This year the ACM FAccT conference will take place online March 3-10, 2021.

While we would prefer to gather in person, the evolving COVID-19 pandemic leaves everyone uncertain as to when normal travel and large in-person gatherings will again be possible.

Originally, FAccT 2021 was slated to take place in Toronto, Canada. As the conference dates approach, we will investigate opportunities for in-person participation in Toronto or at satellite sites. Any in-person event will be contingent upon ensuring participant and worker safety.

At the same time, we are planning for a fully online conference program. We see this as an exciting opportunity to investigate ways of innovating paper presentation and workshop formats that foster a diversity of participation and modes of engagement. Moving online provides an additional way to lower barriers to conference participation and prioritize racial equity, diversity, inclusion, and climate justice.

We are planning for paper submission and review timelines slightly later than prior years (e.g., late September to mid December). Conference dates and the call for papers are currently being finalized and will be published in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to our mailing lists and social media for future announcements.

FAccT is committed to advancing innovative research on the socio-technical conditions and implications of computational systems. Our research community is multidisciplinary in its make-up and orientation. As your general chairs, we and the team working with us on organizing this year’s conference welcome your contributions and insights.

If you have thoughts for us about this year’s conference, and/or if you want to volunteer to help us organize the conference, please fill out this form or be in touch by emailing us at general-chairs@facctconference.org.

We look forward to seeing everyone (virtually) next year,

William, Madeleine + Rich


William Isaac
Senior Research Scientist
DeepMind

Madeleine Clare Elish
Program Director
Data & Society Research Institute

Richard Zemel
Co-Founder and Research Director, Vector Institute
Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto