CALL FOR PAPERS DEADLINE EXTENDED TO 23 MAY 2022

The 2022 Annual Conference of the European Group for Public Administration will be held in Lisbon, Portugal from 13th to 16th September 2022. The Conference is being organised by the European Group for Public Administration and INA - Portugal. For this conference, the Permanent Study Group on e-Government requests: (1) abstracts for papers relating to the themed session of e-Government and sustainable development goals; (2) abstracts for papers for the joint session on e-Government and public sector performance; and, (3) abstracts for the general sessions drawing on current research which is relevant to the interests of this Permanent Study Group.

1. Themed Session: e-Government and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) recently developed by the United Nations (UN) are shaping policy, practice and research. The 17 SDGs, detailed in 169 targets, aim to link separate goals of sustainable development across different fields into a unitary vision, with a view to move beyond individual activity to a coherent system integrating individuals and institutions within the framework of the Agenda for the Sustainable Development 2030.  Digitalization is potentially an integral part of this process, in that e-Government can act as enabler to sustainability, equity and social inclusion, and because it represents a cross-cutting objective across several SDGs, at both sectoral and horizontal levels.  The focus of the SDGs on core values, such as efficiency, equity, transparency, privacy, security and trust, are all themes embedded in digital government policies and practices. E-Government, as a set of practices and a field of study, offers the potential to help realise the emergent values intended to underpin SDGs.

For the themed session of this Study Group we invite contributions examining the potential benefits and challenges of e-Government in supporting the achievement of SDGs and the role of digital technologies to sustain policy developments, including the impact on democratic innovation and institutional reforms of governance systems.  As the sustainability agenda gains traction globally, there is an increasing need for original, rigorous, and theoretically-informed research on how e-Government can support or hinder SDGs.  We invite studies on the design, implementation and evaluation of digital government initiatives that relate to SDGs. We invite researchers to submit abstracts for theoretical and/or empirically oriented papers that may address any of the following issues:

• SDGs in e-Government policy, design, and implementation;
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) in e-Government and SDGs;
• The Internet of Things (IoT) in e-Government and SDGs;
• E-Government policies and practices relating to SDGs;
• E-Government infrastructure and technology supporting SDGs;
• E-Government and climate change;
• Smart cities and SDGs;
• The role of E-Government in achieving organisational and societal sustainability; and
• Impact of technology on democracy and ethical aspects of AI in relation to SDGs.

For the themed session of the Study Group we are looking for theoretical, empirical and critical papers exploring aspects of e-Government and sustainable development goals. Our intention is to publish the papers as a special issue of the journal Information Polity.

2. Joint Session on e-Government and Public Sector Performance

Permanent Study Group I on e-Government and Permanent Study Group II on Public  Sector Performance and its Future Challenges (formerly Performance and Accountability in the Public Sector) have agreed to organize a joint session at EGPA 2022 on the intersection between e-Government and public performance.

This joint session will explore, how the rise of new digital technologies has offers new solutions to traditional public performance challenges, but at the same time generated new issues, concerns and questions. For example, how do digital services contribute to client satisfaction? Does Big Data create more insight or confusion about the performance of government? Can algorithms contribute to the effectiveness of government decision-making processes? Does e-Government enable or impede the scope for professionalism in public services?

Here, the intention is to facilitate a broad discussion about the presumed contribution of the use of new technologies in government organizations to the ‘performance’ of the public sector. We invite researchers to submit both theoretical and empirical papers on this theme. Papers can address any of the following issues:

• State-of-the-art academic thinking and literature reviews of e-Government and public sector performance;
• Case studies of the impact and consequences of e-Government on public sector performance;
• Innovative research designs experimenting with digital technologies and public sector performance;
• Critical analysis of the relationship between e-Government and public sector performance;
• An assessment of the e-Government performance paradox; and
• Measures of public sector performance relating to e-Government.

Selected papers will be discussed in a joint session of the two Permanent Study Groups at EGPA 2022. We will work towards a joint publication, such as a special issue of the journal Information Polity (or similar), integrating insights from both experts in e-Government and public sector performance.

3. General Sessions: Papers on e-Government

For those who may be new to the Study Group, please note that it is not necessary to address the themes set out above in your submission. This Permanent Study Group is a podium for broad discussion about e-Government with a specific interest on the administrative, political and organizational aspects of service delivery, as well as information flows in and around government, public services and policy. Papers on other topics in the broad area of e-Government, ICT in public administration and e-democracy are very welcome. In recent years, papers have been presented on a diverse range of topics, including: smart cities, big data, governance and regulation, privacy and surveillance, social media, accountability and trust, public policy, and national and international policy and practice around e-government, etc. We are also keen to encourage papers which explore innovate methods in the study of e-Government and those that set out and assess novel technological applications.

Publication of Papers

We aim to publish a collection of papers, around the theme of e-Government and inclusion, as a special issue of the journal Information Polity. Papers not relating to this theme may also be published in Information Polity, as well as in other academic journals such as the Electronic Journal of e-Government and in the International Review of Administrative Sciences. Subject to editorial and peer review, the best paper from the conference will be fast-tracked for publication in Information Polity.

Information Polity URL: https://informationpolity.com

Up to date information on the Study Group, as it becomes available, will be mailed to you directly. The conference website can be found at:

EGPA 2022 Conference website, URL: https://www.egpa-conference2022.org/

EGPA 2022 Conference Management System, URL: https://www.conftool.org/egpa-conference2022

Submissions should preferably be uploaded directly to the EGPA site, but if you are having problems with the EGPA site you can mail your abstract directly to either of the Study Group Co-Directors below.

As in previous years, we will try to organise our time so as to maximize opportunities to reflect on and discuss papers in depth. The EGPA Study Group on e-Government is dedicated to providing the strongest possible discussion forum for both established and new scholars in this field, and to give a good opportunity for scholars to present new ideas and have those ideas discussed and debated by their peers.

Acceptance

This call is for abstracts. In keeping with the aims of the Study Group, the co-Chairs will be looking for a number of key features in the proposed papers. These features are as follows:

• Abstracts should have a  succinct and relevant title
• Abstracts should include author affiliations and contact details;
• Abstracts should be no longer than 500 words in length;
• Abstracts should be submitted in Microsoft Word, PDF or RTF formats;
• Abstracts should cover the main line of argument to be explored in the full paper;
• Abstracts should show evidence of innovative and creative thinking which is well grounded in theory or well argued;
• Abstracts should indicate whether the proposed paper is theoretical and/or empirical in orientation;
• Abstracts should relate the proposed paper to contemporary discourse in e-Government;

In all cases, there should be evidence that the proposed paper emerges from contemporary debates within the sphere of public administration  and e-Government, broadly defined.

Practicalities
Important dates:

• Deadline for submission of Abstracts: 30 April 2022 - Extended to 23 May 2022
• Deadline for notification to the authors: no later than 6 June 2022
• Deadline for online submission of full papers: 22 August 2022
• EGPA 2022 Conference: 6-9 September 2022

For any questions regarding EGPA 2022, please contact us at: f.maron@iias-iisa.org

Co-chairs of Permanent Study Group I

Professor Albert Meijer, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, E-mail: a.j.meijer@uu.nl 

Professor William Webster, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK, E-mail: william.webster@stir.ac.uk