Conference Tracks

Submissions to EGOV2026 can be done to the following thematic tracks (see descriptions below).

General E-Government and E-Governance Track
General e-Democracy & e-Participation track
Digital Technologies and Sustainable Development Track
Digital Society Track
Emerging Issues and Innovations Track
AI, Data Analytics & Automated Decision Making Track
Artificial Intelligence Governance and its Societal Challenges Track
Smart Cities (Government, Districts, Communities & Regions) Track
Open Data: Social and Technical Aspects Track
Governance, Digital Legislation, and Policy Track
Managing e-Government Track
Practitioners – Researchers Collaboration Track

Also, it is possible to submit proposals for Posters and Workshops.

1. General E-Government and E-Governance Track

The track serves as an umbrella for all e-government (EGOV) and e-governance-related topics except the dedicated-topic tracks. E-government research, also increasingly referred to as Digital Government Research, has evolved over the past few decades into a mature multidisciplinary domain with its own identity and profile. In this track, EGOV foundations and theories are explored. Moreover, the track puts special emphasis on studying a multitude of topics and areas of practice related to EGOV.

We solicit a variety of research approaches, including theoretical, conceptual, and empirical approaches. This track covers several special topics in e-government/digital government research.

Areas of focus and interest include, but are not limited to the following topics:

Foundations of e-government and e-governance research
E-government and/or e-governance (unified) theories, views, methods and frameworks
Ubiquitous role of technology in public administration
Balancing and aligning technology and government
EGOV analysis, design and implementation
Impact analysis of policies, initiatives, and implementations
Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches (e.g., intersection with other disciplines such as information science, information systems research, computer science, public administration, and political science among others, as well as between science and practice)
Digital government strategies and transformation
Strategies and policies for ICT-enabled public administration overhaul
Public administration back and front-office overhaul (cases, practices, and lessons learned)
Stakeholder and change management in government
Management of public-private partnerships
ICT project success and failure
Return on investment, public values and sustainability of ICT investments
Public information governance (strategies, information sharing practices, privacy practices)
Public records management (challenges, opportunities, and cases)
Public sector information management (challenges and opportunities, and cases)
Detection of and protection against misinformation and disinformation (for example, rumor control)
Intergovernmental integration and interoperation
Crisis and emergency management in e-government, emergency operations and governmental coordination
Government-sponsored and/or operated public alert systems (pandemic and other alerts)
Pandemic-induced innovations in the public sector
Climate change-related solutions in government
Safe public online access, inclusion, privacy and online identity management
Interoperability and ICT integration in government
ICT portfolio management in the public sector
ICT sourcing, insourcing and outsourcing, procurement
Public sector CIOs and/or COOs (roles, impact, span of control, issues, and challenges)
Public sector ICT workforce (management, recruitment, retention, compensation, etc.)
E-Government architectures (vertical, horizontal, and networked)
Enterprise ICT management initiatives
Managing and upgrading public sector legacy systems
Integration of online and inline services (opportunities, challenges, and cases)
ICT-enabled transnational government collaboration
Geographical information systems in government
ICT usage, acceptance, measurement, benchmarking, and benefit management
Online performance metrics for public services

Track Chairs

Gabriela Viale Pereira (lead), University for Continuing Education Krems, Austria
Marijn Janssen, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands
Ida Lindgren, Linköping University, Sweden

2. General e-Democracy & e-Participation track

The general e-democracy & e-participation track focuses on all developments in electronic participation and digital engagement, covering all relevant technical, political, and social aspects.

E-democracy and e-participation are multidisciplinary fields of study and focus on a range of issues, including participatory public engagement, open government data, social media interactions, co-creation engagement in the co-design, co-delivery and evaluation of services, and top-down and bottom-up initiatives related to economic, societal, public and welfare issues.

Digital and social media channels are an increasingly important interface between governments, the public sector, and their respective publics, playing a crucial role in driving innovation within the public sector. The availability of data and open government data also influences the possibilities of interaction between the government and various stakeholders. Similarly, new digitally mediated forms of organizations (i.e. DAOs) are struggling to find suitable democratic processes to improve their self-management. Thus, we invite relevant studies that focus on the impact of previous elements and governments or public policies, drawing on conceptual, case study, survey, mixed, or other suitable methods.

