Challenges and Opportunities of Internet Technologies to Support Social Networks of Urban Residents Two panel members had to cancel their submission and I'm looking for two presenters to fill these spots. Organised panel proposals present a coherent group of papers on a single theme. Please find the panel outline below. If this panel captures your interest, you are attending AoIR 7.0 in Brisbane and are interested to be a member of this panel, please send me an abstract (500-750 words) by 31 July 2006 to m.foth@qut.edu.au thanks marcus Panel Proposal Developers and governments around the world are struggling to achieve socially sustainable neighbourhood communities in master-planned residential developments. This panel will bring together leading researchers from a variety of disciplines to debate the challenges and opportunities of internet technologies to facilitate and support meaningful social interaction between residents in urban neighbourhoods. Focusing on the network qualities of social interaction in communities of place, the panel will discuss the panelists’ research findings that have the potential to inform the design of innovative new media and ICT systems for use in master- planned residential developments: peer-to-peer publishing, tools for vernacular creative expression, social networking applications, ambient technologies and locative media. Some of these studies are informed by urban sociology, ethnographic work, rapid prototyping, evaluation cycles, participatory design and sociocultural animation. Some of the key questions to be discussed include: What are the implications of networked individualism on internet technologies? How do urban residents connect with each other to create and maintain social networks and how can new media and ICT systems better support the interaction in those networks? How does private peer-to-peer interaction between urban residents differ from collective community interaction and what impacts does that have on new media and ICT design, social capital, local innovation and community efficacy? How can new media and ICT systems, devices and applications be designed to negotiate a balance between the opportunities of interactive services and locative media on the one side and issues of access, trust and privacy on the other? What is the role of locally relevant content (personal and community images and narratives) in the establishment and sustainability of meaningful social networks? How can new media and ICT systems be designed to inform social spaces for residents – private and public, and online and offline – towards facilitating social networking as well as civic engagement and local socio-economic innovation? Sustainability is pursued by working across community, business and government stakeholders to encourage social and economic innovation. The hypothesis to be tested by the panel is the claim that by careful attention to cultural and social assets in the community, innovations will be engendered which enhance economic and social development locally. This in turn will lead to greater social inclusion, fair access to and smart use of information and services, urban sustainability and healthier local economies. Understanding the opportunities afforded by digital augmentation of social networks will help urban residents negotiate the complex web of daily choices, access a greater social safety net and participate in the socio- cultural and socio-economic life of their neighbourhood and city. Panel members (TBC): Marcus Foth (Chair), Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia Michael Arnold, Christopher Shepherd, & Martin Gibbs, University of Melbourne, Australia Peter Day, School of Computing, Mathematical and Information Sciences, University of Brighton, UK Steven McEachern, Helen Thompson, Centre for Regional Innovation and Competitiveness, University of Ballarat, Australia -- Dr Marcus Foth BMultimedia BCompSc(Hons) MA PhD m.foth@qut.edu.au - http://www.vrolik.de/ Australian Postdoctoral Fellow Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation Queensland University of Technology (CRICOS No. 00213J) Creative Industries Precinct, Brisbane QLD 4059, Australia Phone +61 7 3138 8772 - Fax 8195 - Room Z6-511 http://ici.qut.edu.au/