Call for Contributions Fourth International Conference on Online Deliberation

[Michel Bauwens]

Call for Contributions: Fourth International Conference on Online Deliberation (OD2010)

30 June – 2 July, 2010, Leeds, UK

URL = http://www.dico.unimi.it/OD2010

Sponsored by: The Institute of Communications Studies at the University of Leeds, Dipartimento di
Informatica e Comunicazione Università degli Studi di Milano and the Public Sphere Project.

The widespread diffusion of the Internet and a growing trend towards democratisation worldwide have
encouraged new modes, projects and visions of citizen participation in decision making and governance.
OD2010 aims to bring together researchers, developers and practitioners from a wide range of academic
and applied backgrounds to provide a unique opportunity to better understand the notion of deliberation
in a virtual environment and to discuss specific advances in online deliberation from a number of different
disciplinary perspectives.

The conference is aimed at those who wish to update themselves on recent developments in online
deliberation, understand how other groups are applying the tools and techniques and exchange ideas
with leading international experts.

OD2010 follows the traditions of previous high-level scientific conferences. It is organized by key experts
in the field and is supported by a multidisciplinary programme committee. This is the first time the
conference has been held outside the USA.

The fourth OD conference focuses on, but is not limited to, the following topics:
• current research on online deliberation;
• research challenges which deliberation, and in particular online deliberation, pose for
researchers, governments, communities and citizens;
• socio-technical design of online deliberative spaces;
• links between theories of deliberative democracy with experience with online deliberation;
• descriptions of tools and techniques that are already being tested or fielded;
• deliberative platforms using novel or unusual settings, technology or approaches;
• experiences and findings related to relevant technological theories (such as Web 2.0) and/or
relevant social theories of deliberation and governance (such as public sphere, government 2.0
and civic intelligence); and
• case studies in applying and evaluating online deliberation in various formal and informal
engagement domains.

Guidelines for papers and other submissions

The conference allows for four distinct types of submissions:

1. Research papers
2. Exploratory papers on ongoing research and innovative projects
3. Technology demonstrators
4. Panels on pertinent issues

Important Dates

January 1 2010 Submission system available
January 1, 2010 Early registration begins
February 14, 2010 Research paper submissions due
February 21, 2010 Exploratory papers due
March1, 2010 Technology Demonstrators & Panel proposals due
March 14, 2010 Notices of paper acceptances
April 12, 2010 Completed research and exploratory papers due
May 1, 2010 Late registration begins
June 30 – July 2 OD 2010


Conference Chairs:

Stephen Coleman and Ann Macintosh, Centre for Digital Citizenship, University of Leeds, UK.
Fiorella De Cindio, Dipartimento di Informatica e Comunicazione Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy

Organising Chairs:

Giles Moss, Deputy Director Centre for Digital Citizenship, University of Leeds
Cristian Peraboni, Dipartimento di Informatica e Comunicazione Università degli Studi di Milano

For further information please visit the conference website at: www.dico.unimi.it/OD2010
Or email: [e-mail]