The line-up for DTMD 2017 at IS4SI. Narrative and Rhetoric: exploring meaning in a digitalised society

The line-up for DTMD 2017 at IS4SI in Gothenburg is now finalised. Here's a brief description.

DTMD 2017 is the sixth workshop on understanding the nature of information organised by the DTMD group from The Open University in Milton Keynes, UK. DTMD is abbreviated from ‘The Difference that Makes a Difference’, Gregory Bateson’s celebrated definition of information, and the workshops have all had an interdisciplinary approach to information and sought to encourage cross-discipline discussion.

DTMD 2017 takes as its theme ‘narrative’: exploring both the narratives of information and language of information in the narratives of the digitalised society in order to enhance understanding, both of society and of information. The workshop is divided into two halves, with significant time allocated for in-depth discussion in each. The first half has a philosophical flavour, starting with Chapman asking “What can we say about information?” followed by Jones’ exploration of “Narrative realities and optimal entropy” and Fiorini’s Predicative Competence in a Digitalised Society. After discussion of the first three presentations, the second half has a more applied/political focus. Both of Ali’s “Decolonizing Information Narratives” and Sordi’s “The Algorithmic Narrator” take a critical look at algorithms in society, then the final paper of the workshop, Ramage’s “Meaning, selection & narrative: the information we see and the information we don’t” explores the contested nature of information and narratives before the final period of discussion.

It takes place on Monday 12th June to the schedule as follows:

10:30-11:00 What can we say about information? Agreeing a narrative (David Chapman)
11:00-11:30 Predicative Competence in a Digitalised Society (Rodolfo A. Fiorini) ;
11:30-12:00 Narrative realities and optimal entropy (Derek Jones)
[12:00-14:00 Lunch, then Deacon panel]
14:00-14:30 General discussion 1
14:30-1:500 Decolonizing Information Narratives (Syed Mustafa Ali)
[15:00-15:30 Tea]
15:30-16:00 The Algorithmic Narrator (Paolo Sordi)
16:00-16:30 Meaning, selection & narrative: the information we see and the information we don’t (Magnus Ramage)
16:30-17:00 General discussion 2