Bringing Equality, Justice, and Access to HCI and UX Agenda in Southeast Asia Region

Southeast Asia that consists of eleven countries, has been proud of its way of life and rich culture and is generally happy to maintain its long comforting tradition. However, the region cannot deny that its diverse population and strategic location have become a center of attention for global players to invest in the region. With the emergence of Industry 4.0, digital transformation has become mandatory for any organizations or nations in Southeast Asia to consider. Through SEACHI (Southeast Asian CHI) Symposium, we aim to grow awareness in HCI and UX to improve the design and development of technology for a living and bring together the Southeast Asian academic researchers and industry practitioners. As HCI is maturing in Asia, we identified the remarkable growth and needs of HCI in the Southeast Asian community. In this symposium, we have several questions that we would like to answer: To what extent the HCI and UX that has been taught and practiced in Southeast Asia met the needs to support the digital transformation initiatives in the region; whether there has been any significant and proper contextualization of the HCI and UX fields; whether HCI and UX are still perceived as a Western mindset instead of a localized approach to make a difference in any projects; whether HCI and UX have become a standard norm in the digital product and design process and how HCI and UX players in Southeast Asia have worked together to create a unique ecosystem. Under the big conference theme "Equity, Justice and Access Commitments, "the symposium aims to bring about equal and fair access for anyone to exchange information and transfer knowledge in this multidisciplinary environment and multi-socioeconomic aspects of research and practice HCI and UX in Southeast Asia.