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Upcoming Talk: "Misread Signals. How History Overlooked Women Codebreakers " -- by Sir Dermot Turing
by Dag Spicer 02 May '26

02 May '26

Hello SIGCIS Friends! Here is an upcoming lecture I thought might be of interest. Talk given by Sir Dermot Turing, nephew of ALAN TURING. (He is the son of John Ferrier Turing, who was Alan Turing's elder brother). See you there! Dag +++++++++++++++++++++ Dear Fellow Members The next meeting of the Computer Conservation Society for the 2025/26 season is on Thursday May 21st 2026 at 2.30pm. The subject is a Misread Signals. How History Overlooked Women Codebreakers. Our speaker is an old friend of the CCS, Dermot Turing. It will be a hybrid meeting with the lecture being given at the BCS London meeting room which is at 25 Copthall Avenue, London EC2R 7BP (near Moorgate tube) with an option for interactive participation via Zoom. The Zoom link for the lecture will be https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87490007950<https://kjwwrjln.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F%2Fus06web.zoom.us%2Fj…>. A waiting room will be in operation. About the seminar Bletchley Park is remembered as a land of male intellectuals who were supported by a staff of women in menial roles, with figures such as Alan Turing, William Tutte and John Tiltman taking centre stage. These are the men who helped sway the course of the war in the Allies’ favour. But, as is often the case in the historical record, this is not the whole story. Women were not just secretaries and assistants: they had serious full-on codebreaking roles. Somehow, when the histories were written, these women were left out. Who were they? What did they achieve? How did they ‘vanish’? In Misread Signals, codebreaking historian Dermot Turing turns his attention to these long-ignored women and puts their contributions back in the spotlight where they belong. .About the speaker Dermot Turing is the award-winning author of X, Y and Z – the real story of how Enigma was broken and Enigma Traitors, which reveals the failings of Allied cipher security during World War II. His most recent book is Misread Signals – how History Overlooked Women Codebreakers, which was published in August 2025. He has written numerous other books relating to his famous uncle Alan Turing, codebreaking and computing history. He began writing in 2014 after a career in law, principally at the international law firm Clifford Chance. As well as writing and speaking, Dermot is a trustee of the National Museum of Computing and a Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, Oxford. Please pre-register for the event. To do so, follow this linkhttp://www.computerconservationsociety.org/lectures/current/lecture.htm<https://kjwwrjln.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F%2Flinkprotect.cudasvc…> and click on the “Book” symbol. Please indicate if you intend to participate in person or remotely. Remote participants will be notified of the URL for the Zoom link a few days in advance of the meeting. Our meetings are open to all free of charge so do pass on this invitation to others who may be interested in this meeting or other CCS activities. This is the final lecture of the year we will be back in September with the 2026/27 session. Good wishes Roger Johnson CCS London Programme Secretary +++++++++ ----- Dag Spicer Senior Curator Computer History Museum Editorial Board, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing ACM History Committee 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View CA 94043 “History is a vast early warning system.” — Norman Cousins, American journalist (1915-1990). Join our Mailing List here: https://info.computerhistory.org/subscribe

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Call for DHST dissertation prize 2027
by Mai Sugimoto 27 Apr '26

27 Apr '26

Dear colleagues, I am pleased to share with you the Call for Applications for the 9th DHST Dissertation Prize (2027) (attached). As you may know, DHST, which stands for Division of History of Science and Technology, is the sole global organization in our profession. This biennial prize recognizes exceptional doctoral work in the history of science, technology, and medicine. The current competition is open to dissertations completed between 16 April 2024 and 15 April 2026, with applications due by 1 August 2026 (23:59 UTC). A few key points I would like to highlight: Submissions are welcome from any country and in any language, with an English summary. Up to three prizes may be awarded, along with honorable mentions. Prize recipients are invited to present their work in a plenary session at the 28th International Congress of History of Science and Technology (Paris, July 2029), with registration fees waived and support for accommodation. This is the largest and oldest congress in the profession. Full details on eligibility and application procedures are provided in the attached call. Please feel free to circulate this message among your own contacts. Best wishes, Mai Mai Sugimoto Professor, Faculty of Sociology, Kansai University, Japan Assessor, DHST/IUHPST https://dhstweb.org/ msgmt(a)kansai-u.ac.jp nix.pura(a)gmail.com

