Minutes Ethicomp SC meeting, Tuesday 7 September 2021, 3pm (Brussels time), Skype
Present: Wilhelm, Richard, Kai, Mario, William (Bill), Don, Kiyoshi, Eva, Jorge, Katleen
Agenda points:
1. Ethicomp 2021 evaluation
Successful conference, 100 registrations, 82 papers, 6 grants were given by the organizers directly and 25 by DMU with surplus of other years
The book series has been sent
Official evaluation: no formal form will be sent out to participants, but Mario will add a sentence about feedback in Richard’s election email (to the community), cf. infra
1457 euros over, Mario will transfer the money asap to Kai for the Turku conference
!!The SC wholeheartedly thanks the organising and programme committee team for their excellent work in 2020 and 2021 in very challenging circumstances!!
2. SC elections (coordinated by Richard)
Voters: attendees of 2021, 2020, 2018, and 2017 conference (2021 and 2020 treated as 1 conference)
Mario will send names and email addresses to Richard
There are 6 candidates (5 nominees and 1 re-election) for 6 positions
Richard will contact the candidates for a picture and a short bio
Richard will send out the voting information to the community
3. Turku conference
Most probably end of July 2022, September not an option for Kai (students are back), August not an option for Mario
There was discussion of postponing it to 2023 but given the fact that the past 2 conferences were online, people are looking forward to travelling and seeing each other in 3D
A preliminary call for papers (and call for tracks!) with dates (deadlines) will be sent out (end October?), incl. a message that we will decide in November if the conference can take place in Turku (depending on corona crisis)
Notification of acceptance/rejection ideally no later than February (for those who need to book a transatlantic flight), preferably January (if possible)
Programme committee chair: Jani Kosinen has accepted the PC chair position, thank you, Jani!
Conference chair: Kai Kimppa
Theme: Effectiveness of ethics in ICT (incl. tracks on codes of conduct / professional ethics)
Suggestions for tracks and keynote speakers can be sent to Kai (kakimppa@utu.fi) and Jani (jasiko@utu.fi)
Short discussion about keynotes from Facebook or Google (e.g. Johnny Søraker)
Mario will send templates to Kai
4. SC chair
Katleen will be the chair until after the elections. She is willing to serve afterwards as well, but other candidates (if any) should also be given a chance.
Richard kindly agreed to serve as deputy chair.
5. AOB
Point raised by Mario: we will continue with the book series (shared agreement). Authors will be offered the choice: full paper and/or extended abstract. No one will be forced into a full paper submission, but everyone will be given the opportunity. This year, there were 82 abstracts and 46 full papers.
6. Next meeting
We agreed on end October – early November, but unfortunately the end of October turns out impossible for me (KG), so all dates in the Doodle are in November, apologies.
Please fill out the Doodle asap
Minutes SC Meeting 4 November 2021
Present: Kai, Mario, Bill, Kiyoshi, Don, Andrew, Richard, Shalini, Jani, Katleen
Agenda
1. Minutes previous meeting
Approved
2. 2022 conference
Kai:
-Number of track proposals: 5 received, expecting 1 more
No subtracks in EasyChair, the people responsible for subtracks need to look for reviewers
-Location: Turku School of Economics (congress centre)
-Two keynote speakers, update:
Johnny Hartz Søraker (ethicist at Google): confirmed
Someone from a Finnish company known for their socially responsible and ethical development practices: not yet confirmed
-Conference will be in Finland or will be postponed, no hybrid conference.
3. SC elections
Richard:
-Very good turnout, around 60 of the 200 people eligible to vote have voted
-All 6 candidates for 6 open seats have been elected:
Mario Arias-Oliva; Katleen Gabriels; Kiyoshi Murata; Damian Gordon; Nuno Sotero Alves da Silva; Sabina Szymoniak
Damian, Nuno, and Sabina have been added to the SC mailing list and to the Skype list.
-We say goodbye to Bill; Catherine; Don; and Malgorzata Plotka – thank you so much!
-Kai remains in the SC in his role of conference chair 2022
-We need a cloud service for the voter list
4. Chair election
Will be during our next meeting (16 December), election is held during the first meeting of the new SC (cf. charter)
5. AOB:
Next meeting: Week of 13 December – Thursday 16 December, 2-3pm (Brussels time, Skype)
Andrew: code of practice has to be discussed during our next meeting
Agenda for the 16 December meeting:
1. Minutes 4 November
2. Welcome to the new SC members
3. Conference 2022 updates
4. Host new conference (has to be announced during 2022 conference)
5. Code of practice
6. SC chair election
7. AOB / Next meeting
Minutes SC Meeting 16 December 2021
Present: Nuno, Andrew, Kai, Mario, Erica, Sabina, Jani, Ana Maria, Jorge, Damian, Richard, Katleen
Agenda
1. Minutes 4 November
Approved. Kai might have a small comment but forgot which one – he will send it to Katleen.
2. Welcome to the new SC members
Nuno, Sabina, and Damian introduce themselves – welcome on board!
3. Conference 2022 updates
-Keynotes:
1 keynote confirmed: Johnny Hartz Søraker, ethicist at Google
The other keynote is invited: someone from Futurice, a Finnish (Helsinki based) company known for their ethically and socially responsible practices
3rd keynote optional, might not be necessary
-Updates on dinner location, hotels, bus tickets (for every participant), …
-Fee expected to be around 300 euros, if we have 80 participants. If we have more participants: fee a bit cheaper. Exact amount announced on 7 January, after the submission deadline. Onsite payment will be possible as well.
-Website up and running: https://sites.utu.fi/ethicomp2022/
-Kai will send a reminder (concerning the call for extended abstracts)
-Jani: there are 10 tracks and 9 track chairs (1 missing)
-2 papers submitted up to this point
-Andrew suggests looking for student house residences where participating students can stay, to reduce their costs. Kai agrees and will contact them.
-Mario asks about the money he had to transfer; Kai will check.
4. Host new conference
La Rioja early March (somewhere in the first 2 weeks) 2024 - third time’s the charm : )
US: spring break early March; Japan: the new academic year starts in April, so early March is the best option
5. Code of practice
See community statement (first 2 paragraphs will be published on the conference’s website), https://sites.google.com/site/ethicompsc/ethicomp-procedures/community-statement
6. SC chair election
Katleen is formally elected as chair; Richard as deputy chair – so in practice nothing changes :)
7. AOB / Next meeting
-Damian asks about the reviewing procedure -> this is done by the ETHICOMP community
-Next meeting: 11, 12, or 14 January 2022 at 2 pm Brussels time (via Skype), please fill out the Doodle
-Agenda next meeting
1. Minutes 16 December
2. Conference 2022 updates
3. AOB / Next meeting
If you would like to add something to the agenda, please email Katleen: k.gabriels@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Happy holidays and all the best!
Minutes SC Meeting 10 February 2022
Present: Nuno, Andrew, Kai, Mario, Sabina, Jani, Ana Maria, Jorge, Richard, Kiyoshi, Wilhelm, Katleen
Agenda
1. Minutes 16 December
Approved. Kai sent this comment on 16 December: “I expect to get the prices out by 7.1.2022, but informed all on the kind reminder on the cfp that the prices would be available latest 12.1.2022, just to give myself a few days if there is something going on that requires immediate action or if I am ill or something. I do not of course expect this, but…”
2. Conference 2022 updates
- Submissions: 82/83 submissions, it fulfils the minimum that we needed.
- There will be max. 3 parallel sessions; there are 4 rooms available at the venue.
- Keynotes: 1 keynote confirmed: Johnny Hartz Søraker, ethicist at Google.
Action point: Please send suggestions for other keynotes to Kai and Jani.
- Conference fees: at the conference webpage.
Early Bird Before (1.5.2022):
250 € master’s/doctoral students
350 € full academic
500 € professionals
Normal:
300 € master’s/doctoral students
425 € full academic
600 € professionals
- The money from Rioja has arrived in good order.
- Sponsors: SC is not a priori against this. As soon as there are potential sponsors, Kai and Jani will share this with the SC and ask for their consent (group responsibility), so the responsibility does not solely lie with the conference organisers. If we receive money we will go for full transparency and a.o. mention it on the website.
- Restaurant will offer vegan and non-vegan options.
- 2 hotels will provide a reduction with Ethicomp code.
