Call for papers
About the Conference
- October 19-20, 2023
- The Johannesburg Business School (JBS), University of Johannesburg (UJ)
The 2nd Technology & Society in Africa conference will explore the ways in which digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, can promote development, close the digital divide, and improve quality of life while addressing potential risks on the African continent. Over the course of two days, on carefully chosen subjects that cover the “Technology and Society” landscape. Students, professors, and other universitv emplovees will be able to attend the conference, along with members of the global South’s academic, civil society, and business communities, as well as members of the public and government officials.
Organising Committee
Prof M. John Lamola
Dr Bongani Ngqulunga
Prof Siphamandla Zondi
Prof Mpho Raborife
Prof Tapiwa Chagonda
Organisers and Host Institutions
The conference is organised and jointly hosted by the following institutions at the University of Johannesburg:
Aims & Objectives
- To provide a platform for a cross-disciplinary reflection and stock-taking on the requirements for research and teaching in Technology and Society Studies (TSS) in Africa, with a special focus on technologies of the 4IR.
- To scope the research horizons and pedagogical dynamics of this new disciplinary domain within the context of Africa’s conditions.
- To launch a network of researchers on TSS in Africa, establishing opportunities for sustained collaborative projects.
- To stimulate scholarly writing and theorisation on the relationship between technology and societal practices and institutions in Africa, and the geopolitical factors that have a bearing on this relationship.
- To gather in one place academics from a variety of levels, i.e from PhD candidates to top-rated researchers, from a diversity of disciplines that span the discursive terrain of “Technology and Society” – practising and aspiring social scientists, lawyers, philosophers, computer scientists and engineers, et cetera.
Research Output
Selected papers from the conference will be published in a peer-reviewed edited anthology that is to be published through a process that will qualify it as a DHET accredited output. This will be published by the UJ Press.
Conference participants will also be exposed to related publication platforms such as SAGE Journals’ Science, Technology and Society and Elsevier Journals’ Technology in Society.
About The Hosts
The Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study (JIAS)
JIAS is an institute based at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was launched in May 2015 as the first fully-fledged institute for advanced learning in Gauteng, South Africa’s economic and political heartland. JIAS has grown to be one of the leading institutes of its kind based on the African continent. Its purpose is to promote advanced research in the humanities and natural sciences, beyond the regular teaching and research activities at institutions of higher learning.
JIAS aims to create the conditions in which scholars can deliver cutting-edge interdisciplinary thought and research at the highest academic level. This is done by reaching beyond the regular teaching and research routines of contemporary higher education, and by encouraging collaborative scholarly cooperation in both the humanities and natural sciences.
Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation
The Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation was established at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in 2016 as one of nine flagship centres of excellence to conduct research that contributes to UJ’s global stature and excellence. It provides a forum for scholars, practitioners, and civil society actors across Africa and its Diaspora to dialogue and contribute to the rigorous production and dissemination of Pan-African knowledge and culture across all sciences and disciplines. The Institute seeks to promote original and innovative Pan-African ideas and critical dialogue in pursuit of global excellence in research and teaching, and to contribute actively to building an international profile for UJ in tackling Pan-African issues like peace and security, health, education, science and innovation, gender transformation, infrastructure, land reform, public space design, arts and culture, and so forth.
The Institute for Intelligent Systems (IIS)
The IIS was established in 2016 to act as a catalyst towards the UJ’s Strategy for Global Excellence and Stature (GES), as one of UJ’s flagship. In order to fulfil its vision of driving the university’s industry 4.0 initiatives, IIS operates through three main facets – academic development, strategic research, and enterprise development. In its academic facet, the institute deals with the development of multidisciplinary taught and online programs for postgraduate qualification and continuing professional development, for the purpose of capacity building in the areas of machine learning, artificial intelligence, data science, Internet of Things (IoT) etc.
The Centre for Data Ethics (CDE) was established at the IIS. In line with the University of Johannesburg’s commitment and championing of 4IR, the Institute for Intelligent Systems (IIS), one of UJ’s flagship institutes is heavily invested in Data Science in an age where 4IR has permitted data to burgeon. However, this explosion of data needs to be handled responsibly by not only UJ’s constituents, but also broader societal players. Hence, the IIS has launched the multi-disciplinary Centre for Data Ethics (CDE), which will be actively involved in the teaching of data and research ethics.