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Fwd: AHRC-funded PhD Studentship - An Environmental History of Submarine Cable Telegraphy circa 1880-1940
by Christine Finn 03 Jan '22

03 Jan '22

Hello, and happy new year to you all! Below might be of interest to members? best wishes, Christine *AHRC-funded PhD Studentship with the University of Exeter, Bath Spa University and PK Porthcurno Museum of Global Communication* * Sustaining the Nervous System of the World: An Environmental History of Submarine Cable Telegraphy circa 1880-1940* The project is a systematic study of the environmental strategies, broadly conceived, of the world’s leading submarine telegraph cable manufacturers between 1880 and 1940, the period when the business peaked. Cable making was dominated by a handful of British-based private firms, notably the Telegraphic Construction and Maintenance Company, W. T. Henley’s Telegraphic Works, and the India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraphic Works Company, whose long-term success depended on tackling critical environmental issues affecting the supply of the materials used in cables. Using the underexplored archives of cable makers at PK Porthcurno and elsewhere, the project will significantly enrich historical understanding of the way the telecommunications industry has coped with its environmental impacts and this will underpin new critical perspectives on modern problems of reducing cable waste in our oceans. This project represents an exciting alignment of the research objectives of the HEI supervisors (Prof Richard Noakes at Exeter, Dr Cassie Newland at Bath Spa) and PK Porthcurno. The project will help PK Porthcurno better understand and exhibit materials in its collections relating to cable making, including archival documents and objects from Telcon, Henley’s and similar British firms. It will also help PK Porthcurno develop public understanding of the environmental impacts of telecommunications, past and present. The project is part of the South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership (SWW DTP2). For further details and to apply please click on the following link: https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/sustaining-the-nervous-system-of-the-… *The deadline for applications is 24 January 2022*

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SIGCIS outreach: write for theconversation.com
by Jonathan Coopersmith 31 Dec '21

31 Dec '21

One way to may 2022 better: Consider writing an article for theconversation.com -- it's a good way to reach much larger audiences with your ideas and knowledge. If your proposal is accepted, the editors work with you (in my experience, multiple rewrites) and theconversation distributes the final version. Two examples: https://theconversation.com/how-the-us-census-led-to-the-first-data-process… https://theconversation.com/why-do-people-still-use-fax-machines-109064 Thanks for thinking about this - it's good for you, the history of technology, and your institution. Stay sane and get a booster (partially for you; more for others), Jonathan Jonathan Coopersmith Professor Department of History Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-4236 979.739.4708 (cell) 979.862.4314 (fax) Voting challenges: https://theeagle.com/opinion/columnists/texas-should-be-the-model-for-secur… Preserving space archives: https://www.toboldlypreserve.space/ International standards battles: https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/geek-life/history/lets-thwart-this-terr… <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/geek-life/h…> *FAXED. The Rise and Fall of the Fax Machine* (Johns Hopkins University Press)

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WMO Weather and Society Conference 2022
by renzotaddei＠gmail.com 29 Dec '21

29 Dec '21

Apologies for cross posting. Please circulate among potentially interested parties. The deadline for submissions is Jan 10, 22. 1st WWRP/SERA "Weather and Society" Conference 2022 https://www.weatherandsociety.de/index.html _____ Extreme hydrometeorological events are affecting societies, economies and environments as never before in human history. Governments, science agencies, the humanitarian sector, emergency managers and decision-makers face an unprecedented challenge to reduce the risks to citizens and society. The Societal and Economics Research Application (SERA) Working Group of the WMO World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) invites the weather community to actively participate in the first Weather and Society Conference organised by this Programme. The focus of the Conference is the science for services approach adopted by the World Meteorological Organization to understand, analyse and enhance the value of weather and climate services in society. The objectives of the conference are to: * discuss and promote all aspects of social and economic research applications along the weather forecast value chain * bring people together from the operational meteorological and hydrological services, research and forecast user communities * identify gaps, needs and challenges to reducing the risks to citizens and society The online conference will run over 2 weeks. Each session will focus on a theme and run for two hours and include talks and discussion. Poster sessions will follow the oral presentations. <http://www.gather.town> Gather.Town will be used for poster sessions and to provide social and meeting spaces for discussions and to create connections. Participation is free of charge - <https://www.weatherandsociety.de/registration/index.html> register here to receive communication and gain access to the conference.