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Smart as a City: A Book Drop Day CBI Talk by Burcu Baykurt (free, online).
by Jeffrey Yost 23 Apr '26

23 Apr '26

[CBI is thrilled to host this book drop day lecture by Burcu Baykurt on her tremendously insightful and wondrous book!! I just had the joy of reading and learning from the electronic edition--Jeff]Smart as a City: A Book Release Day Talk by Burcu Baykurt Tuesday, May 5, 2026 at 1pm Central/2pm Eastern Online Event: Register at Burcu Baykurt "Smart as a City" Lecture <https://umn.zoom.us/meeting/register/XopTOViVRhSFbKl-B8sz7w#/registration> Join us (online) at CBI for a presentation by Burcu Baykurt, Assistant Professor of Media Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, as she discusses her book, *Smart as a City: The Politics of Test-Bed Urbanism.* ------------------------------ Abstract: What does it mean for a city to be "smart"? *Smart as a City* draws on ethnographic fieldwork in Kansas City, Missouri, where Google piloted a citywide gigabit network and city officials launched several smart city projects in the 2010s. Through cases including public-housing residents’ quiet refusal of “free” gigabit internet, the city’s turn to predictive analytics that largely confirmed the obvious, and public–private strategies for managing failure without naming it, the book reframes test-bed urbanism as a mode of local governance that works through civic aspiration, deliberate ignorance, and municipal politics. It argues that urban disparities are not an unintended consequence of the smart city; they are the foundation upon which it is built. ------------------------------ Bio: Burcu Baykurt is an assistant professor of media studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her research explores how digital infrastructures reshape and perpetuate urban inequalities. She is the author of *Smart as a City: The Politics of Test-Bed Urbanism* and co-editor of *Soft-Power Internationalism: Competing for Cultural Influence in the 21st-Century Global Order.* ** * * * * ** *Jeffrey Yost, Ph.D. * *Director, Charles Babbage Institute for Computing, Information & Culture* *Research Professor, History of Sci., Tech., Med., University of Minnesota* *Just Code: Power, Inequality and the Political Economy of IT (Johns Hopkins U. Press, co-edited w/ Gerardo Con Diaz) <https://press.jhu.edu/books/title/12804/just-code> * *Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry (MIT Press) <https://amzn.to/3gqe4R6>* *Studies in Computing and Culture book series, Johns Hopkins U. Press <https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/series/studies-computing-and-culture> *Co-Editor (w/ Con Diaz) *PI, NSF-funded CBI project "Mining a Useable Past: Perspectives, Paradoxes, and Possibilities with Security and Privacy."* *Blockchain & Society* <https://www.blockchainandsociety.com>* (crit. inq. essays & resources)* (Founder/Leader) *Interfaces: Essays and Reviews in Computing and Culture <https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/interfaces> *Co-Editor-in-Chief (w/ Amanda Wick)

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SIGCIS 2026: Known Error program now available | early bird registration deadline: 4/30
by Gili Vidan 22 Apr '26

