CfP: "Institute on Internet and Society", at Yashada, Pune, India, 11-17 February '14

Institute on Internet and Society

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Bangalore is pleased to announce the second "Institute on Internet and Society" to be held in Yashada, Pune from February 11 to 17, 2014.

With financial support and visionary guidance from the Ford Foundation, this initiative represents an important opportunity to bring together various stakeholders in a neutral forum and share ideas.

This is a week-long residential institute which will cover topics surrounding and exploring the gamut of internet and society. Various topics that explore the ambit and the intersection between Internet and Society will be explored with guest speakers and experts in these fields anchoring the sessions. The lectures will be insightful and few, with interesting case studies and interactive modes of teaching. There will be breakout sessions where participants will get the chance to partake in interactive technology sessions and instructive demonstrations.

There will be off-site experiences where the participants can go on field trips and view the actual spaces that will be discussed.

The institute will feature:

• Guest lectures by experts and CIS staff.
• Interactive panel discussions.
• Case studies.
• Breakout sessions.
• Interactive demonstrations.
• Networking opportunities, field trips/off-site experience and much more...

At the end of the course, attendees will have:

• Acquisition of knowledge on internet in the Indian society.
• Appreciation of the role of community and other stakeholders in issues surrounding the internet.
• Creation of a starting point for improved communication of research findings, innovations, information and new technologies in internet to evolve a community comprising academicians and policy makers.
• Appreciation of the need to bridge the gap between policy and implementation.

Who can apply?

Any members from the civil society (students, research scholars, academicians, scientists, legal professionals, etc.) who engage in issues concerning Internet and Society.

How to apply?

The application form available at http://internet-institute.in/form needs to completed in all respects and uploaded along with a brief bio and a 250-300 word abstract on why the applicant feels he/she must attend the Institute on Internet and Society.

Selection criteria

• Originality of application.
• Evidence of interest and/or prior engagement in Internet and Society related research and policies.
• Gender, regional and stakeholder representation.

Twenty participants shall be chosen to attend the Institute on a first come, first served basis. Please ensure that your applications are submitted to CIS well before the closing date.

Attendance

Attendance for the full duration of the Institute (February 11 to February 17, 2014) is mandatory. Please provide assurance that you will be able to commit to the full duration of the institute.

What costs will be covered?

CIS has a limited number of scholarships that will cover the course fees, travel, accommodation and food. Please note that scholarships will be given on a first come first serve basis to deserving applicants and is available for persons based within India.

Important Dates

• Registrations Open: November 15, 2013

• Registrations Close: December 6, 2013

About CIS India and Ford Foundation

CIS critically engages with concerns of digital pluralism, public accountability and pedagogic practices, in the field of Internet and Society, with particular emphasis on South-South dialogues and exchange.

Through multidisciplinary research, intervention, and collaboration, we seek to explore, understand, and affect the shape and form of the internet, and its relationship with the political, cultural, and social milieu of our times.

The Ford Foundation supports visionary leaders and organizations on the frontlines of social change worldwide. Their goals for more than half a century have been to:

• Strengthen democratic values
• Reduce poverty and injustice
• Promote international cooperation
• Advance human achievement

The Ford Foundation believes all people should have the opportunity to reach their full potential, contribute to society, and have voice in the decisions that affect them.

Contact

• Dr. Nirmita Narasimhan, Policy Director (nirmita@cis-india.org)

• Ajoy Kumar, Administrator (ajoy@cis-india.org)

• Anirudh Sridhar, Consultant (anirudh@cis-india.org)

Further Details: http://internet-institute.in/

UNESCO releases "World Social Science Report 2013 – Changing Global Environments"

UNESCO Releases "World Social Science Report 2013 – Changing Global Environments"

published: November 15, 2013

UNESCO today announced the launch of its flagship publication World Social Science Report 2013 — Changing Global Environments.

