Sorry for eventual cross-posting. Last Call for Papers for the Conference "The Good, the Bad and the Challenging. The user and the future of information and communication technologies" in Copenhagen, May 13th through 15th, 2009 organised by the COST Action 298 "Participation in the Broadband Society" is still open! Contributions on a broad variety of social aspects of information and communication technologies (ICTs) are welcome. Abstracts may be submitted until 15 October 2008, and should be posted via the conference website, where you will also find more informations on the the programme, the different strands and other details of the conference: http://conference2009.cost298.org/ The important dates for contributors are, at a glance: - Deadline for abstract submission: 15th October 2008 - Notification of the acceptance of abstracts: 1st December 2008 - Deadline for authors´ delivery of paper in order to be included in the printed programme and the proceedings: 1st February 2009 - Conference: 13th-15th May 2009 The abstracts can cover a range of contributions such as empirical studies, literature reviews, theoretical discussions, etc. But in all cases authors should provide background information relating to the topic, the actual question being addressed, methodology if appropriate and indicate main findings, arguments or conclusions. All abstracts should be prepared in electronic form. Abstracts must be written in English and typed with single line spacing. No formulas, symbols, mathematical notation or sub/superscripts are allowed. Abstracts should be 300-600 words. No abstract fee is required. Authors are required indicate in which strand the paper would most appropriately fit and make use of the template for the abstract that will be available online. Both academics and practitioners are invited to submit presentations. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the conference, abstracts will be reviewed by a combination of members of the Steering Committee, the International Programme Committee and others with relevant expertise. Notification of acceptance will be given by 1st December 2009. All withdrawals should be sent to the Conference Chair. About COST 298: COST 298 is an Action in the domain `Information and Communication Technologies´ of COST, an intergovernmental framework for European Co-operation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research. In COST 298 European scientists from telecommunication research departments, universities and operators together with independent consultants collaborate in cross-disciplinary groups to analyse the social dimensions of people´s relationships to information and communication technologies. The Actions have produced a range of articles reports such as Communications on the Move: The Experience of mobile Telephony in the 1990s (1997) and the books Everyday Innovators, Researching the Role of Users in Shaping ICTs (2005) and The Social Dynamics of Information and Communication Technology (2008) based on previous conferences. More information is available on our website at http://www.cost298.org _____________________________________________________________ -- .......................................... Dr. Frank Thomas FTR Internet Research 93110 Rosny-sous-Bois France