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EGOV2025 – IFIP EGOV-CeDEM-EPART 2025 & our Emerging Issues and Innovations Track

Anastasija Nikiforova Leave a comment

Are you focusing on new topics emerging in the field of ICT and public sector, incl. public-private ecosystems? Then it is time to start preparing your submission for EGOV2025 – IFIP EGOV-CeDEM-EPART Emerging Issues and Innovations Track, which this time we chair in the updated form, welcoming A. Paula Rodriguez Müller on the board with us – Francesco Mureddu (The Lisbon Council, Belgium)and myself – Anastasija Nikiforova (Tartu University, Estonia)).

EGOV2025 – IFIP EGOV-CeDEM-EPART is one of the most recognized conference in e-Government, ICT and public administration and related topics, which this year will be hosted in Belgium, in the heart of Europe, by University for Continuing Education Krems, Austria. This year, IFIP EGOV 2025 is dedicated to the broader areas of e-Government and e-Democracy, which include facets like Digital Government, e-Participation, Open Government,  Smart Government, AI government, GovTech, Algoritmic Governance, and related topics to digitalization and government.

Innovation and application of emerging technologies are now more and more in the thinking of governments at all levels. While it would be easy to consider the public sector as being less flexible or slow in adoption, presentations at recent EGOV conferences proved that one should not come to such a conclusion too easily. Upcoming technologies, innovative organizational solutions, or new avenues of public sector involvement in the public sector are becoming more commonplace along with the potential challenges and issues these bring. Policymakers and public sector officials are now expected to embrace change, consider digital transformation, or improve governance practices. At the same time, public sector researchers are also influenced by new views, methods, tools, and techniques. The goal of this track is to provide a platform for the discussion of new ideas, issues, problems, and solutions entering the public sphere. Ideas that are emerging but might not fit other conference tracks are also welcome. Focus may include, but are not limited to:

  • Looking ahead into social innovation;
  • Future studies, the future of government, policy-making and democracy;
  • The future of digital governance;
  • Public values in transforming the government;
  • The role of government in smart cities (incl. smart sustainable cities) and sustainable living;
  • The role of the public sector in Human-Centered Society (Society 5.0);
  • New trends in public sector research such as Metaverse, Cityverse, Large Language Models (LLMs), generative AI and its implementations such as chatGPT, Claude, ChatSonic, Poe – benefits, risks, adoption and resistance to its adoption by the public sector and citizens;
  • Government in the Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0;
  • Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), smart contracts and blockchain;
  • New technologies for automated decision-making and their policy implications;
  • Public sector use and regulation of AI, genAI, Industry 4.0, Industry 5.0, and the Internet of Things (IoT);
  • Digital Humanism (responsible and ethical integration of technology into society, ensuring that human values and dignity are prioritized in the development and use of digital tools and innovations);
  • The role of the public sector in competitiveness and tech sovereignty;
  • Global challenges that go beyond nation states (such as migration, climate change etc.) and which require international collaboration of individual governments;
  • Preparing for the policy challenges of future technologies;
  • Regulating misinformation;
  • Digital transformation in public sector contexts;
  • Self-Service Structures for Inclusion;
  • Public-private sector collaboration and integration;
  • GovTech initiatives and innovations;
  • Latest trends in co-creation and service delivery;
  • Online public community building;
  • Upcoming issues of eVoting / internet voting including application of digital signatures in the public sector;
  • Discussion of new research methods that have not been applied in this context;
  • Application of role theory in the analysis of public sector functions and processes;
  • Forward looking insights from case studies – let it be successful or failed experiments.
  • Utilization of digital billboards;
  • Public sector use and regulation of Fintech innovations;
  • Theoretical and practical approaches to experimentation and sandboxing in the public sector.Future studies, the future of government, policy-making and democracy

Stay tuned, more info to come!

Wrapping up 2024!🍾🥂🎇

Anastasija Nikiforova Leave a comment

It is already a good tradition at the end of the year to take a moment and wrap up the year, thus reminding myself of what was actually done, thus explaining to myself that maybe I am not as lazy as I think. However, in this post I would like to rather thank those colleagues who were with me in this. As such, let me very briefly summarize what happened (or rather with whom) and what to come in the first months of next year with the later to be spotlighted by me early next year accordingly.