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Heads up new paper : Victorian Human Computers
by Bernardo Batiz-Lazo 23 Dec '21

23 Dec '21

Might be of interest as this is an outlet not everyone in the list reads regularly Happy Christmas Bernardo Northumbria Cyberpunk Victoria: The credibility of computers and the first digital revolution, 1848–83 Marc Flandreau, Geoffroy Legentilhomme First published: 22 December 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.13134 Abstract British capitalism was a knowledge economy that lived on reliable numerical information. We argue that human computers and the algorithms they used played a vital intermediation role and supported the growth of the British capital market, because they resolved digital information asymmetries. Given the lack of an archive for ‘Cyberpunk Victoria’, we demonstrate the computers’ role as financial intermediaries by identifying their imprint on the production of data by a prominent numerical factory, the Investor's Monthly Manual, a companion publication of the Economist. Our study underscores the import of digital mechanization and the relevance of human cybernetics to the development of financial capitalism. Sent from my iPhone. Please excuse my brevity.

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UK IT in the 1980s
by Research 20 Dec '21

20 Dec '21

For those of us not yet given up for Christmas ... I wrote in November to let you know the Archives of IT had acquired and published the Butler Cox newsletters from 1977 to 1991 Some eminent guest bloggers have now reviewed the material (in one case the report he wrote 30 years ago) with some fascinating insights - https://archivesit.org.uk/blog/ Any observations or offers of further analysis most welcome Best wishes for Christmas and 2022 Tom Tom Abram Director - Archives of IT research(a)archivesit.org.uk www.archivesit.org.uk<http://www.archivesit.org.uk/> > Subscribe<https://archivesit.org.uk/sign-up/> to our e-newsletter > Follow us on Twitter @ArchivesIT<https://twitter.com/ArchivesIT> > Please support us at https://archivesit.org.uk/get-involved-4/make-a-difference/ Registered Charity No: 1164198 This e-mail is confidential and may be privileged. It may be read, copied and used only by the intended recipient. If you have received it in error, please contact the sender immediately by return e-mail. Please then delete the e-mail and do not disclose its contents to any person.

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CfA Conference ‘Urban Circulations’
by Raphael Longoni 20 Dec '21

20 Dec '21

The Research Training Group KRITIS invites researchers and practitioners to participate at the conference on June 23, 2022. Accessible and functional urban sanitation, unimpeded mobility, steady electrical power provision, and permanent internet connection are desired standards today in most settings worldwide. They require unceasing streams of matter, energy, people, and information circulating in socio-technical networks or arrangements we call infrastructures. At the same time, issues such as the current pandemic and climate change are challenging the modernist ideal of continuous flows, their acceleration, intensification, and ubiquitous connectivity. It reminds us of the risks of our dependency on undisrupted provision as well as of malign or transgressive, i.e. unwanted circulations. The circulation within and around infrastructure systems is one of the central themes of the Research Training Group KRITIS. It is the aim of this conference to elaborate understandings of circulation in and between cities mediated by infrastructures. Contributions may focus on, but are not limited to: • Conceptual approaches: What are the potentials and limitations of circulation to explain movements in complex systems? How can we empirically observe and assess hidden and entangled circulations? • Continuity and interruption: How do loads, goods, or people feature in particular kinds of circulation? How can societies and infrastructures be protected from the risks of involuntary interruption accompanying circulations? What do such interruptions reveal about infrastructure and underlying socio-political systems? • Society and ecology: How do infrastructures contribute to or mediate social and environmental problems and how can they serve as a key for solutions? How do users and non-users deal with unreliable, tenuous, or inaccessible circulation? Are there perspectives for inclusive circulation and participatory infrastructure planning? Our one-day, online conference calls for contributions from various academic disciplines, and practitioners alike. Participation: • Please submit an abstract of max. 300 words until February 23, 2022 to circulationconference(a)kritis.tu-darmstadt.de • The conference will be held online. There are no conference fees. • The language of moderations and discussions is English. Contributions may bein English or German. • We will confirm participation by March 15, 2022 Kind Regards -- Raphael Longoni, M. A. Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter Technische Universität Darmstadt Graduiertenkolleg KRITIS und Institut für Geschichte, Mittelalterliche Geschichte Dolivostraße 15 D-64293 Darmstadt Deutschland Tel.: +49 6151 16-57444 www.kritis.tu-darmstadt.de www.geschichte.tu-darmstadt.de

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The Best Historical Comparisons
by Brian Randell 16 Dec '21

