Digital Government

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in government reflects the growth in the use of AI in the economy and in society generally. It is being driven, on the one side, by technical advances in a number of areas such as machine learning, neural nets, and deep learning and, on the other, by economic forces as governments strive to provide more services with fewer resources. AI offers enormous potential to boost efficiency and improve decision-making by processing large amounts of data and information that can help to, for example, identify welfare beneficiaries, combat fraud, and not only deliver better public services but also reduce the cost of delivering personalized and customized services to citizens. However, along with benefits, AI may pose risks to individuals, organizations, and society as a whole. For example, machines lack accountability, and there are opaque and proprietary software tools working outside the scope of meaningful scrutiny and accountability (the so-called “black boxes”) already being used to make decisions that can have fundamental effects on the lives of ordinary citizens. While many government agencies identify AI as a priority, the successful diffusion of this innovation has not been fully realized on a large scale.

The focus of this minitrack will be on both the current uses and potential uses of AI in government. We invite contributions on the adoption and implementation of AI in public organizations, its benefits and risks, as well as on the control, regulation, and governance of this technology. While we envisage papers in this minitrack being on the use of AI primarily in public administration, we will also welcome papers in areas and on topics within the wider public sector, including policing and health (although we will not consider papers related to AI in national security and the military). We welcome submissions with diverse views and methodologies. The goal of this minitrack is to promote critical discussion on the current status and future trajectory AI in government. Among the dimensions of AI in government that might be addressed are:

• The implementation of AI as a public management task
• The ethics and risk governance of AI and algorithms in public management implementation
• Linking AI implementation, evaluation and the political agenda
• The behavioral impacts of AI – e.g. on motivation, trust, etc.
• The impact of AI on policy development and strategic planning
• Comparative studies across different public service fields
• The role of organizational and/or institutional factors in the implementation of AI
• Ensuring the legitimacy of AI implementation
• Transparency and accountability of algorithm use
• The tensions between the legitimacy of algorithmic decisions used in frontline service delivery and the discretion of street-level bureaucrats when employing, assessing or overriding automated decisions
• Governance of AI
• Determinants of AI adoption
• Challenges of AI implementation
• AI and digital government design
• The integration of AI with existing information systems in the public sector
• AI and sustainable public management
• AI and public value
• Interoperability of AI systems within and across government agencies

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Dapeng Liu (Primary Contact)
Baylor University
dapeng_liu@baylor.edu

Lemuria Carter
University of Sydney
Lemuria.Carter@sydney.edu.au

Mila Gascó-Hernández
Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany – SUNY
mgasco@albany.edu

The cybersecurity aspects of government and critical infrastructures have become a hot topic for countries all across the globe. Information Technology has become pervasive in all aspects of our lives. The minitrack examines aspects associated with the security of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) used by governments and critical infrastructures and explores ways that IT can enhance the ability of governments to ensure the safety and security of its citizens.  Of special interest are systems such as industrial control systems, SCADA, and process control networks which control infrastructures that include electricity (Smartgrid), pipelines, chemical plants, manufacturing, traffic control and more.

Governments have also embraced IT to interface with citizens in a more efficient manner. Security issues have risen to the forefront as a result of data disclosures and identity theft incidents discussed in mainstream media. Other issues include intellectual property theft and criminal acts involving computers. Recently, the issue of cybersecurity information sharing has also risen in importance and much has been written and debated on this subject.

This mintrack explores research into pressing issues surrounding the intersection of cybersecurity and government spheres of influence. Whether technical or policy, from information sharing to new analytical methods of detection of insider threats, this minitrack casts a wide net to bring cross disciplinary thinking to problems with far-reaching implications.

This is a wide focus minitrack, if your research involves security associated with IT or OT, and has a government component, then this is its home. Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Systems for governments to respond to security events
• Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP)
• Cyber physical systems security
• Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and control systems
• Election Security
• Cybersecurity issues during a crisis such as a pandemic
• Information assurance and trusted Computing
• Information sharing
• Information security economics
• Information warfare
• Incident response
• New threats, including insider and nation states
• Digital forensics
• Privacy and freedom of information
• Security management
• Laws and regulation of IT security
• Security concerns of new technologies
• Cybersecurity in government disaster recovery and business continuity
• Case reports related to security experiences within government

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Keith  Harrison (Primary Contact)
University of Texas at San Antonio
keith.harrison@utsa.edu