The environmental challenges that confront society are unprecedented and staggering in their magnitude, scope, pace and complexity. They have potentially serious consequences for the wellbeing of people all over the world. The consequences of global environmental change are unfolding now; individuals and communities are already struggling to manage often precarious livelihoods; other social, economic and political crises – including persistent poverty, increasing inequalities and social discontent – are intricately linked to and exacerbated by environmental change. Global environmental change changes everything for everyone on this planet – our life support systems, our livelihoods, our ways of life, our actions and interactions with each other. It also changes demands for and on the social, including behavioural and economic sciences.

This is the third edition of the World Social Science Report. Based on a call for proposals, over 150 authors from all over the world have contributed articles. The Report issues an urgent call to action to the international social science community. Social scientists need to collaborate more effectively with colleagues from the natural, human and engineering sciences to deliver relevant, credible knowledge that can help to address the most pressing of today's environmental problems and sustainability challenges. And they need to do so in close collaboration with decision-makers, practitioners and the other users of their research.

A new kind of social science is needed, one that is bolder, better, bigger, different:

• Bold enough to reframe and reinterpret global environmental change as a fundamentally social process
  
• Better in terms of infusing social science insights into real-world problem-solving
  
• Bigger in terms of the need for more social scientists to address the challenges of global environmental change directly
  
• Different in the sense of changing the way the social sciences think about and do science – its theories, assumptions, methodologies, institutions, norms and incentives, to help meet the vexing interdisciplinary and cross-sector challenges society faces.
  

This report aims to engage social scientists working in all disciplines in academia, research institutes, think tanks, NGOs, and government agencies all over the world. The ISSC will use the report as a basis for critical discussion with its members and partners to sharpen the social science knowledge base on global environmental change and to support social science leadership in research for sustainability.

The 2013 World Social Science Report was prepared and edited by the International Social Science Council (ISSC) with the support of high level specialists from all the over the world. It is co-published by the ISSC, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and UNESCO.

Read WSSR2013 online now: http://www.worldsocialscience.org/activities/world-social-science-report/the-2013-report/read-changing-global-environments/ 

Further Details: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/resources/reports/world-social-science-report-2013/ 

CfPs: Innovating India: National Workshop, 25-26 Nov, at NIT, Silchar

INNOVATING INDIA

 National Workshop

25-26 Nov 2013

Jointly organised by

NATIONAL  INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (NIT), SILCHAR

and

CSIR - NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES (CSIR-NISTADS), NEW DELHI

Under TEQIP II

BACKGROUND

In the modern globalised world, the economic development of a country is premised by its ability to develop, adapt and harness its potential to innovate. Most of the governments in developing and emerging economies, including India are proactive in initiating policies that would promote a culture of innovation. The conference intends to identify the nature and extent of innovation activities in the country and the lacunae in its support mechanism. The workshop will explore suitable S&T interventions in the policy matrix in order to showcase India in the forefront of innovation activities.

THEMES

The workshop will have following major themes & topics that range from  those related to S&T and human resources, Innovation and support system, S&T and Industry, S&T output and patents, Rural development and S&T strategies, Innovations in Different subject domains (Healthcare, Alternative energy, Green technology, ICT, Biotechnology, Life Sciences, General science, Library Science etc.)  & Grassroots Innovation in North East India.

OBJECTIVES

• The workshop aims to bring together leading-edge inventors, scholars, professionals, practitioners, educators, school & college students and participants from all over North-East India.
• The workshop will facilitate presentations, on monetizing and trading of intellectual property through interaction with institutions and industries.
• The principal objective of this workshop is to provide a platform for exchange of knowledge, ideas & learning experience among the researchers, teachers and scientists about innovations.
• To identify emerging innovations in the field of Science & Technology.
• To disseminate the relevant traditional knowledge system / grass root innovations of North-East Region.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Academicians, Scientists, Engineers, Students and Faculty Members, NGOs, Research Organisations.

CALL FOR PAPERS

The workshop invites research articles from scientists, research scholars, and students on the various aspects of the theme 'Innovating India'. The papers should be an original contribution covering theoretical research, empirical studies including case studies, realistic experiences.