22 Apr '26

Hi all, We're delighted to share the more detailed program of sessions for our upcoming SIGCIS 2026 meeting, "Known Error," June 17-18 at Berkeley, CA and virtually. You can view the program schedule here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Iauq2S39_rQIUa6ZhwXWk4hozD7QkyErVtx0X1r… A few additional details about the schedule are still forthcoming and will be updated as they become available, but we wanted to offer this overview of the exciting range of presentations featured in this year's edition of the SIGCIS meeting. Register via Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sigcis-2026-known-error-tickets-1986214059720 And check out more information about the location and suggested lodging options here: https://meetings.sigcis.org/registration--location.html We hope to gather with many of you in June! Sincerely, The SIGCIS Organizing Committee: Morgan G. Ames <http://morganya.org/>, University of California, Berkeley (SIGCIS Co-Chair) Katya Babintseva <https://www.cla.purdue.edu/directory/profiles/ekaterina-babintseva.html>, Purdue University Jason Ludwig <https://www.filmandmedia.ucsb.edu/person/jason-ludwig/>, University of California, Santa Barbara Colette Perold <https://www.colorado.edu/cmci/people/media-studies/colette-perold>, University of Colorado, Boulder Honghong Tinn <https://cse.umn.edu/hstm/honghong-tinn>, University of Minnesota Gili Vidan <https://infosci.cornell.edu/content/vidan>, Cornell University (Vice-Chair of Meetings)

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Reminder: Nominations for 2026 Mahoney Prize due Friday, April 24
by Charles Luke Stark 18 Apr '26

18 Apr '26

A gentle reminder that article nominations for the 2026 SIGCIS Mahoney Prize are due this coming Friday, April 24. The Mahoney Prize recognizes an outstanding article in the history of computing and information technology, broadly conceived. The Mahoney Prize commemorates the late Princeton scholar Michael S. Mahoney, whose profound contributions to the history of computing came from his many articles and book chapters. The prize consists of a $500 award and a certificate. For the 2026 prize, articles published in the preceding three years (2025, 2024 and 2023) are eligible for nomination. The Mahoney Prize is awarded by the Special Interest Group in Computers, Information, and Society (SIGCIS). Please email copies of articles being nominated to the 2026 Prize Committee by April 24, 2026. Self-nominations are welcome, as are nominations from the SIG’s membership. Committee members’ names and emails are included below. Luke Stark (Chair) Assistant Professor Faculty of Information and Media Studies University of Western Ontario cstark23(a)uwo.ca David Murphy Senior Lecturer Digital, Tech, Innovation & Business Staffordshire University david.murphy(a)staffs.ac.uk Janet Toland Adjunct Professor School of Information Management Victoria University of Wellington janet.toland(a)vuw.ac.nz Information on previous winning essays may be found on the SIGCIS website: https://www.sigcis.org/mahoneyprize. And please forward this call widely to your scholarly networks! All the best, Luke Luke Stark he/him/his Assistant Professor, Faculty of Information & Media Studies (FIMS) Western University, London ON https://www.fims.uwo.ca CIFAR Global Scholar, Future Flourishing Program https://cifar.ca/research-programs/future-flourishing/ Co-Director, Starling Centre for Just Technologies and Just Societies https://starlingcentre.ca/ Meetings: https://calendly.com/lukestark Website: https://starkcontrast.co/ Western University is located on the traditional lands of the Chonnonton, Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee and Lenaape Nations, connected through the London and Sombra Township Treaties, and to the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum. I ask we pay respect to their Elders, past, present, and future, acknowledging the painful history of genocide and forced removal from this territory.

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Nation/Culture/Infrastructure: A Grey Room Intervention, April 21st on Zoom
by Bernard Geoghegan 15 Apr '26

15 Apr '26

Dear Colleagues: I'd be grateful if you spread word of this webinar next week, particularly among colleagues, postdocs, and students who may be interested in learning more about or submitting to *Grey Room* in the future. We have a new editorial board and are eager to make new connections and discover new directions. --Bernie *Nation/Culture/Infrastructure: A Grey Room Intervention* Tuesday, April 21st, 10:00 (PT) / 13:00 (ET) / 19:00 (CET) on Zoom The editors of *Grey Room* announce an hour-long webinar on infrastructure as a site of political sovereignty and media-technical force, featuring Rosalind C. Morris (Columbia), Erhard Schüttpelz (Siegen), Julia Velkova (Linköping), and Lisa Parks (Santa Barbara), moderated by Bernard Geoghegan (editor, *Grey Room*). The conversation will reflect on twenty-first century infrastructural imperialisms, from the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran to China’s “Belt and Road Initiative,” in light of Marcel Mauss’s 1920s meditations on infrastructure and the nation (published in issue 102 of *Grey Room* with commentaries by Morris and Schüttpelz). The conversation will also broach emerging questions of methodology and political critique, with particular reference to Schüttpelz’s seminal essay “The Media-Anthropological Turn of Cultural Techniques” (translated in issue 102) and the infrastructural ethnography of Velkova and Parks, “Reimagining Media Historiographies and Satellite Technologies in Bulgaria” (published in issue 103). For links to the webinar and optional readings, sign up at https ://bit.ly/GreyRoomInfrastructure <https://bit.ly/GreyRoomInfrastructure> or via the QR code below. [image: GR Nation Culture Infrastructure flyer copyedited.pdf]