16 Dec '21

Hi: Over the years many people have constructed historical comparisons to illustrate the rate of progress of development of computer technology. A colleague just sent me this example: " There used to be a standard illustration of the effects of Moore's Law, along the lines of "if mechanical engineering had progressed at the same rate a Rolls Royce would do 250K mph, 1M miles to the gallon, cost 2p and be a quarter of an inch long (these aren't the actual figures but you get the idea). Similarly I used to say that the 16 Gigabit memory that I used to carry around in my pocket would have weighed as much as an aircraft carrier in the technology of the 360/67. I recall that the 256K memory units in the 360 each weighs either a quarter or half a ton, including the integrated pipes for the cooling system. (As above the figures may no longer be accurate but they were whenever I said it.) Similar comparisons give a scale to the rates of progress in technology." I wonder what is the best, and most up to date, comparison in common use these days. Season's greetings Brian Randell — School of Computing, Newcastle University, 1 Science Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5TG EMAIL = Brian.Randell(a)ncl.ac.uk PHONE = +44 191 208 7923 URL = http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/people/profile/brianrandell.html

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Book announcement: "Digitalisierung der Kreditwirtschaft"
by Schmitt, Martin 16 Dec '21

16 Dec '21

Dear SIGCIS, I am super happy to announce that my book on the history of digitalization of German banking was published by Wallstein this month! You might have heard me talking about it, now the full work finally is here: Die Digitalisierung der Kreditwirtschaft. Computereinsatz in den Sparkassen der Bundesrepublik und der DDR 1957-1991, Göttingen: Wallstein-Verlag 2021 (Medien und Gesellschaftswandel im 20. Jahrhundert 15), https://www.wallstein-verlag.de/9783835333710-die-digitalisierung-der-kredi… Here is an English summary of the content: "Hardly any other technology has changed the German economy as much as the digital computers. However, the process of digitalization goes back further than is generally assumed. By the early 1960s, for example, banks and savings banks in both German states had started digitizing their business processes. Banks therefore stood for a broader trend in the German economy on its way to the digital age. How and why did companies in the Federal Republic and the GDR employ computer technology? Which kinds of interactions can be identified, i.e. how did digitalization affect companies, and how did the latter, in turn, affect the development of computer technology and software? Questions such as these are being examined through research in the history of computing. Martin Schmitt’s study focuses on changes in the work place, from the labor market to work processes in companies, and on gender issues, for example in data collection. In addition, it looks at networking processes which, from the end of the 1970s onwards, have increased the interdependence of economic actors. Thirdly, it focuses on changes in spatial and temporal structures. A comparative view between East and West Germany will serve to determine the transformational effects of digitization beyond political systems." The book itself is available in German only. I know that this might be a barrier for some of you. I am looking for possibilities to translate it into English. Now my work is done and it is out to the world of science and society. I am very thankful for all the inspirations I got here from the SIGCIS community and the warm welcome. I mentioned that in my acknowledgments, but I wanted to address that personally to you, as I don’t take this amazing support, intellectual exchange and scientific infrastructure for granted. [cid:3268D598-64C5-4BE0-A0F8-BA1B0114FEA1] All the best, have wonderful holidays and stay safe in these days! Martin Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter | Post-Doc | digital enthusiast Technische Universität Darmstadt Institut für Geschichte Fachgebiet Technikgeschichte Mail: martin.schmitt(a)tu-darmstadt.de<mailto:martin.schmitt@tu-darmstadt.de> Tel: +49 6151-16-57327 http://www.computerisierung.com & Assoziierter Wissenschaftler LEIBNIZ-ZENTRUM FÜR ZEITHISTORISCHE FORSCHUNG | POTSDAM Vice Chair IFIP WG 9.7 „History of computing" Zuletzt erschienen: Leslie, Christopher und Martin Schmitt (eds.): Histories of Computing in Eastern Europe, Cham: Springer International Publishing 2019 (IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology 549), https://www.springer.com/978-3-030-29159-4

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4th International Data Power Conference - abstract submission deadline 15th January
by Jo Bates 15 Dec '21

