2nd INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

AFRICA–SPAIN DIGITAL DIALOGUES

Social Sciences and Digital Humanities

This activity is 85% co-financed by ERDF funds under the AfricanTech project (1/MAC/1/1.3/0088) within the INTERREG VI D MAC 2021-2027 initiative.

The Intercontinental Alliance for Urban Studies (AIEU) and the research group AFRICAInEs: Research and Studies Applied to Development (SEJ-491) at the University of Granada organized the first hybrid international conference featuring online panels in Granada (Spain) in 2024, providing a forum for debate on digitization and cooperation in Sub-Saharan Africa from the fields of the Social Sciences and Humanities. This event was held under the name Digital Diverse 2024.

Casa África joined the conference with the symposium Dissemination of Knowledge and Digital Entrepreneurship, which was also the 15th edition of the Meeting on Digital Society and Library and Information Science that Casa África has been holding since 2008.

The theme of the first international edition of the conference was: “Social Sciences and Digital Humanities: Cooperation, Cultures, Societies, and African Digitization Processes South of the Sahara,” with the aim of contributing to cooperation with Africa in terms of respect for the cultures, knowledge, and decisions of African peoples.

This second edition, which will take place on May 7 and 8, 2026, will consolidate the conference as an academic and professional meeting place for researchers, professionals, and social actors. Under the title Digital Dialogues, it retains the same theme as the first edition: Social Sciences and Digital Humanities. However, this edition places a stronger focus on digital transformation, the dissemination of knowledge, and connected cultures, with the aim of reflecting on the processes of digital transformation in Africa and Spain from a critical, collaborative, and transdisciplinary perspective.

This second edition of the conference is designed to integrate diverse profiles within the academic, scientific, and business communities, and therefore invites the participation of:

• Independent researchers or those affiliated with universities, think tanks, or research centers
• Entrepreneurs, independent professionals, laboratories and similar entities who carry out quality work outside the traditional institutional sphere.
• Doctoral students, undergraduate and master's students who are conducting research in these areas at any stage of their research.

Attendance may be either in person (at Casa África) or virtual (via Zoom), and in both cases, prior registration is required.

The conference offers several thematic panels that will feature:

In-person presentations: these planned panels will feature between three and five speakers who will discuss the specific topics addressed in each one. These are discussion panels where the participants present their papers in a coordinated manner, promoting more in-depth debates and interdisciplinary approaches.

Virtual presentations: Accepted papers will be presented in video format and will be available, associated with each thematic panel, on the website and on Casa África's YouTube channel.

Keynote speeches: The opening and closing sessions will feature a keynote speech related to the themes of the conference.

Those interested in submitting a paper for consideration as a possible virtual presentation should send the following information to info@casafrica.es:

• Full name
• Institutional/professional affiliation
• Content of the proposal:
  • A clear title that is representative of the content
  • The selected theme according to the panel in which it fits:
    • Digitization of African archives in Africa and Spain
    • Conflicts in the age of disinformation
    • African women and the diaspora facing digital challenges and violence
    • Digitization, gender, and community savings: challenges and lessons learned from cooperation in West Africa
    • Digital activism (minorities, racism, empowerment)
    • Digital entrepreneurship, business, and commerce
    • Digital financial strategies
    • Digitization and libraries in the Arab world
    • Libraries in transformation

  • An abstract of no more than 400 words describing the objectives, methodology, main findings or arguments, and relevance of the research to the conference.

  • Abstracts must be no longer than 400 words and may be submitted in Spanish, English, French, or Portuguese.

  • They must include: introduction, objectives, methodology, discussion, results, and conclusions.

  • They must not include bibliography, acknowledgements, or sponsors.

  • Each paper may have a maximum of 4 authors, who must be duly registered for the conference.

  • Each author may participate in a maximum of 3 papers, and each paper may have a maximum of 4 authors.

  • All accepted abstracts will be published on the website associated with the corresponding tables, indicating that they are virtual communications.

     

All proposals will be reviewed by the conference organizers. Acceptance will be formally communicated by email before April 1, 2026.

Key dates

• Deadline for submitting proposals: March 15, 2026.
• Conference dates: May 7 and 8, 2026.