Call for paper abstracts and panel proposals: Public Governance and Emerging Technologies
Invitation to contribute to the conference on 11-12 January 2024
We are pleased to invite you to contribute to our interdisciplinary international conference on ‘Public Governance and Emerging Technologies: Values, Trust, and Compliance by Design’ on 11-12 January 2024, in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The conference aims to explore and offer guidance on how emerging technologies in public governance might proceed from a promissory idea to development and deployment in a legally, ethically, and socially acceptable way. The conference aims to combine expertise from multiple disciplines, such as law, sociology, philosophy, STS, public governance, and computer science, to facilitate discussions and further knowledge about emerging technologies, public values, trust, and compliance by design in public governance. Please find a short description of the conference topic below, and a longer version in this document. The deadline for paper abstracts and panel proposals is 15 October 2023.
In the complex network society, public authority is no longer solely exercised in a unilateral manner but is increasingly also carried out through governance networks of public and private actors. Moreover, public actors are increasingly experimenting with ‘disruptive’ or ‘emerging’ digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence and blockchain, to innovate their public services and administrative decision-making procedures. In doing so, they frequently collaborate with private actors. However, the automatization by algorithmic systems, the networked nature of distributed technologies such as blockchain, and the data-driven use of AI in public governance proliferate hyper-connectivity and hyper-complexity. As a result, these technologies challenge important public values such as transparency and accountability. These evolutions have led to renewed attention for public values, legal compliance, and trust.
These challenges demand high-level academic and societal debates on the legal, social, and ethical implications of the use of emerging technologies in public governance. The conference aims to contribute to this debate by bringing together insights on emerging technologies, public values, trust, and compliance by design. The conference aims to explore and offer guidance on how emerging technologies in public governance might proceed from a promissory idea to development and deployment in a legally, ethically, and socially acceptable way.
Call for individual paper abstracts and panel proposals
We invite individual paper and panel proposals in the fields of law, sociology, philosophy, STS, public governance and computer science on emerging technologies, public values, legal compliance and trust in public governance.
The deadline for paper abstracts and panel proposals is 15 October 2023. Please submit your contribution to j.m.ermers@uu.nl.
Acceptance of participation will be communicated on a rolling basis: early submission means early decision. After acceptance, draft papers are to be submitted the latest by 4 January 2024 and will be distributed among the participants of your panel.
- Individual paper abstract: up to 500 words
- Panel proposal: justification for the panel up to 300 words, containing a discussion of the relevance to the topic of the conference. The proposal should also include 3 to 4 contributors and abstracts (up to 500 words each). The composition of panels will be selected by the conference organization team. If a panel proposal contains fewer than four contributions, the conference organization team may allocate additional papers from selected submissions.
We look forward to your submission and to welcoming you in Utrecht! If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact us at j.m.ermers@uu.nl.
The conference is organized as a part of the CHAIN project ‘The Role and Responsibilities of Public Actors in Distributed Networks. Transparency, Trust and Legitimacy by Design’, a research project funded by the NWO MVI program ‘Responsible Innovation. Designing for Public Values in a Digital World’. This interdisciplinary project is led by Prof. Jurgen Goossens (Utrecht University, Montaigne Centre for Rule of Law and Administration of Justice, and focus area Governing the Digital Society) and co-led by Prof. Esther Keymolen (Tilburg University/TILT). The project focuses on public governance networks and emerging technologies, with special focus on blockchain. The project aims to rethink and operationalize public values of the democratic rule of law, such as transparency, accountability, trust and legitimacy from a by design perspective and citizen perspective.
The conference will take place in Paushuize, a beautiful historical building in the heart of Utrecht. On Thursday 11 January, the conference will kick-off in the afternoon with a first keynote and networking reception. On Friday 12 January, panel discussions and a second keynote will take place, including lunch and closing reception.
The CHAIN team: Prof. dr. mr. Jurgen Goossens, Prof. dr. Esther Keymolen, Dr. Antonia Stanojević, Charlotte van Oirsouw and Juliette Ermers