An extended abstract with a word limit of 1000 words is required to be sent by 16 November, 2013 via email to any of the workshop coordinators Dr Kishor Satpathy (ksatpathy@gmail.com) / Prof Sujit Bhattacharya (sujit_academic@yahoo.com). The abstract must be typed in MS-Word in 12 point Times New Roman with references properly tagged. The authors whose abstracts are accepted will be notified on 18^th November, 2013. The authors whose extended abstracts are accepted are expected to submit full papers within three months for publication in the proceeding/edited Book.

REGISTRATION AND ACCOMMODATION

Registration for persons interested to participate in the workshop will be on a first come first served basis with a maximum limit of 150 participants. No registration fee would be charged. Selected paper contributors from North-East Region will be given TA for Second Class Train/Bus Fare with local hospitality. Dully filled in registration forms should be submitted to Dr. Kishor Satpathy at ksatpathy@gmail.com on or before 18 Nov. 2013. Please note that there will be no telephonic or on-the-spot registration.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WORKSHOP

•     Key Note Sessions
•     Panel Discussions
•     Presentations of Papers
•     Exhibition of Innovative Models,

Scientific Writing & Publishing Workshop at JNU by Macmillan Science Communication; November 29

'Scientific Writing & Publishing Workshop' by Macmillan Science Communication

Venue: JNU Convention Centre, Delhi, India

Date: November 29, 2013

Macmillan Science communication (MSC), an exclusive partner of the Nature Publishing Group (NPG), is organising its maiden Scientific Writing and Publishing Workshop in India in association with the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi on November 29, 2013. This is the first in a series of similar workshops that MSC plans to organise across India in coming years.

The event will be conducted by Dr. James Butcher, Associate Director of Open Publishing at Nature Communications & Scientific Reports. Dr. Butcher is also the former Publishing Director of Nature Review Journals. He has been the publisher of 14 Nature Reviews Journals (clinical and life sciences) with management responsibility for a team of 70 editors.

Dr Butcher's all-day session at the JNU Convention Centre would include some of these key writing and publishing areas:

• Taking Research from Bench to Paper
• Creating Coherency and a Narrative in your Paper
• Titles and Abstracts
• Presenting and Discussing Results
• Producing Effective Figures, Graphs and Tables
• Choosing a Journal for Publication
• Using Bibliometrics
• Writing a Review Article
• Submitting your Paper and Writing a Cover Letter
• The Editorial Processes and Peer Review
• Scientific Publication Ethics

Science faculty and PhD scholars interested in registering for the workshop may contact either of the two organisers:

Debashish Brahmachari
Director – NPG India
3A, 4th Floor, DLF Corporate Park
Gurgaon – 122002, India | Tel: 91 124 2881057
mscindia@macmillan.co.uk
naturejobs.india@nature.com
Mobile No: 9650969959

Dr. Atul Kumar Johri
Associate Professor
School of Life Sciences, JNU
New Delhi -110067, India
akjohri14@yahoo.com
Mobile No: 9810336244

Source: http://network.nature.com/groups/natureindia/forum/topics/15922

International Conference on Media Engagements in Contemporary Times; 4-5 Nov, at India international Centre

Media Engagements in Contemporary Times

International Conference to mark the Birth Centenary of

Nikhil Chakravartty (1913- 1998)

 4-5 November 2013

Conference Hall - II, India international Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi

 Organized by Centre for Media Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University

 In association with India International Centre; Editors' Guild of India; & Nikhil Chakravartty Memorial Foundation

 

Inauguration: 10.00am to 11.00am:

Welcome Note: Dean, School of Social Sciences, JNU

About the Conference: Rakesh Batabyal, Convenor of the Conference, Centre for Media Studies, JNU

Inaugural Address: NC's World: The Universe of Nikhil Chakravartty

By Dr. Syeda Hameed (Member, Planning Commission, GOI)

Chair: Prof. Muchkund Dube, Chair, Nikhil Charkaravartty Memorial Foundation

Vote of Thanks: Chairperson, Centre for Media Studies, SSS, JNU

Session II (11.15 to 1.00 pm)

Nationalist intelligentsia and the Evolution of Indian Media,

J.V. Naik, Former Prof. of History, Bombay University and President, Indian History Congress

Chair: Prof. C.P. Bhambhri, Distinguished Scholar, JNU

Session III (2.00 P.M. 5.00 P.M.)    Media Engagements in Social Movements

Nature of Peoples' Movement in Post Independent India, T.K. Oommen, Prof. Emeritus, JNU &President International Sociological Association (1990-1994)

The Transmogrification of Indian Media Scene: From Lofty Mission to Common Market Place, Rami Chaabra, Senior Journalist.

