Submissions to EGOV2025 can be done to the following thematic tracks. All tracks are described 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 Projects Track
  • Practitioners – Researchers Collaboration Track

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 developed over the past decades into a mature domain of multidisciplinary study 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 for a variety of research 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
  • 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)
  • Return on investment 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, rumour 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 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

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

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, 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, and play an important role for innovation in the public sector. Thus, We invite relevant studies on social media in government and public policy that draw 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 cost of living-crisis, political climate, post-pandemic issues)
  • 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 practice, 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
  • Social media in crisis and emergency management

Track Chairs

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

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 the formulation and monitoring of policies to this end.

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. 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

Track chairs

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

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

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

Emerging Issues and Innovations Track

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

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 to 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.

Track Chairs

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

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 Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) including Generative AI, (Big) Data Analytics (BDA), Blockchain, 5G, Adaptive manufacturing and 3D technologies. These innovations   accelerate the capacity of the public sector to deliver more impactful and responsive public services.

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
  • Digital transformation of the public sector via AI
  • Impact of AI on social cohesion

The track chairs will guest edit a special issue with enhanced versions of the best papers from this track in the Journal of the Knowledge Economy (Springer Verlag – Social Sciences Citation Index).

Track Chairs

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

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 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 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 governance is negotiated and works in practice; (2)  theoretical research analyzing and informing the state of AI governance; (3) conceptual and design-oriented research – how AI 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

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

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.)
  • 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

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

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: Social and Technical Aspects” 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:

  • Open data foundations: open data definitions; processes; stakeholders and roles; artefacts; maturity levels and indexes; theories; relation to transparency, accountability, etc.
  • Open data policy and practice: open data policies; the role of open data in supporting digital transformation policies and principles; governance of open, big and linked data; opportunities, drivers, and barriers for/to the adoption of open, big and linked data.
  • Open data technologies: technical frameworks for data and metadata; ontologies, linked open data and knowledge graphs; machine learning and artificial intelligence technology using open data; mash-ups; data formats, standards, and APIs; data visualisation; data quality.
  • Open data innovation: the role of open data in public sector innovation; open data-enabled models of public service provision; government as a platform; making open data innovation sustainable; connecting open data and crowdsourcing; data and information literacy.
  • Open data evidence and impacts: impact on society and/or public administration; the value of real-life applications based on open government data; costs and benefits of providing or using open data; emerging good practices; public value generation using open data.

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

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

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

Managing e-Government Projects Track

The digital transformation of public administrations demands more than just technological innovation – it also requires profound organizational change, driven by effective internal management practices. E-government initiatives are complex, multi-faceted endeavors that require a holistic approach encompassing organizational change management, participatory design methods, strategic stakeholder involvement and management, and innovative project organization. This track focuses explicitly on the internal challenges and key factors influencing the implementation and management of e-government projects. It emphasizes the development of essential e-government competencies among operational and managerial staff, the formulation of effective organizational strategies to navigate the transformation process, and the establishment of sustainable and participatory approaches to steer projects of digital transformation and e-government projects.

Providing a platform for theoretical insights, practical strategies, and case studies, this track sheds light on the critical internal dynamics of projects related to digital transformation. It highlights the key role of internal human resources within public administrations while addressing challenges such as reliance on external consultancy, the evolution of new organizational forms, the leadership capacities of personnel needed, and the competencies required to successfully lead digital transformation efforts in an inclusive and participatory manner.

The “Managing E-Government Projects” track aims to analyze the current state of digital transformation and e-government from an internal public sector perspective internationally. It seeks promising scientific and practical results that can strengthen the organizational foundations of digital transformation. We invite researchers to submit their original work employing qualitative, quantitative and design-oriented research approaches. 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 to address the present issues holistically.

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
  • Critical factors influencing the organizational adoption and integration of new technological advancements in e-government projects in public administrations
  • Leadership competences within public administrations to strategically drive the transformation
  • Innovative approaches to e-government project management
  • The necessity of participative and co-creative stakeholder engagement in organizational change processes driven by technology innovations
  • Assessment and advancement of internal E-Government maturity models
  • ICT-driven organizational transformation and innovation
  • Developing dynamic capabilities tailored to the needs of public sector organizations
  • Sustainable transformation through effective knowledge management practices
  • Theory driven approaches to strengthen e-government project management in public administrations from private sector counterparts
  • Enhancing operational and managerial competencies within the workforce for successful digital transformation and e-government project implementation
  • Risks affiliated with the dependency on external competencies to successfully lead internal digital transformation in public administrations

Track Chairs

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

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 disciplines with a creative mix of reflective practitioners and researchers (cf. engaged scholars). In that context, EGOV-CeDEM-ePart 2025 features a track entirely devoted to presenting ongoing or future initiatives where reflective practitioners have a predominant role. Hence, the track, established for 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 a good 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.

Why should you submit to this track? 

  • You meet other practitioners that deals 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.

Track Chairs

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