[eccr] CFP: International Colloquium on Communication and Democracy: Technology and Citizen Engagement

Call for Papers


International Colloquium



Communication and Democracy: Technology and Citizen Engagement

Wednesday, August 4  Friday, August 6, 2004
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Sponsors

University of New Brunswick, Department of Sociology and
Office of Research Services
National Research Council Canada Institute of Information Technology, Atlantic
School of Communications and Multimedia, Edith Cowan University,
Perth, Australia

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, National 
Research Council Canada, Institute for Information Technology, Fredericton, 
NB, Canada <mailto:(andrew.reddick /at/ nrc-cnrc.gc.ca)>(andrew.reddick /at/ nrc-cnrc.gc.ca)
Vanda Rideout, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, 
University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada 
<mailto:(vrideout /at/ unb.ca)>(vrideout /at/ unb.ca)
Mary C. Milliken, MA, Ph.D. candidate, UNB, Conference Organizer, NRC-CNRC 
IIT, <mailto:(mary.milliken /at/ nrc-cnrc.gc.ca)>(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, 
<mailto:(mary.milliken /at/ nrc-cnrc.gc.ca)>(mary.milliken /at/ nrc-cnrc.gc.ca) by 1 
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.



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Carpentier Nico (Phd)
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Katholieke Universiteit Brussel - Catholic University of Brussels
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E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ kubrussel.ac.be)
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