This year I had the opportunity to share my experience, but more importantly, learn from others by participating in panels or plenary sessions, some of which stood out as generating some of the liveliest discussions during and after the events:

  • “Citizen urban data and smart metropolis monitoring” together with Jaewon Peter Chun (President of World Smart Cities Forum), Redouane El Haloui (President of APEBI Fédération des technologies d’information de télécommunication et de l’offshoring), Mahdi Barouni (The World Bank), Khouloud Abejja (Digital Transformation Director, Agence de Développement du Digital-ADD), Youssef El Maddarsi (CEO Naoris Consulting) that held as part of a Casablanca Smart City event (read a bit more here);
  • panel on Trust in AI together with Nicolas Cruz B., Korbinian Bösl, and Anamika Chatterjee as part of the Digital Life Norway conference oganized by Centre for Digital Life Norway (Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)), with my big thanks to Elisabeth Hyldbakk, Ingrid Shields, Kam Sripada, and many more colleagues for hospitality;
  • “Sociotechnical Transformation in the Decade of Healthy Ageing to empower the Silver Economy: Bridging the Silver Divide through Social and Digital Inclusion” with Hsien-Lee Tseng, Chin-Chien Jao, Azmat Butt, Dirk Draheim, Li-chuan Liu as part of 25th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research (dg.o 2024) (read a bit more here)

To continue on discussions around research that I truly enjoyed, several conferences or tracks to which I served as one of organizers to be highlighted with credits to go to my colleagues, namely:

Selected papers from DGO2024 and EGOV2024 were invited to the “Towards sustainable public and open data ecosystems” Special Section with Information Polity, which we successfully a few weeks ago with the very last preparations before we can announce its final version – big thanks to both co-editors – Anthony, Pedro, and Anneke, as well as Albert Meijer, Kim Willems, William Webster, who supported us in the process, and the authors – Mohsan Ali, Georgios Papageorgiou, Abdul Aziz, Euripidis Loukis, Yannis Charalabidis, Charalampos Alexopoulos, and Francisco Javier López Pellicer, Alejandra Vargas, Rikke Magnussen, Birger Larsen, and Ingrid Mulder and Hsien-Lee Tseng. Stay tuned for the information about this Section!

Together with Jérôme Chenal, Stéphane C. K. Tekouabou and El Arbi Allaoui Abdellaoui we almost finalized our “Emerging Data- and Policy-driven Approaches for African Cities Challenges” Special Issue with Cambridge Press Data & Policy journal – again, stay tuned!

While the two above are those we are ready with, there is another very special issue we have together with Asif Gill, Ina Sebastian, Martin Lněnička and Anushri Gupta and tremendous assistance of Katina Michael – Special Issue “Trustworthy Data Ecosystems for Digital Societies” with IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society (read a bit more here) and we look forward your submission by 30 June 2025 very much!

And of course, several conferences where I shared my own research, gathering feedback and inspiration for future research, with brightest moments coming from The 25th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research (DGO2024) (read a bit more here), and big thanks to my personal host Hsien-Lee Tseng, EGOV2024 and my special hosts Cesar Casiano Flores & Caterina Santoro, 27th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI 2024) (read a bit more here), International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS2024) (a bit more here), and several more, where I was fortunate this year to not only present my own research but also introduce my students to the community. Some of these conference papers have already expanded into journal papers, with some exciting news to share early next year!

I am also very grateful to my colleagues for their invitations to join the International Journal of Information Management (IJIM, Elsevier) and Government Information Quarterly (GIQ) Editorial Boards, Communication Committee at Digital Government Society (and one of its Chapter on which I will post later, similar to several other recent updates), and European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) FAIR Metrics and Digital Objects task force, which is rather continuation of the TF I participated in the past (“FAIR Metrics and Data Quality”).

On a slightly different note, similar to previous years, I continued delivering some courses and lectures to other universities, such as:

I am also grateful for several recognitions I have received this year (e.g., being named the best reviewer for a journal, or called to be “the top 2% of scientists“ for the second year in a row (Stanford Elsevier Top Scientists List) and top 0.5% of all scholars worldwide (0.2% in Government specialty) by SholarGPS), but probably the proudest moment for every academic is the success of our students, and as such, I want to especially mention Kevin Kliimask, whose thesis recognized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications of Estonia at the annual Open Data Forum (Avaandmete foorum) as the best thesis of the year 🏆 🥇 🏅 (read a bit more here).

I also want to acknowledge achievements of others – this year I witnessed 3 PhD defenses and would like to congratulate Eric Jackson, Richard Dreiling and Lisa Miasayedava again, especially for such insightful discussions – I know I am quite a tough person to have in the committee (esp. as opponent – sorry Liza and Eric), but you all did a great job and I really enjoyed our discussions!

And I will skip the part about published conference and journal papers, as well as submitted project proposals and those currently in development.  Instead, some disclaimer about what is to come, with some posting at later point:

  • in the very first weeks of January, meet my very good colleagues– Anthony and Nicolas – at HICSS presenting our paper “Artificial Intelligence as a Catalyzer for Open Government Data Ecosystems: A Typological Theory Approach”, which has been already spotlighted several times, including by The Living Library, whose main goal is to identify the “signal in the noise”
  • keep an eye open for several conferences for which together with colleagues of mine we organize (mini-) tracks, with probably the most important for me at the moment:
  • AMCIS mini-track Sustainable Digital and Data Ecosystems – Navigating the Age of AI;
  • DGO2025 – “Sustainable Public and Open Data Ecosystems for Inclusive and Innovative Digital Government” track we continue with Anthony Simonofski, Anneke Zuiderwijk;
  • EGOV2025 – Emerging Issues and Innovations Track – we continue in the updated form welcoming Paula Rodriguez Muller who will be joining me and Francesco Murredu!
  • And for Data for Policy CIC, we will slightly change the role we played the last year, and together with Sarah Giest, Bram Klievnik Iryna Susha, Florin Coman Kund, Leid Zejnilovic Laura, we are very excited to invite you to the Data for Policy CIC 2025 Conference (Leiden University, The Hague, Netherlands 🇳🇱) for which we serve as Regional Conference Committee
  • Finally, do meet me at European Open Data Days 2025 in March to discuss recent (and future) advances in the world of open data with me sharing insights on how Artificial Intelligence can serve as a catalyst for transforming public and open data ecosystems, exploring the various AI roles at data, portal and ecosystem levels driving innovation, enhancing governance, and boosting citizen engagement;
  • and meet me as a keynote for the International Conference on Innovative Approaches and Applications for Sustainable Development (I2ASD) in April with more details to come!

This is rather a very short list of the events and people I wanted to emphasize, and my apologizes if I missed someone (and I definitely missed). All in all, it was a busy and eventful year,  – really grateful for all the opportunities it brought to me and lessons (both positive and negative, rather willing to have positive ones only though) and people I met. I really hope that the next year will be even better. And in this regard, I wish us all a peaceful, joyful and productive year!

Thank 2024 and bye! Welcome 2025! Happy 2025!

45th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS2024)

Anastasija Nikiforova 1 Comment

As the year comes to an end, so does the 45th edition of the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS2024) —a conference filled with presentations, countless chats with old colleagues and friends and meeting new ones, and a tons of emotions coming from a warm Bangkok 🇹🇭

This year the conference held under theme “Digital Platforms for Emerging Societies” aimed at examining the expansive role of information technology in driving economic and societal transformation across the globe. Over 1.7K participants from 49 countries attended ICIS2024 this year, incl. Estonia 🇪🇪 – the only country of the Baltics – represented by both TalTech (Tallinn University of Technology) and finally University of Tartu (with me trying to bring the name of Latvia 🇱🇻 as well), in total accounting only three people – Mari-Klara Stein, myself and my PhD student – Dimitris Symeonidis, which is, however, a significant increase compared to previous editions, which is smth we – Mari-Klara and myself – are still not too happy about, as we still remain “rarities,” as I’ve been called several times, and will try to change that 👩‍🔬

The conference started for me with pre-ICIS Symposium SIGDSA (Special Interest Group on Decision Support and Analytics), which this year run under the “Emerging AI Platforms for Societal Good” theme, which was an action-packed day featuring a keynote by Apirak Kosayodhin (Former Governor of Bangkok), followed by a panel on the role of AI across society, business & academia, with Ofir T., discussing whether Artificial Intelligence, and GenAI in particular, is a “friend or foe” reflecting on our evolving attitudes toward it (through the lenses of other phenomenon, incl. dogs & how our attitudes towards them changed over centuries), Borworn Papasratorn addressing challenges of diffusing & adopting AI in Thai Higher Education Institutions, Kriengkrai Boonlert-U-Thai discussing the role of information technology in driving economic & societal transformation, moderated by Ramesh Sharda.

And as a follow-up to this, the paper of my former master student Jan-Erik Kalmus – “Generative AI adoption in higher education: exploring educator resistance in Estonian universities” was presented. In this study, Jan-Erik examined educator resistance to student use of GenAI in higher education focusing on Estonia, known as a “digital nation”, employing a theoretical model informed by the Innovation Resistance Theory (IRT) that we introduced in previous study presented at ECAI (on which I posted earlier).

