HICSS - 59 Digital Government Track
59th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
January 6-9, 2026 - Hyatt Regency Maui in Maui

International and Comparative Digital Government Studies

Description

One of the tenets in digital government research is the recognition that digital government is not an isolated technological artefact but an act of putting technology in the institutional, social, economic and political context and transforming both – the technology and the context – in the process. The context conveys the research problem or question, provides the data to address/answer them, and helps validate the proposed solution/answer.

While the national or sub-national contexts dominate, focusing on country-, state- or city-level policies, services, institutions and citizens, international and comparative studies are taking up. The reasons include: globalization and anti-globalization of technology, the influence of international organizations and international standards, problems/questions are shared and call for coordinated solutions/answers between countries, problems/questions concern relationships between countries, solutions/answers are transferred between countries, etc. Additionally, as countries face the challenge and risk of implementing their digital policies using highly dynamic and disruptive technologies, and managing the resulting social, economic and political change, their look to learn from each other to avoid making mistakes or even skipping early development stages altogether. They also seek to coordinate their responses to the growing international influence of BigTech on the national sovereignty and the rights of countries’ citizens and businesses. International and comparative digital government research is a tool in such learning and coordination.

This mini-track calls for the submissions of research work covering international and comparative aspects of digital government. We welcome exploratory, theoretical, empirical or applied research, originating in social, economic, political or multidisciplinary discourses.

The topics include but are not limited to:

  • Comparative analysis of digital government across countries
  • Cybersecurity strategies in international relations
  • Digital authoritarianism versus democratic governance
  • Digital diplomacy and global governance frameworks
  • Digital diplomacy and international negotiations
  • Digital government and state capacity in the digital age
  • Digital government in democratic vs autocratic or authoritarian countries
  • Digital government in developing vs developed countries
  • Digital government in different socio-political cultures and environments
  • Digital government responses to climate change and other global challenges
  • Digital government responding to democratic breakup
  • Digital identity and national branding
  • Digital solutions to leverage international and humanitarian aid
  • Digital sovereignty and national control over data
  • Evaluation of cross-border digital government initiatives
  • Evaluation of cross-border digital service delivery models
  • Geopolitics of digital government
  • Impact assessment of international collaboration on digital government
  • Implementation of international digital identity systems
  • International case studies on digital government
  • International coordination on AI regulation and safety
  • International digital services to migrants and migrant communities
  • International standards for AI in government and society
  • International cloud provision enabling public sector innovation
  • International data sharing frameworks in public administration
  • International digital government measurement and benchmarking
  • International organizations shaping digital government policies
  • International standards for digital infrastructure
  • National factors influencing digital government service adoption
  • Open data policies for international collaboration
  • Political economy of digital government
  • Public diplomacy and digital storytelling 


Minitrack Leaders

Elsa Estevez is the chair holder of the UNESCO Chair on Knowledge Societies and Digital Governance at Universidad Nacional del Sur, Principal Researcher at the National Council of Scientific and Technical Research, and Full Professor at the National University of La Plata, all in Argentina. She is also a consultant for IADB on the matters of digital government, particularly in Latin America. Previously, she was a Senior Academic Program Officer at the United Nations University in Macao and Portugal; Visiting Professor at the National University of Rio Negro, Argentina; Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland; University of Minho, Portugal; and head of technology departments in large financial and pharmaceutical organizations in Argentina. Her research focuses on digital government, sustainable development, smart sustainable cities, and citizen participation. 

Beth Simone Noveck is a professor at Northeastern University, where she directs the Burnes Center for Social Change and its partner project, The Governance Lab (The GovLab). She is faculty at the Institute for Experiential AI, School of Law, and in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, the College of Arts, Design, and Media, the College of Engineering, and affiliated faculty at the Khoury College of Computer
Sciences. She leads the GovLab's InnovateUS initiative, which trains public sector professionals in AI,digital and innovation skills. Previously, Beth served in the White House as the first United States Deputy Chief Technology Officer under President Obama. She served as senior advisor for Open Government for
UK Prime Minister David Cameron, and between 2018-2021, she served on Chancellor Angela Merkel's Digital Council. Appointed the State of New Jersey’s first Chief AI Strategist by Governor Phil Murphy, she previously served as the state's Chief Innovation Officer (2018-2024).

Adegboyega Ojo is a Full Professor and Canada Research Chair in Governance & Artificial Intelligence at Carleton University. Previously, he held academic positions at Maynooth University School of Business and the University of Galway’s Insight Centre for Data Analytics. His research focuses on digital and data technologies' role in government transformation, particularly examining ethical AI use in public services. He has led multiple international research projects, published over 200 scholarly works, and serves as an associate editor for three top digital government journals.

Tomasz Janowski is the Head of the Department of Informatics in Management at Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland. Previously, he founded and led digital government program at the United Nations University in Macau (2004-2014), was the founding head of the UNU Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance in Portugal (2014-2016), Co-Editor-in-Chief of Government Information Quarterly (2015-2024), and founder and coordinator of the International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (2007-2017). He led many projects in developing and post-conflict countries,
served as an expert for CTO, European Commission, IADB, ITU, OSCE, UNDP, UNESCO, World Bank, etc. and other international organizations, and published widely on the topics of digital government, sustainable digital transformation, and digital transformation for sustainability. 

Co-Chairs

Tomasz Janowski
(Primary Contact)
 
Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland and University for Continuing Education Krems, Austria
Email: tomasz.janowski@pg.edu.pl

 

Elsa Estevez 
Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina

 

Beth Noveck 
Northeastern University, USA
Email: noveck@thegovlab.org

 

Adegboyega Ojo 
Carleton University, Canada
Email: adegboyega.ojo@carleton.ca