Philip Menard
The University of Texas at San Antonio
philip.menard@utsa.edu

Greta Nasi
Bocconi University
greta.nasi@unibocconi.it

This minitrack aims to provide an opportunity and an open forum for discussion of different technological, socio-political, institutional, legal, and organizational strategies that inform the design, implementation, and management of digital reforms in the public sector. Specifically, this track seeks papers that discuss theories and/or present cases and empirical studies useful to better understand how different digital government policies and/or strategies can lead to successful digital government deployments, or, on the other hand, how different factors may lead to the failure of such projects. Papers which examine or discuss external or contextual factors that affect or influence digital government, such as the political state; organizational culture; institutional factors or normative arrangements are also invited. By digital government action, we mean both macro-level institutional design and micro-level collaboration and competition between diverse stakeholders.

Contributions to literature cover different areas and topics. New and emerging technologies, not to mention new thinking about public administration and government itself, often demand new ways of thinking and innovative approaches to frame these deployments. In the current global society, these new demands become increasingly important. Digital technologies provide in fact new opportunities and challenges for adaptive and agile governance, yet they have also impacted the way by which public administration’s processes and activities are structured and executed. Papers which address these challenges are particularly welcomed this year.

In addition, the minitrack welcomes contributions exploring the issues associated with the design, implementation, and management of policies and strategies that change the nature of the interactions between government and citizens, private sector organizations, and NGOs. Moreover, papers that discuss the political, institutional, regulatory, and organisational implication of the deployment of emerging and disruptive technologies are particularly welcomed. We invite papers on the following topics, but not limited to:

• Best practices for design, implementation, and management of digital innovation in the public sector.
• Cases of digital government platforms design, implementation, and management
• Design, implementation, and management of interoperability policies: legal, organizational, semantic, and technical layers
• Design, implementation, and management of ICT for development strategies
• Design, implementation, and management of ICT related outsourcing and insourcing in the public sector
• Design, implementation, and management of digital strategies
• Design, implementation, and management of digital transformation in policymaking
• Design, implementation, and management of E-Procurement policies and strategies
• Design, implementation, and management of ICT mediated co-creation and co-production
• Design, implementation, and management of ICT transparency, and accountability
• Design, implementation, and management of privacy and data protection policies and strategies
• Digital by default and its implications
• E-justice and ethics of emerging technologies
• ICT for efficiency and effectiveness in government action
• Regulatory challenges associated with ICTs deployments
• Public health versus privacy concerns
• Public policy issues in digital government
• Quantitative and qualitative analyse of the impact of digital government policies and strategies
• Socio-political, institutional, organisational, and ethical impacts of disruptive technologies
• Strategies to design, implement, and manage innovative technologies
• Examine the impact of digital technologies on the structure and execution of public administration processes and activities
• Discuss how the external and internal context in public administration and government is shaping digital strategies and deployments
• Impact on the digital mindset on governmental strategies and policies

We are looking for high-quality conference papers that adopt a wide range of approaches on content, case studies, or practical and theoretical models to advance the knowledge related to the design, implementation, and management of strategies and policies in the digital government context. The papers submitted to this minitrack must be new and unpublished.

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Francesco Gualdi (Primary Contact)
London School of Economics and Political Science
f.gualdi@lse.ac.uk

Antonio Cordella
London School of Economics and Political Science
a.cordella@lse.ac.uk

Kristina Lemmer
University of Applied Sciences, Kassel
kristina.lemmer@hoems.hessen.de

Information is among the key life-supporting essentials in a disaster response, as well as water and basic foods which are vital to sustain lives. Above all, the recent pandemics, environmental changes, geopolitical tensions have shown how information (about contamination, about root causes, about trust, about stocks, about science and progress) could be at the heart of the crisis management. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has, and will continue to profoundly change, disaster management in years to come. This, coupled with the impressive recent advances in artificial intelligence, offers huge potential for better management of crisis situations. Data and information management also guides us to build a disaster-resilient community which can adapt the society to those unexpected events. These issues should be tackled at each level of the governance (international, national, regional, local, etc.), and with regards to all relevant dimensions (social, technological, interoperability, agility, etc.).

The main objective of this minitrack is to focus on how technologies, information management, data sciences and artificial intelligence can contribute to support the role of governments and emergency management of public value purpose. It intends to address the serious challenges facing government in cities, regions and nations of the world relate to acute shocks (e.g. forest fires, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, pandemics and terrorist attacks) and chronic stresses (e.g. high unemployment, religious extremism, inefficient public transport, endemic violence, chronic shortages of food and water).

