[Siguse-l] [Fwd: [ciresearchers] Proposals & Abstracts due: Tales of the Unexpected: Vision and Reality in Community Informatics CIRN -DIAC Conference: Prato, Italy 27-29 October 2010]

[M.J. Menou]

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Just a gentle reminder to register your expression of interest/abstract
for the 2010 CIRN-DIAC Community Informatics Conference as the 1 April
deadline is looming. Please forward to other lists.

For all details, see cirn.wikispaces.com/prato2010. Inquiries:
prato2101 at fastmail.fm

We are seeking submissions from academics, practitioners and PhD
students for a conference at the Monash University Centre, Prato Italy
(near Florence). The Centre for Community Networking Research, Monash,
in conjunction with the Community Informatics Research Network, has held
many highly successful events since 2003 in Prato, as well as associated
workshops over the years, in the UK, France, and Portugal.  PhD students
are particularly encouraged to submit abstracts relating to their
research.

The Directions and Implications of Advanced Computing (DIAC)conference
has been convened approximately every other year since 1987. Originally
sponsored by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) and
now by the Public Sphere Project, the conference has always addressed
the intersection of social and the technological spheres. Five books and
two special sections the Communications of the ACM have been published
based on DIAC conferences. This year, we are pleased to note that the
DIAC conference is combining forces with CIRN to convene another
informative and convivial conference in Prato!

The unexpected or unanticipated is sometimes the most valuable thing to
come out of work with a community, and being able use that innovation is
of great importance to communities, designers, researchers, and other
concerned parties.What are remarkable examples of unexpected or
unanticipated outcomes?

     * Why is a high value placed upon the achievement of safe and
     technocratic, quantitative goals, often at the expense of unexpected
     positive outcomes?
     * Is it a problem on the part of planners or the part of community,
     and why is this so?
     * What are the consequences of this emphasis on predictability?
     * What are the effects on creativity and the capacity to deal with
     the unexpected?
     * Are we expecting too much (or too little) of ICTs in communities,
     and conversely, are we expecting too much (or too little) of
     communities in their interaction with ICTs?
     * When the expected leads to major limitations or a project failure,
     how to we deal with this?
     *How could or should communities engage within themselves and with
     others to realistically prepare for 21st century challenges?
     *What technological and social processes are needed to cultivate
     civic intelligence in local communities?
     *What are the connections and differences between unanticipated
     technical events and unanticipated community or social effects and
     events? Are they easy to separate?
     *How can theorists, designers and communities become more response
     to dealing with unanticipated outcomes and developments in a project
     or program?
     *What bodies of theory and practice can be bring to bear to
     enlighten our interactions?

Sponsors:

Centre for Community Networking Research Monash University;  Information
School University of Washington; The Public Sphere Project; Turabo
University, Puerto Rico; University of Illinois Graduate School of
Library and Information Science

Larry Stillman, for
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Prato CIRN-DAIC Community Informatics Conference 2010
General information:  http://cirn.wikispaces.com/prato2010
your abstract and registration data:
https://www.conftool.net/prato2010/