[AISWorld] CfP: Information Technology for Social Innovation: Global IT for social inclusion and transformation

[Deniz Tuncalp]

Information Technology for Social Innovation:  Global IT for social inclusion and transformation

Special Issue of Journal of Global Information TechnologyManagement (JGITM) Tentative Publication Date: December 2018Two-page proposal by authors (optional): December 15, 2017Full paper submission deadline: March 15, 201 Social and environmental problems have been increasingrapidly worldwide. Climate change, epidemic diseases, aging societies,unhealthy lifestyles, increasing inequality within and between societies,global energy wars, large scale immigration and racial or gender-baseddiscrimination are examples from the ever growing list of problems of themodern age. Conventional innovations are unable to solve such fundamentalsocietal challenges, as costs and benefits of innovation are mostly distributedunequally amongst different parts of a society (Guth, 2005). Social Innovation(SI) has been offered as an alternative for attempting the most pressing issuesof contemporary societies (Howaldt & Swarz, 2010; Hochgerner, 2012).Moreover, well-designed Socially Influencing Systems (SIS) can empowercommunities to achieve their wellbeing goals by permanently transforming theirlifestyles (Stibe & Larson, 2016).There are many competing definitions of SI. For example,Bouchard (1999) have defined SI as “any new approach, practice, intervention,or product elaborated to improve a social situation or solve a social problem”.Similarly, (Pol and Ville, 2009, p.881) defines SI as an innovation that has apotential to improve “either the quality or the quantity of life”.  Whereas, Moulaert et al. (2005) suggested SIas “changes in social relations, especially with regard to governance, thatenable the above satisfaction, but also increase the level of participation ofall but especially deprived groups in society”. Similarly, Harrison &Vezina (2006) emphasized “the coordination of relationships among social actorsin the solving of socio-economic problems, with the goal of improving theperformance and the well-being of communities” in their definition of SI.Goldenberg (2004) defines SI as “finding concrete ways to deal with social andeconomic problems so as to make a real difference in the lives of real people”,underlining the concrete nature of SI in designing real solutions. Despitevariety of definitions and approaches, further scrutiny is needed on howreturns on innovation processes are distributed and how technology-basedinnovations may serve to marginalize parts of a society, potentially impactingthe social and economic structure. Interactions with and influences of information technologysolutions that address environmental, economic, social or ethical problems, cantranslate to betterment of the artificial, social or natural environment,resulting in better quality of life and work, social inclusion,non-discrimination, equal opportunity for participation. For example, IT-basedinnovations may decrease carbon footprint, create new possibilities for access,emphasize solidarity, enable resistance and foster equality enabling a moreinclusive society, instead of serving for social control, public dominance andpolitical hegemony. Aims and ScopeThe purpose of this special issue of JGITM is to advance ourunderstanding of social innovations and adoption of information technologyagainst critical social problems across the world by attracting high qualitymanuscripts in this area. It would provide a platform for academics, policymakers and practitioners to identify and explore the issues, opportunities, andsolutions that promote social innovations and find new societal, as well asbusiness value of information and communication technologies. It is alsoexpected to serve as the spring-board for gathering and disseminatingexperiences gained in implementing IT for social inclusion and transformationto reflect the most pressing problems facing humanity in a variety of socialand organizational settings in different countries. Papers of all theoretical and methodological approaches arewelcome. Submissions that cross multiple disciplines including informationsystems, engineering, management, operations management, applied computerscience, social influence, behavioral science, psychology, sociology, etc. areencouraged. Consistent with the focus of JGITM, all submitted papers mustaddress global/international issues associated with social innovation, socialinclusion and transformation.  Possible contributions may include but are not limited to,the following topics:•            Adoptionof IT for social inclusion and transformation.