Call for presenters: Digitalisation of Culture and Information in Namibia

The conference seeks to highlight the digitalisation of Namibian culture after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will focus on the numerous digital transformations that have been implemented due to social distancing. Goethe-Institut will award a prize to the best submission.

The conference is intended for digital developments and ideas that have emerged in the last two years to be presented to the general public. Participants can present and explain the processes that have emerged during the virtual conference. Goethe-Institut is also interested in developments that are still in the experimental phase and the difficulties that may come with it.

Presentations can be done in the following formats:

• Live video (webinar or Zoom meeting).
• Pre-recorded video (20 to 60 minutes).
• Accompanying PowerPoint presentation.
• Proposal of live chat with Q&A sessions.
• Live workshop presentation (provided regulations allow).

The participants’ pre-recorded videos and presentations will be streamed and discussed in a live Q&A session afterwards. Participants will also have the opportunity to submit proposals for workshops on the development of digital applications for smart devices, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

Topic areas:

• Digitalisation of music.
• Digitalisation of language.
• Digitalisation of tourism.
• Digitalisation of museums.
• Digital transformation and implications for new ways of working in projects.
• Artificial Intelligence.
• Augmented reality
• Virtual Reality
• Innovative work forms and environments for project work.
• Digital literacy.
• IT infrastructure.
• Digitalisation of art.
• Digitalisation of dance.

 Target groups are:

• Students of universities (from the higher education sector).
• Lecturers of universities (from the higher education sector).
• Start-up initiatives and new economy working in the field of digitalisation.
• Innovative groups from Namibia's civil society.
• Individuals from the computer science, technology, and education sectors.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges in many forms and collectively forced or accelerated the digitisation of many operations due to social distancing,” a statement reads. “Despite the lack of access to Internet and infrastructure such as computers to persons in Namibia, there have indeed been changes in the information and cultural spheres. For instance, language courses at the Goethe-Institut Namibia have been transformed to online, the traditional classroom in the public education system was replaced with a computer or smart device and concerts are now more frequently streamed online. Many changes were unthinkable at first but were implemented before resuming what was before the pandemic.”

Interested participants should print and complete an application form here and submit it via email along with a CV and proposal at digiculture-namibia@goethe.de before 27 September.

The conference guidelines are available here.

View the original call here.