lines, systems and software reuse, configurable systems and software, product configuration, and systems and software variability. We will award the best research paper and the best artifact paper. Topics of Interest We invite contributions on variability management, reuse, and configuration across all phases of the software and systems lifecycle. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to: Requirements & Domain Engineering • Domain analysis and variability modeling • Decision modeling and support • Customization and personalization specification • Requirements variability and traceability Architecture & Design • Variability-aware software architectures • Architecture-centric product line engineering • Model-driven engineering (MDE) • Multi-product lines, program families, product lines of product lines, software ecosystems Implementation & Code Generation • Generative programming and code synthesis • Modularization techniques for reusable code • Programming languages and frameworks for variability • Open-source strategies for software reuse Testing, Verification & Quality Assurance • Testing and analysis of configurable systems • Safety and security in variable systems • Formal Methods for Software Product Lines • Non-functional properties: quality-aware analysis, quality-driven configuration • Reuse in testing, verification, and quality assurance Evolution, Maintenance & Operation • Refactoring and restructuring of configurable systems • Reverse engineering, variability mining, and refactoring • Runtime variability and dynamic (software) product lines • Maintenance strategies for large-scale reused systems • Variability in DevOps and CI/CD pipelines AI and Data-Driven Methods • Machine learning for variability management • AI-assisted product configuration • Data and repository mining from product lines and configuration histories • Recommendation systems for reuse and customization Submission Guidelines Paper Types We invite the following types of submissions: • Full Papers (up to 16 pages excluding references): Research papers must present original, unpublished work with validated results through empirical evaluation, formal analysis, or implementation-based experiments. Submissions must clearly articulate the problem, its relevance, the proposed contribution, and validation results. • Short Papers (6 - 8 pages excluding references): Short papers present early-stage research, novel ideas, or conceptual proposals that are not yet fully developed or validated but offer promising directions. These papers should articulate the vision, motivation, and potential impact. Formatting Papers must use the Springer LNCS template according to: https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gu…<http://www.cs.ucy.ac.cy/~george/GPLists_2021/lm.php?tk=YWlyLWwJCQlhaXItbEBs…> Springer provides author guidelines that should be consulted for further details: https://resource-preview-cms.springernature.com/springer-cms/rest/v1/conten…<http://www.cs.ucy.ac.cy/~george/GPLists_2021/lm.php?tk=YWlyLWwJCQlhaXItbEBs…> Submission Link Submissions should be made via Easy Chair, selecting the research track: https://easychair.org/conferences?conf=variability2026<http://www.cs.ucy.ac.cy/~george/GPLists_2021/lm.php?tk=YWlyLWwJCQlhaXItbEBs…> Paper Originality, Double-Blind Policy, Reviewing All papers must be original and not under review elsewhere. Submissions will be double- blind and reviewed by at least three experts. Submissions will be evaluated based on their novelty, relevance, rigor, transparency, and presentation. Authors of submissions to the first deadline might be invited to submit a revision of their papers to the second deadline, which will be reviewed as a revision. Accepted papers will be published in the VARIABILITY 2026 proceedings by Springer in the LNCS series. Revisions Research-track papers can be submitted to the first or second cycle. In the first cycle, papers can receive the following decisions: accept, revision, or reject. Revision means that the reviewers believe that the paper has potential, but that its quality or contribution is not yet ready for publication. Such papers are offered lightweight shepherding by a community member, who is not necessarily a PC member or reviewer. Revised papers should be submitted to the second cycle together with a response letter, explaining how the reviewer comments were addressed. They are then reviewed by the same PC members. Papers rejected in the first cycle can be resubmitted in the second cycle, but need to contain an appendix “Changes to First-Cycle Submission” at the end of the PDF (after references, regardless of the page limit) that lists the major changes in bullet-point format. Best Paper Awards Springer will sponsor the awards for bet papers with an overall amount of €1000. Journal Special Issue Selected accepted papers will be invited to submit extended versions with at least 30% additional and original material, to be published in a special issue in a reputable Software Engineering journal (currently under negotiation). Important Dates (AoE) • First Paper Submission Deadline: 4 December 2025 • First Notification of Acceptance/Revisions: 16 February 2026 • Camera-Ready Deadline of Directly Accepted Papers: 1 April 2026 • Second Paper Submission Deadline: 2 April 2026 • Second Notification of Acceptance: 1 June 2026 • Camera-Ready Deadline of Accepted Revised Papers and Directly Accepted Papers: 15 July 2025 • Author Registration: 15 July 2025 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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Special issue CFP for Asian Journal of Communication: AI for Governance in Asia: Power, Politics, and Ethics
by Jian Xu 06 Nov '25