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CFP for CBI's MOSAICS Symposium: Meanings, Ontologies & Structures of AI in Culture & Society
by Jeffrey Yost 15 Apr '26

15 Apr '26

*Cal**l for Papers: * *MOSAICS Symposium (CBI) * *Meanings, Ontologies & Structures of AI in Culture & Society* *When: Thursday & Friday, October 15 & 16, 2026 (Virtual)* *Paper proposal deadline is May 29, 2026. * *Program Committee* *Sareeta Amrute, The New School for Social Research* *Ekaterina (Katya) Babintseva, Carnegie Mellon University* *Anita Say Chan, University of Illinois* *Gerardo Con Diaz, University of California, Davis* *Jeffrey Yost, University of Minnesota* [Call at MOSAICS Symposium CFP <https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/call-papers> and below] Please share with anyone who may be interested. “Artificial intelligence” (AI) is a loose, sprawling, and highly contested term. Its meanings have varied widely in their appropriations, affordances, and applications—both real and rhetorical—from early symbolic systems that emulated human reasoning with logical rules and heuristics to multi-layered neural networks that identify data patterns for natural language processing, computer vision, and predictive modelling. AI developers’ practices and ambitions have changed over time, but the appeal of the term “artificial intelligence” persists. However, “Intelligence” itself is a politically charged notion that has been repeatedly used to justify state violence, rationalize exploitation, and naturalize hierarchies, with giant corporations today peddling the term to impose their own views on virtually all spheres of life: from labor and healthcare to justice and public governance. And while historically the detrimental effects of algorithmic and data-based systems have fallen most heavily on vulnerable populations, in recent years the disruptions wrought by the AI boom have reached even those who had previously been protected from them. Job displacement, the aggressive introduction of AI systems to government and educational institutions, and the economic and environmental costs of data centers, that is, have made it increasingly difficult to find people whose lives have not been precarized by these systems. Understanding artificial intelligence—and the new scales and reaches of its impacts, that arguably defy traditional disciplinary approaches—demands diverse and novel approaches and perspectives. AI is at once a tool of surveillance and policing, a military weapon, a powerful instrument of scientific investigation, and a technology capable of changing human behavior and inflicting trauma. Grasping these and other social and epistemic valences of AI, as well as understanding its technical design and how social values and priorities bear upon its algorithms, training models, and data sets is akin to assembling multiple pieces into mosaics. Humans for millennia have pieced together mosaics, creatively placing fragments toward a larger whole and broader meanings. Viewers approach mosaics with different minds and vantage points, seeing different patterns and purposes. Similarly, understanding the complexity of AI in our world requires piecing together varied perspectives and engaging in interdisciplinary conversation. CBI’s MOSAICS Initiative and Symposium are forums for this kind of sustained, critical and interdisciplinary engagement. For the MOSAICS Symposium we seek work from scholars and practitioners that draws from (and ideally cuts across) the arts, humanities, social sciences, information science, and community activism. We are especially interested in papers that explore AI and mind, mentalité, data ontologies, postcolonialism, social hierarchies, power imbalances, inequality and intersections (race, class, gender, disability), cultural meanings, infrastructures, landscapes, work, users, human and machine interaction, reappropriations, resistances, and adjacent topics and themes. All submissions should be filed as a single document (Word doc or PDF), labeled with your name in the file name. All proposals must include: - 300-to-400-word statement on your paper that identifies research questions, argument(s), and methodology; - A two-page CV; - Citations to five works of others (books, articles, essays…) that are viewed as essential to your scholarship in AI studies. We will compile this as a crowd sourced bibliography. Send paper proposals (by May 29th deadline) to: cbi(a)umn.edu Questions can be sent to CBI Director Jeffrey Yost at: yostx003(a)umn.edu Please note that accepted applicants will be required to share a paper draft of at least 3,000 words three weeks prior to the event. By applying, the applicant agrees to this and to reading the papers prior to the event (ideally all of them, but definitely the majority of them and with close attention to those papers in your session). We plan to do two special issues of journals, one for papers that are more historical (likely for *IEEE Annals of the History of Computing*) and the other interdisciplinary and more contemporary (perhaps for *Information and Culture*). *We ask that only those with an openness to contributing a paper for consideration to one of the special issues shortly after the event apply for the symposium.* ** * * * * ** *Jeffrey Yost, Ph.D. * *Director, Charles Babbage Institute for Computing, Information & Culture* *Research Professor, History of Sci., Tech., Med., University of Minnesota* *Just Code: Power, Inequality and the Political Economy of IT (Johns Hopkins U. Press, co-edited w/ Gerardo Con Diaz) <https://press.jhu.edu/books/title/12804/just-code> * *Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry (MIT Press) <https://amzn.to/3gqe4R6>* *Studies in Computing and Culture book series, Johns Hopkins U. Press <https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/series/studies-computing-and-culture> *Co-Editor (w/ Con Diaz) *PI, NSF-funded CBI project "Mining a Useable Past: Perspectives, Paradoxes, and Possibilities with Security and Privacy."* *Blockchain & Society* <https://www.blockchainandsociety.com>* (crit. inq. essays & resources)* (Founder/Leader) *Interfaces: Essays and Reviews in Computing and Culture <https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/interfaces> *Co-Editor-in-Chief (w/ Amanda Wick)

