CultMidia

The ACM Web Science Conference takes place in Paris between 2nd and 4th May, with workshops on 1st May and 5th May.  Paris in Springtime, with a conference dinner on the Seine! A superb program of papers and short papers is already fixed and late breaking extended abstracts are about to be added.

The Web Science conference is inherently interdisciplinary, as it attempts to integrate computer and information sciences, communication, linguistics, sociology, psychology, economics, law, political science, philosophy, digital humanities, and other disciplines in pursuit of an understanding of the Web. This conference is unique in the manner in which it brings these disciplines together in creative and critical dialogue The presentations at #WebSci13 will address a wide range of contemporary topics, of which the following are just a few examples:

  *   The Web of data

  *    Understanding Social media

  *    Cyberbullying

  *   Fake reviews

  *   Collective action

  *    Open data

  *   Collaborative tagging

  *   Democracy in the age of the internet

  *   Online prayer

  *   Informal learning online

The event will feature keynote presentations from Vint Cerf<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vint_Cerf>,  co-inventor of TCP/IP and “Father of the Internet”, and Cory Doctorow<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_doctorow>, novelist, technology activist and co-editor of the popular weblog Boing Boing<http://boingboing.net/>. There will also be paper presentations on a wide range of cutting edge Web Science projects, a lively Pecha Kucha<http://www.pechakucha.org/> session of short sharp talks, a debate on how the web is revolutionising society and an evening banquet on the Seine. A draft programme (with updates still to follow) is available here.<http://www.websci13.org/programme/2013/04/websci13-programme-overview/>  The poster session at Wb Science is famously lively, and the single track approach ensures full participation in all aspects of the conference including panels and paper presentations.

While the deadlines for presenting have now passed, we are still welcoming registrations from businesses, academics, policy makers and students who would like to attend the event. Paris in springtime is a wonderful location for a conference and we are looking forward to sharing the Palais dès Congrés with the other ECRC conferences – including Hypertext<http://ht.acm.org/ht2013/>. The conference fees<http://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1206107> have been kept remarkably low for such a prestigious venue, thanks to the generous help of the ACM. We have also organised a number of workshops<http://www.websci13.org/workshops/> to bring specialist and interdisciplinary groups together, and so we hope to have something for everyone.

Web Science has recently been described as the science of social machines, but the social and the web extend to an increasingly imaginative, creative and vibrant range of social and artistic practices. The proposal to create a WebSci Fringe<http://www.websci13.org/websci-fringe/> comes out of a desire to recognise and nurture communities which are at the fringe of the Web Science academic community. The intention is that, like other ACM communities such as CHI, related and emerging communities can benefit from a place, forum and association with the more formal programme which is derived from peer reviewed academic submissions.

We look forward to welcoming you to Paris for what we are sure will be a stimulating and informative event! Registration is open here<http://www.websci13.org/registration/>.