Tag AI governance

Wrapping up 2025! 🌲🥂✨

Anastasija Nikiforova Leave a comment

2025 is close to be over and looking back at 2025, what stays with me most is not the accumulation of roles, publications, or events, although each of them matters, but the sense that the work is gradually finding its place, creating space for better questions, and shaped, refined, sustained by people and conversations rather than metrics alone. This year marked a consolidation of my research agenda around digital, data, and AI governance, with a strong emphasis on responsible AI adoption, public value, and sustainable data ecosystems. It also continued earlier started transition – from building a research profile to more explicitly shaping research spaces, communities, and conversations.

From Research Agenda to Institutional Responsibility

In 2025, I was appointed Associate Professor of Applied AI and Information Systems, a role that formalized something that had already been happening in practice – working at the intersection of AI innovation, governance, and responsibility. This appointment aligned naturally with my work on responsible AI adoption in the public sector, research on data-centric challenges, governance models, and institutional readiness, and a growing focus on sustainable and trustworthy digital ecosystems, and as of this year on Green AI, including collaborative work with KNOW Center and ENFIELD.

At the University of Tartu, we also laid important foundations for the future – the establishment of the IDEAS Lab (Intelligent Distributed Environments and Systems), and hence my new role as lead of the Responsible Innovation and Digital Governance Team (RISING) – a space that, hopefully, will become more visible in 2026.

Research Milestones: Asking Better Questions About AI

A symbolic, but meaningful, milestone this year was publishing my 100th and 101st (IT people will get the point of the later number, too) scientific papers. These special papers are “Responsible AI Adoption in the Public Sector: A Data-Centric Taxonomy of AI Adoption Challenges” – the work that crystallizes our empirical research into a structured understanding of why responsible AI adoption remains difficult, even when technical solutions exist, and “Reflections on the nature of digital government research: Marking the 50th anniversary of Government Information Quarterly” marking the 50th anniversary of Government Information Quarterly – the top journal I read extensively as a master’s student, and now serve as an editorial board member, contributing reflections on the journal’s past, present, and future trajectory. That continuity — from reader to contributor to steward — feels particularly meaningful.

Beyond this, 2025 included some more contributions to Government Information Quarterly, Computer Law & Security Review, Telematics and Informatics, Information Polity, Data & Policy, EGOV2025, HICSS2025, CAiSE2025, DGO2025, and some more with topics ranging from data ecosystems, data and AI governance, post-bureaucratic governance, dark data, UX of open data portals to AI in education. What is more important, some of these papers were contributions of my students’ – from early master students to doctoral ones – my own or those more “adopted” ones I am always happy to collaborate with. All in all, seven students in total published their works this year and I hope for many more in the years to come!

Global Dialogue: From Keynotes to Fireside Chats

In 2025, I had the privilege to contribute to global conversations on AI and governance through keynotes, invited talks, panels, and workshops, including invited talk for EU Open Data Days 2025 on “Data for AI or AI for data,” panel on “AI and Data Science Revolutions” and “National Data Strategies in Europe” with Data for Policy, keynote “Responsible AI Adoption for a Sustainable Future: Balancing Opportunities and Risks“ for International Conference on Innovative Approaches and Applications for Sustainable Development, invited talk on “Mapping the Roadblocks: Towards Responsible Artificial Intelligence Adoption in the Public Sector“ for International Summer School on Digital Government and some more seminars and fireside chats with Cambridge University, LSE, The Governance Lab, Microsoft Open Data Policy Lab on future of open data in the age of (Gen)AI and AI governance among others. These conversations reaffirmed responsible data practices and even more so responsible AI is no longer a niche concern – it is now a core governance challenge across regions, policy domains, and institutional contexts.

Community Building: Workshops, Tracks, and Field-Shaping

2025 was also a year of active field-building, through organizing and leading scholarly spaces where new ideas can emerge. Together with my colleagues we organized workshops at ECAI2025 (Green-aware AI), IJCAI2025, PRICAI2025 (AI and democracy and AI in public sector), CBI-EDOC2025 (Enterprise Architecture for Augmented Intelligence workshop) and (mini)tracks at HICSS2026 (Sustainable and Trustworthy Digital and Data Ecosystems for Societal Transformation), dg.o2025 (Sustainable Public and Open Data Ecosystems for Inclusive and Innovative Digital Government), EGOV2025 (Emerging Issues and Innovations). For the later one, we also organized Junior Faculty School and Doctoral Colloquium. Apart of this, I took several new editorial roles, including Senior Editor at IEEE TTS, as well as joined initiatives such as the AIS Women’s Network College (incl. as mentor), Women in AI, and Digital Statecraft Academy, which aims to guide fellows in navigating complex digital governance challenges and contribute to advancing responsible, inclusive, and sustainable policy and technology practices. I am very eager to see how these all will evolve looking forward contributing to the success of these joint efforts!

