10th International Development Informatics Association (IDIA2018) conference
http://idia2018.com/
Gauteng, South Africa
22-24 August, 2018
Call for Papers
Conference Theme: Making ICT Research Locally Relevant
IMPORTANT DATES:
Main Conference 23-24 August 2018
Full Paper Submission Deadline: 16 April 2018
Notification to Authors: 30 May 2018
Deadline for Final (Camera-Ready) Papers: 30 July 2018
Workshops 22 August 2018
Workshop Proposals 2 February 2018
Notification to Presenters: 2 April 2018
Masters & Doctoral Symposium IFIP WG9.4 and TC9 Event
Paper Note Deadline: 30 April 2018
Notification to Participants: 30 June 2018
Final (Camereia-Ready) Papers and Poster: 30 July 2018
Postgraduate Symposium Date: 22 August 2018
CONFERENCE VENUE:
La'WiiDA Game & Conference Centre, Hennopsriver Valley, Gauteng, South Africa (www.lawiidalodge.co.za)
DESCRIPTION:
There is still little consensus among scholars on what development means, who and what needs to be developed, and for what purpose. This raises fundamental questions about the future of Development Informatics research and brings to mind Geoff Walsham’s question, ‘Are we making a better world with technology?’ (Walsham, 2012).
ICTs have not delivered on the promise of making a better world for all; and there is evidence that technology has increased inequality in many cases (Toyama, 2015). As such, the focus of the IDIA2018 conference is on Making ICT Research Locally Relevant. We seek to understand and respond to how politicians, NGOs, scholars, and citizens make sense of how ICTs can be used to improve the human condition.
The predominant perspective is that ICTs can support the development, promotion and realization of a model of development that is holistic, inclusive, just and sustainable, which will lead to an appropriate quality of life for each individual on the planet. The 10th IDIA conference, however, offers an opportunity to look back, take stock and debate the way ahead. The future of ICT4D research lies in multidisciplinary interaction between researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers (Walsham, 2017). Therefore, the debate would not be complete without industry and government representation or without a renewed emphasis on quality research education.
Inevitably, we ask questions about how to better understand these problems and challenges. However, the aim is to go beyond understanding, to also offer context-rich, evidence-based theories, methodologies or actionable guidance to researchers and practitioners on how the employment of ICTs can meet local needs sustainably and appropriately.
CALL FOR FULL PAPERS:
In a keynote at the 3rd IDIA conference, Ron Weber reflected on how our rhetoric can be sustained by the research findings we present: Is the field of ICT4D research still driven too much by rhetoric and not enough by rigor and have we been able to gain reasonable levels of consensus about the realities we face (Weber, 2009). As such, we believe that our review processes should not be divorced from what we seek to interrogate with our conference theme. We therefore invite papers that reflect on the local relevance of the research undertaken. Authors may argue for locally relevant ICT4D research in different ways, for example; they may argue for locally relevant practical contributions, theoretical contributions, or methodological contributions; papers may represent data-driven reasoning, indigenous theorizing or theory, local narratives or cases that offer nuanced descriptions of research realities or practice-led research; and so forth.
Full Papers will be evaluated according to their novel research contribution, methodological soundness, theoretical framing and reference to related work, quality of analysis, and quality of writing and presentation. Manuscripts that consider novel designs, new technologies, project assessments, policy analyses, impact studies, theoretical contributions and social issues around ICT and development will be considered. Well-analyzed results from which generalizable or relevant conclusions can be drawn are also sought. Authors are encouraged to address the diversity of approaches in their research by providing context, implications, and actionable guidance to researchers and practitioners beyond the researchers’ primary domains.
PAPER REQUIREMENTS:
It is our pleasure to announce that selected best papers will published in a Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS) volume (see http://www.springer.com/series/7899). CCIS is abstracted/indexed in DBLP, Google Scholar, EI-Compendex, Mathematical Reviews, SCImago, Scopus. CCIS volumes are also submitted for the inclusion in ISI Proceedings.
Papers that do not make the acceptance requirements of the Springer volume, but that are still of good quality and of interest to the IDIA community, will be considered for inclusion in a separate IDIA conference proceedings with an ISBN number. We envisage an acceptance rate of 35% for the Springer volume.
- To align with Springer’s requirements, each paper will be reviewed by at least 3 reviewers.
- We will only review and accept full papers (12 to 15 pages) formatted according to Springer’s CCIS one-column page format. Only papers formatted in MS Word according to the Springer template will be reviewed and accepted. (see https://www.springer.com/gp/authors-editors/conference-proceedings/conference-proceedings-guidelines).
- Springer requires authors to include their ORCIDs when they submit their papers. For more details see https://www.springer.com/gp/authors-editors/orcid and https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/orcid-for-your-proceedings-paper/12272740
Only original, unpublished, research papers in English can be considered. Longer submissions not in the template format, not related to the conference themes, and/or not meeting a minimum standard of academic research writing may be rejected without full review.
The submission URL is: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=idia2018
Important quick links:
CALL FOR WORKSHOPS:
Workshop date: 22 August 2017
Each workshop proposal (maximum 5 pages) must include:
1. Title of the workshop
2. Description of the issues covered, emphasizing the timeliness of the proposed workshop
3. Workshop Organizers (names, affiliation and contact information)
4. A short biography of the organizers (up to 200 words)
5. Planned format of the workshop, including the duration of the workshop: Half-day, Full-day and tentative schedule
6. Proposed fee
Submission: Send workshop proposals in .pdf format to Marlien Herselman (MHerselman@csir.co.za).
CALL FOR POSTGRADUATE SYMPOSIUM:
Please note the co-located IFIP workshop for postgraduate students (see http://www.wg94mds.com) on 22 August 2018.
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:
Conference Chair
Judy van Biljon, University of South Africa (Vbiljja@unisa.ac.za)
Proceedings Chairs
Kirstin Krauss, University of South Africa (krauske@unisa.ac.za)
Marita Turpin, University of Pretoria (marita.turpin@up.ac.za)
Filistea Naude, University of South Africa (fnaude@unisa.ac.za)
Programme Chairs
Marlien Herselman CSIR, MERAKA (mherselman@csir.co.za)
Adele Botha CSIR, MERAKA (abotha@csir.co.za)
Postgraduate Symposium Chairs
Caroline Khene, Rhodes University (c.khene@ru.ac.za)
Gugulethu Baduza, Rhodes University (g.baduza@ru.ac.za)
Marketing
Adele Botha, CSIR, MERAKA (abotha@csir.co.za)
Sponsorships
Hossana Twinomurinzi, University of South Africa (twinoh@unisa.ac.za)
Caroline Khene, Rhodes University (c.khene@ru.ac.za)
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
http://idia2018.com/IDIA_2018_ProgramCommittee.pdf
REFERENCES
Toyama, K. 2015. Special for USA TODAY, May 29, Can technology offer solutions to inequality?, Available online at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/05/29/kentaro-toyama-guest-column-inequality-zuckerberg-braff-clinton/28034093/
Walsham, G. 2012. Are we making a better world with ICTs? Reflections on a future agenda for the IS field. Journal of Information Technology, 27(2), 87–93. https://doi.org/10.1057/jit.2012.4
Walsham, G. 2017. ICT4D research: reflections on history and future agenda, Information Technology for Development, DOI: 10.1080/02681102.2016.1246406
Weber, R., 2009. Research on ICT for development: some reflections on rhetoric, rigor, reality and relevance. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International IDIA development informatics conference. 28-30 October 2009.