The multi-disciplinary track aims to discuss topics related to e-participation and e-democracy, discuss new ideas, meet other researchers and practitioners, and to facilitate future collaborations. We welcome theoretical papers, qualitative and quantitative papers, case studies and critical analyses. We encourage authors to address challenges and critical issues that can lead to further developments in this area.

Areas of focus and interest include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

Foundations of e-participation and e-democracy research: theories, research methods, models and approaches.
The impact of current societal trends and events on e-democracy and e-participation processes (such as the housing crisis, political climate, or international conflicts).
advances in the field through new tools, methods, platforms, organizing, etc.
The development, use and impact of novel technologies to enhance e-democracy and e-participation.
Analysis and evaluation of digital interactions between democratic stakeholders.
Evaluation of best practices, success factors, motivational factors, etc.
Citizen inclusion and the digital divide, transparency, digital literacy/competences and open access.
Critical perspectives on e-democracy and e-participation.
Theoretical perspectives, strategies and policies for critical examination, planning and implementation of social and digital media.
The use of technology and social media for co-production, crowdsourcing, citizen-sourcing, co-creation and other crowd-based models.
Collection, analysis and interpretation of social media data.
Evaluation of digitally-mediated forms of decision-making (i.e. Decentralized Autonomous Organizations)
Open government data and Open collaboration impact on digital government.

Track Chairs

David Duenas-Cid (lead), Kozminski University, Poland
Noella Edelmann, University for Continuing Education, Austria
Marius Rohde Johannessen, University of South-Eastern Norway
Sara Hofmann, University of Agder, Norway

3. Digital Technologies and Sustainable Development Track

The transition toward a more sustainable society is a worldwide challenge in which governments, businesses, NGOs and citizens are called upon to cooperate and contribute. Information exchange between governmental organizations (G2G), between business and government (B2G) as well as between governments and citizens (G2C) can support policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation.

Digital technologies are essential in this transition toward more sustainability as they can support the implementation of policies and processes that contribute to reaching sustainability goals in various ways. Innovative applications that are built upon artificial Intelligence, blockchain technologies, open data, edge computing, and data analytics play an important role in the formulation of policies targeted at enhancing sustainability, monitoring, and evaluation. ICT-based applications such as digital identities, cryptocurrencies, open data or e-consultations, and e-voting can give citizens the means to actively play a role in addressing financial inclusion, inequality, poverty eradication, circularity, food security, access to education, and healthcare.

However, digital technologies also raise discussions on their use that can be at odds with sustainability targets. For instance, the energy consumption of digital applications versus energy reduction goals or having no access to digital information versus solving inequality and poverty or the use of privacy-intruding digital technologies versus health improvement and well-being. In addition, many digital applications are provided by BigTech companies which leads to discussions on their role in attaining sustainability goals or unwanted effects on public value creation as formulated by governments.

In this track, we invite authors to submit original research that explicitly addresses the contribution of digital technologies to sustainability goals, with a particular focus on the use of emerginhg technologies to support the so called ”triple” transition, i,e. digital, environmental and social. We especially encourage critical perspectives on the positive effects, as well as the negative externalities, of digital technologies in striving for sustainability. We welcome diversity in research designs, approaches, and methodologies. We provide a non-exclusive list of themes and topics, such as:

