The European Group for Public Administration (EGPA)
Permanent Study Group on e-Government

The 2020 Annual Conference of the European Group for Public Administration will be held in Budapest, Hungary, from the 1st to the 4th of September 2020. For this conference, the Permanent Study Group on e-Government requests abstracts for papers relating to: (1) e-Government and service performance; (2) gender and e-Government; and, (3) papers drawing on current research which is relevant to the interests of the Permanent Study Group.

(1) Joint Session: e-Government and Public Sector Performance

The 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) will organize a joint session at EGPA 2020 on the intersection between e-government and public performance. The rise of digital technologies offer new answers to old public performance challenges, but also generate new questions. For example: how do digital services contribute to client satisfaction?; does Big Data create insight or confusion about the performance of government?; can algorithms contribute to the effectiveness of government decision-making?; and whether e-Government enables or impedes the scope for professionalism in public services? We seek to have a broad discussion on 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. Papers may typically address the following issues:

• Literature reviews on e-Government and public sector performance
• Case studies of the impact of e-Government on public sector performance
• Innovative research experimenting with digital technologies and performance
• Critical analysis of the relation between e-Government and performance
• The e-Government performance paradox

Selected papers will be discussed in a joint session of the two permanent study groups at EGPA 2020. We will work towards a joint publication, such as a special issue of Information Polity, integrating insights from expertise in e-Government and public sector performance.

(2) Themed Session: Gender and e-Government

For EGPA 2020, Permanent Study Group I will organise dedicated sessions on the theme of gender and e-Government. Here, we are looking to explore a range of gender issues relating to the adoption and diffusion of e-Government services and related policy. Relevant issues include, for example: the extent of gender diversity in E-Government, how e-Government policy and services cater specifically for gender issues, the historical involvement of women in the development of computer systems, the effects of the glass ceiling and other discriminatory practices on effective ICT services, and whether e-Government practices produce gender specific outcomes. We invite researchers to submit abstracts for theoretical and/or empirically oriented papers. Papers may address the following issues:

• The current state-of-the-art in academic thinking on gender and e-Government
• Case studies of the impact of e-Government on gender related issues
• Critical analysis of the relations between e-Government and gender
• Historical accounts of the role of women in e-Government
• Mechanisms and measures for assessing e-Government impacts on gender
• The extent to which e-Government produces gender specific outcomes

For the themed sessions of the Study Group we are looking for theoretical, empirical and constructively critical papers exploring aspect of e-Government and performance, and e-Government and gender, with the intention of collecting the papers together special issues of the journal Information Polity, to be published in 2021.

(3) General Sessions: e-Government

As in previous years we welcome abstracts and papers relating to current e-Government research. Such papers may relate to the formation of public policy, service delivery, regulation and/or democratic processes They may also address directly the development of contemporary technological systems, such as smart cities, artificial intelligence or blockchain.

For those who are new to the Study Group, please note that it is not necessary to address the  Study Group themes listed at 1 and 2 above in your abstract submission. The Permanent Study Group is a podium for broad discussion about e-Government with a specific interest in the administrative, political and organizational aspects of service delivery, as well as information flows in and around government, public services and policy. Abstracts on other topics in the broad area of e-Government, ICT in public administration, e-Democracy, and on your current research in these areas are very welcome.

In recent years, papers have been presented at EGPA on a wide range of e-Government topics, including: smart cities; big data; technological regulation; privacy and surveillance; accountability; and, national and international policy and practice around e-Government.

Publication of Papers

We aim to bring a collection of papers, around the themes of e-Government and performance, and gender and e-Government, together for special issues of the journal Information Polity. We also encourage papers not relating to these themes to be submitted to Information Polity, and members of the Permanent Study Group have a strong track record of publishing in this journal, 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 review, the best paper from the conference will be fast-tracked for publication in Information Polity.

Further Information

Up to date information about the Permanent Study Group will be emailed to you directly. The EGPA-website (https://egpa.iias-iisa.org/) will publish practical information about the conference.

As in previous years, abstract submission is directly via the EGPA website. You are welcome to contact the Study Group Co-Chairs is you have any problems with this process.

During the conference, we will endeavour to organise our time so as to maximize our opportunities to reflect on and discuss the papers presented in detail. The EGPA Study Group on e-Government is dedicated to providing the strongest possible discussion forum for both established and new scholars and to give opportunities for scholars to present new ideas and have those ideas discussed and debated by their peers.

Acceptance

This is a call for abstracts. In keeping with Study Group aims, the Co-Chairs will be looking for abstracts that:

• show evidence of the arguments that an author will make in the proposed paper
• show evidence of innovative and creative thinking which is well grounded in theory or well argued
• Reflective/theoretical papers that may be related to the nominated Study Group themes (although this is not mandatory)
• Empirically based papers that highlight contemporary issues in e-Government Innovative case studies that critically discuss new e-Government initiatives.

Abstracts should be no more than 500 words long and include full contact details.

In all cases, there should be an awareness that the proposed paper emerges from contemporary debate and research within the sphere of public administration.

EGPA 2020 Conference Website - https://www.egpa-conference2020.org/

EGPA 2020 Conference Management System - https://www.conftool.org/egpa-conference2020/

Contact Information

If you have any questions about this, please contact us at:

Albert Meijer                William Webster
Utrecht University       University of Stirling
a.j.meijer@uu.nl         william.webster@stir.ac.uk

Key Dates

The following are the key dates to be aware of:

• Deadline for submission of Abstracts: 30 April 2020
• Deadline for notification to the authors: no later than 25 May 2020
• Deadline for online submission of full papers: 10 August 2020
• EGPA 2020 Conference: 2-3 September 2020

Papers should have a maximum length of about 8,000 words and should be submitted in PDF, Microsoft Word or RTF formats. We will be asking some lucky participants to act as discussants for each of the presented papers. Discussants provide a further stimulus to valuable discussion on each of the papers presented.

Please note that we are keen to encourage new and existing scholars in the field to contribute to the Study Group. The Group is open to new members and we would ask senior members of the group to encourage younger colleagues and PhD students to consider submitting abstract proposals.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions regarding the conference, the submission process and/or the Permanent Study Group. We look forward to hearing from you.

Albert Meijer
William Webster
e-Government Permanent Study Group Chairs