- There will be a possibility to stay at a dorm (150 euros/week) (student house residences). Guests will have to bring bed sheets or sleeping bags and towels or Kai could buy a number of these beforehand.
- There will be a pre-conference dinner speech and bubbly offered by the City at the Sibelius Museum (https://g.page/Sibeliusmuseum?share), next to the conference dinner venue, restaurant Grädda, https://goo.gl/maps/MRzLPPejgEToaQKW9).
- Website - https://sites.utu.fi/ethicomp2022/ - will be updated this and next week.
- Reviews must be submitted by 1 March; rejection/acceptance will follow no later than 14 March.
- We will not include ‘acceptance with revisions’ – Jani will contact track chairs and provide information on how to deal with ‘borderline cases’.
- Social event, especially for newcomers: Kai and Jani will contact Wilhelm. Still unsure if Wilhelm can attend because of strict corona rules (Hongkong). Overall, global situation concerning corona remains uncertain.
- Kai emphasises that SC members should be prepared to receive some last-minute review invitations early March.
3. AOB / Next meeting
- Next meeting: After 14 March 2022, please fill out the Doodle
- Agenda next meeting
1. Minutes 10 February
2. Conference 2022 updates
3. AOB / Next meeting
If you would like to add something to the agenda, please email Katleen: k.gabriels@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Minutes SC Meeting 17 March 2022
Present: Nuno, Andrew, Kai, Mario, Sabina, Jani, Jorge, Richard, Kiyoshi, Wilhelm, Katleen
Agenda
Conference 2022 updates
- Submissions: 83 submissions, 74 accepted (some have been given the benefit of the doubt; aim is to focus on the discussion during the conference), potentially 1 more will be accepted. Sabina kindly agreed to review the final extended abstract.
-Student housing (150 euros/week): at least 1 participant has indicated to stay there (will have to bring their own sheets/sleeping bag).
-Website: programme will be updated next week. https://sites.utu.fi/ethicomp2022/
Action point: Read the website and in case of questions and/or suggestions, please contact Kai and Jani
- There will be 3 parallel sessions (maybe one or two with 4 but organisation will try to avoid this (update Kai)); there are 4 rooms available at the venue.
- Keynotes: 2 keynotes confirmed: Johnny Hartz Søraker, ethicist at Google, and Penny Duquenoy, focus on luck and hard work, that is, what happens behind the curtains? ‘Ordinary’ people are making it work but too often the focus is on the ‘celebrities’, e.g. ‘the academic stars’
-In case a presenter cannot attend: the conference will not be offered in a hybrid format. It might be possible to give a presentation online that will be livestreamed in the conference room.
-Proceedings: by default: if a full paper is submitted, the full paper will be included in the proceedings. If no full paper is submitted, the extended abstract will be included (authors will be given the opportunity to revise it). This means that there will not be a separate Ethicomp book series publication. The proceedings will have an ISBN.
-Sponsor money: no updates, someone at Turku university is looking into it.
-Question Mario: will the deadline for full papers be extended if necessary? Kai: yes, but he prefers an individual approach (i.e. the author can discuss this with Kai and Jani)
-Question Katleen: number of countries / continents represented. Kai (email): “papers from Morocco and South Africa, from Australia and New Zealand, Japan, India, Hong Kong, Turkey, Lebanon etc. from Asia, all around Europe and from US (but not from Canada, unless they are using .edu addresses). closest we get to South America is Mexico. So 5/7 continents.”
-Kai thanks the SC for their support and cooperation.
Next meeting:
1. Early May - Please fill out the Doodle as soon as possible
2. Agenda point: do we need to organise new elections after the conference? Wilhelm’s and Erica’s terms are ending in 2023. Wilhelm already indicated that he is happy to continue until 2024 and organise the elections after the Rioja conference, because the schedule has changed due to the 2 virtual conferences.
If you would like to add something to the agenda, please email Katleen: k.gabriels@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Minutes SC Meeting 9 May 2022
Present: Nuno, Kai, Mario, Sabina, Jani, Ana Maria, Jorge, Richard, Kiyoshi, Wilhelm, Katleen
Agenda
1. Minutes 17 March
Approved. Kai had some comments, but these have already been shared with the SC on 21 March.
Richard has a problem with emails from the SC; they end up in his spam folder.