An overview of the contribution of digital technologies for realizing sustainability goals as formulated by governments;
Ethical questions and dilemmas posed by digital technologies in light of sustainability;
Potential negative effects of AI and Large Language Models by governments and businesses on e.g. energy use and fair decision-making
Digital product passports for circular economy goals;
Digital twin technologies and sustainable urban development;
Effects of digital platforms on sustainability issues.
Green information systems (re)design to combat CO2 emissions from ICT usage;
Case studies that illustrate how digitization supports implementing public policies that address sustainability. For example, how digital data sharing can assist in monitoring the effects of public policies;
Critical review of the way(s) in which digital technologies are at odds with or can hamper sustainability goals, e.g. their energy consumption;
Information policies for dealing with aspects of sustainability in governments on all levels;
Information-sharing between public and private stakeholders to monitor and support extended producer responsibility or policies aimed at circular business models;
The use of open data for sustainability goals;
Data sharing solutions for monitoring the circularity of goods and materials for compliance with national policies for a circular economy;
Teaching cases in the field of ICT for sustainability;
Technology tools to stimulate changes in consumption patterns (lower energy use, eat local, waste management, etc.)
Public-private and cross-sector partnerships to leverage the power of data for sustainable development
The use of emerginhg technologies to support the so called ”triple” transition, i,e. digital, environmental and social.

Track chairs

Gianluca Carlo Misuraca (lead), Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
René Reich, KU Leuven, Belgium
Iryna Susha, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Jolien Ubacht, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands

4. Digital Society Track

The accelerated use of digital platforms and tools across sectors such as healthcare and education holds great promise for improving public services. However, this evolution also brings forth critical challenges around inclusivity, social justice, data privacy, and the ethical use of digital technologies.

Addressing issues of equitable access, data governance, and digital literacy is vital to fully realising the potential of digital transformation. Bridging these gaps is necessary to ensure that all citizens can benefit from the digital revolution while simultaneously safeguarding their rights and promoting democratic engagement.

Fostering transdisciplinary collaboration between academia, the public sector, and citizens is crucial in this evolving landscape. Continuous engagement from all these different actors is needed to shape a digital society where inclusivity and accountability are at the forefront.

This track invites submissions that explore innovative approaches and critical perspectives on the digital transformation of public services and governance, and its impact on society. In this context, the “Digital Society Track” invites submissions to the following topics and beyond:

Digital Society, Culture, and Democracy: How digital technologies can (or currently do not) support democratic engagement and the creation of digital commons (e.g. in digital transformation, social justice, digital inclusion and ethics)
Digital Skills and Education for the Public Sector: Innovations in curricula development and education models, life-long learning and digital skills for the public sector workforce
Digital Public Services: Administrative burden, citizen experience, cognitive and psychological challenges faced by individuals using digital self-service platforms
Digital Public Health: Mobile health technologies, telemedicine, electronic health records, and solutions to ensure equitable access to digital health services
Digital Interoperability and Ecosystems: Cross-border interoperability, governance of digital ecosystems (incl. data spaces, digital twins, and digital product passports)
Digital Sovereignty and Governance: Issues of data jurisdiction, protection, and mobility, as well as the development of frameworks for data interoperability and portability

Track Chairs

Leif Sundberg (lead), Mid Sweden University, Sweden
Thomas Lampoltshammer, University for Continuing Education Krems, Austria
Lieselot Danneels, Ghent University, Belgium

5. Emerging Issues and Innovations Track

This track focuses on new and forward-looking topics emerging in the field of ICT and the public sector, including public-private ecosystems.

Innovation and the 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 to adopt, recent EGOV conferences have demonstrated that one should not come to such a conclusion too easily. Upcoming technologies, innovative organisational solutions, or new avenues of private sector involvement in the public sector are becoming more commonplace — along with the opportunities and challenges these bring.

Policymakers and public sector officials are now expected to embrace change, advance digital transformation, and improve governance practices. At the same time, researchers in public administration are engaging with new theoretical perspectives, methods, tools, and techniques.

The goal of this track is to provide a platform for the discussion of emerging ideas, issues, problems, and solutions in the digital transformation of the public sector. Contributions that do not neatly fit into other tracks are also welcome.

