Panels

The AfriCHI’25 Panels are an interactive, discussion-oriented forum involving active participation from the audience. Authors and organizers are strongly encouraged to propose topics that advance Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) grounded in African contexts or perspectives. Given that the AfriCHI 2025 theme is “Re-centering African Wisdom in HCI”, authors of Panels should consider how their topic applies to African societies, places, events, processes, phenomena, languages, experiences, meanings, values, livelihoods, and aesthetics. To foster a rich and inclusive scholarly community, topics should be of broad interest to the AfriCHI community. 

Unlike paper sessions consisting of a series of short talks, interactive sessions in Panels should engage both the panelists and the audience in creative and meaningful ways - inspired by African narrative structures and exploring indigenous African knowledge and ways of doing things. Panels do not need to contain original research nor present a system or service. Authors are encouraged to review African scholarship and local knowledge and consider citational justice best practices. 

Example Topics

Panel contributions to HCI theory, design, methods, and practices that showcase Africa’s unique advances, potential, and approaches to challenges are welcome. Relevant topics include but are not limited to:

• Human-centered AI and its application in Africa
• Emerging Technologies and their Applications in African HCI
• HCI and Sustainable Development Goals in Africa
• African Theories, philosophies, and values and their applications in technology design.
• Ethics and Protocols of Designing with African Communities
• Cultural variations in interaction design and technologies
• Digital transformation and citizenship in Africa
• HCI Processes and African Contexts and Users
• Human-centered sustainable and smart environments in Africa
• Accessible, inclusive, and equitable design for African users
• Cybersecurity and Privacy for African users in HCI
• HCI education in Africa

Submission:

The AfriCHI 2025 Panel proposals should be no longer 2500 words in (excluding references), with a title and a 250-word abstract inclusive. Panels exceeding this length may be desk-rejected if the length does not match the contribution. All submissions must use the official conference template and should include:

• The panel topic
• The names and affiliations of 1-3 organizers/moderators and up to 3 additional panelists.
• The proposed structure and format of the panel, including how you intend to encourage interaction with the audience.
• A summary of the main topic(s) to be presented, debated, and discussed any lessons or experiences you hope to convey in the session, and contrasting or controversial perspectives on the topic(s).
• A position statement by each panelist.

Submissions should not contain sensitive, private, or proprietary information that cannot be disclosed at publication time. Submissions should NOT be anonymous. However, submissions will be kept confidential during the review process. All rejected submissions will be kept confidential. All submitted materials for accepted submissions will be kept confidential until the start of the conference, except for title and author information which will be published on the website before the conference.

Selection Process

All Panel proposals submitted to the AfriCHI 2025 open call will be chair-reviewed. The chairs will determine which panels are accepted based on the review criteria below and may decide to bring in outside experts for further review. There is no mechanism for author response in the panel review process, and decisions are final. In some special cases, the panel chairs may request changes to the panel proposal as a condition of its acceptance (“conditional accept”). Authors of accepted panels will receive instructions on preparing and submitting the publication-ready source files for their panel. These will be due on the publication-ready deadline.

Review Criteria

The AfriCHI 2025 Panels present ideas that are originally African, controversial, or engaging, and that inspire the audience to respond and further elaborate. The chairs aim to select panels that address this year’s conference theme “Re-centering African Wisdom in HCI” and appeal to the wider AfriCHI community. The review criteria will consider the extent to which the session includes:

• One or more topics are likely to evoke a lively response from the AfriCHI attendees.

• Invited panelists who will contribute unique perspectives, content, or other interactive content to the session.

• A well-organized and feasible session plan.

• A novel and creative session plan that emphasizes audience interaction.

• Useful and interesting contributions to HCI research and design in Africa.

• Appropriate levels of diversity in panelist selection (most importantly diversity of ideas and areas of expertise, but also characteristics like experience, geographic location, nationality, native language, ethnicity, gender, age, etc.).

• Likely to draw a large audience.

Publication

Upon acceptance, a camera-ready submission must be uploaded to the conference submission system following the ACM camera-ready standards. Panels will be included in the conference program, and a dedicated session will be held in parallel with other sessions. Panel organizers are strongly advised to meet with their invited panelists before their session to ensure a coordinated effort.

Important Dates

• Submission deadline:  5 April 2025
• Notification: 26 May 2025
• Camera-ready deadline: 15 July 2025

Panel Chairs

Shilumbe Chivuno-Kuria and Tbcs

contact: panels@africhi2025.org

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