The conference is the tenth in a series of international events devoted to the latest research in Organisational Semiotics. This year it is being held at Sheffield Hallam University, which is situated in the county of Yorkshire in the north of England. The main theme on this occasion is: Complexity in Organisational and Technological Systems.

The technical and social programme of ICOS 2007 will occupy the whole of Tuesday-Thursday 24-26 July, including the conference excursion to and banquet at Chatsworth House on the Wednesday afternoon and evening.

Bonus!

On this occasion the International Conference on Organisational Semiotics is being held at the same time and place as the 15th International Conference on Conceptual Structures, ICCS 2007, and it is planned that some keynote lectures will be shared by both conferences.

The 15th International Conference on Conceptual Structures will include workshops and an Industry Day .  These will take place on Sunday and Monday 22-23 July.  Participants in the International Conference on Organisational Semiotics may attend the Workshops and Industry Day if they wish.  This is included in the ICOS 2007 fee, and there is no need to register separately.

In addition, ICOS 2007 delegates are welcome to attend any of the co-located ICCS 2007 conference presentations, again at no extra cost (subject to one proviso; see the section on BCS Members below).  As the ICCS 2007 conference runs from Tuesday 24 July to Friday 27 July, ICOS 2007 delegates have an extra day’s conference activity available on the Friday, if they wish.

Delegates who attend on Sunday, Monday and/or Friday will, of course, incur additional costs in relation to accommodation and living expenses.

Connections with Computing and Information Systems

 Delegates with an interest in Computing and Information Systems are always welcome at ICOS conferences.

The application of Semiotics to Computing is treated in detail in Peter Andersen’s book A Theory of Computer Semiotics (Cambridge University Press, 1997), while a semiotically based approach to Information Systems, incorporating some key concepts from the work of Ronald Stamper, is found in Kecheng Liu’s book Semiotics in Information Systems Engineering (Cambridge University Press, 2000).  This approach has much to offer to those concerned with areas such as domain analysis, requirements specification and system design, and gives prominence to the relationship between humans and the technology that they use, within both formal and informal organisations. 

Furthermore, Semiotics is an important consideration in the study of Human-Computer Interaction, and Clarissa S. de Souza’s recent book The Semiotic Engineering of Human-Computer Interaction (MIT Press, 2005) represents an important advance in this area.  In addition, there are, of course, shared interests between the OS and Conceptual Structures communities, hence the co-location of the two conferences this year.

Thus, there is much to attract professionals with an interest in Computing and Information Systems to the work of the Semiotics community.

BCS Members

In the light of this, we are happy to announce that a discount on the ICOS 2007 conference fee is offered to BCS (British Computer Society) members (other than student members, since students already enjoy a substantial discount).  BCS members who avail themselves of the discount may attend the whole of the technical and social programme of ICOS 2007, as well as the workshops and the Industry Day.  However, the discounted fee does not cover entry to the ICCS main conference presentations, and therefore excludes any events on the Friday.

Conference Fees

For details, please click on the ‘Registration’ link on the left.  Lunch is included on all six days.