Perhaps one of the most surreal moments was hosting a Turing Award winner – a reminder of how far the field has come, and how much responsibility comes with shaping its future direction. Unfortunately, though, I missed meeting Yoshua Bengio in montreal this year, when my colleagues with whom we co-organized the workshop with IJCAI2025 made it, visiting his MILA lab… But one Turing award recipient at a time, I guess..

This year also brought external recognition, such as being ranked Top voice in Estonia in Data Science (as per Favikon), Top-1 researcher globally in Open Government and top Government and Engineering and CS researcher (as per ScholarGPS, according to last five years achievements), top 2% of scientists in Artificial Intelligence (as per Stanford University’s database). While I am grateful, among all achievements, the most rewarding was witnessing the success of my students and I hope much to come along both lines in the future. Their growth is a constant reminder that academic impact is not only measured in citations — but in confidence built, curiosity nurtured, and doors opened. At the end of the day, it is all about people. I am thus grateful to all the collaborators I am surrounded with – those I continue to learn from, and to those who now learn with me — both equally shape the work and sustain the motivation to carry it forward, as well as help to have some fun that is a special type of the fuel for our work!

Looking Ahead to 2026

The coming year will bring new responsibilities and, hopefully, opportunities. But above all, I hope 2026 continues what 2025 reinforced. As of now we already work hard on preparing several events to take place and I warmly invite you to consider joining us:

If you’d like to continue these conversations in person, you can also find me speaking at events such as ICDEc2026, ISIoT2026, and AI Summit Europe 2026, discussing questions like What happens when AI ambitions collide with governance capacity, legitimacy, and readiness? How do we design AI-enabled systems that don’t collapse under institutional and societal pressure? Are we moving from e-government to AI_government or maybe even toward something closer to an agentic state — and what does that really mean? If you work on AI, data, governance, sustainability, or public value, I would love to meet you — to exchange ideas, challenge assumptions, and think together about how to design systems that are not only intelligent, but also legitimate, resilient, and trustworthy.

Wishing a peaceful and joyful holiday season, and a thoughtful, kind, and inspiring year ahead to all of us!

AMCIS2026 Human–AI Collaboration and Governance for Responsible and Sustainable Digital Ecosystems mini-track

Anastasija Nikiforova Leave a comment

As digital transformation accelerates, the convergence of AI, data governance, and ecosystem thinking is reshaping how organizations create strategic value, build competitiveness, and sustain innovation advantage. Digital and data ecosystems are increasingly complex, spanning cloud, edge, and decentralized architectures such as data meshes and lakehouses, raising critical questions of trustworthiness, responsibility, and sustainability in AI integration.

This AMCIS2026 mini-track (by Association of Information Systems (AIS)) explores how AI, including increasingly agentic systems, acts as both a strategic enabler and active participant in digital and data ecosystems, enhancing governance, augmenting and automating decision-making, and transforming how organizations create value, while raising important governance, ethical, and human-agency considerations. We invite research examining how these ecosystems can remain responsible, resilient, and sustainable, while enhancing organizational agility, competitiveness, and long-term strategic performance across sectors such as government, healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and education.

