Over 160 authors from 20 countries delivered presentations across three conferences at the International Forum on Data, Information and Knowledge for Sustainable and Ethical Societies 2025 (IFDIK 2025). The event, hosted by the UP Diliman (UPD) School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) in partnership with the UP University Library and the UP Intelligent Systems Center, gathered nearly 300 participants at the UP Bonifacio Global City.
The IFDIK 2025 served as the umbrella conference of the 27th International Conference on Asia-Pacific Digital Libraries (ICADL 2025); the 12th Asia-Pacific Conference on Library Information Education and Practice (A-LIEP 2025); and the Asia-Pacific iConference 2025, the annual meeting of Asia-Pacific chapter of iSchools (AP iSchools).
Keynote speakers included Geoffrey C. Bowker, PhD, professor emeritus of Informatics at the University of California, Irvine; Emily Drabinski, associate professor and chair of the School of Information Studies at Queens College, City University of New York; and Fidel Nemenzo, PhD, professor of mathematics at the UPD College of Science.
According to SLIS Dean and IFDIK 2025 chair Rhea Rowena U. Apolinario, organizing three co-located conferences, with individual sets of peer reviewers and protocols, became possible with the collective support of the SLIS community.
“Ang nakatutuwa nga ang dami, like iyong mga alumni namin, even students, they’re all willing to help, they’re very excited. Aside from faculty and staff may alumni kami na working committee [na] nag-apply din sila for a paper [presentation],” she said.
Apolinario hopes that IFDIK 2025 and other future academic fora will broaden the horizons of the SLIS faculty and students and lead to improvements in both the SLIS and society in general.
“[We envision] improvements in the library and information studies programs and curricula, like how we envision ethical and sustainable societies with the use of information and data and knowledge; partnerships in the future, collaboration with other schools; and research opportunities, and faculty exchange [and] student exchange opportunities,” she said.
The IFDIK 2025 last Dec. 3 also featured performances from the Padayon Rondalla and the Kontemporaryong Gamelan Pilipino.