Interdisciplinary Conference: Creating Spaces for Digital Futures, Oct 9-10, 2025 in Bochum
We invite scholars to contribute their insights and research presenting theoretical, empirical or visionary positions on how these spaces can be analyzed, perceived and designed. More specifically, this conference will focus on, but is not limited to, three specific types of digital spaces, each with distinctive implications, challenges and opportunities: Public Spaces, Learning Spaces and Data Spaces.
In an era where digital transformation is reshaping every facet of our lives, the concept of digital spaces opens new frontiers for research. While spaces are understood differently across various disciplines and encompass both material and abstract dimensions, the term is commonly used to describe the interdependencies between individual practices and environments. Thus, individuals are shaped by economic, legal, social, cultural and spatial structures that simultaneously emerge from action. Addressing spaces from multiple perspectives considers social and technical affordances and helps to anticipate digital futures.
The two-day conference „Creating Spaces for Digital Futures“ calls on researchers from various disciplines dealing with research questions related to digital transformation to delve into, exploring how digital environments can be designed, utilized, and optimized to enhance various aspects of society – now and in the future. The conference will be a space to analyze both macro-level trends and micro-level action, investigating the interdependencies between practices and digital spaces. We will explore perceptions of space and individual agency within digital environments, as well as the creation of new digital spaces in various contexts.
International Conference: Creating Spaces for Digital Futures
09.10. – 10.10.2025
Makerspace, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Suttner-Nobel-Allee 4
44803 Bochum
Contact
For further information, please contact the conference organizers at submissions@cais-research.de.
Important Dates
Abstract Submission Deadline:
February 15, 2025
Notification of Acceptance:
May 15, 2025
Creating Spaces for Digital Futures
Public Spaces
The digital transformation impacts public spaces, creating new opportunities for civic engagement, community building, public discourse, and urban development. Digital public spaces also affect how individuals perceive and interact within these environments. These spaces offer unprecedented opportunities for citizens to connect, share ideas, and engage in meaningful dialogue, significantly enhancing democratic processes and community resilience. However, challenges like digital divides, cybersecurity threats, and disinformation can exclude people, compromise safety, and undermine trust and constructive discourse.
We encourage submissions including, but not limited to, the following topics:
- Case studies on creating inclusive digital public spaces for community engagement, participation and living in rural or urban environments.
- Analysis of disinformation, polarization, and potential solutions.
- Identifying and addressing technological barriers to effective use of digital public spaces.
Learning Spaces
Education is being transformed through digital transformation, creating new spaces for learning in both formal and informal settings. From virtual classrooms to online learning communities and social media as informal, self-directed learning spaces, these environments offer unprecedented potential but also new challenges for educational methodologies and learning. Further, digital learning spaces may facilitate the co-creation of knowledge and collaboration, enhancing the way we learn and share information. However, digital learning spaces also face challenges such as ensuring accessibility for all learners, integrating and maintaining engagement in virtual environments, and addressing the digital divide that can limit access to technology and digital literacy. Additionally, these spaces must be designed to support effective collaboration and knowledge sharing and building while protecting the privacy and security of learners.
We encourage submissions including, but not limited to, the following topics:
- Strategies for creating inclusive and engaging digital learning spaces.
- Case studies on the use of virtual classrooms and online learning communities.
- Methods for facilitating the co-creation of knowledge and collaboration in digital environments.
Data Spaces
Data Spaces in interdisciplinary research are collaborative environments where data from different sources are generated, used and analyzed. The scientific discourse on digital data is as diverse as the data itself, addressing both methodological questions and/or technical system design. There are overlaps, for example, in the study of human-computer interaction or human-centered AI, discrimination through biased data, critical data studies or concepts of data ecology. However, there is a need for conceptual work and empirical studies as well as technical solutions that address these issues. Through Data Spaces, we aim to bring together researchers from multiple disciplines to share and explore different perspectives on data, its use and social consequences.
We encourage submissions including, but not limited to, the following topics:
- Creating and utilizing new types of data and data infrastructure
- Methods of co-creative design for technical systems
- Conceptual and empirical contributions to identify social challenges or potentials through data use
Submissions and Review Procedure
Your Submissions
Update von May 15, 2025:
The review process for the interdisciplinary conference: “Creating Spaces for Digital Futures” has now been successfully completed. Acceptance letters have been sent out on May 12, 2025. We would like to express our sincere thanks to all reviewers for their timely and thorough evaluations, which were essential to the quality and fairness of the selection process.
The selection of conference contributions was based on a multi-stage peer-review process. Each submission was reviewed by two independent reviewers, who were assigned based on their subject-matter expertise to ensure a well-informed evaluation. Reviewers applied a standardized set of evaluation criteria, incorporating both quantitative scores and qualitative feedback. To ensure impartiality, CAIS team members did not review submissions from within the organization. Instead, all CAIS submissions were evaluated exclusively by external experts, while CAIS reviewers only assessed external proposals.
Final acceptance decisions were primarily based on the mean score. In cases of significant divergence between reviews (a difference of more than 20 points), the qualitative assessments were carefully considered to ensure a balanced decision.
The final acceptance rate was 60.65%, reflecting a careful balance of scientific quality, thematic diversity, and societal relevance.
Special Issue
A Special Issue of the journal Internet Policy Review will be published in 2026 in connection with the conference. Particularly promising submissions and outstanding conference contributions will be invited for publication.
Organizing Team
