The 7th workshop on the Digitization of the Individual - “Becoming Data: The digitized Individual” - will be held in Nashville, USA, in conjunction with ICIS 2025 and is scheduled for December 14 2025, 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM. To promote further impactful research on individuals, strong emphasis during the workshop will be given to paper development discussions, among others, facilitated by discussants providing direct feedback. Workshop participants will be charged a registration fee that will include coffee breaks and a meal (details will be announced as the conference program is finalized).
This year's workshop includes an expert panel on "Multi Agent, no human: Does only our data matter?".
Workshop description
The digitization of the individual continues to accelerate, driven not only by artificial intelligence but increasingly by interconnected multi-agent systems and pervasive data demanding infrastructures. These systems operate across domains from healthcare and finance to social media and governance, as some examples, and move towards minimal or no human oversight. As individuals become increasingly represented through their personal data, questions arise about where agency resides, how accountability is assigned, and what it means to be human in an ecosystem dominated by digital agents.
The delegation of tasks to autonomous agents and algorithmic infrastructures promises efficiency, personalization, and predictive power. Yet it also raises concerns about the erasure of human judgment, the fragmentation of human identity, and the displacement of human agency in datafied environments. The “multi-agent, no human” condition provokes critical reflection on whether humans meaningfully remain “in the loop” or are gradually reduced to data points within broader computational processes.
This workshop focuses on the evolving relationship between individuals, data, and multi-agent systems. It seeks to consolidate diverse perspectives on how digitization reshapes personal experiences, societal roles, and concepts of autonomy. We invite researchers across disciplines, including information systems, to explore the opportunities, risks, and ethical challenges of life in a datafied world
The 7th DOTI workshop on “Becoming Data: The digitized Individual” will promote impactful research on individuals, strong emphasis during the workshop will be given to paper development and discussions facilitated by discussants providing direct feedback. As part of the workshop, an expert panel will provide thought-provoking discussions on important aspects of the datafied individual. Workshop participants will be charged a registration fee that will include coffee breaks and a meal (details will be announced as the conference program is finalized).
Possible topics of submissions include, but are not limited to:
- Opportunities and consequences of datafication for the individual identity, agency, and autonomy, such as:
- Impacts of data-driven personalization on decision-making and autonomy
- Algorithmic classification and profiling: shaping individual identity and social belonging
- Interactions with data-driven platforms and their influence on daily routines
- The influence of “data doubles”, deepfakes and synthetic personas on digital self-representation and identity
- Quantified Self 2.0: expanding from fitness trackers to comprehensive biometric, emotional, and cognitive data capture
- Multi-agent systems and the displacement of the individual, such as:
- Human-in-the-loop vs. out-of-the-loop: shifting roles in multi-agent environments
- Delegating agency to autonomous agents: opportunities and risks for the individual
- Life through proxies: when systems interact with the individual’s data, not the person
- The reconfiguration of trust and responsibility in multi-agent, data-driven systems
- Data autonomy: when agents not only interpret but also generate and negotiate data on behalf of individuals
- Multi-agent ecosystems and interoperability
- Ethical, moral, and social challenges of the datafied individual, such as:
- Bias, fairness, and discrimination in data-driven profiling
- Navigating trust and dependency in automated and data-driven interactions
- The opacity of algorithmic infrastructures and their implications for personal freedom
- The morality of human displacements in human-related decisions
- Responsibility in the “multi-agent, no human” scenario: Who is accountable when errors or harm occur?
Submission, review and acceptance process
Manuscripts should be submitted as email attachments to the workshop co-chairs at (doti@is-research.com) with the subject heading "DOTI workshop submission".
The deadline for submission is 17th 30th of October 2025. Authors will be notified of acceptance/rejection decisions by 30th of October 9th of November 2025. As a paper development workshop there will be no formal proceedings; accepted papers will be made available to other attendees for the period of the workshop and a printed abstract will be included as part of the workshop materials.
Submission format
There are two types of submissions: full papers and research-in-progress (RIP) papers. The length of full papers and research-in-progress papers is limited to 7,000 words and 4,500 words, respectively (excluding references). The format of the submission is a Word or PDF document that includes a title, author names and affiliations, and 3-5 keywords. The submission should follow the ICIS formatting guidelines.
All submissions to DOTI must represent original work that has not already been published in a journal or conference proceedings. If the work has been presented at another conference or is currently under consideration for publication or presentation elsewhere, the authors must disclose this fact. At least one author for every accepted paper must register for the workshop and be prepared to present their ideas in person (both full and RIP papers will be presented). Due to the strong emphasis of the workshop on paper development, the workshop schedule ensures room for detailed discussions and each presentation will be accompanied by a discussant providing direct feedback to the individual work.
We look forward to welcoming you in Nashville,
The Workshop Chairs
 |
Hong Kong Baptist University, |
|
Copenhagen Business School, Denmark |
|
University of Bern, |
 |
University of Potsdam,Germany |
 |
Colorado State University, USA |
||
|
|
University of Melbourne, Australia |
 |
University of Göttingen, Germany |
|
