To apply, please upload your submission via this Google Form by July 31, 2025 Update! Deadline extended to August 7, 2025
We aim to reveal the institutional realities of government tech implementation and explore CSCW practices to enact alternative imaginations of government tech. We seek submissions that 1) bring new theoretical perspectives on government technology; 2) suggest alternative imaginations and practices of government tech design that overcome the limitations of the existing ones; or 3) provide a rich case study of information technology and system development within the public sector, demonstrating the failures and successes of certain design approaches.
Participants should engage with one or more of the Themes when creating their statement of interest. While we encourage creativity and diversity in statements of interest, we ask participants to include one conundrum or key question guiding their research related to the topic of this workshop. Questions we included under the workshop themes can be some examples of such conundrums. Organizers will use the conundrums to inform discussion items and breakout groups.
1) Any genre of write-up no longer than 1000 words, submitted as PDF
2) A 2-page visual presentation
3) A video in a standard format no longer than 3 minutes
Main Themes
How have prior transformations of government structure and culture shaped the contemporary sociotechnical systems of government IT?
What do histories of data governance have to tell us about the adoption of algorithmic tools in government?
How have new forms of IT changed, or in some cases failed to change, the structures and cultures of government?
What ideological positions about the roles of government are reified in particular instantiations of government technology?
Questions to Consider
What unique forms and structures need to be designed with and for, such as jurisdiction? What design assumptions are currently bound up in US-centric models of government structure, legitimacy, and jurisdiction?
CSCW researchers are likely to participate as designers/technologists themselves in these research projects. What does this positionality implicate in doing critical research on the pertinent organizational dynamics?
What internal challenges do government actors experience in changing their data/tech practices? What can we learn about the more problematic aspects of technology transformations?
Submissions due: July 31, 2025 August 7, 2025
Notifications made to accepted applicants: August 20, 2025
Participants confirm they'll attend: No later than August 24, 2025
Workshop: October 18, 2025