The track bridges perspectives from information systems, data science, AI governance, and sustainability research to understand how the strategic and responsible design and management of AI-driven data ecosystems can support long-term value creation, competitiveness, and societal transformation. We invite interdisciplinary contributions from fields such as computer science, management science, data science, process science, decision science, organizational design, policy-making, complexity, behavioral economics, and the social sciences. Submissions may include conceptual, design science, empirical, theoretical, or case-based studies, including literature reviews.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

  • AI for governance, accountability, and trustworthiness in digital and data ecosystems;
  • human–AI collaboration and delegation, human-in-the-loop and hybrid governance;
  • responsible, sustainable, and strategically aligned management of AI-augmented data ecosystems, including Green AI;
  • governance and data management in emerging architectures (e.g., data mesh, data lakehouse), including data quality, transparency, and explainability;
  • transition from centralized to decentralized data architectures – organizational and design challenges;
  • ethical, interoperable, observable, and explainable AI in connected and cross-sectoral data ecosystems;
  • co-evolution of digital and data ecosystem components;
  • coopetition between digital and data ecosystems;
  • resilience, sustainability, and long-term governance of digital infrastructures;
  • socio-technical, organizational, and policy approaches to trustworthy and responsible data ecosystems;
  • emerging technologies (e.g., blockchain, edge computing, generative AI, digital twins, IoT, AR/VR) shaping responsible, sustainable, and energy- or resource-efficient strategic ecosystem innovation;
  • empirical studies and sectoral case analyses (e.g., healthcare, finance, government, education) on evolving AI-driven ecosystems;
  • design science, conceptual, and interdisciplinary frameworks for responsible, sustainable, and strategically effective data ecosystem innovation.

This mini-track will serve as a platform for interdisciplinary dialogue on the critical role of responsible, sustainable, and strategically oriented digital and data ecosystems in driving competitive and societal innovation. Researchers and practitioners are invited to share insights, theoretical perspectives, and empirical findings in this rapidly evolving domain.

📌 Submission Deadline: March 1, 2026
📍 Venue: AMCIS 2026 — Reno, Nevada (August 20–22)

Mini-Track Chairs

Anastasija Nikiforova – University of Tartu, Estonia
Daniel Staegemann – Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, Germany
Asif Gill – University of Technology Sydney, Australia
Martin Lnenicka – University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
George Marakas – Florida International University, USA

Read more and submit papers via AMCIS2026 website.

From “Data Quality for AI” to “AI for Data Quality Management”: Insights from BIR 2025

Anastasija Nikiforova Leave a comment

Back in September, our paper “From Data Quality for AI to AI for Data Quality: A Systematic Review of Tools for AI-Augmented Data Quality Management in Data Warehouses” was presented at the BIR Business Informatics Research Conference (BIR) in my hometown, Riga.

The paper, authored by my former student Heidi Carolina Tamm (now DW Lead Designer at Swedbank Estonia) and myself, explores a central question: can AI do more than just consume high-quality data—can it actively create and maintain it?

From “Data Quality for AI” to “Data Quality for AI & AI for Data Quality Management”

High-quality data underpins analytics, AI performance, and regulatory compliance, yet DQ management remains complex, resource-intensive, and often manual. With global data projected to reach 175 zettabytes by 2025, poor DQ carries real business costs—up to 19% of companies report customer loss due to inaccurate or incomplete data.

Traditionally, data quality (DQ) management focuses on ensuring AI has reliable, clean data. We propose a complementary perspective: using AI itself to enhance and automate data quality management. This is particularly relevant for enterprise data warehouses (DWs), which remain central despite the growth of decentralized and domain-driven architectures.

To this end, we systematically reviewed 151 DQ tools, evaluating their support for AI-augmented DQM, particularly automation of rule detection and anomaly identification. Key findings:

  • only 10 tools fully support AI-augmented DQM in data warehouses;
  • most tools focus on data cleansing rather than leveraging AI for rule discovery or explainable quality improvements;
  • metadata + rule-based + ML hybrid approaches show promise but remain underutilized;
  • SQL and natural language rule definitions are rarely supported, yet essential for practical use;
  • explainable AI and governance features are critical for trust;
  • cloud scalability with GDPR compliance is a must for enterprise adoption.

For organizations, AI-driven DQM goes beyond cleaning and profiling, enabling detection, enforcement, and explanation of data quality issues. This leads to better compliance, efficiency, and trust in enterprise data ecosystems.

For researchers and tool developers, there’s a clear need for next-generation DQ tools that are explainable, support SQL/natural language rules, integrate reconciliation logic, and operate under real-world regulatory and architectural constraints. LLMs and AI models can play a role, though they are not a silver bullet; early research shows strong potential.

Our study highlights that while AI has mainly been seen as a consumer of data quality, there is an untapped opportunity to use AI to actively improve DQ, shifting from “Data Quality for AI” to “Data Quality for AI and AI for Data Quality Management.” This research provides practical guidance for organizations and sets the stage for next-generation AI-augmented data governance and DQM solutions.

