May 22-24, 2019

Washington, USA

Deadline: April 15, 2019

http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2019/

Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide (PPDD) is the only academic professional organization in the world focused solely on the digital divide and on connecting research to policymaking and practice to strategize actions and catalyze solutions to this pressing societal concern. The academic research, policymaker, and practitioner community represented by PPDD stands ready to advance the agenda on broadband and the digital divide, to address the many challenges and opportunities presented by the digital world, and to further evidence-based policymaking and practice so that all citizens can participate fully in the digital, networked age.

The interdisciplinary Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide 2019 International Conference brings together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners for an extended, in-depth dialogue about key issues that inform information and communication technologies and the digital divide around the world. The Conference works to identify new areas of necessary, productive focus, foster greater understanding, advance research, and enlighten policy and practice going forward. An optional 21 May afternoon Field Trip to digital inclusion program sites offers the opportunity to learn firsthand about innovative initiatives to bridge the digital divide in Washington, DC.

PPDD 2019 is particularly significant as it marks the 25th anniversary of the recognition of the digital divide through social scientific research. And, within PPDD 2019, we plan to have the largest worldwide gathering of disability digital divide experts ever.

As a major outcome of PPDD 2019, in addition to the PPDD 2019 Proceedings and E-Book, there will be an edited volume of the top papers as well as special issues of our Publishing Partners’ journals on specific themes within the digital divide area.

If you would like to present and discuss your work during PPDD 2019 and have it included in the online PPDD 2019 International Conference Proceedings and/or if you would like to provide a Position Paper for inclusion in the PPDD 2019 E-Book, please see the Call for Participation section below.

If you would like to just attend PPDD 2019 to explore the issues and grow your knowledge and network of connections, please know that you are very welcome and valued in the PPDD Conference Community.

Please join PPDD and an unprecedented broad multi-disciplinary coalition of co-sponsoring organizations from academic, policymaking, and practitioner communities to share your insights and expertise. Together, we will enrich the dialogue, connect research, policy and practice, and advance the agenda on the digital divide.

Please contact conference [at] ppdd [dot] org with any questions.

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

If you would like to 1) present and discuss your work during PPDD 2019 and have it included in the online PPDD 2019 International Conference Proceedings, and/or if you would like to 2) provide a Position Paper for inclusion in the PPDD 2019 E-Book, we look forward with enthusiasm to your contribution and ask that you please follow the instructions provided at http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2019/cfp/ to submit your work. Submissions are welcome from researchers, policymakers, and practitioners at all stages of their careers, from any theoretical and methodological approach, and across multiple disciplines.

1) Deadline to Submit Your Presentation Title and Short Summary for Consideration for Presentation: 15 April 2019 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Time

Notification of Acceptance: On a rolling basis after submission and no later than 22 April 2019

If you have visa or other time-sensitive concerns, please submit your work as quickly as possible and email conference [at] ppdd [dot] org to request an expedited review so you can receive notification shortly after submission.

Before we can address the digital divide, we must first understand the nature of life in the digital age, the many challenges and opportunities it presents, and the interplay of influence between technological and social change. Then, in turn, we can fully understand digital inequality; its place alongside other long-standing, persistent issues of social equity, social justice, and media justice; and what it means to be disconnected from the most important technological advancement in communication in a generation and the myriad possibilities it facilitates. Thus, PPDD 2019 invites work that informs issues related to information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the digital divide broadly defined, including but not limited to:

• gaps in access and connectivity
• digital inclusion
• digital exclusion
• digital (dis)engagement
• challenges and opportunities
• social and cultural aspects of the divide
• the skills and digital/information literacy needed to interpret, understand, and navigate information presented online and the requisite curriculum
• effective use by individuals and communities
• the impact of socioeconomic factors on user behavior
• the role of motivation, attitudes, and interests
• differences in patterns of usage
• characteristics and conceptualizations of non-users
• the ways in which people use the Internet to create content
• content creation and inequality
• different forms of capital and power relationships, including in terms of content creation, labor, and ownership
• the role of theory in understanding ICTs and digital inequality
• the impact of new and evolving technologies
• the mobile divide
• the interplay of influence with mobile technologies
• human-computer interaction, human factors, and usability
• social media
• digital games
• apps
• socioeconomic and cultural effects
• social equity, social and economic justice, and democracy
• media justice and ICTs
• the ethics of digital inequality
• community informatics
• social informatics
• urban and regional planning
• social planning
• international development
• indigenous populations
• children and childhood
• education
• ICTs and well-being
• health
• disability and accessibility
• politics, digital government, digital citizenship, smart cities/citizens/government, civic engagement, adoption issues, and (in)equality
• global citizenship
• policy discourse
• law and policy and its impacts, including information/telecommunications policy, net neutrality, open access, open source, copyright, Internet filtering software, and censorship
• the digital security divide
• the digital privacy divide
• big data and inequality
• organizations and ICTs
• public access initiatives
• anchor institutions
• practitioner-oriented topics considering aspects of design, management, implementation, assessment, collaboration, challenges, problem solution, and opportunities
• architectural challenges and deployment experiences
• Internet access cost analyses
• the application of research to communities, practice, and public and private sector initiatives

2) Deadline to Submit a Position Paper for the PPDD 2019 International Conference E-Book: 6 May 2019 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Time

All PPDD 2019 attendees may submit a position paper and all submissions that follow the guidelines provided at http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2019/cfp/ will be included in the PPDD 2019 E-Book.

Conference Organizer

Susan B. Kretchmer, Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide

Editorial Organizer - Tomasz Drabowicz, University of Lodz

Partnership Organizer - Massimo Ragnedda, Northumbria University

Europe Organizer - Grant Blank, Oxford University and Oxford Internet Institute

Africa Organizer - Bill Tucker, University of the Western Cape and Bridging Application and Network Gaps

Asia, the Pacific, and the Middle East Organizer - Ellie Rennie, RMIT University

Canada Organizer - Richard Smith, Simon Fraser University and Centre for Digital Media

United States Organizer - Susan B. Kretchmer, Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide

Latin America and the Caribbean Organizers:

• Laura Robinson, Santa Clara University
• Hopeton S. Dunn, University of the West Indies, Jamaica and Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication

Policymaker, Practitioner, and Stakeholder Liaisons  -  

Angela Siefer, National Digital Inclusion Alliance

CO-SPONSORS

• American Anthropological Association Committee on the Anthropology of Science, Technology, and Computing
• American Library Association Office for Information Technology Policy
• American Political Science Association Information Technology and Politics Section
• American Public Health Association Health Informatics Information Technology Section
• American Sociological Association Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology Section
• Community Informatics Research Network
• Government of France Ministry for the Economy and Finance French Digital Agency
• Government of the United Kingdom Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
• International Association for Media and Communication Research Communication Policy and Technology Section
• International Association for Media and Communication Research Digital Divide Working Group
• International Association for Media and Communication Research Global Media Policy Working Group
• International Communication Association
• International Communication Association Communication and Technology Division
• International Communication Association Communication Law and Policy Division
• International Communication Association Mass Communication Division
• iSchools
• National Digital Inclusion Alliance
• NTEN: The Nonprofit Technology Network
• Public Library Association
• Urban Libraries Council, Edge Initiative

PUBLISHING PARTNERS

• Information Technologies and International Development
• Journal of Community Informatics
• Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society
• Journal of Information Policy
• Online Journal of Public Health Informatics