December 2022
 
 
Message from the Editor
 
 
Heather Love, Editor, IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) Newsletter
 
 

Dear SSIT Members,

As 2022 wraps up (with a great deal of bluster and snow here in Ontario), I’m writing with one final installment of our SSIT Newsletter for the year. I hope that this message finds you well, and that as you reflect on the past 12 months, you find many things to be thankful for, proud of, and joyful about. It’s been a few months since our last newsletter (a lagging production schedule that I am hoping to remedy in the new year), but I’m happy to be able to include the following in the sections below:

 
 
  • Elections News: the announcement of our incoming roster of Board of Governors, who were elected in September for three-year terms beginning this January.

  • Awards News: congratulations to SSIT Standards Committee Chair, Ruth Lewis, who has been named a 2022 Standards Medallion recipient.

  • Conference News: a quick recap from IEEE ISTAS22, plus reminders about upcoming CFP deadlines for two 2023 SSIT conferences: IEEE ETHICS 2023 and IEEE ISTAS 2023.

  • Publication and Conference Reminders: information about SSIT-related publication and conference opportunities that I hope will be of interest to all members. Note in particular that applications for the position of Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine are due by 15 January 2023.

As always, I invite submissions from SSIT members for inclusion in future newsletters. Announcements for and reports on local chapter meetings, events, or outreach activities are always welcome; in addition, I’d love to hear about upcoming events, webinars, and conferences that might be of interest to SSIT members.

To announce an event, news item, volunteer opportunity, CFP, award notice, or other item, please contact me at [email protected]. Submissions for each newsletter are due by the first week of the month.

Best wishes to you all.

Sincerely,
Heather Love

 
 
SSIT Announcements
 
 
Happy Holidays and Cheers to 2023 from the SSIT Board of Governors!
 
 
 
 

The SSIT Board of Governors sends its best wishes for a very happy holidays and a healthy start to the New Year. Here is a snap from our most recent board meeting.

 
 
 
 
SSIT Board of Governors Election Results
 
 
As reported in early October by SSIT Nominations Committee Chair Bob Dent, the following three individuals have been elected to a three-year term (2023-2024) as Members-at-Large on the SSIT Board of Governors:
  • Miriam Cunningham
  • Joseph (Joe) Herkert
  • Katina Michael
Sincere thanks to all candidates for their willingness to run for these important positions on our Board of Governors and to dedicate their time and energy to the success of SSIT.
 
 
 
 
Congratulations to Ruth Lewis, 2022 IEEE Standards Medallion Recipient
 
 
SSIT Dec 2022 Lewis.png

Submitted by Terri Bookman

Ruth Lewis, IEEE SSIT Standards Committee Chair, has been named a 2022 recipient of the IEEE Standards Medallion for leadership in promoting the development of IEEE technology and society standards. IEEE Standards Association (SA) awards recognize outstanding voluntary standards development participation through an annual awards program.

Lewis’s IEEE SSIT Standards Committee work involves “identifying areas where standards will advance the responsible adoption of technologies that are already or are likely to impact society in direct or indirect ways,” she says, adding that Working Groups “focus on mitigating the harms of technology and misuse of data in society and the environment, and promoting the benefits by identifying and codifying best practices for the design, operation and use of these technologies and data.”

Under Lewis’s leadership, the SSIT Standards Committee increased the number of Standards Working Groups for which the SSIT is the primary sponsor from 5 to 11. Some of the project Working Groups that the SSIT Standards Committee currently oversees include: P2890: Provenance of Indigenous People’s Data, P2895: Taxonomy for Responsible Trading of Human Generated Data, and P7011: Process of Identifying and Rating the Trustworthiness of News Sources.

Lewis is Principal Consultant and Founder of Technology Foresight in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The 2022 IEEE Standards Medallion award will be presented in New Jersey, U.S.A., in early December.
 
 
 
 
IEEE ISTAS 2023 CFP and Website are LIVE
 
 
 
 

13-15 September 2023
Swansea University, Swansea, Wales

SSIT’s flagship conference, the IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS) will take place from 13-15 September 2023 in Swansea, Wales. ISTAS 2023: Technology and Analytics for Global Development is hosted by Swansea University, and all SSIT members are encouraged to submit their work for consideration as part of the programme.

Conference Overview
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are global grand challenges that are inherently complex, multi-faceted and socially embedded (Corbett & Mellouli, 2017). The SDGs inevitably encounter tensions between their design and implementation, representing design-reality gaps (Pradhan et al., 2022; Heeks, 2020a; Dennehy et al., 2014). While optimism is relatively high about the role of technology and analytics in the context of global development (Smidt & Jokonya, 2022), significant learning remains about how best to use them as ‘platforms that mediate development’ (Heeks 2020b). Further, despite the efforts made by scholars to advance understanding about the role of technology and analytics for global development (e.g., Dwivedi et al., 2021; Khene & Masiero, 2022; Masiero & Arvidsson, 2021), a concerted effort within and between academic disciplines, policy-makers, practitioners, and the intended beneficiaries of the SDGs will help to discover and create better ways to achieve the SDGs.