This track welcomes a broad range of research contributions including, but not limited to, the following topics:

Futures, Values, and Global Challenges in Digital Governance

Looking ahead to social innovation and future-oriented policy design
Futures studies and the future of government, policymaking and democracy
The future of digital governance
Public values in transforming government
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 government in smart cities (including smart sustainable cities) and sustainable living
The role of the public sector in a Human-Centred Society (Society 5.0)
Preparing for the policy challenges of future technologies
Global challenges that go beyond nation states (e.g., migration, climate change) and require international collaboration
The environmental dimension of digital transformation (sustainable AI, Green AI, Green IT)

Emerging Technologies and Applications

New trends in public sector research such as Metaverse, Cityverse, and Web 4.0
Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, ChatSonic, Poe): benefits, risks, and adoption or resistance to their use by governments and citizens
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), smart contracts and blockchain
AI, GenAI, Industry 4.0, Industry 5.0, and the Internet of Things (IoT): public sector use, governance and regulatory implications
Public sector use and regulation of FinTech innovations and digital billboards
New technologies for automated decision-making and their policy implications
Regulating misinformation and information integrity
Responsible emerging technologies adoption, including responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption

Governance, Innovation, and Collaboration

GovTech initiatives and public-private innovation ecosystems
AI government and the Agentic State: new models of governance and state capacity in the age of artificial intelligence
Experimentation, regulatory sandboxes, and testbeds in the public sector
Digital transformation strategies and self-service structures for inclusion
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
The role of the public sector in competitiveness and tech sovereignty

Research and Theoretical Perspectives

New research methods and interdisciplinary approaches in public sector studies
Application of role theory to the analysis of public sector functions and processes
Forward-looking insights from case studies – including both successful and failed experiments.

Track Chairs

A. Paula Rodriguez Müller (lead), Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Spain
Anastasija Nikiforova, Tartu University, Estonia
Francesco Mureddu, The Lisbon Council, Belgium

6. AI, Data Analytics & Automated Decision Making Track

As the Fourth Industrial Revolution creates new tools for conducting economic activities in the private sector, it also equips the public sector with technologies for creating public value and engaging in digital transformation. While ICT has been fundamental for digitalising public services, the public sector increasingly relies on Artificial Intelligence (AI) including Generative AI, (Big) Data Analytics (BDA), Internet of Things (IoT) and Blockchain. These innovations accelerate the capacity of the public sector to deliver more impactful and responsive public services, as well as to improve its internal efficiency.

As citizens spend more time online, their digital footprints are becoming easier to collect, forming massive interconnected networks of data. Innovative methods and tools to analyse such data and understand policy implications are in urgent demand. In particular, open data and open government initiatives can create bigger synergy and impact when integrated with new technologies.

However, the use of new technologies by government has some serious ethical and policy implications. Complementing or replacing human-made public service with AI, automating decisions of consequence to people’s lives, harvesting interconnected data about individuals, etc. raise the risk that exclusion, bias, injustice, and privacy violations can happen on a massive scale. Decisions driven by AI, (Big) Data Analytics, and policy modelling tools may generate optimal solutions from an economic perspective, but not from a social inclusion perspective, or give rise to transparency and fairness concerns. Privacy and security issues with regards to citizens’ everyday digital footprints also have legal and policy implications.

This track invites papers that can advance theoretical, practical and policy questions on those issues. Papers are expected to address the topics including but not limited to:

AI and evidence-based policy making
Robotic Process Automation in the public sector
Predictive analytics and machine learning in the public sector
Trustworthiness, fairness and explainability of AI applications
eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) in the public sector
Federated Learning and Edge AI in the public sector
Natural Language Processing and Understanding applications in the public sector
Transforming Public Services using Generative AI
Large Language Models for effective Governance
Generative AI for enhancing and preserving Democratic Processes
Large Language Models and Large Language Model-based systems for
Transparency and accountability in automated decision-making
Legal and ethical aspects of AI in the public sector
AI-enabled smart cities and IoT applications
Analysis and evaluation of Dynamic Open Government Data (including environmental, traffic, satellite, meteorological, and sensor generated data)
AI in government and discriminatory bias
Machine Learning Operationalization management (MLOps) in the public sector
Co-creation via AI and big data analytics
Co-creation of AI-enabled public services
Consequential decisions and AI in government
AI adoption by and diffusion in the public sector
Digital transformation of the public sector via AI
Benefits and public value generation from AI use in the public sector
Impact of AI on social cohesion

Track Chairs

Evangelos Kalampokis (lead), University of Macedonia, Greece
Habin Lee, Brunel University London, United Kingdom
Euripidis Loukis, University of Aegean, Greece

7. Artificial Intelligence Governance and its Societal Challenges Track

The global prominence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in use and attention has not been without controversy. As AI-based systems become more pervasive, the implications on businesses, citizens as well as on governments and broader societal and democratic institutions are becoming more tangible.