•            Bottom-ofthe-pyramid issues relating to IS•            Creating,enabling and negotiating social innovations with IT•            Cryptocurrencies,the block-chain, and the new economic/social mechanisms •            Digital labormarkets and social inclusion/exclusion with IT•            Globaltrends and issues in IT-based social innovation•            Sociallyengineered societal transformations•            ITimplementation challenges in social innovations•            Peer-to-peeronline marketplaces and platforms•            Policiesand IT solutions for social innovation•            ITsolutions for sharing economy and social innovation•            IT-basedsocial innovation for solidarity, equality and resistance•            Sociallyinfluencing systems•            Sociotechdesign for smarter communities•            Socialmovements and IS•            Societalconsequences of emerging IT•            Computer-supportedinfluence for social change•            Avoidingbackfires in socially transformative systems•            Supportingand empowering marginalized groups in society with IT•            Sustainableand unsustainable IS/IT•            Sustainablebusiness practices and processes with IT•            Persuasivecities for sustainable wellbeing All papers will go through a blind-review process.  Each paper will be reviewed by at least threereviewers and the guest editors. The guest editors will make acceptancerecommendations to the Editor in Chief, Dr. Prashant Palvia, who will make thefinal decision.  If there are morequalified papers than that can be included in the special issue, they will bepublished in future issues of JGITM. JGITM is indexed in Thomson Reuters JCR 2015, Impact Factor: 0.75, Ranking: 47/86 in Information Science & Library Science. More information on the journal: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ugit20/current
Important Dates Two-page proposal by authors (optional)                           December 15, 2017Proposal Feedback to authors                                               January7, 2018Deadline for submission:                                                        March15, 2018Initial decision and revisions sent to authors                     June 15, 2018Deadline for revised papers:                                                  August 15, 2018Notification of final acceptances:                                          September 15, 2018Deadline for final versions:                                                     October31, 2018Tentative Publication Date:                                                    December,2018 Submissions:Journal of Global Information Technology Management receivesall manuscript submissions electronically via its Editorial Manager sitelocated at http://www.editorialmanager.com/ugit. Approximate size of the papershould be 25 double-spaced pages not including references, tables, and figures.If you have any other requests or questions, please contact guest editors, Dr.Deniz Tuncalp at tuncalp at itu.edu.tr and/or Dr. Tim Edwards atedwardstj at cardiff.ac.uk and/or Dr. Agnis Stibe at agnis at mit.edu. Special issue editors
DenizTuncalp
Associate Professor of Management
IstanbulTechnical University
Department of Management EngineeringFaculty of Management
Macka Campus, Istanbul 34367, TURKEY
Email: tuncalp at itu.edu.tr   
Tim Edwards Professor ofOrganization and Innovation Analysis
CardiffUniversityCardiffBusiness SchoolF01,Aberconway Building, Colum Drive, Cardiff,CF10 3EU, UNITED KINGDOM Email: edwardstj at cardiff.ac.uk  
Agnis Stibe
Postdoctoral AssociateMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyMIT Media Laboratory20 Ames Street E15-368Cambridge MA 02142 USAEmail: agnis at mit.edu References Bouchard, C. (1999). Contribution à une politique del’im-matériel. Recherche en sciences humaines et sociales et innovationssociales, Conseil québécois de la recherche sociale, Groupe de travail surl’innovation sociale, Quebec. Goldenberg, M. (2004). The future of social innovation inCanada. Canadian Policy Research Networks Inc. Project (CPRN), Research ReportW/26, Ottowa.Guth, M. (2005). Innovation, social inclusion and coherentregional development: a new diamond for a socially inclusive innovation policyin regions. European Planning Studies, 13(2), 333-349.Harrisson, D. and Vézina, M. (2006), L'INNOVATION SOCIALE:UNE Introduction. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, 77: 129–138.Hochgerner,J. (2012). New Combinations of Social Practicesin the Knowledge Society. In Franz Hans Werner, Hochgerner Josef, HowaldtJürgen (Eds.), Challenge Social Innovation (87-104). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.Howaldt, J., & Schwarz, M. (2010). SI: Concepts,research fields and international trends. Report of ESF, EU, and AachenUniversity. Dortmund, May 2010.Moulaert, F., Martinelli, F., Swyngedouw, E., &Gonzalez, S. (2005). Towards alternative model (s) of local innovation. Urbanstudies, 42(11), 1969-1990.Pol, E. & Ville, S. (2009). Social Innovation: Buzz Wordor Enduring Term. Journal of Socio-Economics, 38, 878–885.Stibe, A., & Larson, K. (2016). Persuasive Cities forSustainable Wellbeing: Quantified Communities. In M. Younas et al. (eds.):Mobile Web and Intelligent Information Systems (MobiWIS 2016), LNCS 9847 (pp.271–282).