It was continued with 7 hours of vibrant dialogue on digital government research as part of the pre-ICIS workshop on eGovernment, including:
✅the first ever study results of my 1st year PhD student – Dimitris Symeonidis – presented (“Reimagining Digital Government: a step towards Blockchain-Enabled Public Data Ecosystems”)
✅a concept of what we call Data Satellites introduced by Asif Gill as part of our “Towards a Data Satellite Architecture for Digital Government Ecosystems” study, in which we call for a data observability level missing in the current data ecosystems, thereby providing zero opportunities to get rid off or at least be informed about dark and toxic data (while the concept name might evolve based on community feedback, whereas happy that the concept itself found an acceptance with community, what we hoped for)
✅and 5 more super interesting studies by colleagues exploring digital transformation, AI in public administration (incl. framework to determine when AI is truly needed (i.e., smth close to the idea of automation as a default and the only in business process redesign – just don’t!), AI literacy, GenAI for citizen engagement), smart cities, and a methodological proposal for a soft digital ecosystem methodology for hybrid cities’ problem design
🎙️all of this masterfully moderated by Rony Medaglia – president of the current SIG-eGov, and tons of discussions around every study and the filed in general, incl. the future plans.

Finally, my first-year PhD student introduced himself to the IS community at probably the most prestigious IS conference, with yet another paper presented at the SIG SVC – AIS Special Interest Group for Services Workshop on Synergizing Service Ecosystems – “Integrating Generative AI with Public Data Ecosystems: Enhancing Decision Making and Efficiency in the Service Industry of the Private Sector”.

All in all, with four papers presented at three ICIS workshops & symposium, this was a very rich week, for which – a heartfelt thanks to the organizers!

CFP for AMCIS2025 “Sustainable Digital and Data Ecosystems – Navigating the Age of AI” mini-track

Anastasija Nikiforova 1 Comment

The Association for Information Systems (AIS) organized America’s Conference on Information Systems is coming! This year it will be held in Montreal (Canada), running under the general theme of “Intelligent technologies for a better future” and the revised list of (mini-)tracks, where the special attention I invite you to draw to is a new “Sustainable Digital and Data Ecosystems – Navigating the Age of AI” mini-track (chairs: Anastasija Nikiforova, Daniel Staegemann, George Marakas, Martin Lnenicka).

In an increasingly data-driven world, well-designed and managed digital and data ecosystems are critical to strategic innovation and competitive advantage. With the rise of new data architectures, the shift from centralized to decentralized systems, and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in data management, these ecosystems are becoming more dynamic, interconnected, and complex.

The growing importance of emerging data architectures such as data lakehouses and data meshes coupled with the emerging technologies of AI, blockchain, cloud computing to name a few, requires us to rethink how we manage, govern, and secure data across these ecosystems. Moreover, AI is no longer a mere component but an active agent/actor in these ecosystems, transforming processes such as data governance, data quality management, and security. Simultaneously, there is a pressing need to address how these systems can remain resilient and sustainable in the face of technological disruption and societal challenges, and how interdisciplinary approaches can provide new insights into managing these digital environments.

This mini-track seeks to explore the evolving nature of these ecosystems and their role in fostering sustainable, resilient, and innovative digital environments.

We encourage research from an ecosystem perspective (grounded in systems theory) that takes a holistic view, as well as more focused studies on specific components such as policies, strategies, interfaces, methodologies, or technologies. Special attention will be paid to the ongoing evolution of these ecosystems, especially their capacity to remain trustworthy, sustainable, and resilient over time.

Potential topics include but are not limited to:

  • data management and governance in emerging data architectures (data lakehouse, data mesh, etc.), including data governance, data quality management, and security;
  • the role of AI in data management, including AI-augmented governance, data quality management, and security;
  • AI-driven resilience and sustainability in digital and data ecosystems, incl. AI-augmentation of data lifecycle- and business- processes;
  • conceptualization and evolution of digital and data ecosystem components and their interrelationships;
  • emerging technologies, such as blockchain, cloud computing, sensors etc., shaping the strategic development of digital and data ecosystems;
  • case studies on the transition from centralized (data warehouse, data lake, data lakehouse) to decentralized data architectures (e.g., data mesh);
  • human/user factors in digital and data ecosystems (acceptance, interactions, participation etc.);
  • empirical studies on the sustainability, trustworthiness, and resilience of digital ecosystems;
  • methodologies and strategies for managing evolving digital ecosystems in different sectors (e.g., finance, healthcare, government / public sector, education).
  • interdisciplinary approaches to building, managing, and sustaining digital and data ecosystems.