We invite papers that deal with any aspect of the analysis, design, development, deployment, implementation, integration, operation, use or evaluation of ICT for crisis management, and resilient communities, especially in the perspective of discussing the roles of government and governance structures. Papers may address any phase in the disaster management cycle: Prevention and mitigation; preparedness; alert; response; recovery; and post disaster. In addition, we support innovative and break-through visions regarding these topics.

• Government’s disaster preparedness – disaster management plan, business continuity plan
• Role, evolution and perspectives of governance structures for better crisis management
• Crisis management for all stages – preparation, prevention, response and recovery
• Early warning systems and situational awareness among key stakeholders
• Social media and Citizen/Volunteers engagement to disaster responses
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) based content management, disaster mapping and Crisis informatics
• Real-time data analysis for government’s decision making
• Vertical management of information (from very local to the highest governmental level)
• International disaster response collaborations including government organizations
• Disaster communications with government organizations
• Disaster data recovery regarding public information
• Functional and technological expectations for crisis management inside governmental organizations
• Government’s role in resilient communities
• Human Centered Sensing for collaboration and communication
• Privacy, security and ethical issues in crisis and emergency management
• Pattern recognition, triage and prioritization of assistance
• Case studies; theory and practice
• Advances in crisis management methods and practice
• Security and safety models for emergency management systems
• eHealth for disasters and emergencies
• Drones for disaster response and management and Disaster robotics
• Computational simulation of crisis situations
• Mobile ad-hoc networks for emergencies
• Ground security / homeland security
• Antifragility of systems and territories
• Decision making in uncertain and instable environments
• Standardization and interoperability issues in disaster management from an eGov perspective
• Resilience of socio-technic systems, critical infrastructure and network of infrastructures
• Emerging paradigms for disaster management
• Disinformation, misinformation, and fake news in (social) media and institutions

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Jaziar Radianti (Primary Contact)
University of Agder
jaziar.radianti@uia.no

Frederick Benaben
IMT Mines Albi
frederick.benaben@mines-albi.fr

Julie Dugdale
Grenoble Alps University
Julie.Dugdale@imag.fr

Elsa Negre
Paris-Dauphine University
elsa.negre@dauphine.fr

Terje Gjøsæter
University of Agder
terje.gjosater@uia.no

The traditional contours of democracy are being reshaped by digital innovations, where citizen engagement becomes a dynamic force, and where the very act of voting undergoes a transformative evolution. Researchers have been focusing already for some time on the adoption and implementation processes of different digital democracy tools, as well as to its impacts on democratic principles and potential for an inclusive participation. Even that, given the evolving nature of technology and the numerous ongoing democratic processes where it is being implemented, the field offers a large number of challenges that are still not covered. Transparency, accountability, security, ethics or trust management represent a shortlist of them. Moreover, the field of digital democracy involves many stakeholders that might influence the outcomes of its digitization process: malicious actors spreading misinformation, decision-makers in need of evidence-based knowledge, activists demanding different forms of political engagement or citizens expecting convenient forms of participation.

This minitrack aims to provide a forum for discussing the challenges arising from the different forms in which digital democratic processes are occurring, social participation and elections. Areas of focus and interest include, but are not limited, to the following topics:

• User experience in e-democracy platforms
• Diffusion of e-democracy
• Information accessibility and inclusivity
• (Dis)Information management and consumption in e-democracy
• Digital Literacy and Citizen Empowerment
• Impact of Social Media on Political Participation
• Trust and Distrust in e-Democracy systems
• Emerging Technologies use in e-Democracy (AI, XR, Blockchain, …)
• Human-Computer Interaction in Civic Engagement
• Cross-Cultural Studies in e-Democracy Adoption
• Impact of Information Campaigns on political Behavior
• Evaluating Digital Deliberation Platforms
• Technological transformation of democracy models
• Collaborative Governance in E-Democracy
• Governance of e-democracy
• Policy-Makers’ use of e-democracy and impact on policy-making
• Novel uses of e-petitioning
• Relations between transparency systems and e-democracy
• Dark side of e-democracy and critical uses

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

David Duenas-Cid (Primary Contact)
Kozminski University
dduenas@kozminski.edu.pl

Anthony Simonofski
University of Namur
anthony.simonofski@unamur.be

Uwe Serdült
Ritsumeikan University
serdult@fc.ritsumei.ac.jp

This minitrack provides a home for incubating new topics and emergent technologies in Digital Government research. Digital Government as an academic field has evolved and matured over more than two decades. While many subjects have become foundational, the field is also substantially shaped by ever evolving new directions of research and practice. The developments take place at the crossroads of different academic disciplines and in close connection to the practices in governments around the globe. This mini-track invites papers positioned in relation to the foundations of Digital Government and contributing to the evolution of the field, to clarifications and conceptualizations, or to addressing novel issues, innovative trends, and emerging technologies.

