The conference aims to attract papers from a range of disciplines analysing Big Data or developing approaches that dig into the mechanisms that large datasets do not consider. See the Call for Papers (abstract deadline: 1 March 2012).

Organised by the Oxford Internet Institute (OII, University of Oxford) on behalf of the OII-edited academic journal Policy and Internet, the conference will place over two days (20-21 September 2012) at St Anne's College in central Oxford, UK.

Best wishes,

Professor Helen Margetts, Academic Convenor (Oxford Internet Institute)
Dr Sandra Gonzalez-Bailon (Oxford Internet Institute)
David Sutcliffe (Oxford Internet Institute)
Internet, Politics, Policy 2010
Contact: Esta dirección electrónica esta protegida contra spam bots. Necesita activar JavaScript para visualizarla
Twitter: #ipp2012
site web: http://microsites.oii.ox.ac.uk/ipp2012/welcome
Rationale

Recent years have seen an increasing buzz around how ‘Big Data’ can uncover patterns of human behaviour and help predict social trends. Most social activities today leave digital imprints that can be collected and stored in the form of large datasets of transactional data. These data are already being used to prevent epidemics or combat fraud and crime, but the research potential of these data is still underexploited.

The impact of Big Data goes beyond academic research: the behavioural insights gained from transactional information can also be used to drive evidence-based policy making and ‘nudge’ political behaviour. However, the technical skills necessary to analyse large datasets often prevent social scientists from exploiting its potential. Much detail is also lost in the analysis of Big Data, which emphasises aggregated patterns over mechanisms operating at the individual level and lacks the demographic information of survey data, for example.

This conference calls for papers that explore the new research frontiers opened up by Big Data as well as its limitations. We are looking for research that uses large datasets to inform old debates in political science, and papers that develop innovative methodological tools (from experiments, to crowd-sourcing, to online ethnography) to overcome the omissions of big datasets. The Internet, Politics, Policy 2012 conference aims to serve as a forum to encourage discussion across disciplinary boundaries on how to exploit Big Data to inform policy debates and advance social science research.

Programme

The conference aims to attract papers from a range of disciplines analysing Big Data or developing approaches that dig into the mechanisms that large datasets do not consider. Panels will be organised in twin tracks:

Papers in the Politics track will explore the insights that large datasets and complementary methodological tools offer in the analysis of political behaviour, including – but not limited to – mobilisations, collective action, or public opinion formation.
Papers in the Policy track will look at how behavioural insights gained from Big Data analysis, and from experiments in online settings, can inform policy debates and shape policy making, including e-health, on-line education, cybercrime, security and privacy.
These two areas are intertwined, and will be merged in plenary sessions, investigating the intersection of policy and politics in the Big Data era.

Paper Submission

We welcome papers reporting on innovative research exploiting large datasets or applying novel methodological tools aimed to overcome the limitations of Big Data. We particularly welcome papers that report empirical results and employ analytical approaches that would not have been possible without access to digital information. Perspectives from any academic discipline are welcomed, particularly: political science, economics, law, sociology, information science, communications, philosophy, computer science, psychology, management, geography and medicine.

Please submit a 500-word outline in the first instance specifying the research question and describing the methods and data used. All outlines will be peer reviewed and applicants will have the opportunity to co-submit their paper to the journal Policy and Internet, which will operate a fast-track review process for accepted papers.

Deadlines

Abstract deadline: 500 words to be submitted by 1 March 2012
Decision on abstracts: 15 April 2012
Poster deadline: 15 April 2012
Accepted paper submission deadline: 16 August 2012
All abstracts, papers and correspondence should be sent to: Esta dirección electrónica esta protegida contra spam bots. Necesita activar JavaScript para visualizarla