ISTAS23 aims to bring together contributions from a variety of perspectives, disciplines, and communities for the advancement of knowledge regarding Technology and Analytics for Global Development. We invite participation from academics and practitioners who are engaged in current debates about the role and significance of technology and analytics, and who are interested in topics related to sustainability, ethics, equity, and social values for global development.

IEEE ISTAS 2023 is Technical Co-sponsored by IEEE Region 8, IEEE UK and Ireland Section, IEEE UK and Ireland SSIT Chapter and IEEE UK and Ireland Education Chapter.

CFP
The full conference CFP (as well as a link to detailed instructions for authors) is available here: https://attend.ieee.org/istas-2023/call-for-papers/.

Key Dates

  • 1 March 2023: Paper Submissions (full and short papers)
  • 1 May 2023: Notification of Acceptance
  • 1 June 2023: Submission of Final Version
  • 15 June 2023: Early-bird Registration
 
 
 
 
IEEE ETHICS-2023: CFP Deadline Extended to 13 January
 
 
 
 

18-20 May 2023
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

The deadline for submission of poster abstracts and short/long papers for ETHICS 2023 has been extended to 13 January 2023.

For complete conference details and CFP, please visit the ETHICS-2021 Website.

Conference Overview:
IEEE ETHICS-2023: Ethics in the Global Innovation Helix will draw together the global community of technology and ethics practitioners and theoreticians from industry, academia, government, and civil society. Issues will be explored from industry, scientific and societal perspectives, in a global and multicultural manner.

ETHICS-2023 is a conference of the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) (series originally launched in 2014). ETHICS-2023 is co-sponsored and hosted by the National Institute for Engineering Ethics in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University, a leading land grant university with top-ranked engineering, technology, and computing programs, and an expansive portfolio of sponsored research and engagements in the ethics and policy realms.

The triple helix model of innovation was introduced in the 1990s, developed to theorize and understand interactions between academia, industry, and government. Since then, scholars have expanded it to include additional strands or sectors, including society or the public (quadruple helix) and the natural environment (quintuple helix). The conference theme, “Ethics in the Global Innovation Helix,” underscores questions about the role and place of ethics and related concerns (e.g., social responsibility, social justice, regulatory compliance, etc.) in interactions between these strands, especially in ongoing processes of technology innovation, diffusion, evolution, and maintenance.

For inquiries regarding the ETHICS-2023 Conference, please contact Murty Polavarapu ([email protected]) and include ETHICS-2023 in the subject line.

 
 
 
 
IEEE ISTAS 2022 Report
 
 

 
 


 
 

The 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS-2022) was held as a virtual event from 10-12 November on the theme "Digital and Societal Transformations."


The conference program featured eight plenary sessions and eleven “Theme Tracks.” In addition, the conference included an “ETHICS DAY” sequence of programming on 12 November and was co-located with the Fifteenth Workshop on the Social Implications of National Security (SINS22), Human Factors Series, which focused on the theme “Securitization for Sustainability of People and Place: A Call to Transdisciplinarity.”

In total, 152 speakers presented at ISTAS 2022, and conference delegates represented 28 countries from around the globe.

The conference team is finalizing the Proceedings and plans are in place to prepare and post recordings of several conference sessions on SSIT’s channel of IEEE.tv—stay tuned for details in upcoming newsletters.

Congratulations and thank you to the IEEE ISTAS 2022 committee for such hard work organizing the event.
 
 
Publications
 
 
IEEE Technology & Society Magazine (TSM)
 
 


IEEE TSM is SSIT’s award-winning flagship publication. It features peer-reviewed and general interest articles that explore and analyze the profound impacts of technology on our world.

Find out more about the publication’s scope, topics, and article submission guidelines here, and visit the IEEE TSM section of the SSIT website to read about current and past issues.

 
 
 
 
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine Seeks Editor-in-Chief
 
 
Submitted by John Impagliazzo, SSIT Publications Chair
 
 

The Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) seeks applications and nominations for the position of Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of the IEEE Technology and Society Magazine (T&S) for a three-year term, once renewable, beginning 1 January 2024.

