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CfP - Human Work Interaction Design 2026 (HWID 2026)
Harmonisation of human and machine intelligence in the 5th Industrial Revolution (5IR) Workplace

June 17-18, 2026
University of West London, St. Mary’s Road, London (United Kingdom)

https:/wg6.ifip-tc13.org/human-work-interaction-design-2026-hwid-2026

8th Working Conference of the IFIP WG 13.6 Human Work Interaction Design

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Technologies in work settings are increasingly underpinned by Artificial Intelligence (AI). This means that applications and platforms such as those in the Metaverse, Digital Twin (DT) systems, and Industry 4.0 and 5.0 are becoming increasingly autonomous and intelligent. While these developments promise efficiency and innovation, they also present risks of over-reliance on technology and a potential abdication of human agency in the workplace. Such reliance may lead workers to underestimate their own cognitive and creative capabilities and to privilege machine intelligence over human skills. Rather than automating tasks and relegating workers to supervisory or backup roles, augmentation seeks to enable meaningful cooperation between humans and machines. Although this concept has been well studied in terms of efficacy and efficiency, further efforts in Human Work Interaction Design (HWID) research are required to support well-being, trust, and transparency; to ensure human autonomy and governance within human–machine teams; and to respect human values.
Industry 5.0 builds on the technological foundations of Industry 4.0 by shifting the focus from productivity and efficiency toward human well-being and sustainability. In this context, the harmonisation of human and machine intelligence requires the ability to measure, analyse, and apply affective and contextual data about workers and workplace environments in order to design, integrate, and optimise work experiences. This conference, therefore, calls for inclusive and interdisciplinary approaches to unpacking Industry 5.0 and re-conceptualising work augmentation in AI-driven environments. We particularly encourage the integration of perspectives from the social sciences, arts, design, and humanities into the design and governance of intelligent work systems.

This call seeks contributions that explore the augmentation of human cognition in line with human values through research of new frameworks, models, approaches, and case studies for Industry 5.0. The Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) focuses on harmonising human ability and well-being, while simultaneously ensuring human beings can make effective use of 5IR technologies in the workplace.

This edition of the HWID working conference aims to attract submissions from professionals in academia, national labs, and industry, as well as from students. The event will provide a platform to discuss tools, procedures, and professional competencies essential for harmonizing human and machine intelligence, central to Industry 5.0.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

HWID2026 is a two-day working conference that focuses on discussion and exchange of ideas. During this edition, HWID2026 is pleased to welcome Professor Karen Cham, Director of the Behavioural Research Analytics in Neurotechnological Systems (BRAINS) Lab at Kingston University, expert in Augmented Intelligence, Digital Transformation & Design, as a keynote speaker.

TOPICS

- Human-centred UI design with and of 5IR technologies in the workplace
- Human-AI interaction and collaboration
- Sociotechnical Theory and Methods for 5IR
- Collaborative systems design for Industry 5.0
- Human Digital Twins in the future of work
- Behavioral analytics and data modelling
- Safety and well-being of workers in the workplace (e.g., trust and training)
- Ethics, policy, and law in 5IR
- Case studies and implications of 5IR technologies (e.g., discretionary effort, job satisfaction)
- Education and coaching to afford harmonisation of human and 5IR technologies in the workplace
- Human and social sciences, creative arts, and design
- Digital readiness for Industry 5.0 technologies in workplaces.
- Design for occupational well-being in the 5IR

IMPORTANT DATES

Submission deadline: February 8
Notification to authors: March 6
Camera ready: March 27
Conference: June 17-18, 2026


SUBMISSIONS

We invite authors to submit full papers (minimum 6 pages, maximum 12 pages, excluding references) formatted according to the LNCS template available on the Springer website: https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-guidelines

The link to the submission system: https://meteor.springer.com/HWID2026

Each paper will be reviewed by three reviewers (single-blind). The collection of all accepted papers will be distributed to participants as digital proceedings prior to the conference. During the review process, reviewers will be asked to evaluate whether an extended version of the paper is suitable for an IFIP Springer book (IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology), which will be edited after the conference.


ORGANIZERS

General Chairs:
- Jose Abdelnour-Nocera (University of West London, UK)
- Judith Molka-Danielsen (Molde University College, Norway)

Program Chairs:
- Barbara Rita Barricelli (University of Brescia, Italy)
- Elodie Bouzekri (Université de Brest, France)

Paper Chairs:
- Ali Gheitasy (University of West London, UK)
- Parisa Sadaati (University of West London, UK)