*** Apologies for possible cross postings *** IAMCR-CTP Porto Alegre - Call for Papers The Communications Technology Policy section invites submission of abstracts for papers and posters to be presented at the 2004 IAMCR Conference to be held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, 25.-30. July 2004. The Conference will be held under the theme: Communication and Democracy: Perspectives for a New World. More information about the conference is available at: http://www.pucrs.br/famecos/iamcr/ Digital technology opens up new possibilities for democratization. Through ICTs citizens may get better access to information and find new means to participate in democratic debate and decision-making. Yet, there are a number of political and social challenges to enable these potentials to be fully realized on local, national and global levels. These challenges include questions of culture, capabilities, access and social inclusion, of the openness of the networks and of the possibilities for citizens to use ICTs effectively for participatory purposes. How does policy address these issues - and how does this interact with new market developments? How do user aspects enable or constrain possibilities of digital participation? What new dimensions of research can contribute to a better understanding of the relationships between policy, information and communication technology and democracy? Papers and posters to be presented in the CTP Section should relate to the overall theme of the conference and contributions on the following sub-themes are especially invited: * Digital Divide vs Democratic Inclusion - political, social and cultural challenges on local and global levels. * Structures and governance of the liberalized ICT industries. * Strategies and policies regarding gate keepers in converging markets. * Global Technologies and Local Power Relations - policies, adaptation and use at community levels. The CTP section encourages papers that address these themes from the perspective of the production and/or consumption of technologies. Although the sub-themes above are of particular interest, the section welcomes submissions on closely related issues and will give consideration to such abstracts. The section encourages papers offering theoretically informed and empirically grounded contributions. Abstracts of about 500 words should be sent by 14. February 2003 to iamcr-ctp@encip.org. In addition you should also put the four e-mail addresses of the section heads and deputies in CC (Carbon Copy) (hdunn@cwjamaica.com, Verhoest2@stb.tno.nl, jo.pierson@vub.ac.be, tanja.storsul@media.uio.no). Please indicate whether the abstract is intended for the paper or poster sessions. All prospective presenters will be advised by 12. April 2004 of the outcome of their applications. The full text of accepted papers would be due for submission no later than 13. July 2004. For updates and further information about the section, please visit eCTP - the section's website: http://www.komdat.sbg.ac.at/ectp/