“Challenges for a data-driven society” is the theme of the ninth Kaleidoscope academic conference to be held in Nanjing, China, 27-29 November 2017. Kaleidoscope 2017 will highlight research into innovative approaches to data management and analysis, encouraging the development of data-driven applications and services of benefit to society.

Advances in data collection, processing and analysis are opening up new frontiers in sustainable development. Technical standards will assist in drawing maximum possible value from our fast-growing wealth of data by preventing the emergence of incompatible data ‘silos’ in different segments of our economies.

Kaleidoscope 2017: Challenges for a data-driven society will investigate the technical, business and policy challenges underlying effective data management and analysis. A call for original academic papers is inviting submissions until 19 June 2017, asking researchers to consider:

• Which technical challenges need to be overcome to encourage data portability, share and aggregate data and enable the interoperability of different data ecosystems?

• What are the legal frameworks required to build a universal, shared and integrated data ecosystem?

• What are the technological advances required to make sense of the immense volume of data available?

• What type of standards are needed for the analysis of data and the interpretation of results?

• Are (telecommunication/ICT) standards bodies in a position to address the challenges associated with data production, dissemination and storage?

• What are the synergies, if any, between industry’s view of data as a source of competitive advantage and the public sector’s view of data as a public good?

• How can end-users receive equitable value in return for generating data?

• How can standards and regulation protect individual users’ data across multiple organizational and geographic boundaries? How can trust be established in the provided level of protection?

All papers selected for presentation at the conference will be published in the Kaleidoscope proceedings, with special recognition afforded to the authors of the three best papers.

A selection of extended Kaleidoscope papers may be published in the International Journal of Technology Marketing, the [International Journal of Standardization Research and the Journal of ICT Standardization(http://www.igi-global.com/journal/international-journal-standardization-research-ijsr/145878).

Kaleidoscope 2017 will be hosted by the Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications. The conference is organized by ITU in partnership with the Chair of Communication and Distributed Systems at RWTH Aachen University; European Academy for Standardization; Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers of Japan; Institute of Image Electronics Engineers of Japan; Royal Holloway University of London; UNESCO Chair in ICT for Development; University of the Basque Country; and Waseda University.