The T&S Magazine is an award-winning publication with both online and print circulation distributed to IEEE SSIT members and affiliates, research libraries, and other interested parties. The magazine’s scope includes environmental, health, and safety implications of technology; engineering ethics and professional responsibility; history of electro-technology; technical expertise and public policy; and social issues related to energy, information technology, and telecommunications. In addition, the magazine publishes general interest articles (including commentary, reviews, interviews, and columns) and peer-reviewed scholarly papers.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for maintaining the quantity and quality of the magazine’s editorial content. SSIT employs and provides the EiC with the services of IEEE publications that work with and assist the person on editorial matters and coordinate the magazine’s production. Associate editors and a book review editor provide additional volunteer assistance.

The position of Editor-in-Chief is voluntary (non-salaried). The EiC should participate in SSIT meetings of the Board of Governors and conferences. A limited expense budget is available from SSIT for the position. 

Applicants must submit an application letter consisting of the following items:

  • A statement of personal interests in SSIT,
  • A summary of past/current experience in publications activities,
  • Personal views on SSIT’s role within the IEEE organization,
  • Personal views on SSIT’s role outside the IEEE,
  • Individual assessment of T&S Magazine’s strengths and weaknesses, including any ideas for improvement,
  • Any questions regarding the position and SSIT’s expectations.


Candidates should submit this letter in PDF format as an attachment to an email transmittal. Please do not send a curriculum vitae with the application letter. For finalists, SSIT may request additional information.

Kindly direct all applications to Dr. John Impagliazzo, Vice-president of Publications and Chair of the SSIT Ad Hoc EiC Committee, at [email protected]. The application deadline is 15 January 2023.

The selection process should conclude in March of 2023. At that time, the Vice-president of Publications presents the nominee to the SSIT Board of Governors for consideration. Upon approval, the current Editor-in-Chief will appoint the chosen candidate as associate editor of the magazine for the remainder of 2023.

During 2023, the selected candidate will progressively assume more editorial duties and transition into full editorial responsibility at the start of 2024.

 
 
 
 
IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society
 
 
 
 

The IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society publishes four issues each year (March, June, September, and December); submissions are accepted on a rolling basis.


The editorial team seeks research papers on the interactions among technology, science, and society; on the impact of such interactions on individuals and society; and on the ethical, professional and social responsibility in the practice of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Find out more about the publication’s scope, topics, and article submission guidelines here, and be sure to visit the Transactions section of the SSIT website to read about current and past issues.


For expressions of interest to serve on the editorial board as an ongoing reviewer or associate editor, or for other enquiries please email founding editor-in-chief at [email protected].

 
 
 
 
CFP: Special Issue of ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications, and Applications (TOMM) on Recent Trends in Multimedia Forensics
 
 

Guest Editors:

Overview:
Multimedia forensics is a subject area which is the need of the hour in this modern era of media-manipulation and generation of fake images/videos assisted with artificial intelligence (AI) models. With the ubiquitous expansion of internet-enabled devices, there is a humungous amount of data available for the perusal of forensic experts. This data comprises audio, video, images, text, or a mix of those. Hence multimedia forensics, which involves a set of scientific techniques to collect, scrutinize and analyze this digital content, becomes highly imperative. The increasing threat of compelling media manipulations through machine learning-based technologies is making the situation more alarming. The most common instances are generative adversarial networks (GANs) (to generate artificial yet realistic images/videos) and DeepFake algorithms (to swap faces and expressions in videos). Furthermore, the ease of getting these manipulations done has lowered the skill required from the attacker’s end, which has intensified the problem manifold. With this special issue, we will try to motivate the research groups to publish their recent outstanding works beyond trivial research results, in order to push the border of the state-of-the-art and record the developments on this subject of research.

For more information on topics of interest and submission guidelines, please visit: https://dl.acm.org/pb-assets/static_journal_pages/tomm/pdf/TOMM-SI-Recent-Trends-Multimedia-Physics-1663096031390.pdf.

Important Dates:

  • 31 March 2023: Submission deadline
  • 30 June 2023: First-round review decisions
  • 15 July 2023: Deadline for revision submissions
  • 30 September 2023: Notification of final decisions
  • December 2023: Tentative publication date
 
 
Conferences
 
 
 
 
IEEE ETHICS-2023: Ethics in the Global Innovation Helix
 
 
18-20 May 2023
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

 
 
Additional information about ETHICS-2023 is available earlier in this newsletter.

IEEE ETHICS-2023 is an SSIT conference that will draw together the global community of technology and ethics practitioners and theoreticians from industry, academia, government, and civil society. Issues will be explored from industry, scientific and societal perspectives, in a global and multicultural manner. 

Note the following important dates:
  • 13 January 2023: Poster Abstracts and Short/Long Paper submissions are due
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
IEEE ISTAS 2023: Technology and Analytics for Global Development

13-15 September 2023
Swansea University, Swansea, Wales

 
 

Additional information about ISTAS-2023 is available earlier in this newsletter.

The IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS) is the flagship conference of the IEEE’s Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT). ISTAS is a multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary forum for engineers, policymakers, entrepreneurs, philosophers, researchers, social scientists, and technologists to collaborate, exchange experiences, and discuss the social implications of technology.

ISTAS23 aims to bring together contributions from a variety of perspectives, disciplines, and communities for the advancement of knowledge regarding Technology and Analytics for Global Development. We invite participation from academics and practitioners who are engaged in current debates about the role and significance of technology and analytics, and who are interested in topics related to sustainability, ethics, equity, and social values for global development.

IEEE ISTAS 2023 is Technical Co-sponsored by IEEE Region 8, IEEE UK and Ireland Section, IEEE UK and Ireland SSIT Chapter and IEEE UK and Ireland Education Chapter.

Note the following important dates:

  • 1 March 2023: Paper Submissions (full and short papers)
  • 1 May 2023: Notification of Acceptance
  • 1 June 2023: Submission of Final Version
  • 15 June 2023: Early-bird Registration
 
 
 
 
Ongoing Calls
 
 
Call for Expressions of Interest to Host SSIT Conferences
 
 
IEEE SSIT organizes, co-organizes, and sponsors conferences focused on technology, society and ethics. IEEE SSIT is seeking expressions of interest from SSIT members interested in hosting the following conferences around the world.

IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS)
IEEE ISTAS is the annual flagship event of the IEEE Society on the Social Implications of Technology (SSIT). It is organized each year by SSIT in cooperation with SSIT Chapters and IEEE Sections. IEEE ISTAS brings together a broad range of disciplines (e.g., natural and social sciences, policy, ethics and education) to share research and experiences about the implications of technology adoption, adaptation and evolution.

SSIT is looking toward future ISTAS two to four years from now to allow planning and continuity between annual events. We are issuing a call for proposals for volunteers as organizers of ISTAS in 2023, 2024, and beyond.

IEEE Conference on Norbert Wiener in the 21st Century (21CW)
IEEE Conference on Norbert Wiener in the 21st Century (21CW) The 21CW conference series addresses the technical, social and personal legacy of the founder of cybernetics, control theory, and information ethics, Norbert Wiener. It has been held in Boston (2014), Melbourne (2016), and as a virtual event hosted from Chennai, India (2021), with satellite activities in India 2014, 2016, 2018.

Expressions of interest are welcome for 2023.

If you are interested in hosting one of these events, please contact SSIT Conferences Chair, Jay Pearlman at [email protected] to request SSIT’s Call for Proposals Guide, which provides:
  • Guidance for conference organization and operations
  • An overview of expectations for proposal content
  • Background on ISTAS conference (including a list of recent events)
  • A proposal template
 
 
 
 
Call for New Content: SSIT Website and IEEE.tv Channel
 
 
Thank you to the SSIT Members and Chapters who have responded to date to the invitation to contribute content for publication on the SSIT website. We look forward to receiving regular contributions. Please send articles, event notifications and other relevant content including pictures to Miriam Cunningham, SSIT Web Committee Chair.

SSIT Chapters, Distinguished Lecturers and SSIT supported Events are invited to provide Miriam Cunningham with recordings of Guest Lectures and other relevant content linked with SSIT’s Technical areas and field of interest for publication in the SSIT Society Channel on IEEE.tv. Please send a link by email to download the .mp4 file, include SSIT branding in the recording, and ensure that you have written permission from the speaker to publish it.

 
 
 
 
Call for Nominations: IEEE SSIT Awards
 
 
IEEE SSIT has three major awards, all of which are open for nomination at this time.

The Carl Barus Award for Outstanding Service in the Public Interest is open to anyone, or group, who performs an important public service, possibly at the risk of career or reputation. This includes anyone, whether or not in the engineering profession, or a member of IEEE. Further information on recipients can be found at https://technologyandsociety.org/member-resources/awards-programs/barus-award-recipients/.

The Brian M. O’Connell SSIT Distinguished Service Award is for SSIT volunteers who have demonstrated outstanding service for the benefit of SSIT. More information on this award can be found at
https://technologyandsociety.org/member-resources/awards-programs/brian-o-connell-award/.

The SSIT Norbert Wiener Award for Social and Professional Responsibility is given to an individual or team for exceptional contribution, or outstanding career contribution in the field of the social implications of technology. Further information can be found at
https://technologyandsociety.org/member-resources/awards-programs/norbert-wiener-award/.

To nominate an individual, submit information to Michael Cardinale. Include the individual’s contact information – name, address, phone, email, professional history (year, organization and position), and the proposed citation in 25 words or less. The nominator must also submit their own contact information.
 
 
 
 
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