Information and Communications Technology for Environmental Regulation

Developing a Research Agenda

Call For Papers now open!
Papers are invited from scholars and practitioners across all disciplines for a two-day workshop on the application of information and communications technology for environmental regulation. Abstracts (maximum 500 words) to be submitted by Friday 15 March 2013.

Background

Digital computers can, and do, change human behaviour and have changed society in dramatic ways. Examples include online booksellers highlighting interesting items, social networking sites encouraging users to divulge personal information and auction sites using reputation-based systems to reassure consumers when entering into transactions with strangers.

As society considers how to alter individual, social and economic choices in order to better deal with the challenges of climate change, loss of biodiversity and environmental pollution, the continuing refinement of more effective means of environmental regulation requires urgent attention. Information and communications technology (ICT) can play an important role in this process. While there is some research on how ICT can be used for environmental regulation, we have not yet developed a full understanding of the issues which this may raise.

Purpose of Workshop

The aim of this workshop is to build a network of researchers dealing with these issues in order to prepare joint projects, funding applications and work towards an international conference dealing with this topic. The workshop will discuss the development of a coherent but multi-disciplinary research agenda for ICT and environment regulation and agree detailed proposals for future work in the area, such as the publication of an edited collection, funding applications or an international conference. It is aimed at those who work on issues related to the use of ICT in environmental regulation, whether as academic researchers, practitioners based in regulatory agencies, or activists in NGOs, such as lawyers, IS/IT/GIS specialists, environmental informatics specialists, economists, public policy researchers, psychologists, sociologists and other social science researchers.

Topics

Topics include: (but are not limited to):

• Data for environmental regulation
• Disclosure as a regulatory tool
• E-government studies of environmental regulation
• Geographical Information Systems and environmental regulation
• Freedom of information law and policy
• Green IT/IS
• Sustainable computing
• ICT and social responsibility
• ICT and reflexive law
• ICT and transparency
• ICT as a tool for behaviour change
• Information as a tool of regulation or governance
• Remote sensing
• Satellite monitoring
• The automation or digitisation of regulation
• The impact of ICT on regulatory processes
• The role of models in the policy and legal process
• The role of non-governmental organisations
• The role of science in the policy and legal process

This workshop is funded by the Irish Research Council, the Whitaker Institute for Innovation and Societal Change, and the Environment, Development and Sustainability cluster of the Whitaker Institute at the National University of Ireland Galway.
Enquiries to: ronan.m.kennedy@nuigalway.ie or to Rónán Kennedy (Law School, National University of Ireland Galway) at +353-91-495626

Links

Conference website