We are very pleased to announce the INSEIT 2008-09 Fellows and Mentors! This was the first year of the program and we are extremely happy with the response to the program and with the high quality of the Fellows’ proposals.

• Anthony Hoffmann, MLIS Candidate, Research Assistant, Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

• Erin Hvizdak, MLIS Candidate, Research Assistant, Center for Information Policy Research, School of Information Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

• Mariarosaria Taddeo, PhD Student, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Padua (Italy), Junior Research Associate - Information Ethics Group (IEG), University of Oxford

• Antonino Vaccaro, Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Department of Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University

Tony will be working with Keith Miller, exploring the emerging dichotomy of hypercontextualization/decontextualization in online experiences and their relationship to privacy.

Erin will be mentored by Philip Brey, and investigate such questions as what technological measures could be put in place to better facilitate informed consent in Internet research? Are information technology students taught the role that their designs play in human subjects research? To what extent are information technology programs teaching value-sensitive design?

Mariarosaria engages questions of e-trust with Luciano Floridi, and will explore the definitions of e-trust, the role that e-trust might have in the informative and epistemic processes of distributed systems, and the relation between the occurrence of e-trust and the emergence of ethical behaviours in a given system.

Nino will also study under Luciano Floridi, and address issues in net neutrality: What is the ethical nature of Internet neutrality? Should Internet neutrality be endorsed when considering its ethical implications?, What ethical framework should be endorsed for regulating Internet traffic?

The Fellows Program was designed to encourage young and promising scholars to pursue information ethics research under the supervision of a senior colleague. Both Fellows and Mentors will receive a stipend and will work towards scholarly publication.

We extend our thanks to Luciano, Philip, and Keith for their dedication and willingness to serve as mentors, and we congratulate Tony, Erin, Mariarosaria, and Nino and wish you a successful year!