De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
Monday to Wednesday, 07-09 September 2015

Conference webpage: www.dmu.ac.uk/ethicomp2015

General Description
In 1995 the first ETHICOMP conference was held in Leicester, England, organised by Terry Bynum and Simon Rogerson. Its purpose was to provide a forum to discuss ethical issues around computers. Twenty years later we are meeting again in Leicester to continue this conversation. The changes in information and communication technology (ICT) during these 20 years have been dramatic. While computers used to be bulky and easily identifiable machines, we now have small smart devices, the internet quickly developed and has changed significantly, and ICT now pervades all walks of life, from the way we work and communicate to study, undertake childcare and choose partners. As a consequence many of the concerns of 1995 have deepened and many new ones have arisen.

During ETHICOMP 2015, we will review ethical and social issues raised by contemporary computing and look at ways of identifying and addressing them in the future. The conference aims to be practically relevant and bring together the various communities involved in the development, implementation, and use of computing and reflection on these in their various guises. The conference is based on the belief that the ETHICOMP community, together with other associations and groups, needs to work together to enable the benefits of computing to prevail, while rendering its downsides and ethical ambiguities visible and more subject to public debate than is the case today.

To structure the discussion we invite submissions to the following tracks (check website for more detailed description of tracks):

• Researchers’ issues in Computer Ethics / Information Ethics studies (Gonçalo Jorge Morais Costa, Małgorzata Alicja Płotka)
• Social Impacts of Snowden's Revelations: Worldwide Cross-cultural Analyses (Kiyoshi Murata)
• Digital Do-It-Yourself (DiDIY) (Vincent C. Müller)
• Responsible Research & Innovation in Industry (Catherine Flick)
• ICT and Society: social accountability, professional ethics and the challenges of virtuality and the cloud (Diane Whitehouse)
• Teaching and professional ethics (Malgorzata Plotka, Gonçalo Jorge Morais Costa,)
• Robo-ethics (Kathleen Richardson)
• Open track (topics of relevance that do not fit any of the themes) (Mark Coeckelbergh)
• New ideas on bringing people together / novel formats (Andy Bissett)

Abstracts covering one or several of these perspectives are called for from business, government, computer science, information systems, law, media, anthropology, andragogy, psychology, sociology and philosophy. Interdisciplinary papers and those from new researchers and practitioners are encouraged. A paper might take a conceptual, applied, practical or historical focus. Case studies and reports on lessons learned in practice are welcome.

How to submit?
As in previous ETHICOMP conferences, papers written in English and not published nor submitted elsewhere will be accepted on the basis of an extended abstract of between 800 and 1000 words after a careful review by Programme Committee members. Whilst more than one paper from an author or co-authors is welcomed, the final decision on which papers are accepted will probably lead to no more than two papers per presenting author being accepted. This will give more opportunity for as many people as possible to participate in ETHICOMP 2015.

Abstracts and, where appropriate, full papers will be submitted and reviewed on the following website:
https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ethicomp2015

Important Dates

Call for abstracts: 01 Nov 14
Initial submission: 23 Feb 15
Reviews due: 25 March 15
Paper acceptance / rejection: 07 April 15
Final full paper submissions: 01 July 15

Proceedings
It is planned to publish the conference proceedings as a special issue of the ACM SIGCAS newsletter which will ensure inclusion in the ACM digital library (subject to confirmation). Selected papers will be invited to be submitted for a special issue of the Journal of International Technology and Information Management.
Authors will be informed prior to final acceptance where and how final papers are to be uploaded. All authors whose abstracts are accepted are expected to submit a full paper to be included in the proceedings.