[ecrea] cfp - The Industrial Revolution 4.0: Preparing for Disruptive Technologies in 21st Century Asia

*CALL FOR PAPERS (Deadline extended to 23 June 2017)*

*The Industrial Revolution 4.0: Preparing for Disruptive Technologies in 
21st Century Asia*

*Date: **26 Oct 2017 - 27 Oct 2017***

*Venue: **Asia Research Institute, Seminar Room****
               AS8 Level 4, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260*

*Website : 
https://ari.nus.edu.sg/Event/Detail/c98ba1e5-42a6-4ad6-a535-a927c1f1fc1c*

We are entering into a Fourth Industrial Revolution where ICBM 
technology (I.O.T., Cloud, Big Data and Mobile) and A.I. systems 
(Artificial Intelligence) could become the logic of operation that 
sustains the world’s economy. Automation and data-mining-based 
prediction technology are revolutionizing the business ecosystem. Asian 
governments have been developing policy frameworks to incorporate big 
data, IoT and Cloud: e.g. Singapore’s ‘Smart Nation Initiative’ (2014), 
China’s ‘Made in China 2025’ (2015), India’s “100 Smart Cities” project 
(2015) and South Korea’s ‘Comprehensive Countermeasures on Artificial 
Intelligence Society’ (2016).

However, as demonstrated by the U.S. government’s concern expressed in 
its white paper, ‘Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence’ 
(Oct 2016), A.I. and related technologies are innovative but can also be 
disruptive. The ways in which societies adopt new technologies often 
re-structures socio-cultural, political and economic conditions, which 
in turn change the employment landscape.  With the emergence of the 
Fourth Industrial Revolution, we are expecting the creation of large 
numbers of lower-skilled workers and older people who need retraining, 
which will produce social problems (see, e.g., Amazon’s job-cut case 
resulting from warehouse automisation (Forbes, 2016), accelerating 
commodification of service in On-Demand and Sharing Economies (Lessig, 
2008) and consequential labour precarity.)

According to the UN specialised agency International Labour Organization 
(2016), nearly 60% of employees in Southeast Asian regions would leave 
fearing for their jobs “in the next couple of decades” because of 
atomization. Although concerns about the impact of these technologies on 
social inequality are increasing, we have not yet explicitly heard the 
voices of those in precarious conditions who are potentially vulnerable 
to these changes. We have also not seen any detailed government plans 
explaining how this impact will be mitigated; how will governments 
protect and enhance the welfare of their citizens, minimize social 
inequality and address the technology gap? The dominant social 
discourses on ICBM, A.I. and Industry 4.0 tend to focus on the 
techno-economic-centric consideration of the embeddedness of new 
technology and measuring the sustainability of society. These discourses 
often follow Western development trends as a basis for discussion.

The aim of this conference is to explore the social implications of 
emerging and disruptive technologies in Asian contexts, focusing on 
Southeast Asian regions in particular, taking into consideration the 
different levels of ICT embeddedness (e.g., infrastructure readiness). 
This conference will update ICT social and cultural studies in 
contemporary Southeast Asia at comparative levels.

The conference will avoid techno centric approach or industrialisation 
based approaches to A.I. It focuses on present and near-future effects 
rather than speculative futures. Instead, this conference will cover 
socio-political issues related to Industry 4.0 from a ground-up 
perspective and will explore current strategies for how to manage this 
new era in everyday practice.

Possible topics and questions include, but are not limited to

·What are comparable policy frameworks on A.I. and Industry 4.0 in 
Southeast Asian countries? How do these countries set up their own 
strategies to tackle social issues through policy?

·What political issues influence these policy frameworks? What have been 
missing from such frameworks?

·What have been the outcomes of these policies, and what have been their 
effects on the population?

·Does Industry 4.0 minimize the digital divide or bring out a new form 
of digital divide?

·What are social inequality and social justice challenges that emerge 
from Industry 4.0?

·How do the governments in the regions support local start-ups’ 
sustainability as well as that of the creative industry?

·What types of (online) activism is occurring in response to Industry 
4.0? How do we create methods and approaches to protect ordinary people 
from vulnerability and (re)training conditions?

·How do we shed light on the precarity of low-income and lower-skilled 
workers, older people, and other minority groups in Southeast Asia? What 
would be the best way to support them?


*SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS*

Paper proposals should include a title, an abstract (250 words maximum) 
and a brief personal biography of 150 words for submission by*23 June 
2017 (extended deadline)*.  Please submit your proposal, using the 
provided*proposal template 
<https://ari.nus.edu.sg/Assets/repository/files/events/CFP_Proposal%20Form_IR4.doc>* 
to*Dr DongHyun Song*(atarisdh /at/ nus.edu.sg) <mailto:(arisdh /at/ nus.edu.sg)>. 
Successful applicants will be notified by*7 July 2017* and will be 
required to send in a draft paper of 5,000-8,000 words by*2 October 2017*.

Please note that only previously unpublished papers or those not already 
committed elsewhere can be accepted. The organisers plan to publish a 
special issue with selected papers presented in this conference. By 
participating in the conference you agree to participate in the future 
publication plans (special issue or edited volume) of the organisers. 
The organisers will provide hotel accommodation for three nights and a 
contribution towards airfare for accepted paper participants (one author 
per paper).


*CONFERENCE CONVENORS*

*Dr DongHyun SONG*
Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore
E |(arisdh /at/ nus.edu.sg) <mailto:(arisdh /at/ nus.edu.sg)>

*Dr Eric KERR*
Asia Research Institute, and Tembusu College, National University of 
Singapore
E |(eric.kerr /at/ nus.edu.sg) <mailto:(eric.kerr /at/ nus.edu.sg)>


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