ICISO 2016 - 17th International Conference on Informatics and Semiotics in Organisations

The 17th International Conference on Informatics and Semiotics in Organisations (ICISO) is an IFIP WG8.1 Working Conference and part of a series of international events devoted to the latest research in informatics and applications of Organisational Semiotics in organisations.
Organisational Semiotics (OS) is a discipline that studies the nature, characteristics, function and effect of information and communication in organisational contexts, supporting the understanding and articulation of relevant technical, formal, and social issues. The contribution of this discipline to the understanding, analysis, modelling, design and implementation of organisational and technical information systems has attracted attention of researchers and practitioners from many subject areas. The ICISO conferences have become the key focal point for participants from multidisciplinary backgrounds to exchange the development and the state of the art of their theoretical and practical work.
OS, with its methods and techniques, provides an effective approach for conducting practical and theoretical work in business and information systems in complex settings. OS has been considered as a discipline that enables us to understand the inter-workings and interactions between individuals and within the society, between human and technology, opening the prospect for scientific theory building and providing a handle for gaining insights of organized behaviour. The broad issues that concern the researchers in this field are philosophical, social and technical, studied using existing and newly developed semiotic theories and methods.
Ubiquitous Computing, Wearable Computing, Digital Business Ecosystems, Tangible User Interfaces, Intelligent Buildings, Big Data, Digital Visualization, and Social Software are some examples of how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have permeated all aspects of individual and social life, crossing (and sometimes dissolving) the boundaries between organizations and specific places. In a society mediated by ICTs, both organisations and technology must be socially aware: mindful of the complex context in which they exist and different stakeholders live, striving for socially responsible processes and products.
In 2006, the ICISO conference was held for the first time in Brazil, discussing the interface between Society, Technology and Organisations. In 2016, ten years later, ICISO will be held again in Brazil, addressing this main theme: Socially-Aware Organisations and Technologies, and inviting the participants to investigate and discuss their impact and challenges.
A semiotic perspective can accommodate the individual and the social, the human and the technical demands, at a level of detail that is required for studying, modelling, designing and engineering organisational and technical systems. Research and practice in the increasingly complex contexts of a society mediated by ICTs urge us to rethink and revisit our theories, methods and techniques, dealing with the challenges of the present and anticipating the challenges of the near future.