Dear all, 

 

We are thrilled to present the programme for the Digitalising State Symposium, scheduled to be held on September 4-5 at UCL in London. For the complete conference schedule, please visit https://www.regionalfutures.org/event/digitising-state-symposium. 

 

If you are interested in attending, please complete your registration by following this link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=_oivH5ipW0yTySEKEdmlwpVJnzT1UV9AkX3gC76VbIVUNDk2WkFZWFdHVExaQkk4MzZPNzI2UUtVWi4u

 

The ‘Digitalising State’ Symposium strives to look into the confluence of digitalisation and the state, considering all its manifestations, from a critical perspective. We do not merely view the digitalising state in the Global South as a mere extension of developmental, neoliberal, or entrepreneurial state concepts. Instead, we perceive it as a pivotal reorganisation of state institutions, information infrastructures, and metropolitan peripheries through and for digitalisation (Datta, 2023). Consequently, the digitalising state necessitates independent examination, parallel to critical explorations of urbanisation, digitalisation, infrastructure and informational politics, as it reveals the challenges of the digital age. 

 

With a distinct emphasis on the Global South, this two-day event aims to provide a platform for interdisciplinary dialogues on the transformative impacts of digitalisation on governance, public administration, and planning, encompassing the effects on communities and livelihoods. 

 

4 September: 

• Keynote: Planning Regional Futures: What role should digitalisation and digital planning play? - Dr. John Harrison, Loughborough University 
• Paper session 1: ‘Spatio- temporalities of the digitalising state’ 
• Keynote: Moonwalking into the Future - Manu Luksch, Royal College of Arts
• Paper session 2: ‘Encountering the digitalising state’ 
• Paper session 3: ‘Genealogies of the digitalising state’ 

5 September: 

• Keynote: Big data from the South(s): Beyond data universalism - Dr. Stefania Milan, University of Amsterdam
• Paper session 4: 'Data politics in the digitalising state’ 
• Panel discussion: ‘Methodological approaches to the digitalising state’ 

 

Location: Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) Common Ground
South Wing, Wilkins Building, University College London 
Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT 

 

For more information, please feel free to reach out to Mariana Reyes ([log in to unmask]), Ayona Datta ([log in to unmask]) or Fenna Hoefsloot ([log in to unmask]). 

 

Best regards, 

Fenna