Session IV

India: the Nation and the Agents of Change

Speaker: Prof. Amit Bhaduri, Professor Emeritus, JNU

 

Day Two: 5 November 2013

Session V (10.00 - 10.45am) Democracy and Information: Famine of 1943 to Right to Information and Food Security Bill

Keynote Address:  Smt. Aruna Roy, Social activist& founder member of MKSS, Rajasthan

Chair: Shri Kuldeep Nayar, Senior Journalist

11.00 to 12.30 p.m.   

Chair: Prof.  K.B. Saxena

Famine of 1943: The Enduring Features, Rakesh Batabyal, Centre for Media Studies, author of 'Communalism in Bengal from Famine to Noakhali 1943-47'

Food crisis of 1965-67: Politics of Food Aid and Self Reliance, K.R. Venugopal, Former, Secretary GoI in charge of Poverty Alleviation

The Movement for Right to Food and Information, Bharat Dogra, Senior Journalist

12. 30 to 1.30pm

From Freedom Movement to Peoples' Movement

Speaker: Medha Patkar, Social Activist and Founder of Narmada Bachao Andolan

Session VI (2.30- 3.30pm)

India, the Non Aligned Movement, Quest for a New International Order and South Asian regional Cooperation

Keynote Address: Professor Muchkund Dube, Former Foreign Secretary, GOI and Professor, JNU; President, Council for Social Development, New Delhi

Chair: Dr. Kamal Hossain, Former Foreign Minister, Bangladesh.

3.45 – 5.30pm Panel Discussion

Chair: Shri S. Nihal Singh, Distinguished Journalist and Editor of the Statesman, Indian Express and Independent.

Fehmida Riaz, Writer and Poet, Pakistan

Kamal Hossain, Former Foreign Minister, Bangladesh

Badrul Ehsan, Executive Editor, The Daily Star, Dhaka

Mohan Tikku, Distinguished Journalist, Author of Sri Lanka, NBT, 2004

Qamar Agha, Distinguished Journalist, Foreign Affairs

Award of Fellowship 2014 for Tagore Centre for the Study of Culture and Civilization, at IIAS Shimla

Tagore Centre for the Study of Culture and Civilization

Advertisement

Award of Fellowship 2014 for Tagore Centre for the Study of Culture and Civilization at Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla
1. Applications are invited for award of Fellowships in the Tagore Centre for the Study of Culture and Civilization.
2. The Tagore Centre is not a Tagore Study Centre which aims at studying just Tagore's work and thoughts though such a study is one of its important activities.
3. The Centre provides research opportunities to the practitioners of culture and civilization who are engaged with concerns similar to those which preoccupied Tagore such as education, environment, artistic and literary imagination, participatory development, nationalism, cultural influences, reconciliation, philosophy and humanism, science and society. Such engagement may involve textual study of his work, or a creative engagement with his literary imagination or with his experiments in music, dance, and painting, or practicing innovative ideas in education and environment in the urban and rural context, or simply with larger implications and possibilities of his vision.
4. The Centre allows for reflective and creative engagement with the human condition by exploring new idiom of art, poetry and music. It thus provides space to scholars as well as the practicing artists/artistes to signal Tagore's deep engagement with culture and civilization founded on his belief in the oneness of his world.
5. The Centre aims to initiate South-South intellectual and cultural exchange and has, therefore, been set up with the objective of serving as a site for dialogue between India and the world.
6. In all four Fellowships will be awarded out of which one is for either a poet, or a writer, or an artist-in-residence; one for a scholar from outside India; while the remaining two are general.

The application on the prescribed form may reach the Secretary, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla 171005 by 30 November 2013.