The role of governments in controlling (or not controlling) for various implications and related public values is still widely debated. While governments and the public sector have gone through significant digital transformation in many countries, concrete governance approaches for AI and related technologies (broadly including algorithmic systems, machine learning and AI-based tools and capabilites) are often still lacking or suffer from a lack of integration and validation. The global (i.e. both cross-border and intercontinental) nature of dominating AI system offerings and the underlying computational infrastructures also pose extra challenges for governments related to digital autonomy and sovereignty.

Currently, a variety of instruments for policy and governance, both legal-regulatory and operational, are proposed or being implemented, requiring important challenges to be addressed by researchers to help the operationalization of effective governance schemes. This track identifies two overarching themes of research.

Firstly, governance of AI, which covers (1) empirical research how AI policy and governance is negotiated and works in practice; (2) theoretical research analyzing and informing the state of AI policy and governance; (3) conceptual and design-oriented research – how AI policy and governance could be developed; (4) normative and critical work about how AI should work to address certain norms and values and their associated effects on human and non-human entities.

Secondly, governance with AI: AI as a technology and its capabilities have profound implications for the current and future state of e-government practices.

This track therefore encourages a broad range of research contributions, including but not limited to the following topics:

Global governance issues of AI and with AI
Market forces behind AI and related governance challenges
Translation between legal norms and (socio)technical design choices in AI
Socio-technical complexity and governance of AI
Ethics of AI (as it relates to governance questions)
Societal challenges posed by AI solutions, including ways to address them
Critical studies of AI governance solutions including science of technology studies, history of science and technology and critical philosophy.
Governance of the digital and computational infrastructure behind AI
Research on the role of the public sector regarding governance of AI tools
Public policies related to the use and development of AI systems
The translation and operationalization of AI-related laws to governance of AI
Studies of the institutional settings of the implementation of AI governance
Concepts, views, and empirical understanding of AI and trustworthiness
Differences in political approaches to AI governance
The implications for work in e-government
The impact of AI on education and training as it relates to e-government
AI literacy of the public sector and citizens
Case studies of successful or failed AI governance approaches and practices
Trends in related research and practice.

Track Chairs

Gregor Eibl (lead), University for Continuing Education Krems, Austria
Csaba Csáki, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary
Roel Dobbe, Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands
Aya Rizk, Linköping University, Sweden

8. Smart Cities (Government, Districts, Communities & Regions) Track

Urban growth, ageing populations, and global crises are driving profound changes in urban contexts, pushing cities, districts and urbanized regions towards the mandatory adoption of smart environments. The digital transformation of urban areas has become a top priority for city governments and local communities, offering great promise for improved wellbeing and prosperity. Emergent and disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence, blockchain, digital twins, open data, Internet of Things, or clean technologies are being integrated into city administration, public service provision, urban logistics and community management with a view to improving information provision, data quality, privacy and security, institutional arrangements, and citizen participation in governance processes. Despite documented successes, however, significant challenges have arisen for governments, citizens and other stakeholders at the intersection of technology and society.

The term “smart city” can be defined and interpreted in different ways, resulting in significant variation in the development and implementation of policies designed to make cities, districts, and communities smarter. It has become important, therefore, for stakeholders involved in such initiatives to understand the factors that enable or inhibit successful smart city implementation, together with the local political, economic, and socio-cultural contexts that underpin them. To effectively tackle urban problems, smart urban areas should also be more responsive to the needs of their inhabitants. Here, it is crucial to determine what drives public trust in smart environments, and how interactions with technology result in the modification of citizen behavior and attitudes towards increasing urban “smartness”. More research is required on the interrelationship between digital maturity and resilient service management systems/supply chains, and the resulting emergence of cities that are agile and adaptable. How to make these changes sustainable, and the link between urban “smartness” and the Sustainable Development Goals, also warrant further investigation. And finally, although the literature is rich in references to smart cities and communities, it is less developed on the topic of why smart districts and regions need to become smart. This imbalance needs to be addressed.

