top of page
1615711_edited.jpg

iConference 2026

Information Literacies, Authenticity and Use:
The Move Towards a Digitally Enlightened Society

Virtual Academic Program: 23 - 26 March 2026
Onsite Academic Program in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK: 29 March - 02 April 2026

Hosted by Edinburgh Napier University

iConference 2026 begins in:

Our Keynote Speakers

Copy of img-person-placeholder.jpg
N.N.

Department of Communication,
University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Copy of img-person-placeholder.jpg
N.N.

N.N.

img-placeholder-female.jpg
N.N.

N.N.

img-placeholder-female.jpg
N.N.

N.N.

Banner_New.png

The 2026 iConference invites scholars, practitioners, creators, and community voices to contribute to critical conversations around information literacies, authenticity, and the use of digital technologies in shaping a more enlightened and inclusive digital society. Rooted in a re-examination of the Scottish Enlightenment—a movement that championed reason, education, inquiry, and civic progress—the 2026 theme challenges us to critically reflect on both the promise and limitations of these ideals. The Enlightenment catalysed revolutionary thinking about human potential and the organisation of knowledge, laying foundations for public libraries, encyclopaedias, scientific method, and democratic discourse. Yet, it also advanced progress through Eurocentric and exclusionary frameworks, marginalising voices through colonial, gendered, and class-based structures.

This conference asks: how can we carry forward the Enlightenment’s commitment to learning and justice, while also confronting and redressing its embedded inequalities? How can information systems today promote not just efficiency and access, but authenticity, trust, equity, and inclusion? As digital infrastructures increasingly shape how we learn, communicate, govern, and remember, the iConference offers a space to explore what it means to be digitally literate and ethically informed. We welcome proposals that interrogate the ethical, social, political, and cultural dimensions of information—from AI and misinformation to decolonisation, community archives, open data, and digital storytelling.

Submit your full and short papers, as well as panel, workshop, and symposia proposals, to contribute to this vital conversation. We also welcome work addressing broader issues relating to information, technology, and people, even beyond this year’s theme. Together, let us shape the discourse around digital authenticity and access—building a future where technology and information serve the goals of collective flourishing, justice, and an inclusive, digitally enlightened society.

Key themes include:

  • Digital literacy, digital fluency, and equitable access to information

  • Authenticity and trust in the age of mis/disinformation and AI

  • Decolonisation of knowledge and the ethics of information use

  • Digital inclusion, accessibility, and universal design

  • Cultural heritage, memory, and storytelling in digital contexts

  • Community informatics, marginalised voices, and participatory design

  • Open science, ethical metadata, and sustainable informatics

  • AI and machine learning in libraries, archives, and education

  • Information governance, digital rights, and platform accountability

  • Digital and social media proxies, algorithms, and attention economies

  • Playable archives, immersive experiences, and digital humanities

  • Environmental sustainability and responsible innovation

  • Indigenous knowledge, migration, and global perspectives on literacy

  • Human understanding, robotics, and the future of digital education

  • Copyright, intellectual property, and information use in the age of AI

iConference 2026
topics may include but are not limited to:

  • AI and Machine Learning

  • Behavioral Research

  • Archives and Information Sustainability

  • Community Informatics

  • Cultural Heritage, Archives & Museum

  • Digital Humanities

  • Digital Information Economy

  • Disinformation & Misinformation

  • Health Informatics

  • Human-AI Collaboration

  • Information & Digital Literacies

  • Information Governance & Ethics

  • Information Science & Data Science

  • Information Retrieval

  • Information Science Education

  • Intellectual Property

  • Bibliometrics & Metadata

  • Libraries & Users

  • Knowledge Management

  • Scholarly Communication

  • Open Access & Open Science

  • Social Media & Digital Networks

2305621.jpg
Button - Registration & Access - Grey.png
Button - Awards - grey.png
Button - Proceedings grey.png
Tracks
Button - Keynote Speakers - Grey.png
Button - Organizers grey.png
Button - Agenda - grey.png
Travel Button.png
Button - Sponsorship grey_edited.jpg

Call for Submissions

Timeline iConference  

iConference Proceedings 2025 will be published Open Access in Information Research

IR_logo_300.jpg
bottom of page