PNC 2009 Annual Conference and Joint Meetings
October 6-8, 2009
Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
It is our pleasure to announce that 2009 Pacific Neighborhood Consortium (PNC) Annual Conference and Joint Meetings will be organized from 6 to 8 October 2009 at Academia Sinica in Taipei. TELearn 2009 and GIS in the Humanities and Social Sciences 2009 will be held jointly. The main theme for this year’s conference is “Social Computing”.

According to the Wikipedia, social computing refers to an area of computer science that is concerned with the intersection of social behavior and computational systems.  It has to do with supporting any sort of social behavior in or through computational systems.  It is based on creating or recreating social conventions and social contexts through the use of software and technology.  It also has to do with supporting “computations” that are carried out by groups of people.  Examples include blogs, email, instant messaging, social network services, wikis, social bookmarking as well as collaborative filtering, online auctions, prediction markets, and reputation systems.  It is obvious that all these are having a profound impact on our daily life.  The main theme for this conference calls for input from perspectives of social sciences as well as information technology to address this emerging issue.

The session format of the PNC 2009 Annual Conference consists of oral presentation and poster.  Participants are encouraged to address the impact of social computing in the sessions that cover diverse domains.  The Conference will highlight cutting-edge IT Application in digital archives and e-learning, GIS applications in natural disaster prevention, land use and urban planning.  Austronesian Studies will be explored from the perspectives of archaeology, linguistic family and Genetics.  In addition, the Conference also offers opportunity to showcase the up-to-date results from biodiversity research in South China Sea.

Since its initiation in 1993, the annual PNC Conference has become a key portal for access to digital application research on the Pacific Rim.  It is also a forum for interactions among scholars, engineers, librarians, museum professionals, educators, and site managers working with cultural materials and technology.  PNC’s increasingly important role in the Pacific Rim scholarly community is expected with the advent of the era of social computing.  Please join us at Academia Sinica in October to learn the latest development in this fascinating field.

Taipei in October is one of the most attractive travel destinations in the world.  The agreeable weather, the charming scenery, the colorful cultural activities, and the world-famous Taiwanese cuisine will provide an excellent background for this intellectual event.  You’ll find your stay in Taipei both pleasant and educational.  We look forward to welcoming you all in Taipei in October!

Host
Pacific Neighborhood Consortium

Co-host  (in alphabetic order)
Academia Sinica
Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative
GIS in the Humanities and Social Sciences 2009
Ministry of Education, Taiwan
National Science Council, Taiwan
Taiwan e-Learning & Digital Archives Program
TELearn 2009

The Official website:http://www.pnclink.org/pnc2009/english/index.html

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