Read more in the article.

AI, Data, and Public Benefit: Reflections from Data for Policy CIC 2025

Anastasija Nikiforova Leave a comment

At Data for Policy CIC 2025 in The Hague, themed “Twin Transition in Data and Policy for a Sustainable and Inclusive Future,” we explored how emerging technologies—especially AI—and diverse data sources can support accountable, inclusive, and sustainable policymaking.

Across several full days of sessions, the event brought together transdisciplinary researchers, policy practitioners, and technology experts. Notable contributions included:

  1. Research presentations – “Proactive-by-Design: The Future of Governance Beyond Bureaucracy?,” on the study we conduct with Paula Rodriguez Müller & Luca Tangi (European Commission JRC) and “The Data Agency Awakens: A New Era for Official Statistics” we prepared with Luca Di Gennaro Splendore
  2. Panel on National Data Strategies in Europe: Learning from and for the Dutch Data Strategy, which I joined the conversation as a panelists, along with Tim Faber (Ministry of Interior & Kingdom Relations), Anne Fleur van Veenstra, Iryna Susha, Adrianna Michałowicz (chaired by Devin Diran & Thijmen van Gend)
  3. finally, the paanel on Responsible AI and Data Science Revolutions: Implications for Public Benefit Research and Policy Making that I was honored to chair, with panelists representing Smart Data Foundry and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), joined by Magdalena Getler, Oliver Berry, and Rosario Piazza.

Our discussion highlighted the immense potential of AI and data, but also the responsibilities that come with it. Key insights included:

  • Balancing optimism and realism: AI is transformative, but its adoption requires grounded, practical experience. It can support public benefit—if managed carefully;
  • Data quality over quantity: More data isn’t always better. Governance, documentation, bias mitigation, and transparency are essential for AI-readiness;
  • Embedding public trust: High-sensitivity contexts, such as health or finance, demand proportionality, oversight, and systems designed for inclusivity;
  • Human-in-the-loop mechanisms: Ensuring AI reflects human values and context is critical, even when those values are evolving;
  • Task-appropriate AI: Not every problem requires a large language model; careful alignment between technology and purpose is essential;
  • Data literacy for all: Understanding AI’s limitations and risks is as important as technical infrastructure;
  • Triangulating perspectives: Combining structured/unstructured and qualitative/quantitative data helps address bias, power imbalances, and complexity;
  • Sustainable and inclusive systems: Scalable infrastructure alone is insufficient; AI governance and operational design must prioritize long-term societal benefit.

As Amara’s Law reminds us: “We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate it in the long run.” Our discussion echoed this sentiment: AI’s potential is enormous, but realizing it for public benefit requires careful design, governance, and collaboration.

The overarching theme through all days (beyond above) was clear: AI and data are not neutral tools. Their value for public policy depends on human-centered design, responsible governance, and active societal engagement. Tools alone won’t deliver public benefit—they must be operationalized thoughtfully, with attention to ethics, context, and inclusion.

Huge thanks to Sarah Giest, Bram Klievink, Zeynep Engin, and all participating institutions—Leiden University, TNO Vector, Cambridge University Press & Assessment, and The Hague Centre for Digital Governance—for creating the space for meaningful dialogue in such a rich, collaborative environment.

The CIC 2025 conversations reminded us: building a truly responsible, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable AI ecosystem is not just a technical challenge—it is a societal mission and each and every of us is part of it.

From Krems to Linz: Reflections from EGOV 2025 and a Research Visit to Austria

Anastasija Nikiforova Leave a comment

September brought a truly inspiring and intense sequence of events: the EGOV 2025 from Doctoral Colloquium to Junior Faculty School, and the main IFIP EGOV 2025 conference in Krems, followed by a research stay at Johannes Kepler University Linz. Five days of discussion, mentoring, presenting, and connecting in Krems with several more in Linz where the intensive research stay was enriched by a memorable dive into the Ars Electronica Festival and its conversations on technology, fear, and democratic futures.

What follows is a reflection on an academically dense but deeply rewarding journey across two Austrian cities.