Submissions must specifically tackle the emerging nature of a technology or a specific topic and how the research presented builds new understanding. Submitted research needs also to relate to the central developments in the field of Digital Government. Topics and research areas include, but are not limited, to:

• Emergent technologies and Digital Government
• Digital transformation and agile government practices
• Digital identity ecosystems in Digital Government
• Digital Twins and other computational models in Government decision-making
• Large Language Models (LLM) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) in Digital Government
• Metaverse in Digital Government
• Design Science in Digital Government
• Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) in Digital Government: applications, legislation, benefits and risks
• Internet of Things (IoT) in the public sector: applications, regulation, social impact, security and data analytics
• Cross-border Digital Government / Interoperable Digital Government
• Business Process Management (BPM) and Rapid Process Automation (RPA) in Digital Government
• Ethics of Digital Government from theoretical and practical views, privacy concerns, and the right to know
• Participatory approaches in government such as co-creation, co-production, and crowdsourcing
• Potential threats from technology-enabled government and ways to be protected
• Legal implications towards Next Generation Digital Government
• Digital Government skills and competences
• Data sharing within the Public Sector, and beyond, including Private Sector and Civil Society
• Conceptual and practice-based boundaries and foundations of the field of Digital Government
• Other topics as appropriate to the purposes of the mini-track

The papers submitted to this minitrack must be new and unpublished. We welcome papers from different settings and sectors in digital government and look more for innovative and creative analyses than best practices. We also give precedence to strong conceptual and empirical analysis (both qualitative and quantitative) over descriptive cases or opinion pieces.

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Maria Wimmer (Primary Contact)
University of Koblenz
wimmer@uni-koblenz.de

J. Ramon Gil-Garcia
Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany – SUNY
jgil-garcia@ctg.albany.edu

Andriana Prentza 
University of Piraeus
aprentza@unipi.gr

Governments at all levels continue to promote, grow, and augment their digital engagement with the citizens that they serve. Through social media, mobile applications, online services, and other forms of digital services, governments are increasingly expecting that individuals will interact with them through a range of digital media and technologies.  This includes public policy-making (e.g., governance), government operations (e.g. emergency management), citizen engagement (e.g. transparency), and government services (e.g., information provision).

As the pandemic illustrated, there remains a significant divide in terms of access, know-how and infrastructure in terms of citizens accessing the internet and fully participating in society. This divide extended to engagement with government and associated resources and services. The pandemic, and the post-pandemic environment, has highlighted the disparities that various populations, particularly marginalized groups, and governments face in achieving a vision of digital inclusion for all.

As governments promote digital pathways for service and resource provision, as well as engagement, it is critical for governments to ensure that all citizens are able to realize their needs through inclusive design, availability, and accessibility. Digital divides remain, from access to sufficient technologies (e.g., broadband, devices, costs), the ability to use technologies, and the design of digital government services.  This minitrack focuses on digital inclusion within digital government services. The minitrack includes (but is not limited to) topics such as:

• Supporting digital equity efforts to engage underserved populations
• The development of inclusive digital government
• Longitudinal analyses of inclusion in digital government
• The role of digital literacy in use/non-use of online government services
• The use of digital government by immigrant, migrant, and displaced populations
• The use of digital government by indigenous populations
• The use of digital government by low-literacy populations
• The role of socio-economic status on the use of digital government
• Accessibility of digital government for people with perceptual, motor, or cognitive disabilities
• The role of government in the development of international standards for digital accessibility
• The role of community-based organizations or anchor institutions (e.g., public libraries, non-government organizations) in fostering digital inclusion
• Development and/or implementation of statutes, regulations or policies related to digital inclusion
• Developments in case law and policy related to digital inclusion
• Trends in comparative or international law related to digital inclusion
• The relationship between trust of institutions and use of digital government by diverse populations
• How digital-based voting impacts involvement of citizens in elections
• LGBTQ+ interactions with digital government
• Usability evaluation methods for testing digital government services with diverse user populations
• Impacts of the COVID-19 on the ability of marginalized groups to engage with digital government
• Research methods for understanding why diverse individuals avoid using digital government
• Inclusive design methods to involve diverse populations in the development of digital government services

