<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><div>Dear All,<br>
<br>
A Round Table on 'Inclusion in the network society- mapping
development alternatives, forging research agendas' is being
organised by IT for Change and IDRC, from 29th September to 1st
October, 2014.<br>
<br>
The round table will bring together around 25 participants –
leading scholars, development practitioners and thinkers, who are
interested in the theoretical and policy aspects of equity,
inclusion and participation in the 'ICTs and development' domain.<br>
<br>
This open call is to invite abstracts from young development
researchers and practitioners who can contribute to the debate.
There is a limited number of travel fellowships for authors of
selected full-length essays, to participate in the round table.
For further information, please read the <a href="http://www.itforchange.net/sites/default/files/ITfC/Call%20for%20Abstracts.pdf" target="_blank">call
for abstracts</a> (also enclosed below) and the <a href="http://www.itforchange.net/sites/default/files/ITfC/Concept%20Note.pdf" target="_blank">concept
note</a>.<br>
<br>
Last date for submissions of abstracts is <b>31st May, 2014</b>.<br>
<br>
We request you to please share this with your networks. If you
have received this email more than once, please accept our
apologies.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
IT for Change team<br>
<br>
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<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;text-decoration:none" align="center" lang="en-US"><font face="Arial,
sans-serif"><font size="6">Call for Abstracts</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;text-decoration:none" align="center" lang="en-US"> <font face="Arial,
sans-serif"><font size="4">Round table:</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;text-decoration:none" align="center" lang="en-US"> <font face="Arial,
sans-serif"><font style="font-size:16pt" size="4"><b>Inclusion
in the network society</b></font></font><br>
– <font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:16pt" size="4"><b>mapping
development alternatives, forging research agendas</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;text-decoration:none" align="center" lang="en-US"><br>
</p>
<div style="text-align:center"><font color="#0000ff"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:16pt" size="4"><b><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font color="#000000">Bangalore, India</font></font></b></font></font></font><br>
<br>
<font color="#0000ff"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font style="font-size:16pt" size="4"><b><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font color="#000000">
</font><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font color="#000000"><b>29th September - 1st
October 2014</b><br>
<br>
</font></font></font></b></font></font></font></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align:justify"> </div>
<p style="text-align:justify"><font face="Arial,
sans-serif"><font size="3">The experience of
first-generation initiatives in the field of 'ICTs
and development' has clearly demonstrated that the
question of inclusion in the network society
cannot be reduced merely to that of access to
technological artefacts or infrastructures. In a
globalised social order, the mechanisms of
networked, global systems – production chains,
finance, scientific and research processes, and
the media – structure the rules of inclusion. They
determine who has the ability to substantively
participate in, and benefit from, the dominant
networks of information, knowledge, production,
and of cultural and resource flows.<br>
</font></font></p>
<p style="text-align:justify"><font face="Arial,
sans-serif"><font size="3">Today, as we witness what
has been somewhat glibly labelled the 'mobile
revolution', alongside a momentous surge in the
use of social media technologies – especially by
young populations in developing countries – newer
frames to interpret social equity, inclusion and
participation become critical for the agenda of
development. How does the diffusion of ICTs
connect to the democratisation of information,
knowledge and culture? Does it offer new pathways
for the socially marginalised to have greater
control over knowledge and wealth? International
Development Research Centre (IDRC), along with IT
for Change, will host a round table between 29th
September - 1st October, 2014, bringing together
leading development scholars and practitioners to
contribute to the ongoing dialogues on ICTs and
development – particularly from the vantage point
of equity and inclusion.</font></font></p>
<p style="text-align:justify"><font face="Arial,
sans-serif"><font size="3">In September 2009, IDRC
had initiated a similar dialogue with Nobel
Laureates Amartya Sen and Michael Spence, as well
as other leading thinkers, at the Harvard Forum on
ICTs, Human Development, Growth and Poverty
Reduction. Building on the key debates of the
Harvard Forum, the round table will explore if,
and how, opportunities in the emerging network
society are, and can be, 'programmed' into the
structures of technological networks. Another key
objective of the round table is to build a
research agenda that is contemporary enough to
tackle the future of the ICTs and development
question in the Global South.</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify"><font color="#0000ff"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="4">Key issues </font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">The round
table will focus on the following issues: <br>
</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">1. What is
the emerging structural-institutional ecology
framing inclusion in the network society? What
readings of the current paradigms of ICT
diffusion, use, production and policy allow us to
trace power and exclusion? </font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">2. How do we
map continuities and disjunctures in development
practice when technology meets society, to build a
'new' narrative in which all people matter? </font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">3. Under
what conditions can digital technologies bring
about 'equitable inclusion' in the network
society? What kind of a structural-institutional
ecology can facilitate efforts for 'equitable
inclusion' in the network society? </font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">4. What
broad questions and specific themes would comprise
a pertinent research agenda on networks,
development and inclusion? What research
methodologies would be appropriate in this regard?
<br>
</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify"><font color="#0000ff"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="4">Outcomes </font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">The round
table envisages the following outcomes: <br>
</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify">• <font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">Field-building
that deepens theoretical inquiry on 'inclusion and
equity in the network society'. </font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify">• <font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">Research
agenda-setting on themes at the intersection of
networks, development and inclusion. </font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify">• <font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">Network
building to explore possibilities for further work
to build a systematic body of knowledge. </font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify">• <font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">Knowledge
products in the form of papers/essays, that can be
the basis of a special journal issue. <br>
</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;text-align:justify"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">The event is
designed to bring together around 25 participants
– leading scholars, development practitioners and
thinkers, as well as young researchers and
practitioners in the sector who are interested in
the theoretical and policy aspects of equity,
inclusion and participation, in the 'ICTs and
development' domain. <br>
</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm;text-align:justify"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">This open
call seeks to identify young development
researchers and practitioners who can contribute
to the debate. Interested individuals need to
submit an abstract of 1000 words that will become
the basis for an analytical essay, in case it is
short-listed for the round table. There is a
limited number of travel fellowships for authors
of selected full-length essays, to participate in
the round table. Selection criteria include a
minimum of five years of experience in the
development sector, preferably with a focus on
ICTs, and two publications. (Criteria may be
relaxed on a case-by-case basis). <br>
</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify"><font color="#0000ff"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="4">Submission deadlines <br>
</font></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">Abstracts
must be received by<b> 31st May 2014</b>. Full
essays are due by <b>15th August 2014.</b> </font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">Please send
all submissions and queries to: <a href="mailto:mailto:networkinclusion@gmail.com" target="_blank">networkinclusion@gmail.com</a>
</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom:0cm" align="justify"><font face="Arial, sans-serif"><font size="3">More details
at: <a href="http://www.itforchange.net/" target="_blank">www.itforchange.net</a>
</font></font></p>
<br>
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