[ih] CFP: International Communities of Invention and Innovation (New York City, May 2016; deadline 8 January)

[Christopher Leslie]

Dear Colleagues,

We have extended our deadline for the spring IFIP computer history
conference until February 12. Please let me know if you have any questions
about the conference. I hope many of you will consider attending. Please
feel free to forward this message as appropriate.

Chris Leslie


>
> International Communities of Invention and Innovation
> IFIP Working Group 9.7 Conference
> NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY
> 25-29 May 2016
>
> Analog and digital computers were developed by individuals aware of an
> international scientific community. Likewise, although sometimes thought of
> as solely national projects, the first computer networks were built in an
> age of growing interconnectivity among nations. This meeting of IFIP
> Working Group 9.7 in New York City gathers historians and other
> professionals to reflect on histories that foreground the international
> community. Participants with an interest in this historical context for
> computers and computer networks may present academic papers or join in
> roundtable discussions.
>
> In accordance with this theme, we hope to blur the dichotomy between core
> and periphery and complicate simplistic notions of linear technological
> progress. Far from a deterministic view that computers and computer
> networks were developed in isolation and according to their own technical
> imperatives, we will show the history of pre-existing relationships and
> communities that led to the triumphs (and dead ends) in the history of
> computing. This broad perspective will help us to tell a more accurate
> story of important developments like the Internet, to be sure, but also it
> will provide us with a better understanding of how to sponsor future
> invention and innovation.
>
> At the conference, we seek to foster a conversation about internationalism
> in the history of computers and computer networks along four broad themes:
>
> 1. Invention:
>      • communities where analog computers were developed
>      • communication about and competition for early devices
>      • innovations brought in from the supposed periphery
>      • failed, forgotten, or thwarted efforts to develop
>         networks or industries
>
> 2. Policy:
>      • trade and treaties supporting computers and networks
>      • organizations like IFIP with a mission to promote
>         collaboration
>      • long trajectories of digital divides
>      • case studies revealing ethical considerations
>      • cross-national comparisons of gender or ethnic diversity
>         in industry and education
>
> 3. Infrastructure:
>      • communication and data networks before the Internet
>      • development and diffusion of TCP/IP
>      • connectivity efforts before NSFNET, NSFNET, and beyond
>      • resistance to and success of the WorldWideWeb
>
> 4. Social History:
>      • differences and similarities in international impacts
>         on general society
>      • antecedents (Wells's World Brain) and visions (Human-Nets's
>         WorldNet)
>      • individuals who championed connections between nations
>      • historiography of internationalism in computing
>      • representations of international computing communities
>         in film or literature
>
> It is hoped that the conference will be of interest to a broad range of
> people who study computing and computer networks, including academic
> scholars and graduate students, but also those who have a professional or
> technical interest in computing. Accordingly, there are two ways to
> participate:
>
> 1. Academic Papers
>
> For consideration, please submit your draft paper via the conference
> website (http://wp.nyu.edu/ifip_wg97/). Enquires are welcome in advance
> of your submission (wg9.7conference at nyu.edu). Draft papers will be
> circulated before the conference in order to encourage a meaningful
> discussion. At the conference, each selected participant will be allotted
> time to present an overview of his or her paper. It is our intention to
> publish selected conference papers in an anthology by Springer, and
> hopefully the conference feedback will be useful as presenters complete
> their final drafts.
>
> 2. Roundtable Discussions
>
> In order to welcome technical professionals and others who may not desire
> to prepare a full paper, the conference will also feature roundtables of
> 10–15 minute, relatively informal presentations related to the conference
> theme. These presentations could focus on key figures, historical
> anecdotes, or observations on particular projects. We hope that these
> roundtables will spark lively conversation and, perhaps, generate research
> partnerships between historians and technical professionals. For
> consideration, send a 250-word summary of the topic and your interest in it
> via the conference website (http://wp.nyu.edu/ifip_wg97/). Enquires are
> welcome in advance of your submission (wg9.7conference at nyu.edu).
>
> The conference will be held at New York University's Polytechnic School of
> Engineering in MetroTech Center, Brooklyn, New York 11201. About 20 minutes
> away by subway from NYU's Greenwich Village location, MetroTech Center is
> located in the heart of Downtown Brooklyn and within walking distance of
> the Brooklyn Bridge as well as the iconic neighborhoods of DUMBO, Fort
> Greene, and Brooklyn Heights. In order to help make the conference more
> affordable, we will offer accommodations in the school's dormitory,
> adjacent to the conference venue, at a competitive price for those who do
> not wish to stay in a nearby hotel.
> Further details will be made available at http://wp.nyu.edu/ifip_wg97/
>
> About IFIP WG 9.7: IFIP, the International Federation for Information
> Processing, was founded in 1960. It is a nongovernmental organization
> dedicated to information and communication technologies and sciences. It
> sponsors fourteen committees primarily of a technical nature. Technical
> Committee 9, however, is dedicated to ICT and Society. The organizer of
> this conference is TC9’s Working Group 7, which focuses on the history of
> computing.
>
> Important Dates
>   • Deadline for consideration: January 8, 2016 ... extended until Feb. 12
>   • Early deadline for payment of registration fee: March 1
>   • Revised papers and abstracts due: April 1
>   • Last day to reserve a room in the dormitory: April 10
>   • Papers and abstracts made available to participants: May 1
>   • Revised papers due for consideration in proceedings: July 1
>
>
> --
> Christopher S. Leslie, Ph.D.
> Co-Director of Science and Technology Studies
> Faculty Fellow in Residence for Othmer Hall and Clark Street
> Vice Chair, IFIP Working Group 9.7 - History of Computing
>
> NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering
> 5 MetroTech Center, LC 131
> Brooklyn, NY 11201
> (646) 997-3130
>



-- 
Christopher S. Leslie, Ph.D.
Co-Director and Lecturer, Science and Technology Studies
Faculty Fellow in Residence for Othmer Hall and Clark Street
Vice Chair, IFIP History of Computing Working Group 9.7

NYU Tandon School of Engineering
5 MetroTech Center, LC 131
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(646) 997-3130

Office Hour Signup: http://tinyurl.com/chrisleslie
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