Scope of the Special Issue
Whilst concepts and approaches associated with e-Government and the smart city appear to be focussed on delivering better services, they differ markedly, with the former focussing on the administrative and enhanced use of ICTs and the latter on creating an environment for innovation and radical new ways of using data, including data emanating from social media. The evolution from e-Government to smart city services implies an even greater emphasis on the use of data, which in turn is intended to lead to better policy and decision making, as well as enhanced service provision. Alongside this subtle but significant shift in the way data is used has been has been a transformation in the way services are conceived, commissioned, organised, delivered and governed, with a far greater involvement of the private sector and greater use of commercial data practices. The smart city environment includes a range of diverse stakeholders and partnerships, including public agencies, private companies, civil society, academia and individual citizens and consequently traditional governance practices are evolving

For this special issue, we are especially interested in papers that examine the ways in which these new smart city environments are governed and the ways in which smart city governance arrangements are evolving with the development of new smart technologies. Questions for consideration include:

• Are new forms of governance emerging around smart cities?
• To what extent are new governance arrangements dependent upon new smart technologies
• What is the impact on and experience of stakeholders?
• Do new governance arrangements include new forms of participation?
• How has the role of the private sector evolved?
• How has public policy and practice changed with the emergent of smart technologies?
• Have traditional concepts of transparency, accountability and stewardship been challenged in this new era?
• What are the barriers to delivering the effective governance of smart cities?

Introduction to the journal
Information Polity is a tangible expression of the increasing awareness that Information and Communication technologies (ICTs) have become of deep significance for all polities as new technology-enabled forms of government, governing and democratic practice are sought or experienced throughout the world. This journal positions itself in these contexts, seeking to be at the forefront of thought leadership and debate about emerging issues, impact, and implications of government and democracy in the information age.

The journal is dedicated to publishing work from two main sources: academic and practitioner. The journal publishes work from academics that is both of top quality and, equally, of high strategic relevance to practitioners. Secondly, the journal is intent on publishing work undertaken by practitioners – professional, administrative and political – who are actively engaged in the broad arenas of government and democracy, whether at local, regional, national or supra-national levels.

The journal promotes interdisciplinary work drawing from the wider social sciences (e.g. public policy, public management, public administration, political science, information systems, information science, media studies, philosophy, sociology, law, economics) and welcomes articles with an empirical, theoretical or conceptual contribution from scholars and practitioners throughout the world. The journal is both international and comparative in its perspectives and publishes articles on political, public policy, institutional, social, economic, legal, managerial, organizational, ethical, and wider social scientific themes and issues as they relate to the application of ICTs in government, governing and democratic practice.

Special Issue Guest Editors
The special issue is being edited by Albert Meijer (Professor of Public Innovation at Utrecht University) and William Webster (Professor of Public Policy and Management at University of Stirling).

Submission procedure and important dates
The submission procedure will follow the usual norms and regulations of Information Polity. The issue is expected to be ready for publication in 2019, based on the following timeline:

• Articles due: 1 March 2019
• Peer review results: 15 April 2019
• Final revised papers due: 15 May 2019
• Notification of final acceptance: 1 July 2019
• Publication: Issue 3, 2019

Authors are requested to submit their manuscript electronically to the journal’s editorial Management System (https://mstracker.com/submit1.php?jc=ip). The special issue title ‘Governing Smart Cities’ should be mentioned in the cover letter.

Please contact Albert Meijer (a.j.meijer@uu.nl) for any questions!

Further information about the journal Information Polity can be found here.

Further information about the Special Issue on ‘Governing Smart Cities’ can be found here.