Dear Colleagues,

We kindly invite you to attend the Network of Center's annual meeting on “Internet & Society: Emerging Topics and Research Communities,” which will take place on Friday, November 27th in Hong Kong. The NoC annual meeting will be preceded by the launch of the Digital Asia Hub on the evening of Thursday, November 26th. We warmly welcome NoC members planning to travel to the annual meeting to join us for the launch event as well. The November 27th NoC annual meeting is hosted by the Digital Asia Hub, and co-organized by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the Nexa Center for Internet & Society at Politecnico di Torino.

[November 27th NoC Meeting] The NoC annual meeting will be an opportunity to identify and highlight key innovations in the Internet & Society domain, exploring emerging global issues as well as region-specific topics in Asia. Existing and potential research efforts around online expression, data privacy, the Internet of Things, digital currencies, and many other issues are only a few of the open questions that our academic community continues to investigate. The meeting will be structured as three consecutive highly interactive sessions and will include a forward-looking discussion on the NoC’s research projects and their future trajectory. Further, the meeting will be an occasion to enhance mutual knowledge and cooperation within the NoC community of Centers and researchers, and to deliberate on the future of Internet & Society as a discipline and the impact of the NoC. You can see the agenda for the meeting at http://networkofcenters.net/NoC-annual-meeting-2015.

[Logistics for the NoC Meeting] The meeting will be held at the Hong Kong Country Club. While further details will follow, we hope that you will attend this significant event for the NoC and ask that you indicate whether you will be attending by sending an email to: contact@networkofcenters.net by 26th October. Please indicate whether you will attend the NoC Annual Meeting, November 26th Digital Asia Hub Launch (described below), or both. Please note that, due to limited capacity of the venue, attendance is first come first served, so please RSVP early.

[November 26th Digital Asia Hub Launch] The Digital Asia Hub is an independent Internet & Society research hub in the form of a non-profit think tank based in Hong Kong. Incubated by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University and a diverse group of academic, civil society, and private sector partners, the Hub will provide a non-partisan, open, and collaborative platform for research, knowledge sharing and capacity building related to Internet & Society issues with focus on digital Asia. The Hub also aims to strengthen effective multi-stakeholder discourse, with both local and regional activities, and will contribute to - and itself serve as a node of - a larger network of academic organizations: the Global Network of Internet & Society Centers. Join us from 5:00-7:30pm on November 27th at the Liberty Exchange Bar to help celebrate the launch of the Hub, as well as the publication of a collection of essays on “The Good Life in Asia's Digital 21st Century.” As noted above, please RSVP to contact@networkofcenters.net if you are interested in attending the Digital Asia Hub Launch. Please also note the Hub is looking for an Executive Director, and the deadline for applications is October 23rd if you or someone who you know might be interested in this position.

[Accommodation suggestions] The closest recommended hotel to the venue, the Hong Kong Country Club, is L'hotel Island South. Another option is to book a hotel in Causeway Bay, which is more centrally located but still not too far from the Hong Kong Country Club. Some nice hotels in the area are Lanson Place which is a small boutique hotel and The Crowne Plaza.

We are happy to answer any questions you may have, and we hope to see you in November in Hong Kong.

On behalf of the host and collaborators,

Lorenzo Canova

Nexa Center for Internet & Society at Politecnico di Torino (DAUIN)

Juan Carlos de Martin

Nexa Center for Internet & Society at Politecnico di Torino (DAUIN)

Raimondo Iemma

Nexa Center for Internet & Society at Politecnico di Torino (DAUIN)

Urs Gasser

Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University

Lokman Tsui  

Digital Asia Hub, Hong Kong

Donnie Dong

Digital Asia Hub, Hong Kong

-- 
Lorenzo Canova

Research Fellow
Nexa Center for Internet & Society
Politecnico di Torino - DAUIN
http://nexa.polito.it 

Project Manager
Global Network of Internet & Society Research Centers
http://networkofcenters.net/