[gaia] Fwd: ICTD2017: Call for Open Sessions

[Melissa Densmore <[e-mail]>]

*Reminder: **Call for Submissions for Open Sessions*

9th International Conference on Information & Communication Technologies
and Development (ICTD) 2017 <http://ictd2017.itu.edu.pk/>
Information Technology University, Lahore.
------------------------------

ICTD as a field aims for inclusivity. ICTD2017 as a conference aims to
include perspectives and ideas from practitioners, policy makers, and end
users, as much as researchers. The Open Session option provides this
opportunity — to ensure projects, experiences and viewpoints that will
benefit the ICTD community are represented, especially where they do not
fit the full papers or notes formats.

Sessions can vary widely in subject and style. They often include multiple
presenters convening around important, cross-cutting themes. They may take
the form of panels, workshops, “ignite” talks, debates, participatory
formats or other types of communication and exchange. However, sessions
that primarily consist of paper presentations are discouraged. Successful
proposals will work towards inclusiveness, relevance and excellence and
examples from previous conferences can be found here: ICTD 2016
<https://ictd2016.info/>, ICTD 2013 <http://ictd.cs.uct.ac.za/>, and ICTD
2012 <http://ictd2012.org/>. Session organizers may extend invitations to
particular participants to attend or present based on emerging themes in
ICTD; likewise, participation is open to any conference attendee who wishes
to join in on the day of the session (up to room capacity).

*Instructions:*

To propose an open session, please fill out the proposal form providing a
75-word summary and an additional 2-page explanation with more detail about
your goals for the session and how they will be achieved. The proposal form
is available on the conference website:
http://ictd2017.itu.edu.pk/call-for-open-sessions/

*Please send the completed proposal to **[e-mail]
<[e-mail]> by the deadline, July 15, 2017 (11:59pm
UTC).*

*Proposal Guidelines:*

An open session may run for a whole day, half day, or 90 minutes.

The language of the submitted proposals and their reviews will be in
English, the official conference language. In some cases, a session may
merit being conducted in a language other than English. If so, please note
the proposed language and indicate why it is important to the session topic.

*Proposals for sessions will be reviewed and judged on the following
criteria:*

   - Accessible to a highly interdisciplinary ICT and development audience.
   - Lively, inclusive, and participatory in style and content.
   - Relevant to the themes of the conference.
   - Demonstrating careful planning and a clear agenda.

*Important Dates:*


   - *July 15, 2017:* Deadline for submission of Open Sessions
   - *August 15, 2017:* Notification of Open Sessions

*General Conference Chair:*

   - Umar Saif, Information Technology University, Lahore
   <http://itu.edu.pk/>

*Open Session Committee Chairs:*

   - Melissa Densmore,  University of Cape Town <https://www.uct.ac.za/>
   - Mustafa Naseem, University of Colorado Boulder
   <http://www.colorado.edu/>


*Conference Information: http://ictd2017.itu.edu.pk
<http://ictd2017.itu.edu.pk/>*