06 Nov '25

Call for papers: AI for Governance in Asia: Power, Politics, and Ethics Special issue of Asian Journal of Communication Edited by: A/P Jian Xu (Deakin University, Australia) Prof Terence Lee (University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China) Prof Gerard Goggin (Western Sydney University, Australia) In recent years, AI governance has emerged as a critical – and inescapable – topic in digital media and communication studies, amid a global ‘race to AI regulation’ (Smuha, 2021). Scholars have examined the frameworks, policies, institutions, and practices that shape how AI is developed, deployed, and regulated worldwide. Xu, Lee, and Goggin (2024) had taken the lead in this topic when they co-edited the first special issue on AI governance in Asia – inCommunication Research and Practice journal (Volume 10, Issue 3) – which offered significant insights into the regulation, governance, and geopolitics of AI in the region and beyond. For this proposed special issue with the Asian Journal of Communication, we invite a shift in perspective from ‘AI governance' (governance of AI) to ‘AI for governance’ (governance by AI) — examining how AI itself is used as a tool for governance. This approach does not render AI governance research obsolete; rather, it complements and enriches it by critically exploring how states, institutions, and organisations deploy AI to achieve governance goals, such as policy administration, service delivery, social welfare, security, policing, surveillance, smart city, propaganda, digital diplomacy, and automated decision-making. Essentially, we seek to understand who designs and deploys AI, for what purposes, by what means, and with what consequences; and to critically interrogate how AI reproduces power, inequality, and ideology, and to develop more ethical and sustainable regulatory strategies. AI is increasingly applied for governance worldwide. For example, Albania recently appointed an AI bot as a ‘minister’ to tackle corruption. In Asia, Hangzhou, China launched City Brain 3.0 in March 2025, integrating AI technologies into urban governance. In India, political parties harnessed AI during the 2024 general elections, while in Singapore and South Korea, AI supports predictive models for disease outbreaks and other public health measures. Asia is particularly compelling for studying ‘AI for governance’ due to its diverse political systems, rapid AI adoption, varying AI readiness, close state–tech partnerships, and large populations with differing attitudes toward privacy and surveillance. Studying Asia offers unique insights into the power, politics, and ethics of AI-empowered governance. We welcome submissions offering critical, social, political, and cultural analyses of ‘AI for governance’ in Asian societies. Contributions are expected to examine how AI is employed to exercise power, manage populations, and shape social order, as well as to address the questions of accountability, transparency, fairness, ethics, and democracy that arise in the process of ‘governance by AI’. We hope the contextualised Asian case studies will help shed light on the power relations and dynamics among governments, tech companies, digital platforms, social organisations, families, and individuals involved in AI-enabled governance. We are particularly interested in topics that investigate the Asian contexts (e.g. Southeast Asia), and their minority and marginalised populations (e.g. migrants, refugees, children, and the elderly), which have often been overlooked in existing critical AI literature. Possible topics may include (but are not limited to): AI and public administration/management; AI and service delivery (e.g. healthcare, aged care, social welfare); AI, policing, surveillance and security; AI and automated decision-making; AI, smart city and urban management; AI and propaganda; AI and international communication; AI and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); AI and labour governance; Bias, discrimination and exclusion in AI-enabled governance; Ethical dilemmas and social inequalities in AI for governance; Platforms and AI for governance; State-tech relations in AI-enabled governance; Resistance and activism in response to AI for governance; Technological determinism in the age of AI; AI for governance and its disciplinary effects on individuals Timeline for publication: Abstract submission: January 19, 2026 Notice of acceptance: February 9, 2026 Invited full paper submission to the journal for peer review: July 31, 2026 Special issue publication: Mid-2027 Interested authors are invited to submit an abstract of 300-500 words, including the paper title, central argument, and methodology. A short author biography should also be provided. Please send both the abstract and author biography to the special issue editors by January 19, 2026: Jian Xu: j.xu(a)deakin.edu.au<mailto:j.xu@deakin.edu.au> Terence Lee: terence.lee(a)nottingham.edu.cn<mailto:terence.lee@nottingham.edu.cn> Gerard Goggin: g.goggin(a)westernsydney.edu.au<mailto:g.goggin@westernsydney.edu.au> Important Notice: The contents of this email are intended solely for the named addressee and are confidential; any unauthorised use, reproduction or storage of the contents is expressly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please delete it and any attachments immediately and advise the sender by return email or telephone. Deakin University does not warrant that this email and any attachments are error or virus free.

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