[WSIS CS-Plenary] Call for Papers (deadline extended) -- International Colloquium on Communication and Democracy

[Bill McIver, University at Albany]

Please be advised that the deadline for submitting abstracts to the 
Communication & Democracy: Technology & Citizen Engagement colloquium 
has been extended from April 1 to April 19.

The revised Call for Papers is attached, and it would be greatly 
appreciated if you would re-circulate it widely.

Many thanks,

Mary C. Milliken, BA, MA

Research Assistant

e-Government/e-Citizen

NRC IIT - CNRC ITI
46 Dineen Drive/ 46 Promenade Dineen
Fredericton, NB
Canada
E3B 9W4
Tel: 506-444-0378

Fax: 506-444-6114





Call for Papers

International Colloquium
Communication and Democracy: Technology and Citizen Engagement
Wednesday, August 4 – Friday, August 6, 2004
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Host: University of New Brunswick, Department of Sociology

Sponsor: University of New Brunswick, Office of Research Services
School of Communications and Multimedia, Edith Cowan University,
Perth, Australia

Partner: National Research Council Institute for Information Technology
e-Business, Canada

Since the early 1990s, governments, industry and commercial 
organizations, public agencies, non-governmental organizations, 
communities and individual citizens have embraced the Internet and other 
information and communication technologies (ICT), expending extensive 
resources on their deployment and adoption.

Along this digital journey, on one end of a continuum, claims have been 
made about the revolutionary and emancipatory potential of ICT. 
Promoters exhort the urgency of its adoption to realize citizen 
empowerment, institutional transformation and transparency, direct 
democracy, and the erasure of time and space to create an electronic 
global village.

At the other end of this continuum of debate, critics argue that the 
potential benefits of ICT are being outweighed by a growing digital 
impotence for citizens, who are increasingly bound by new forms of 
regulation, institutional electronic rigidities, market regulation, the 
extension of commercial practices deeper into social life, and technical 
design myopic of human needs.

The broad themes of citizen engagement, democratic inclusion, and 
socio-economic betterment for citizens, communities and nations have 
emerged as key research concerns that cut across issues such as the 
digital divide, convergence, e-commerce and the dot com bomb, 
e-learning, e-health, gaming, virtual communities, community 
informatics, connectivity, broadband, and government online.

Now, ten years into the popular development of the Internet, it is 
opportune to critically reflect on where we have been, where we are 
supposed to be, what we have learned, or what we should have learned, 
where we should be going, and what questions we should be asking as we 
continue further on this journey.
The purpose of this colloquium is to reflect on the core issues of 
communications, democracy and citizen engagement and to push the margins 
of thinking and debate around entry points such as methodologies, social 
practices, theoretical frameworks, technical design, institutional 
relations and citizen needs. It will bring together up-and-coming 
researchers and established experts to exchange ideas about current 
research and theories - and rethink the ways forward. Presentations can 
be based on local, national or international research.

To facilitate open discussion and full involvement all sessions will be 
plenary.

Central themes for panels (papers) include, but are not restricted to:

Technology R&D and Citizen Needs

This panel focuses on user needs and applications research and 
development. Featuring social scientists and computer science 
researchers, half the presenters discuss communication from a user needs 
perspective, and other presenters discuss the process behind the design 
of community informatics and other applications. One goal of the panel 
is to encourage debate among social and computer scientists about 
citizen needs and technology research and development. Needs assessment, 
the socio-economic aspects of the communication relationship, and 
technology designed to meet user needs are possible theme areas.

Research Methodologies

Various qualitative and quantitative methods offer a number of 
possibilities for research on citizen needs, democratic communications, 
community communications, human/technology interface, and community 
informatics, among others. This panel discusses such questions as: what 
are the ‘right’ research questions that should be asked, and why? What 
are different methodologies that should be employed? Empirical examples, 
theoretical and methodological examples or possibilities could be explored.

Citizen Engagement and E-Democracy

Panelists will discuss findings of research on ICT used to facilitate 
citizen engagement in communities and between citizens, in relation to 
community organizations, government agencies and the state. What do 
"engagement" and "e-Democracy" mean to citizens, governments and 
communities, and what should they mean? What are the best means, 
channels or practices to attain them?




Organizers

Andrew Reddick, Ph.D. Group Leader, e-Government/e-Citizen Group, NRC 
Institute for Information Technology - e-Business, Fredericton, NB, 
Canada andrew.reddick at nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Vanda Rideout, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, 
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada vrideout at unb.ca
Mary C. Milliken, MA, Ph.D. candidate, UNB, Conference Organizer, NRC 
Institute for Information Technology - e-Business, 
mary.milliken at nrc-cnrc.gc.ca

Submission of Abstract

Faculty, researchers and graduate students are encouraged to submit 250 
word abstracts in .doc or .pdf format, for peer review, to the attention 
of Mary C. Milliken, mary.milliken at nrc-cnrc.gc.ca by 19 April 2004. 
Authors will be notified of acceptance by 30 April. The deadline for 
full papers is 12 July 2004. Discussants will provide comments on final 
papers.

For further information about this event, please refer to our web site 
at http://www.unb.ca/technocitizen/ or contact Mary at the above e-mail 
address.



-- 

Bill McIver
Assistant Professor
School of Information Science and Policy
University at Albany, State University of New York
Albany, New York 12222
USA

e-mail: mciver at albany.edu <mailto:mciver at albany.edu>
URL: http://www.albany.edu/~mciver <http://www.albany.edu/%7Emciver>