This track invites papers that critically explore issues related to the challenges faced by smart cities, smart districts, and smart communities, as well as the opportunities afforded by these initiatives to sustainable living and urban governance. Topics of focus and interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

Smart governance as the foundation to both creating smart urban and regional spaces (elements, prerequisites, and principles of smart governance) and coordinating smart public policies at different levels of public administrations
Smart government (focal areas, current practices, cases, and potential pitfalls)
Smart partnerships and smart communities (triple/quadruple helix, public-private partnerships, and citizen participation)
Smart cities, smart districts, smart communities and regions (cases, indicators, assessment, rankings, comparisons, and critical success factors)
Collective intelligence for smart cities and communities (smart ideas and solutions for smart cities)
Emerging and disruptive technologies in smart communities (big data, open data, data analytics, social media, and networks, Blockchain technologies, etc.)
Urban agentic AI – emerging trends, issues, and prospects
AI, IoT and Digital Twins as enablers for Smart Communities/Smart Cities (infrastructure, transportation, citizen participation, education, governance, environment, health care, safety, security, and energy)
AI in smart city design, urban planning, and intelligent infrastructure operation
Integrative research that addresses the technological and social dimensions of smart and connected communities
Smart homes, intelligent home automation systems, domotics pros and cons
User-centric Smart Cities; citizen needs identification/prioritization, public trust in smart services, behaviour changes led by smart services usage, barriers and drivers of smart city services deployment.
Smart grids, smart energy distribution systems, intelligent energy monitoring, implications for climate change
Smart environment, traffic management, and transportation (carbonless and clean individual and public mobility)
Smart law enforcement theory and practice
Smart devices and their novel use in public management and public service delivery
Smart (technology-facilitated) practices such as payment systems, identification systems, etc.
New cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities in smart technologies
SMART as a public-sector planning and management principle (Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Results-based, and Time-bound)
Smart university, smart classrooms, and smart delivery of education-related services
Quality of life issues in smart cities and smart communities
Urban-rural gaps in smart communities, digital divides, and socio-economic disparities
Citizen participation in smart cities using emerging technologies as chatbots or blockchain.
Innovation and creativity in smart society development
Emerging technologies implementation in cities to face and manage natural disasters and health pandemics.
Sustainable policy developments for smart cities
Smart cities and Sustainable Development Goals

Track Chairs

Shefali Virkar (lead), WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria
Joep Crompvoets, KU Leuven, Belgium
Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar, University of Granada, Spain

9. Open Data: Social and Technical Aspects Track

The public sector is increasingly opening its data for everyone to freely reuse. Open data provide unprecedented opportunities for improving governmental decision-making, enhancing transparency and participation, creating public value, and boosting the digital economy. This, however, requires an appropriate social context, innovations in technologies, and appropriate integration of the two.

The “Open Data, Transparency, and Citizen Engagement” Track aims to better understand and advance research on open data. Areas of focus and interest include but are not limited to the following topics:

Conceptualinstitutional, and technical foundations of open data: Theoretical and conceptual developments in open data; definitions, typologies, and maturity models; institutional arrangements and stakeholder roles; open data infrastructures and ecosystems; technical frameworks, interrelations between open data, transparency, accountability, and good governance.
Policies, governance, and implementation of open data: National and local open data policies; governance of open, big, and linked data; regulatory and ethical frameworks; drivers and barriers to adoption; interoperability and standardization; sustainability and institutionalization of open data practices.
Open data for transparency, accountability, and integrity: Empirical and conceptual studies on how open data enhances governmental transparency, oversight, and integrity; data-based monitoring of public service delivery; transparency indicators and benchmarks; challenges in balancing openness, privacy, and security.
Open data ethics, trust, and responsible transparency: Ethical dilemmas in data disclosure; accountability mechanisms in data-driven governance; algorithmic transparency and explainability; co-creation of trust through responsible data stewardship; frameworks for balancing openness and protection of sensitive information.
Open data-driven citizen participation and deliberation: The role of open and public data in participatory and deliberative democracy; the role of Artificial Intelligence for open data-driven citizen participation and deliberation; design and evaluation of data-enabled participatory platforms; visualization and communication of open data for civic engagement; crowdsourcing and co-creation processes using open data.
Inclusion, equity, and empowerment through data: Addressing digital divides and data deserts; inclusive design of participatory open data infrastructures; open data literacy as a foundation for equitable participation; civic empowerment through open data reuse; ensuring representation and diversity in data-based decision-making.

