Technology and citizenship - V IF Conference · First International Conference

Hello! We are the IF Group (Engineering and Philosophy - Ingeniería y Filosofía), a working group of the MediaLab at the University of Oviedo that develops its work from a hybridization between the two branches of knowledge that give us our name. We have a great invitation for you: come to Gijón on March 29, 30, and 31, 2027.

We are preparing the V IF Conference (our first international conference!), in which, once again, we will address technological issues from a hybrid, reflective, and collaborative perspective. The title for this edition is IF 9.0: Technology and Citizenship. We want to open a space to discuss different technological and engineering issues that affect citizenship in a broad sense. We will debate questions, problems, and possible solutions that technology offers to people. We will listen to researchers, but also to companies, teachers, civil society organizations, and anyone interested in reflecting on technology and its relationship with people. The general reflections will revolve around questions such as the following: can we make fairer technologies?; are our designs the most appropriate for people and the environment?; do we lead and control the technologies we use?; does technology serve people, or do people serve technology?; what capabilities does it provide us and which ones do we give up by delegating more and more decisions to it?; who is behind the dominant technologies, and how do they use them to dominate us?; and what about more horizontal, democratic, accessible, belligerent..., in short, human technological approaches?

For this reason, we have proposed the following thematic axes:

• Education: technologies and tools that transform teaching and learning processes, as well as the forms of access, participation, and knowledge creation.

• Health: the influence of technology on care, well-being, prevention, and the improvement of people's quality of life.

• Design: criteria, processes, and practices to develop more accessible, usable, inclusive, and responsible technologies.

• Autonomy, governance, and politics: relationships between technology, decision-making capacity, power, and citizenship, promoting transparent, responsible management models oriented towards the public interest.

• Sustainability and territory: responsible models that integrate environmental, social, and economic challenges with the inequalities and technological transformations of the territory and the spaces inhabited by humans and other species.

Do you want to participate? We encourage you to submit contributions that analyze these phenomena from interdisciplinary, critical perspectives aimed at imagining more habitable digital futures. If you develop research or teaching, political, business, social, artistic, or relational activities linked to the aforementioned topics, you can send us a proposal in text format (maximum 500 words) through the following form before January 15, 2027. We hope to see you soon!

You can find more information and learn more about us on our website.

We thank you in advance for your time and collaboration in disseminating this event. We remain at your entire disposal for any questions or queries.

Kind regards,

IF Group (Engineering and Philosophy) MediaLab, University of Oviedo