The research and innovation in digital and data ecosystems requires an interdisciplinary approach. Therefore, this track invites papers from various disciplines such as information systems, computer science, management science, data science, decision science, organizational design, policy making, complexity, and behavioral economics, and social science to continue the problematization exploration of concepts, theories, models, and tools for building, managing and sustaining ecosystems. These can be conceptual, design science research, empirical studies, industry and government case studies, and theoretical papers, including literature reviews.

As such, this mini-track will serve as a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue on the critical role of sustainable digital and data ecosystems in driving strategic innovation and competitive advantage. We invite researchers and practitioners alike to share their insights, theoretical perspectives, and empirical findings in this rapidly evolving domain.

This mini-track is part of “Strategic & Competitive Uses of Information and Digital Technologies (SCUIDT)” track (chairs: Jack Becker, Russell Torres, Parisa Aasi, Vess Johnson).

For more information, see AMCIS2025 website (for this (min-)track, navigate to “Strategic & Competitive Uses of Information and Digital Technologies (SCUIDT)” track).

Is your research related to any of the above topics? Then do not wait – submit! 📅📅📅Submissions are due February 28, 2025.

Data for Policy 2025 Europe Edition

Anastasija Nikiforova Leave a comment

And we are back with the new edition of Data for Policy 2025 Conference, preparation to which are in full swing! And as part of these preparations, we 📣 Call for Special Tracks for Data for Policy 2025 Europe Edition to be submitted by 11 December, 2024, with the conference itself to be held on 12-13 June, 2025, at Leiden University, The Hague, Netherlands!

This time, the Data for Policy 2025 conference will run under the “Twin Transitions in Data and Policy for a Sustainable and Inclusive Future”.

Amidst global challenges, the “twin transition”—encompassing digital and green transformations—has garnered significant attention for its potential to reshape industrial ecosystems and influence social inequalities. However, in the scientific community and policy arena questions have been raised on whether green and digital transitions are mutually compatible or whether one transition can reduce or cancel out the other. Furthermore, we see sustainability as an integrative perspective that includes  environmental, social, economical and institutional sustainability.

Both public and private sectors are increasingly aligning their objectives towards digital innovation and sustainable practices 🌍. Governments are developing policies to guide these transitions, ensuring that technological advancements account for sustainability. Concurrently, substantial investments are being funneled into industries poised to drive this twin transition. Data lies at the heart of this transformation, empowering  policymakers to monitor progress in real-time, identify emerging trends, and design impactful and targeted strategies. From driving down carbon emissions to closing the digital divide, data-driven insights offer the actionable intelligence needed to tackle complex challenges and pave the way toward a more equitable, sustainable future. 

At this nexus, the theme of the European Data for Policy Conference is “Twin transitions in data and policy for a sustainable and inclusive future”, where we will delve into the implications of these transitions for governance, data usage, and policymaking 

With CFP to be launched in a month, now, we – Sarah Giest, Bram Klievnik (both local chairs), Leid Zejnilovic, Laura Zoboli, Anastasija Nikiforova – invite proposals for Special Tracks in two categories:

  • Research/Policy/Practitioner Tracks: These tracks should address how digital and green initiatives work together to overcome global challenges. Proposals should align with the conference theme, “Twin Transitions in Data and Policy for a Sustainable and Inclusive Future”.
  • Policy/Practitioner Tracks: We invite proposals from those focused on policy and real-world applications, addressing the broader Data for Policy theme.

Proposers are encouraged to consider region-specific challenges alongside the conference theme, which offers a framework but is open to all relevant Data for Policy topics.

🗓 Track Proposal Submission Deadline: 11 December, 2024
For more information on the call 👉 Data for Policy 2025 Conference – Europe Edition: Call for Special Tracks – Data for Policy, for more information on the conference 👉 Data for Policy 2025 Europe – Data for Policy

Accepted tracks will be part of the wider call for abstracts, full papers and panels, set to be released on 20 December, 2024, with Special Track chairs having the opportunity to propose an associated Special Collection in the Data & Policy journal published by Cambridge University Press & Assessment in due course. 

Keep an eye open on other regional editions taking place as part of the Data for Policy 2025 Conference Series.