2. Conference 2022 updates
- 27 people have registered for the early bird fee; around 80 people are expected (74 accepted papers). Please note that the participants from Turku are not (yet) included in these early bird numbers.
The early bird rate will be extended until Wednesday 1 June.
Reasons for postponed registration: war situation + some universities (e.g. Hongkong; Japanese state universities) do not reimburse travel costs because of the corona situation
- Presenters who cannot attend will be given online access but only to give their presentation, not to attend the entire conference. These presentations will be livestreamed in Turku (livestream only in case the presenter cannot attend physically).
- Open question: how much money (conference fee) will be asked from those who will present online but will not attend the conference? There are steady expenses that need to be covered.
- There are 2 keynotes, see previous minutes (Johnny Hartz Søraker and Penny Duquenoy)
- Final paper deadline is 15 May
- Maybe an idea to advertise the conference to Finnish companies, to increase attendance?
- Thank you, Jani and Kai, for the hard work!
3. Elections
We will not organise elections after the conference because, unfortunately, the 2022 conference will again be an exceptional one because of the war in Ukraine and because of the corona situation. Wilhelm’s and Erica’s terms are ending in 2023. Both Wilhelm and Erica will continue until 2024 and we organise the elections after the Rioja conference.
4. AOB / Next meeting
- Next meeting: Friday 3 June, 2 pm Brussels time (Skype)
- Agenda next meeting
1. Minutes 9 May
2. Conference 2022 updates
3. AOB / Next meeting (or no meeting before the conference?)
If you would like to add something to the agenda, please email Katleen: k.gabriels@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Minutes SC Meeting 3 June 2022
Present: Nuno, Kai, Mario, Sabina, Jani, Ana Maria, Jorge, Richard, Kiyoshi, Wilhelm, Katleen
Agenda
1. Minutes 9 May
Approved.
2. Conference 2022 updates
- Fee for online participation: 30% reduction. Participants who want to make use of the reduction have to contact the organisers (Kai/Jani).
- 38 people have paid. Please note that the participants from Turku are not (yet) included in these numbers.
Expected numbers: 45-55 at the conference. 10-15 online (Zoom. Japanese researchers get a morning slot; US researchers an evening slot).
Several people will not attend because of the international situation (Ukraine). About 10 withdrew their paper.
- Final submission to proceedings: changes can be sent to Jani (in a Word doc); first draft of the proceedings ready in the week of 6 June.
3. AOB / Next meeting
- Next meeting: nothing scheduled, a Doodle will be sent out after the conference
- Agenda next meeting
1. Minutes 3 June
2. Conference 2022 evaluation
3. AOB / Next meeting (or no meeting before the conference?)
If you would like to add something to the agenda, please email Katleen: k.gabriels@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Minutes meeting 27 October 2022
Agenda points:
1. Conference Turku
2. Conference Spain
3. CEPE 2023
4. AOB
5. Next meeting (early 2023)
Present: Nuno, Kai, Richard, Jani, Kiyoshi, Wilhelm, Mario, Andrew, Eva, Ana Maria, Katleen
1. Conference Turku
Budget: costs are still on the way
They received positive feedback. Kai and Jani thank the Japanese participants and others for paying the full price.
Kai was invited to Macedonia, a direct outcome of ETHICOMP 2022
Programme and proceedings: quite challenging, the programme had to change a lot (drop-outs, virtual instead of on-site presentation, ...)
The template of the proceedings is really important
We need to keep offering proceedings, we need to communicate this clearly
Streamlining the various extended abstracts and papers was something that Jani and Kai struggled with. This caused extra work. We must learn from these experiences for future conferences.
2. Conference Spain
Conference: March 2024
Theme TBD
Website ready by March 2023
Call for papers early 2023, before CEPE and IEEE ethics 2023
Deadline submission extended abstracts: June 2023 - some extension possible
Deadline acceptance/rejection: September or early October 2023
Final full paper submission: beginning of January 2024 or (suggestion Andrew): before Christmas 2023, but no later than mid-January 2024
Mario congratulates Kai and Jani, and says that they will also keep the proceedings.
Nuno offers his help to Mario, because he will be in Portugal - they will keep in touch.
Kai has transferred money to Mario.