Track Chairs

Anneke Zuiderwijk (lead), Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
J. Ramon Gil-Garcia, University at Albany, State University of New York, USA
Efthimios Tambouris, University of Macedonia, Greece

10. Governance, Digital Legislation, and Policy Track

The Governance, (Digital) Legislation and Policy Track explores the relationship between governance, digital legislation, and the policies shaping the digital landscape, particularly within Europe. This track examines the ways in which digital sovereignty, regulatory reforms, and digitization efforts within government agencies are reshaping the public sector. It offers a space for scholars and practitioners to explore the challenges and opportunities presented by digital governance and policy, with an emphasis on understanding the legal, regulatory, and technical aspects of digital transformation.

We invite contributions to the following topics:

Policies on AI & Data: e.g. an examination of the regulatory frameworks governing data, from AI legislation to European Digital Identity Wallets, and how these frameworks address the complexities of data management at both national and European levels.
Digital-Ready Legislation: e.g. legislation designed to support the needs of the digital society. This includes the role of digital processes, digital agencies, and digital judges in adapting the legal system.
Privacy & Security: e.g. a discussion of privacy laws and security measures that protect personal data in the digital age, focusing on the regulations aimed at safeguarding citizens’ digital rights.
Data Spaces & Governance: e.g the development and implications of data spaces in government and beyond, examining the potential and challenges of new data-sharing models for public sector data management.
Public Sector Data Management: e.g. an investigation into the strategies and technologies used by government agencies to manage and utilize data effectively, including the impact of the Data Governance Act.
Legal Informatics: e.g. the application of legal informatics in the public sector, including tools for administrative decision-making, legislative management, and judicial support.
Dealing with (Dis)information: e.g. analyzing the regulatory responses to disinformation and the challenges it poses to democracy; strategies aimed at addressing the spread of false or misleading information in digital spaces.

Track Chairs

Edimara Mezzomo Luciano (lead), Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS)
Peter Parycek, Fraunhofer Fokus, Germany
Anna-Sophie Novak, University for Continuing Education Krems, Austria

11. Managing e-Government Track

The digital transformation of public organizations demands more than just technological innovation – it also requires profound organizational change, driven by effective management practices. Managing e-Government is a complex, multi-faceted endeavor that requires a holistic approach encompassing organizational change management, participatory design, strategic stakeholder engagement and management, and innovative (project) organization. This track focuses explicitly on the internal challenges and solution approaches for implementing and managing e-Government in temporary projects or under more permanent organizational forms. It emphasizes the development of e-government competencies among operational and leadership staff, the formulation of effective strategies to navigate change and transformation processes, organizational innovation due to technological advancements, and the establishment of sustainable and participatory approaches to successfully steer e-government efforts at the organizational level.

Providing a platform for theoretical insights and practical strategies, this track sheds light on the critical internal dynamics of e-government with a focus on internal human resources within public organizations. Thereby, it addresses key challenges of these organizations, such as organizational adaptation, the lack of leadership capacities, the necessity of developing e-government competence among the workforce, and over-reliance on external consultants.

The “Managing E-Government” track aims to advance international e-government research. It seeks promising scientific results along with clear practical implications to strengthen the organizational foundations of digital change and transformation. We invite researchers to submit their original work, whether employing qualitative or quantitative approaches, and following knowledge- or design-oriented research paradigms. Research from various disciplines (e.g., e-government, information systems, computer science, IT design and management, human resource management, public administration, or educational and political perspectives) is welcome.