EGOV2025: Doctoral Colloquium & Junior Faculty School

We began in the breathtaking setting of Göttweig Abbey with the EGOV 2025 Doctoral Colloquium, where 13 PhD students presented their research, shared challenges of the doctoral journey, and engaged in open discussions with mentors.

The following day, the Junior Faculty School expanded these conversations to early career researchers (up to five years post-PhD). Together with a wonderfully engaged group, we explored questions about career trajectories, researcher identity, publishing strategies, gender inequalities in academia, and the importance of being in a workplace that supports—not drains—well-being.

A recurring theme across both days was impact. We examined it from multiple perspectives:

  • during the Colloquium’s mentor panel
  • in Tomasz Janowski’s keynote
  • through the “from research to policy” workshop by Paula Rodriguez Müller, Sven Schade, and Luca Tangi
  • in the panel on publishing in top journals with Panos Panagiotopoulos and Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar
  • and in roundtable discussions on career development

Sincere thanks to the organizers—Gabriela Viale Pereira, Ida Lindgren, Lieselot Danneels, J. Ramon Gil-Garcia, and Michael Koddebusch—for making these events equally enriching for participants and mentors.

EGOV 2025 conference

With the main conference underway, we launched the Emerging Technologies and Innovations track, which I co-chaired with Francesco Mureddu and Paula Rodriguez Müller. This year, we welcomed Paula (European Commission JRC) to the team and continued pushing the track beyond academic silos, aiming to strengthen the bridge between research, policy, and practice.

We were delighted to see a record number of submissions—double compared to last year. A growing Information Systems community joined us, fulfilling the long-term ambition that Marijn Janssen and I have shared for the track.

Across three sessions, we explored topics that shape the future of governance:

  • the potential of generative AI and LLMs for administrative literacy and public sector transformation
  • trust frameworks and platform governance
  • GovTech incubators and the gap between prototypes and long-term implementation
  • self-assessment tools for climate adaptation
  • digital transformation patterns in smart city strategies

These studies together illustrated how emerging technologies and governance innovation are reshaping public institutions.

A special highlight was the Best Paper Award in the category “Most Innovative Research Contribution or Case Study”, received by Lukas Daßler for “GovTech Incubators: Bridging the Gap Between Prototypes and Long-Term Implementation” (co-authored with Andreas Hein and Helmut Krcmar). Congratulations once again!

I was happy to present two papers at the conference:

  1. “Proactive Public Services in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Towards Post-Bureaucratic Governance” with Paula Rodriguez Müller, Luca Tangi, and Jaume Martin Bosch – the first (or “step 0”) output of our ongoing research on AI-enabled proactive service provision.
  2. “May the Data Be with You: Towards an AI-Powered Semantic Recommender for Unlocking Dark Data” based on the master thesis of my former student, now at Microsoft, Ramil Huseynov; co-authored with Dimitris Simeonidis and David Duenas-Cid – a project that combines technical exploration with a generous dose of nerdiness and fun.

Research Visit to Linz

Right after EGOV, I travelled to JKU Linz, hosted by Christoph Schuetz at the Institute of Business Informatics – Data & Knowledge Engineering. During the visit, I delivered an invited talk titled “Responsible Data Ecosystems: From Data Governance to AI Adoption.”
We discussed how to establish trustworthy, effective data practices while responsibly integrating AI, and explored opportunities for future collaboration.

Beyond the academic exchange, Linz offered its own inspiration: diverse, vibrant, and beautifully intertwined with nature and art such as..

Ars Electronica 2025: Panic – Yes/No?

One of the standout experiences was the Ars Electronica Festival, which this year examined the theme “Panic – Yes/No?”. The exhibitions brought together over 1,400 contributors—artists, scientists, developers, entrepreneurs, and activists—questioning our collective sense of alarm and exploring whether “collective panic” is a rational response or a product of sensationalism.

AI and its societal implications stood at the heart of many installations: Who designs these systems? For whom? According to which values? These questions resonate strongly with the core of my own research and offered a refreshing, interdisciplinary lens on technology and democratic futures.

From mentoring early-stage researchers and running a dynamic track, to presenting new work, reconnecting with colleagues, expanding the Information Systems presence within EGOV, and diving into Linz’s research and cultural landscape—it was an intense but profoundly rewarding start of the semester. Weeks like these is a food reminder of why mentoring, connecting, and building research communities matter so much—and why an early Sunday alarm can indeed be worth it.