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Fw: May 12 | Loudoun to the World: The Future of Data Centers. An Industry Outlook with Buddy Rizer
by Ceruzzi, Paul 14 Apr '26

14 Apr '26

I'm forwarding this since there are many members of SIGCIS who live in the metro DC area. In case you're wondering, Buddy Rizer has been called "The Godfather of the Cloud." I tell people that he is to the Cloud as VInt Cerf is to the Internet. A bit hyperbolic, but the Cloud didn't "just happen." And it was not inevitable that its epicenter would be in a small town (Ashburn) in northern Virginia. Paul Ceruzzi ________________________________ From: NVTC Events <events(a)nvtc.org> Sent: Thursday, April 9, 2026 5:48 PM To: Ceruzzi, Paul <ceruzzip(a)si.edu> Subject: May 12 | Loudoun to the World: The Future of Data Centers. An Industry Outlook with Buddy Rizer External Email - Exercise Caution Paul, Buddy Rizer will break down what’s happening now and what’s coming next. [https://info.nvtc.org/acton/attachment/45522/f-7baf282b-bd98-46f6-8f83-baf3…] Loudoun to the World: The Future of Data Centers. An Industry Outlook with Buddy Rizer [NVTC Community: Marketing & Growth] Secure Your Spot → <https://info.nvtc.org/acton/ct/45522/s-0936-2604:0/Bct/l-mirrored-list-form…> Ma‌y 12, 8:‌30 AM - 10‌:0‌0 A‌M Herndon, VA Save your spot before registration closes! Join NVTC’s Data Center & Cloud Community of Interest for an insider conversation with Buddy Rizer, Executive Director of Loudoun County’s Department of Economic Development, the leader behind the world’s largest concentration of data centers. Why it matters: Northern Virginia sits at the heart of the global internet economy. But this leadership position is no longer guaranteed. The industry is facing a pivotal moment, from sustainability and workforce demands to global competition and policy decisions here in Virginia. Proposed changes to tax policy and increasing regulatory pressure could weaken one of the Commonwealth’s strongest economic engines—just as the global race for AI infrastructure accelerates. What you’ll learn: ✔ 2025 in review — key milestones and momentum across the data center industry ✔ Sustainability in action — how the industry is advancing energy efficiency and innovation ✔ Talent pipeline — workforce trends, training, and the future of tech talent ✔ Policy impact — why Virginia’s tax incentives have been a competitive advantage—and what happens if that changes ✔ Industry at risk — how evolving regulations and global competition (including China’s rapid AI expansion) could impact Virginia’s leadership ✔ Partnership power — how collaboration is fueling continued growth ✔ Looking ahead — emerging opportunities, global challenges, and what they mean for our region Buddy will also share insights on how potential new federal tariffs could affect the data