[Commlist] Workshop: Communication policy in the time of pandemics: harnessing the power of ICT’s for health

WORKSHOP – CALL FOR PAPERS

COMMUNICATION POLICY IN THE TIME OF PANDEMICS: HARNESSING THE POWER OF 
ICT’S FOR HEALTH

The global pandemic in the last three years has emphasized as never 
before the beneficial role that the media and information networks can 
play in disseminating essential health information, coordinating social 
responses, and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable sections of 
society including the elderly and persons with disabilities. But at the 
same time, it has also raised alarm about the potential of rumor 
mongers, profiteers, and purveyors of misinformation to exploit 
vulnerabilities in social media networks to wreak havoc with health 
initiatives. Both these aspects of information and communication 
networks, positive and negative, have foregrounded the importance of 
framing well-conceived and -implemented laws, policies, and programs to 
enable media and communications role to play their rightful role in the 
next, inevitable, health crisis.

What policy responses can be put in place to ensure the pro-active 
disclosure of information, and simultaneously what safeguards should be 
implemented to protect the privacy and security of health information; 
what rules, if any, can we implement against the spread of misleading 
information on social media and procedures for weeding out harmful and 
malicious posts? How can we promote the resilience, security, and 
responsiveness of health information networks, indeed all communication 
networks? What tools of public policy may be utilized – for example, 
public communication campaigns, funding, legislation, and regulatory 
rulemaking, or simply the bully pulpit, to implement these initiatives?

We invite papers that examine media and information policy in heath 
crises, as well as in ongoing public health issues. Policy is defined 
broadly, including government policies, regulations and laws and the 
policies of corporations. We particularly encourage international 
comparisons, including contrasting approaches to social media policy 
adopted by national governments. Interested scholars are invited to 
submit a complete paper or a 500-word abstract.

The Institute for Information Policy (IIP) at Penn State University 
proposes to conduct this workshop in collaboration with the Global 
Communication Governance Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) 
and the York University/TMU Joint Graduate Program in Communication and 
Culture. The IIP has conducted twenty-one workshops since 2011 on 
various aspects of information and telecommunications policy, 
including several in partnership with leading universities such as the 
University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Fordham, and George Washington 
University, and four as ICA pre-conferences in San Diego (2017), Prague 
(2018), Washington DC (2019) and the Gold Coast (2020) (virtual). Papers 
presented in the Workshop will be considered for publication in the 
IIP’s Journal of Information Policy, an open access, peer-reviewed, 
scholarly journal, published by Penn State University Press and archived 
in the Duke University Repository.

/Workshop/: Communication Policy in the Time of Pandemics

/Date/: Monday, May 29, 2023, Morning and Afternoon sessions.

/Place/: Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University)

Rogers Communication Centre

80 Gould Street

Toronto, Ontario

M5B 2M7

/Submissions/: Papers or Abstracts are due by January 16, 2023.  Authors 
of selected Papers and Abstracts will be notified by January 30, 
2023.  Full papers based on invited Abstracts are due Monday, May 
14.  Proposals and papers should be sent by e-mail to the Workshop 
Organizers at (pennstateIIP /at/ psu.edu) 
<mailto:(pennstateIIP /at/ psu.edu)>.  Inquiries should also be directed to 
that address.

/Workshop Organizers/: Institute for Information Policy, Penn State and 
the Global Communication Governance Lab at TMU and the York 
University/TMU Joint Graduate Program in Communication and Culture.

/Registration Fee/: There will be a $50.00 registration fee for 
participants to cover the cost of food and refreshments during the Workshop.



---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------