Apologies for multiple postings Best regards, Michel J. Menou mailto:Michel.Menou@wanadoo.fr This is a forwarded message From: larrys@vicnet.net.au <larrys@vicnet.net.au> To: communityinformatics@vancouvercommunity.net Date: Sunday, June 29, 2003, 3:29:25 PM Subject: [CI] Many Voices, Many Places - Electronically Enabling Communities for An Information Society: ===8<==============Original message text=============== We invite your participation in -- Many Voices, Many Places - Electronically Enabling Communities for An Information Society: A Colloquium Research Results, Lessons Learned, Policy Recommendations Please circulate this invitation widely to colleagues. Prato, Italy 15-16 September, 2003 www.ccnr.net/prato2003/. Second Call for Papers and Participation The Centre for Community Networking Research, Monash University, Australia and the Community Informatics Research Group at New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA , cordially invite researchers, practitioners and policy makers to participate in Many Voices Many Places - Electronically Enabling Communities for An Information Society Colloquium to be held 15-16 September, at the Monash University Centre, Prato (Florence/Firenze), Italy. Many Voices, Many Places: Electronically Enabling Communities for An Information Society is meant as a complement to provide an opportunity for practitioners, researchers and policy makers from research centres, universities, cultural institutions, and agencies involved in governance to discuss and reflect on the role and opportunities for emergent communities as constrained by physical, distance, resource, political, and gender barriers for effective participation in an Information Society. The format of the session will be reflective and deliberative. Position papers are invited and more formal papers will be reviewed but presentation will be as introductions to discussion. For reasons of space we are constrained to no more than 40 participants as appropriate participation will be by invitation or by anticipated contribution. 50EU will be charged to cover immediate operating expenses. Please see the website www.ccnr.net/prato2003/ for registration & accommodation details. Mid-September 2003 sees a conjunction of several conferences where the role and impact of electronically-enabled communities will be discussed, including: Next 5 MINUTES 4, Amsterdam, 12-14 September Information, Communication, Society: A Research Symposium, Oxford 17th-20th September; and Communities and Technologies (C&T 2003), Amsterdam, 19 - 21 September. ----We aim to identify the structures and processes which enable collective memory, minority knowledge creation, and oral culture inclusive of all parts of societies and how these may be empowered to enhance effective social participation. The intersection of the discipline of community informatics with these dimensions of societal knowledge production (and the consequential empowerment and development of social capital) will also be explored. We are looking to provide a forum where those involved can discuss/summarize/theorize/and draw conclusions or lessons learned from some ten years of practical work and research experience in applying Information and Communications Technologies to enabling (and empowering) emergent communities (virtual and physical) framed as a contribution to the World Summit on the Information Society which will be held in Geneva in December of 2003. Some Possible Topic Areas for Discussion What are the "many voices" in the Information Society What are their barriers to participation and what opportunities do they present to themselves and to others as communities? How are these many voices "sustainable"? Many voices as communities of interest (and of place) Sustaining these communities Strategies for Innovation: What Do We Know and How Can it Be Promoted ICTs and Local Economic Development at the margins: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go From Here Do ICTs contribute to Poverty Alleviation and if so, how can this be replicated? What is the role of institutions of cultural memory in developed and developing countries? Oral to electronically documented -- what is the process and what are the ethical and other issues? Telecentres-best practices; cost-benefit assessment; are they a solution for "universal access" What contribution can ICTs make to building Civil Society? Communities, ICTs and Emergent Democracy What is the (appropriate) role of the private sector? Colloquium Publication Proceedings, including refereed papers, position statements and related documents will be made available at the colloquium and for broader distribution in the context of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). Full Papers (up to 5000 words, including references) are due 1 August for refereeing and inclusion in the publication. Abstracts should be sent as soon as possible. This deadline is final if you wish to be included in the publication. Abstracts/papers should be sent to Professor Michael Gurstein (gurstein@njit.edu) or Larry Stillman (larrys@vicnet.net.au) Please also register your expression of interest to as either a speaker or attendee. Colloquium committee Michael Bieber, Associate Professor, College of Information Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology Michael Gurstein, (Visiting) Professor, School of Management New Jersey Institute of Technology Prof Don Schauder, School of Information Management and Systems, Monash University Dr Graham Johanson, School of Information Management and Systems/Centre for Community Networking Research, Monash University Larry Stillman, School of Information Management and Systems/Centre for Community Networking Research, Monash University Colloquium Sponsors The Centre for Community Networking Research, Monash University, Australia New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA National Science Foundation ************************ Larry Stillman Centre for Community Networking Research, Monash University, www.ccnr.net 61 3 9903 1801 fax 9903 2564 ===8<===========End of original message text===========