15 Dec '21

Dialogues in Data Power, 4th International Data Power Conference, June 22nd - June 24th 2022 Online and in person in three locations: the University of Sheffield, Carleton University and the University of Bremen A three-day in person and online international conference organized by Data Power teams at The University of Sheffield in the UK, Carleton University in Canada and the University of Bremen in Germany. *Abstract Deadline:* 15th January 2022 *Conference Dates:* 22nd to 24th of June 2022 *Venues:* It will be possible to participate in the conference online or in person. Conference activities will be hosted for one day in each of these locations: - Department of Sociological Studies and Information School in Sheffield, UK - School of Journalism and Communication in Ottawa, Canada - Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) and - Institute for Information Management (ifib) in Bremen, Germany. *Call for abstracts:* The Data Power Conference hosts critical reflections on data’s power and the social, political, economic and cultural consequences of data’s increasing presence in our lives, workplaces, and societies. The most recent conference in 2019 focused on the specific theme of global in/security. The 4th Data Power Conference, in June 2022, returns to some of the fundamental questions that underpinned the founding of the conference. It is conceived as a series of dialogues, dialogues *about* overarching concerns and *with* disciplines and stakeholders working with and on data. In particular, the conference will reflect on: - How can stakeholders be engaged in critical conversations about data power? - What constitute rigorous methods when it comes to researching data power? - To what extent does critical data power research need to focus on specific instances of data power in action? What contributions can more generalised critiques make to our field? To facilitate dialogues across disciplines and with stakeholders, we welcome papers, panels and roundtable dialogues from interdisciplinary teams including disciplines incorporating aspects of data science, and papers which incorporate non-academic collaborators from a range of sectors. As always, the Data Power Conference remains concerned with in/equalities, discrimination, questions of justice, rights and freedoms, and agency and resistance. We welcome papers, panels and roundtable dialogues that engage with these matters. There will be a keynote speaker on each of the three conference days, details to be confirmed. *Information on abstracts & papers* - Whilst we welcome papers and session proposals of all kinds, please note that this conference focuses on critical questions about data’s power and also papers that are critical and/or reflective with regards to the social and cultural consequences of the rise of data's power. - A 250-300 word abstract is required. - The deadline for abstracts is 15th January 2022. - Submit your abstracts here <https://ojs.library.carleton.ca/index.php/DP2022/about/submissions.>, or read about abstract submission will be available here <http://datapowerconference.org/data-power-2022/about/>. *Information on conference organisation* - It will be possible to participate fully remotely in the conference, but it will also be possible to participate in-person in one of the three locations in which the conference has already taken place – Sheffield/UK, Ottawa/Canada and Bremen/Germany – as these will each host a local session on one of the conference days. - The conference will seek to be accessible across time zones, with sessions 9am to 12pm CET and 6pm to 9pm CET on each of the three days. - There will be a modest conference fee to cover running costs, with reductions for students and people participating online. *Data Power Conference Management Team* Jo Bates, University of Sheffield Monika Halkort, Lebanese American University Juliane Jarke, University of Bremen Helen Kennedy, University of Sheffield Tracey Lauriault, Carleton University *Data Power Conference Committee* Ysabel Gerrard, University of Sheffield Andreas Hepp, University of Bremen Leif Kramp, University of Bremen -- Dr Jo Bates Senior Lecturer in Information Politics and Policy Digital Societies Research Group Information School, The University of Sheffield, Room 236, Regent Court, 211 Portobello, Sheffield, S1 4DP +44 (0)114 222 2648 Website: lifeofdata.org Find us on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/ischoolsheffield>, follow us on Twitter <http://www.twitter.com/infoschoolsheff>, read our latest news on our Blog <http://information-studies.blogspot.co.uk/> and join our community on LinkedIn <http://www.linkedin.com/company/university-of-sheffield-information-school?…> *I don't expect you to respond to my email outside your working hours. *

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Call for 10 Junior (postdoc) / Senior Fellowships "Cultures of Research" (Käte Hamburger Kolleg, RWTH Aachen University, Germany)
by Alexandre Hocquet 15 Dec '21

15 Dec '21

Dear SIGCISers, I am taking the liberty to forward this announcement, as I am currently a fellow there. To the extent of my knowledge, I can try to answer (via email) questions that are not in the FAQ, or at least redirect questions to the powers that be. The Käte Hamburger Kolleg Aachen Cultures of Research (c:o/re) has openings for a total of 10 international fellows for the academic year 2022/2023, starting in October 2022. Eligible applicants are expected to come from the humanities, social sciences and STS as well as from natural, life and technical sciences. This International Center for Advanced Studies at RWTH Aachen University is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Part of its mission is to offer a free space to its fellows to develop their own research and to exchange ideas up to 12 months. The topic Cultures of Research is positioned where the fields of philosophy, sociology and history interface with natural science and technology. The overall focus of the Center’s work is on transformations of science and technology towards complexity, life-likeness and emergence. We are particularly interested in digitalization of research (simulation, artificial intelligence, machine learning) for studying complex systems (e.g. climate change, energy revolution, biologization, sustainability), in participatory arrangements between science and society and in investigating histories and varieties of cultures of research. https://khk.rwth-aachen.de/faq/

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