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Elizabeth Vitullo (Primary Contact)
West Virginia University
eavitullo@mail.wvu.edu

Stephen Thorpe
Auckland University of Technology
stephen.thorpe@aut.ac.nz

Jonathan Lazar
University of Maryland College Park
jlazar@umd.edu

Open government entails governance based on innovative and sustainable public policies and practices, motivated by the principles of transparency, integrity, accountability, and stakeholder participation. The popularity of open government has been aided by a shift to digital platforms such as government portals, Internet, and social media as channels to share data, disseminate information, and seek public participation. These platforms have also played a significant role in making the government more accountable and in fostering policy changes through citizen and other stakeholders’ engagement. Overall, the practice of open government and public participation is hoped to foster greater transparency, fight corruption, transform government structures, and engender broader political, economic, and societal impacts.

However, the practice of open government is also faced with significant challenges. Open government initiatives and commitments often face countervailing forces. For example, initiatives that promote transparency, freedom of information, and the right to know must also consider security and privacy concerns. While the Internet and social media are great tools for data and information sharing, there has been a growing rise in misinformation, disinformation, and the potential for deceptive practices, which undermine the authenticity of data and information shared through these media. Furthermore, not all government regimes have a vested interest in open government. Some regimes will share data and make available only information that they are comfortable making public, and which does not undermine their self-preservation interests. Moreover, the potential for the data and information made public to be systematically distorted and highly favorable is elevated in this scenario. Nonetheless, open government can contribute to better policies and services, greater citizen trust, and, ultimately, stronger democracies in an increasingly complex information environment.

This minitrack aims to provide a platform for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to have discourse on the various facets of open government, including open government policies, practices, challenges, and impacts. Research that develops and/or explores open government frameworks and theories is welcome. Furthermore, empirical studies and case studies that examine short-, medium- and long-term impacts of open government under various contexts and political regimes are welcome. This minitrack also welcomes meta studies and critical literature review papers that provide frameworks for theory development on the topic. By examining this topic from multiple perspectives, this minitrack seeks to foster a comprehensive understanding of the broader impacts of open government on the functioning of political systems, the economy, and society. Topics for consideration in this minitrack include, but not limited to studies examining:

• Different types of open government initiatives around the world
• Freedom of information and the right to know
• Misinformation/disinformation in relation to open government
• Deception and systematic information distortion at various levels of government
• Public communication through social media/social networks
• Trust and information credibility in social networks in relation to open government
• Policy issues in relation to open government and the interplay between policy and openness
• Open government partnerships
• The role of public participation and engagement in governance and policy
• Drivers of open government
• Challenges of open government
• The political, economic, and societal impacts of open government
• Legal and ethical implications of open government practices
• Frameworks, case studies, theories, quantitative, and qualitative studies on open government
• Methods, practices, and approaches to assess the success of open government initiatives

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Samuel Otim (Primary Contact)
University of Washington
sotim@uw.edu

Hans Jochen Scholl
University of Washington
jscholl@uw.edu

Christian Schaupp
West Virginia University
christian.schaupp@mail.wvu.edu

This minitrack promotes academic engagement in testing and modifying existing theories and methodologies to capture rapidly changing reality. As an emergent research field that incorporates approaches from several disciplinary study domain as public administration, information systems, information science, and political science, there is a need to focus on theory and methods. In the multi-, cross- and even inter-disciplinary studies of digital government, theories and methods make up a key for valid and reliable studies that can guide sustainable and democratic use of digital government in policies and practices. These fresh perspectives are crucial for comprehending and examining the changing practices linked to the integration of ICT in the public sector.

The overall purpose of this minitrack is to explore the role of theory and methodology development in the field of digital government. We welcome submissions with diverse views on the role of theory and methodology development in digital government to promote critical discussion of the current status and new theoretical trajectories of the discipline. By exploring the theoretical foundations of digital government initiatives, these contributions will aid policymakers and practitioners in better designing, implementing, and evaluating these initiatives. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Fundamental Digital Government Theories and new approaches
• Methodological comparisons, conceptualizations and reflections in Digital Government
• The Role of Theory and Method Development and Theory Integration in Digital Government
• The Status of the Digital Government Domain (discipline, or not?)
• Digital Government Research Methodologies
• Theory and methods from digital government reference disciplines contributing to the development of effective digital government strategies and practices
• Multi/inter-disciplinary studies in digital government
• Normative theoretical approaches to digital government
• New theoretical frameworks drawn from various disciplines
• Application of new theories to the digital government domain
• Innovative theoretical frameworks to study normative and regulative challenges associated to the adoption of emerging technologies in the public sector
• Theory building challenges and opportunities in digital government research