Further Details: http://iias.org/Advertisement_Fellowship_2013.pdf

CfPs: Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government CeDEM 2014; 21-23 May; at Danube University Krems, Austria

Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government CeDEM 2014
21-23 May 2014
Danube University Krems, Austria
www.donau-uni.ac.at/cedem

Call for Papers
The international Conference for e-Democracy and Open Government (CeDEM) brings together e-democracy, e-participation and open government specialists working in academia, politics, government and business to critically analyse the innovations, issues, ideas and challenges in the networked societies of the digital age.
Since 2007, the Centre for E-Governance at the Danube University Krems has been organising conferences on e-democracy and public administration. The E-democracy Conferences began in 2007, and the CeDEM, first presented in 2011, represents the development and continuation of the conference series. In the meantime, the CeDEM also boasts a spin-off in Asia, held for the first time in November 2012.
Papers submitted are peer-reviewed in a double-blind process (with a 50% rejection rate) and if accepted, are published in the proceedings (Edition Donau-Universität Krems), both in paper format and online according to Open Access principles. Workshops proposals, PhD colloquium papers and reflections that have been submitted are selected by the chairs and also published in the proceedings. Authors of the best peer-reviewed papers will be asked to re-submit their revised and extended papers for the autumn issue of the Centre for E-Governance's Open Access eJournal of eDemocracy and Open Government (www.jedem.org).
The CeDEM offers a PhD Colloquium in cooperation with the Danube University Krems' Platform for Political Communication and netPOL (www.netpol.at). The PhD Colloquium provides PhD students the opportunity to present their work and gain feedback from experts as well as meet other PhD students. Students from any stage of their PhD are invited to submit their work.
The CeDEM also provides an Open Space on 23 May, where participants can democratically choose and organise in barcamp style their own presentations, workshops, birds of a feather, events, meetings etc..

Important Dates

• Deadline for the submission of all papers, workshop proposals, reflections: 6 December 2013
• Notification of acceptance: 7 February 2014
• Camera-ready paper submission: 28 February 2014
• Pre-conference event: 20 May 2014
• Conference: 21-22 May 2014
• Open Space, PhD colloquium: 23 May 2014

CeDEM14 Tracks

• E-Democracy and E-Participation
• E-Voting
• Bottom-Up Movements
• Social and Mobile Media for Public Administration
• Open Collaborative Government
• Democracy, Globalization and Migration
• Connected Smart City
• Open Data, Transparency and Open Innovation
• Technology and Architecture
• Self-governance in Complex Networks
• Rethinking Information Visualization for the People
• Freedom and Ethics in Digital Societies
• Design and Co-creation for E-democracy
• Citizen's Participation in Democratic Governance Processes through ICT in Africa
• PhD Colloquium

PhD Colloquium:
Chairs: Peter Parycek (Danube University Krems, AT) and Christina Hainzl (netPOL, Danube University Krems, AT)
The CeDEM offers a PhD Colloquium in cooperation with the Danube University Krems' Platform for Political Communication and netPOL (www.netpol.at). The Doctoral Colloquium provides PhD students the opportunity to present their work and gain feedback from experts as well as meet other PhD students. Students from any stage of their PhD are invited to submit their work in relation to any of the conference topics.

Submissions
We invite individuals from academic and applied backgrounds as well as business, public authorities, NGOs, NPOs and education institutions to submit their papers, reflections as well as workshop proposals to the topics addressed in the tracks. We welcome interdisciplinary approaches to the conference topics.

• Research papers: 12 pages maximum (double-blind peer-reviewed);
• Case studies / Project papers: 12 pages maximum (double-blind peer-reviewed);
• Reflections: 6 pages maximum (selected by the chairs);
• Workshops: 4 pages maximum (selected by the chairs);
• PhD Colloquium papers: 3 pages maximum (excluding literature list; selected by the organisers of the colloquium);

Conference Chairs
Noella Edelmann & Peter Parycek (Danube University Krems, AT) noella.edelmann@donau-uni.ac.at, peter.parycek@donau-uni.ac.at


Further Details: http://www.donau-uni.ac.at/imperia/md/content/department/gpa/zeg/bilder/cedem/cfp_2014.pdf