Accessibility, Justice, and Critical AI in Sociotechnical Systems Minitrack

https://hicss.hawaii.edu/tracks-and-minitracks/equitable-and-inclusive-digital-systems/

Call for Papers

We invite you to submit a paper for the 2027 HICSS Minitrack, Accessibility, Justice, and Critical AI in Sociotechnical Systems. This in-person minitrack will be held from January 5-8, 2027 at the 60th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), Hilton Waikoloa Village, Big Island, Hawaii.

Purpose of the Minitrack

As computational and information systems become increasingly embedded across organizational, social, and everyday contexts, persistent inequities in access, representation, and power are reproduced or amplified by these technologies. Sociotechnical systems, including data infrastructures, algorithmic models, information systems, and the communicative and organizational environments they shape, are embedded in social structures that result in differential impacts across individuals and communities. Patterns of exclusion in metadata practices, model behavior, interaction design, policy frameworks, or information governance can reinforce inequity along lines of ability, socio-economic status, race, gender, language, and more.

This minitrack provides a forum for research that critically examines how information systems and AI mechanisms intersect with accessibility and justice in sociotechnical environments. We accept a diverse range of research approaches, including conceptual and theoretical frameworks, empirical studies, design science research, case studies, mixed methods, and critical analyses.

Topics of Interest

We seek work that not only diagnoses barriers and injustices across system life cycles, including the construction and use of metadata, training data bias, design assumptions, deployment impacts, and governance practices, but also proposes pathways toward systems that embody equitable access, representation, and empowerment. Contributions may interrogate systems from theoretical, empirical, philosophical, methodological, ethical, or design-oriented perspectives. We particularly welcome research that advances understanding in, but not limited to, the following areas:

• Usability barriers of underrepresented and marginalized populations in sociotechnical and AI systems
• Accessibility challenges embedded in data schemas, metadata standards, and information infrastructures
• Critical assessments of model behavior, fairness evaluations, explainability, and accountability in AI
• Socio-technical dynamics of participatory and inclusive system design
• Governance, policy, and ethical frameworks that promote justice in information systems and AI deployment
• Role of critical theory, information science, and systems thinking in shaping accessible and just technologies
• Methods for auditing, measuring, or mitigating inequities, misinformation, or disinformation in algorithmic and information systems

Who Should Submit?

This minitrack aims to bring together scholars and practitioners from disciplines including information science, information systems, computer science, human-computer interaction, science and technology studies, ethics and philosophy of technology, public policy, and related fields to foster interdisciplinary discourse on the construction of more accessible, just, and critically informed sociotechnical systems. Accepted papers will advance knowledge on how technologies can support equitable participation and benefit while reducing harm and exclusion.

Authors' Instructions: https://hicss.hawaii.edu/authors/

Paper Submission system will be opened on April 15: https://hicss-submissions.org/

Presentation Format

TBD

Registration Requirements

Registration will open in late June: https://hicss.hawaii.edu/registration/

Important Dates

June 15: Paper submission deadline August 17: Notification of acceptance/rejection September 4: [Conditionally Accepted] Submission deadline for revised manuscript September 10: [Conditionally Accepted] Notification of acceptance/rejection September 22: Deadline for final manuscript submissions October 1: Author registration deadline

Organising Committee

Manika Lamba, University of Oklahoma ([e-mail])

Kyrie Zhixuan Zhou, University of Texas at San Antonio ([e-mail])

Ece Gumusel, Rutgers University ([e-mail])