Point raised by Andrew: We will organise elections after Spring 2024. The elective body needs to be 'fairly soon' informed about this, we have mentioned this before (see agenda point 3, 9 May 2022).
= ACTION POINT KATLEEN
Question Andrew: did anyone make use of the student accommodation? Answer Kai: no. 2 were interested but eventually did not come to Turku (1 distance presentation).
Andrew and Kai suggest to Mario that it would be good to offer student accommodation at the next conference.
3. CEPE 2023, 16-18 May
Spread the word: https://www.iit.edu/humanities/about/cepe-2023
Cf. email Katleen to SC on 26 October:
Dear all,
it would be great if you can distribute the Call for Papers for CEPE 2023 (16-18 May, 2023 / Illinois Institute of Technology) in your network! The deadline is 15 November.
See:
https://ethics.iit.edu/node/904
Andrew, can you also distribute the link to the Ethicomp community/mailing list?
There is also a CfP for IEEE-Ethics (18-20 May, 2023 / Purdue University),
https://attend.ieee.org/ethics-2023/
Thank you!
Best wishes,
Katleen
4. AOB
Nothing raised
5. Next meeting
Early 2023, Doodle will follow.
Main agenda point: 2024 Conference.
Minutes ETHICOMP meeting 1 February 2023, 2 pm
Present: Kiyoshi, Kai, Jani, Andrew, Richard, Sabina, Ana Maria, Nuno, Mario, Jorge, Wilhelm, Katleen
1. Minutes previous meeting
Accepted
2. 2022 conference
Kai: the money was almost enough, there was a deficit of 2000 euros, which has been handled by the department. The many (last minute) cancellations affected the budget. Unfortunately, there is no money left that can be transferred to Spain.
Overall, the conference went well, and the quality of papers (and presentations) was good.
Congratulations to the Turku team!
3. 2024 conference
See document in the attachment, prepared by Mario.
Dates: 13-15 March 2024, Rioja, Spain
Overview of important deadlines: see the document in the attachment
More information about the website, conference fee, and so on will be available by early March
ACTION POINT SC: if you want to chair a track, please submit a proposal to Mario from 6 February onward
ACTION POINT MARIO: to inform the community about the call for tracks
ACTION POINT SC: As soon as the call for extended abstracts is ready, please distribute it among your network, incl. important organisations (e.g., IEEE ethics) + thank you in advance for your availability to review extended abstracts, after the submission deadline mid-June!
4. AOB
Nothing raised
5. Next meeting
Wednesday 15 March, 2 pm (Brussels time), Skype
We will gather before the call for extended abstracts will be distributed, later that day, on 15 March.
Minutes ETHICOMP meeting 15 March 2023, 2 pm
Present: Andrew, Kai, Ana Maria, Sabina, Jorge, Wilhelm, Katleen
1. If you have any comments about the Call for Papers (CfP) / Call for Extended Abstracts (see email from Mario earlier today), you can send these directly to Mario (Andrew already did this, thank you Andrew!)
2. As soon as the website is ready next week, Mario will inform us, so we can help distributing the link. We need to 'manage' this, to avoid crossposting. Mario will distribute it to the Ethicomp community (mailing list), I can send it to the INSEIT board and to 4TU Center for Ethics and Technology.
Please distribute the call also among your network, e.g., on social media.
3. Track chairs are expected to take an active role in distributing the CfP
4. If you have suggestions about how and where to distribute the CfP: please contact Mario.
Next SC meeting: end of May - please fill out the Doodle asap, thank you!
Ethicomp minutes 24 May 2023
Present: Kiyoshi, Mario, Sabina, Wilhelm, Nuno, Jorge, and Katleen
Updates 2024 conference
Mario: currently negotiating with hotels; up to this point: not yet any submissions; if the deadline will be extended, it will be 30 June; we will post the CfP again and add the information about the hotels; the fee will be similar to the one before; there is no student housing but there are hotels for different categories; ‘student’ means: PhD scholar included (and dinner is included in the price); EasyChair will be made available this week
Next meeting
19 June at 2 PM
Intermediate decisions will be sent via email
Minutes ETHICOMP meeting 19 June 2023, 2 pm
Meeting was cancelled; an update regarding the 2024 conference was sent via email.