Authors are encouraged to contemplate various aspects of managing the digital transformation process. Areas of focus and interest include but are not limited to the following topics:

Internal organizational change and strategic realignment within public organizations
Success factors of exploiting technological advancements including but not limited to artificial intelligence in public organizations
Enhancing e-government competences of the workforce
Strengthening e-government leadership competences
Innovative approaches to e-government project management
Participative and co-creative stakeholder engagement in organizational change and transformation processes
Adaptive governance models for cross-sector digital collaboration (e.g., between ministries, agencies, and/or municipalities)
Organizational cultural shifts due to technological advancements in public administration
Requirements of ethical and inclusive leadership in relation to technological advancements in public administration.
Assessment and advancement of e-Government maturity models
ICT-driven organizational transformation and innovation
Sustainable transformation through effective management practices
Theory-driven approaches to strengthen e-government project management
Risks associated with the dependency on external competencies (e.g., consultants)
Broader areas, such as sustainability, resilience, or GovTech, as long as they have clear implications for the internal dynamics managing e-government

Track Chairs

Michael Koddebusch (lead), ERCIS, University of Münster, Germany
Ulrik Bisgaard Ulsrod Røhl, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
Maria A. Wimmer, University Koblenz, Germany
Vera Spitzer, University Koblenz, Germany

12. Practitioners – Researchers Collaboration Track

The digital government field brings together a global, multi-disciplinary network of researchers, but also of reflective practitioners in the public sector, industry, non-profit organizations, etc. One key manner to allow this field to flourish is to develop and foster initiatives (e.g. joint projects) that integrate multiple academic disciplines with a creative mix of reflective practitioners and researchers (cf. engaged scholars). In that context, EGOV-CeDEM-ePart 2026 features a track devoted to presenting ongoing or future initiatives where reflective practitioners have a predominant role. Hence, the track, established since the 2024 conference, strongly focuses on real-word experiences by, and reflections from practitioners. We encourage the submission of success, but also failure, reports as these are of high value for practitioners and researchers, that can serve as a vehicle for further reflections and learning.

This track offers an excellent opportunity for presenters (practitioners and/or researchers) to discuss different joint initiatives, e.g. project ideas, to get feedback before submitting project proposals or to disseminate intermediate results of their projects and for participants to get an updated view of innovative initiatives while getting in touch with potential industry or research partners. The track welcomes different initiatives submitted from any application or aspects of Digital Government research and practice.

Why should you submit to this track?

You meet other practitioners that deal with digital government every day.
You meet researchers that present new and innovative approaches to tackle digital government challenges.
You need a joint area for reflections and learning regarding digital government
EGOV’s in-person format allows for an actual exchange of experiences and ideas between academia and industry.

Submission: Please submit an extended 2 pages abstract. Presentation time during the conference will depend on the number of accepted submissions but is expected to be between 10 and 15 minutes, followed by additional time for discussion. The document should include the following information:

Full name and acronym of the initiative
Role of presenter(s) (presenters should be active participants of the initiative)
The kind of initiative (living lab, implementation, joint project, sandbox, pilot, etc)
Summary of project motivation, objectives, and expected tangible outputs
If the initiative is ongoing, please add a summary of current results
Expected practice, policy or research implications
What you wish to get out of the track (eg. Open questions, feedback, partnership proposals, etc)

Track Chairs

Lucy Temple (lead), University for Continuing Education Krems, Austria
Ulf Melin, Linköping University, Sweden
Anthony Simonofski, University of Namur, Belgium

Posters and Workshops

Posters: We allow for presentations of posters during the conference. To have your work accepted as a poster, you must submit a structured and extended abstract of maximum 2 pages. Posters can cover any theme in the track list above.

Workshops: We provide the opportunity to apply for hosting a workshop during the conference. If accepted, the workshop will be given 90 minutes in the conference program. To apply for hosting a workshop, you must submit a structured and extended abstract of maximum 2 pages. Workshop can cover any theme in the track list above.