Call for Papers

Conference Themes

C&T focuses on the notion of communities as social entities comprised of people who share something in common; this common element may be geography, needs, interests, practices, organizations, or other bases for social connection. Communities are considered to be a basic unit of social experience. Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can support community formation and development by facilitating communication and coordination among members, as well as enable and empower communities to deal with challenges and threats.

Topics appropriate for submission to this conference are manifold. Examples of some of the vibrant areas of communities and technology research include, but are not limited to:

Communities, technologies and government (learning/education, health, cultural heritage, crises and natural disasters)
Civic Activism, Community Engagement, Participatory Publics
Communities and innovation
Crowdsourcing, crowdfunding, collective intelligence
Maker communities (makerspaces, Fablabs, crafters) and DIY
Online and offline communities
Urban and rural communities; urban technologies; urban informatics; urban interaction design
Smart communities in the context of smart cities
Sustainable communities
Communities, social media and social capital
Community-centred Design, Infrastructuring and Evaluation Methodologies
Ethnographic and case studies of communities
Communities, ICTs and Economic and Social Development.

Submission categories and formats

We are calling for submission of full (research) papers, work-in-progress papers, tutorial and workshop proposals and applications to the doctoral consortium. Please submit all papers and abstracts in ACM SIGCHI two column layout.

Papers

In order to allow for a diversity of contributions, the conference will accept full papers and work-in-progress papers.

Full papers must be no longer than ten pages, including all additional material such as references, appendices, and figures. Work-in-progress papers must be no longer than four pages. The papers must include a title, sufficient space for the author name(s) to appear on the paper, abstract, keywords, body, and references.
Papers submitted by the due date will undergo a double blind peer review process by an international panel and will be evaluated on the basis of their significance, innovation, academic rigour, and clarity of writing. Accepted full papers will be included in the published conference proceedings if at least one author of any accepted submission has registered and attends the conference.
Accepted work-in-progress papers will be published in the adjunct proceedings, and the same rule applies: at least one of the authors will have to register and attend the conference.
Papers will be submitted via EasyChair.
Please send any questions to the Programme Chairs: PC_chairs@comtech.community .

Workshops

Workshops provide an opportunity to discuss and explore emerging areas of Communities & Technologies research with a group of like-minded researchers and practitioners. They run for a half or one full day and will take place on June 27th or June 28th. Workshops offer the opportunity to advance specific research areas. C&T workshops might address methodologies, emerging application areas, design innovations, organisational issues or education. Each workshop should generate ideas that give the C&T community a new, organised way of thinking about the topic, or ideas that suggest promising directions for future research. Some workshops result in edited books or special issues of journals; you may consider including this goal in your workshop proposal.
Please send proposals to the Workshop Chairs: workshops@comtech.community

Tutorials

The purpose of the tutorials is to give the attendees the opportunity to acquire knowledge in new areas and add to their professional development. Topics can range from physical computing (Arduino, Raspberry Pi) to visualization, mapping applications, setting up a disaster coordination centre, and so on. We invite individuals or teams interested in presenting a tutorial to submit proposals. Tutorials will run for a half or one full day on June 27th.
Please send proposals to the Tutorials Chairs: tutorials@comtech.community

Proposals of workshop and tutorial organizers should be no longer than 4 pages and should include: the title of the workshop, the list of organizers and their backgrounds, and an abstract of no more than 150 words, as well as the workshop’s theme, goals and activities, maximum number of participants, means of soliciting participation, and means of selecting participants.

Doctoral Consortium

The Doctoral Consortium is scheduled prior to the main conference programme, on Sunday 28 June 2015. The Doctoral Consortium (DC) offers research students a special forum where they can present, discuss and progress their research plans with peers and established senior researchers.
Research students wishing to attend the doctoral consortium should submit up to 4 pages, using the ACM SIGCHI two column layout, addressing the following: Introduction setting up your research area and specific research question(s)/goals(s) (including key related work); Overall research approach, methodology, and expected contributions; Work in progress (including findings to date and next steps); Questions and issues for discussion, and what you hope to gain from attending the DC; short bio.
Please send proposals to the Doctoral Consortium Chairs: dc@comtech.community

Student Volunteers

C&T actively encourages students to volunteer at the conference. Being a student volunteer is a great way to support the research community, meet other students in the field, and attend an international ACM conference. You will help the conference organisers with the running of the conference and support the setting-up of presentations and workshops. You will see the latest in C&T research and development, and have fun while learning about running the conference. In return, you will get free registration. To apply, email us your contact details (email, phone, university), an abstract of your research project, a CV, and the reasons why you would like to be a student volunteer.
Please send applications to the Student Volunteers Chair: volunteers@comtech.community

Important Dates

1 Feb 2015 Papers, Workshop and Tutorials Proposals due
1 Mar 2015 Notification of acceptance (for Workshop &Tutorial Proposals)
1 Apr 2015 Notification of acceptance (for Full Papers)
1 May 2015 Camera Ready Papers
1 May 2015 Workshop Papers, Work-in-Progress Papers, Doctoral Consortium Submissions and Student Volunteers Applications due
1 June 2015 – Early bird registration ends
27-28 Jun 2015 Workshops, Tutorials and Doctoral Consortium
29-30 Jun 2015 Conference