MCHV & Association for Information Systems - India Chapter Hosted 'Workshop on Being More Human in Digitised World'

Management Centre for Human Values (MCHV) at IIM Calcutta and Association for Information Systems – Indian Chapter join hands together and hosted ‘Workshop on Being (more) Human in a Digitised World’ at the MCHV Seminarioum in IIM Calcutta on February 1^st and 2^nd, 2019. The workshop saw 30 researchers and practitioners from IIM Bangalore, IIT Delhi, IIIT Bangalore, Australian National University, Xavier University of Singapore, National University of Singapore, University of New South Wales, Towson University, Nova Southeastern University and more, working on the various facets of behavioural and social issues relating to information technology.

Over one and half days, there were 14 paper presentations, one panel discussion and one experience sharing session. Day 1 began with an inauguration of the Workshop by Director – IIM Calcutta, Dr. Anju Seth, where she emphasized the need for such inter- disciplinary workshops and conferences to bring together researchers and practitioners from disciplines as diverse as information systems, computer science, sociology, marketing, strategy, behavioural sciences and more.

The paper presentation session for the day started with papers talking on the social factors shaping users’ agency to engage with voice user interfaces in smartphones and other devices; the need for designing ICTs which are low-cost, small-scale applications, easily operable by local stakeholders, and provide scope for creativity demonstrated by the mobile payment platforms; how complementary institutional voids can be bridged using ICTs as seen in the case of a start-up that addresses the problem of poor quality of rural education. However, the second half of Day 1 were on topics such as smartphone addiction and its impact on social life of people; evolution of automation; a social knowledge management framework proposed to bridge the rural-urban divide through a social technology platform; and an institutional work perspective to the creation and development of digital social enterprise.

Second day started with an early morning experience sharing session on ‘Doing Ethnography on Technology-related Phenomena’ where Profs. M.S. Sandeep, Israr Qureshi, Bidisha Chaudhuri and Doctoral Students Linus Kendall and Rishikesan Parthiban shared their experiences doing ethnography, the challenges they faced and what could be done to overcome them. The workshop ended with a thankful note, where participants hailed the opportunity to understand diverse research methods used by different researchers; debate the different perspectives on technology use by people, communities and society at large; apart from the comments and feedback on work-in-progress were greatly appreciated by the participants.

Founded in 1961, IIMC was established as the first national institute for Post-Graduate studies and Research in Management by the Government of India. With a vision to emerge as an International Centre of Excellence in all facets of Management Education, IIMC attracts the best talent in India to its faculty and the best and brightest young men and women pursue its academic programs. 

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