center ecosystem. If you want to understand where the data center industry—and Virginia’s digital economy—is headed next, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss. Secure Your Spot → <https://info.nvtc.org/acton/ct/45522/s-0936-2604:0/Bct/l-mirrored-list-form…> Thank you to our sponsors! [https://info.nvtc.org/acton/attachment/45522/f-f689e2e4-b737-4d50-ae5f-888b…] [https://info.nvtc.org/acton/attachment/45522/f-526331b3-e5ea-40c1-b130-592b…] Follow us on social media! [LinkedIn]<https://info.nvtc.org/acton/ct/45522/s-0936-2604:0/Bct/l-mirrored-list-form…> [Bluesky] <https://info.nvtc.org/acton/ct/45522/s-0936-2604:0/Bct/l-mirrored-list-form…> [Instagram] <https://info.nvtc.org/acton/ct/45522/s-0936-2604:0/Bct/l-mirrored-list-form…> Northern Virginia Technology Council 1069 W. Broad St., Suite 743, Falls Church, VA 22046 This email was intended for: ceruzzip(a)si.edu View email in browser<https://info.nvtc.org/acton/ct/45522/s-0936-2604:0/Bct/l-mirrored-list-form…> | Privacy Policy<https://info.nvtc.org/acton/ct/45522/s-0936-2604:0/Bct/l-mirrored-list-form…> Manage your preferences<https://info.nvtc.org/acton/rif/45522/s-0936-2604/-/l-mirrored-list-form-05…> | Unsubscribe<https://info.nvtc.org/acton/rif/45522/s-0936-2604/-/l-mirrored-list-form-05…> [https://info.nvtc.org/acton/o/45522/s-0936-2604/l-mirrored-list-form-0541:e…]

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CfA: Copyright Harmonization in Europe: Re-configuring Knowledge, Labor, and Technological Production After 1989
by Albert Gleb J. 12 Apr '26

12 Apr '26

Dear list members The journal "Sociology Lens" (formerly known as "Journal of Historical Sociology") will publish a thematic issue on copyright harmonization in Europe and its effects on technology usage and user communities - which, of course, to a large extent concerns computers and its users. It will be edited by Ivo Furman, Maryja Šupa, Alex Wade and myself. You can read the call for articles at <https://costgrade.eu/call-for-papers-copyright-harmonization-in-europe/>. We are looking forward to receiving your proposals until 30 April. Best wishes Gleb -- Ass.-Prof. Dr. Gleb J. Albert SNSF Starting Grant Assistant Professor for General and Eastern European Contemporary History Department of History, University of Lucerne Universität Luzern Historisches Seminar Frohburgstrasse 3 Postfach 4466 CH-6002 Luzern Switzerland Room 3.A29 Tel. +41-41-2295527 Co-Editor: International Newsletter of Communist Studies | https://incs.ub.rub.de/ Co-Editor: Geschichte der Gegenwart | https://geschichtedergegenwart.ch/ Review Editor: H-Soz-Kult, History of Knowledge | https://www.hsozkult.de/

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Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Possible coordination re AHA Call for papers
by Len Shustek 11 Apr '26

11 Apr '26

5 4