The digital has permeated various academic fields as a result of its increasing significance. Geography has played an important role in understanding the impacts of these new technological developments, namely in how they are shaping territories and changing social, economic and political processes. However, we are currently facing new challenges due to the constant technological advancements. On the one hand, we are faced with the accumulation of social, economic and political issues related to the right to the smart cities and governance, the platform economy and the inequalities it generates, and the digitalisation of everyday life and work. On the other hand, the rapid spread of technologies powered by artificial intelligence (AI) is generating a need to create a new wave of critical thinking about this topic. AI is not only a new tool; it is more than that. AI is now embedded in cities and individuals' lives in ways that we still do not fully understand. The discussion about the impacts of this use of AI is urgent, not only because AI is replacing conventional jobs or generating new ethical issues, but also because the environmental impact over our planet and environmental resources is still unknown.

​

Thus, this conference aims to create a new wave of critical thinking with a twofold purpose: 1) to explore in greater depth the ongoing debates about the digital and space; and 2) to open the black box to discuss what we still do not know about the spaces of the digital.

 

We invite both conceptual and empirical papers that consider contributing for a new wave of critical perspectives about the role of the digital technologies and their effects on space, including, but not limited to:

​

• Artificial intelligence;

• Digital geohumanities;

• Digital inequalities and cyberdivisions (gender, ethnic, class, spatial);

• Digital transition;

• Financial technologies (FinTech);

• Gig economy and work (labour precarity; algorithmic management, intermediation, micro-tasking and deskilling processes);

• Innovative digital methodologies (biosensing; participatory platforms; qualitative GIS);

• Platform economy, open innovation, ecosystems and value cocreation;

• Platforms and consumer experience (e-commerce, delivery);

• Platforms, automation and infrastructure;

• Privacy, surveillance, and data sovereignty;

• Smart city, policies, governance, and online participation in planning processes;

• Theoretical and/or epistemological discussions about digital geographies (challenges, opportunities, reflections).

​

All contributions should be sent in English.

​

​We look forward to receiving your abstracts and session proposals. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions (digitalgeographies@gmail.com, danielaferreira2@edu.ulisboa.pt and mario.vale@edu.ulisboa.pt)