27th Annual International Conference
on Digital Government Research
Collaborative Digital Transformation for Public Value Creation
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska, USA
June 01-04, 2026
INTERNATIONAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER - DR. M. JAE MOON
M. Jae Moon (Ph.D. in Public Administration, Syracuse University, 1998)
AI-DRIVEN GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SECTOR INNOVATIONS: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
M. Jae Moon is the Underwood Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Management and Director of the Institute for Future Government at Yonsei University. He currently serves as Co-Chair (with the Prime Minister) of the National Public Data Strategy Committee and as Chair of the Planning and Evaluation Committee of the National Research Council of Economics, Humanities and Social Sciences under the Prime Minister’s Office, South Korea. Internationally, he serves as an expert member of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) and the Knowledge Council of the World Cities Summit. Professor Moon is an elected Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA). He was named one of the world’s 100 most influential people in digital government by Apolitical. He received the Order of Service Merit (Red Stripe) from the Government of South Korea in recognition of his contributions to public-sector innovation. He is also a recipient of the Donald C. Stone Award and the Mosher and Mosher Award from the American Society for Public Administration.
Dr. Moon’s Google Scholar citation count is 14,000+
METRO AND STATE PANEL KEYNOTE - DR. DEREK KRUSE
CIO of the Douglas County – City of Omaha Technology Commission (DOTComm)
PUBLIC SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS: MAXIMIZING VALUE IN THE NEW NORMAL
Derek Kruse has over 25 years of organizational leadership experience. He has held leadership positions in Fortune 500 companies, the nonprofit sector, government and higher education. Derek is the Chief Information Officer for the Douglas Omaha Technology Commission (DOTComm), which serves the technology needs of the City of Omaha and Douglas County in Nebraska. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Creighton University in the fields of strategy and entrepreneurship.
He recently launched Exponential Mindfulness to help people harness the power they already have by using simple tools to overcome challenges and build resilience for compounding growth.
He holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell University, an MBA from Emory's Goizueta Business School, and a DBA from Creighton's Heider College of Business. He also holds a certificate in Strategy Execution for Public Leadership from Harvard and a certificate in Mindful Leadership from Spirit Rock.
TRIBUTE TO DR. SOON AE CHUN
It is with profound sadness that we remember our colleague and friend, Dr. Soon Ae Chun.
A visionary scholar and generous leader in digital government research, Dr. Chun devoted her career to advancing the study of information systems, cybersecurity, data integration, and digital governance. As Professor and Director of the Information Systems and Informatics program at the College of Staten Island (CUNY), and through her roles at the CUNY Graduate Center, she mentored generations of students while leading pioneering research, including the NSF-supported iSecure Lab.
For more than two decades, Soon shaped the Digital Government community through her extraordinary service to the Digital Government Society — as Board member, Conference Chair, Program Chair, President, founder of ACM Digital Government: Research and Practice, and most recently as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Government Information Quarterly. Her leadership helped define and strengthen our field.
Beyond her many accomplishments, Soon had a rare gift for bringing people together. She uplifted junior scholars, supported colleagues with sincerity and grace, and built community wherever she went. Her scholarship, leadership, and kindness will continue to inspire us and shape digital government research for years to come.