iConference 2026 concluded successfully

iConference 2026, the 21st iConference in the annual series, concluded successfully on 02 April 2026. Hosted by the Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, UK the virtual program took place 23-26 March 2026 and the on-site program in Edinburgh took place 29 March-02 April 2026.

This year's iConference attracted more than 500 participants worldwide. About one-third of the participants attended only virtually, while about two-thirds also attended the in-person portion of the event in Edinburgh, UK.

Out of over 671 submissions in total, 25% of all submitted Full Research Papers, 42% of all submitted Short Research Papers, 64% of all submitted Research Posters, 31% of all submitted Chinese Research Papers, 50% of all submitted Spanish/Portuguese Research Papers and 72% of all submitted Workshop and Panel proposals were accepted, concluding in 75 virtual academic sessions and 87 onsite academic sessions.

The organizers would like to congratulate the iConference 2026 Award winners, who have been announced at the iConference 2026 Opening Keynote, 23 March 2026:

Best Full Research Paper Award (1.000 USD)

(ID 157) Voices from the River: Exploring Digitally Inclusive Tools with Marginalised Fishing Communities in Bangladesh by Md Khalid Hossain, Gillian Christina Oliver, Misita Anwar, Tanjila Kanij, Manika Saha

Best Short Research Paper Award (500 USD)

(ID 118) Engineering Oral Stories: A Conceptual Model of Traditions as Water by Andrew Wiebe

Best Chinese Research Paper Award (1.000 USD)

(ID 817) 智慧医疗场景中老年人健康信息的隐私风险识别及应对研究/Identifying and Mitigating Privacy Risks to Older Adults’ Health Information in Smart Healthcare Settings by ​Shanman Li, Leye Yao, Xin Jiang

Best Poster Award (300 USD)

(ID 486) Privacy Concerns and ChatGPT: Exploring Online Discourse through the Lens of Information Practice on Reddit by S M Mehedi Zaman, Saubhagya Joshi, Yiyi Wu

All awards finalists

Authors from 40 countries submitted their work. More than 540 reviewers from 41 countries evaluated these submission. Track Chairs of 13 nationalities in all iSchools regions were involved on the program consisting of paper and poster presentations, workshops, student symposia, doctoral and early career colloquia. The iConference organizers and the iSchools organization would like to thank all track chairs, reviewers, moderators, presenters and volunteers for their invaluable contribution to the great success of iConference 2026.

According to the regional rotation, next year's iConference will take place in the Asia-Pacific region. We are proud to announce that iConference 2027 will be jointly hosted by Victoria University of Wellington and Monash University. The virtual program will take place 22-25 March 2027 and the on-site part of the conference will take place at the Victoria University of Wellington's campus in Wellington, New Zealand from 5-9 April 2027. The call for papers will be announced soon. (Follow #iconf27 on Social Media for updates.)

Learn more about iConference 2027