Workshop on Web Science for Development
IIIT-Bangalore, 12-14 Feb 2020
WS4D 2020 Registration: Click Here
The World Wide Web (WWW) is the biggest information construct that the world has ever seen. Nothing like the web ever existed in recorded human history. The web is neither a natural phenomenon, nor is it an artificially engineered system. It is the result of trillions of human decisions made independently. As the web and associated technologies like mobile computing makes inroads into most aspects of our lives, there is a growing urgency to understand how it is affecting humanity as a whole. The interdisciplinary study of Web Science was born in 2006 as a result.
The Web Science for Development (WS4D 2020) workshop is part of the Web Science Research Initiative at IIIT Bangalore. WS4D 2020 is a workshop that brings together professionals from several domains, addressing relevant issues of WWW and humanity.
WS4D 2020 is organised as a 3-day event. The first day on Feb 12th, features an activity called Brave Conversations in partnership with the Web Science Trust and the British Deputy High Commission at India.
Brave Conversations is not your average ‘conference’. There are no lectures or talks, it works through the conversations which are generated by the participants in the room who bring their backgrounds, knowledge and experience to discussing the relationship between technology and society. We start small, with “You”, by asking how your everyday life is mediated and determined by the technologies you use. We then move to groups and communities, and then to the broader societal questions as a whole. The day is thoroughly facilitated utilising a range of tools and processes which bring to the surface conversations which people are having at home or at work, but at Brave Conversations you have time to think about these conversations and to reflect on how to more proactively take control of how you live your digital life. Our aim is to create a fast-paced learning environment where there is no time to get bored but the focus is on being in the room with the other human beings around you.
The second day Feb 13 2020, features a series of talks by several eminent researchers, practitioners and policy-makers on various topics pertaining to digital societies, including two keynote speeches: Prof. Dame Wendy Hall, Executive Director of the Web Science Institute at the University of Southampton and Prof. Noshir Contractor, Director of the Science of Networks in Communities Research Group at Northwestern University, IL, USA.
The Third day Feb 14 2020, features a Datathon and PhD Colloquium.
SCHEDULE:
Day 1: 12 Feb (Wednesday) 2020
Day 2: 13 Feb (Thursday) 2020
Day 3: 14 Feb (Friday) 2020