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Antonio Cordella (Primary Contact)
London School of Economics and Political Science
a.cordella@lse.ac.uk

Magdalena Roszczyńska-Kurasińska
University of Warsaw
m.roszczynska@uw.edu.pl

Peter André Busch
Univeristy of Agder
peter.a.busch@uia.no

Elin Wihlborg
Linköping University
elin.wihlborg@liu.se

Cities and communities worldwide are undergoing major changes due to the increasing use of constantly evolving smart technologies. Challenges related to climate emergency, pandemic or refugee crises visibly increased the pace of ICT implementation in our living environments. The growing popularity of technologies such as artificial intelligence, sensing technologies, metaverse, chatbots, open data, big data, blockchain, and so on, have opened new avenues for smart governance in the urban and communities’ contexts, which requires continuous research in this area. Consequently, various stakeholders need to adjust to these new circumstances and embrace technological advancements to stay relevant in evolving local regimes. This shift towards digitalization, now a top priority for many cities and smaller local governments, holds the promise of enhancing citizens well-being and increase service efficiency, but also presents significant challenges at the complex intersection of technology and society.

A smart and connected community can be described as one that seamlessly integrates advanced technologies with the natural and built environments, including infrastructure, to enhance the social, economic, and environmental welfare of residents, workers, and visitors. Building on the idea of community informatics, smart communities are seen as facilitating citizen empowerment and enabling both individual and collective pursuits of well-being. As many point out, the technological development should not be a goal, but a tool to achieve better conditions for everybody, with citizens’ needs and preferences as driving values. The minitrack aim is to understand how new technologies can shape the wellbeing of urban citizens and governance processes within our cities to ensure they develop according to principles of democracy, equality, and social justice.

Although the literature is rich in references to smart cities and communities, the concept remains multidimensional and goes beyond the mere use of technology and infrastructure. Therefore, the ICT solutions should not be the only aspect taken into account when analyzing digital developments in our communities. Increased number of studies indicate that emerging technologies have a huge influence on social life, catalyzing new needs of citizens and transforming the way they are addressed, influencing people’s ability to exercise their “right to the city/community” and affecting social as well as environmental sustainability. City administration and community management, information integration, data quality, privacy and security, institutional arrangements, and citizen participation are therefore some of the issues that need greater attention to plan human-centered smart solutions and monitor social consequences of their implementation. Digital divide must be addressed as well, recognizing the existing mechanisms and affordances that result in an unequal access to smart city benefits.

This minitrack aims at exploring current developments in the field of smart development, paying particular attention to the social challenges faced during implementation of new technological solutions as well as to the community impact of these initiatives. Through this minitrack contributions we also strive to understand how new technologies can shape the decision-making processes, livability of local communities, and the well-being of its residents. Some of the topics we are particularly interested include:

• Impact of smart technologies on citizens and local communities
• Digital transformation as an opportunity or threat to the democratic processes
• Citizens’ rights to the smart city/community
• Typologies of smart cities and communities – different models of being smart
• Cases, rankings, comparisons, and critical success factors for smart cities, communities and regions
• Theory and practice of smart citizenship – technological competences vs. user experience
• Emerging technologies in smart cities and communities – artificial intelligence, big data, open data, sensing technologies, social media and networks, digital twins, metaverse, chatbots, etc.
• Expected and unexpected outcomes of implementing smart policies in cities and communities
• Elements, prerequisites, and principles of smart governance as the foundation to creating smart urban and regional spaces
• Smart cities and smart government – focal areas, current practices, cases, and potential pitfalls
• Impact of smart governance models on urban resilience and quality of life
• Management of smart cities and communities – theory and practice
• Smart partnerships (triple/quadruple/quintuple helix, public-private partnerships, and citizen participation)
• The role of digital technologies in the context of community livability, social sustainability and cohesion
• Developments in the field of smart services
• Urban-rural gaps in smart communities
• Building knowledge societies for smart cities and communities
• Smart cities and communities and their contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Minitrack Co-Chairs:

Anna Domaradzka (Primary Contact)
University of Warsaw
anna.domaradzka@uw.edu.pl

Gabriela Viale Pereira
University for Continuing Education Krems
gabriela.viale-pereira@donau-uni.ac.at

Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar
University of Granada, Spain
manuelp@ugr.es