DGO 2021 : Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research

The 22nd Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research (dg.o 2021) will feature the main theme of “Digital Innovations for Public Values: Inclusive Collaboration and Community.” Public values – such as efficiency, equity, transparency, privacy, security, trust, etc. — serve as the compass and goals for the development and implementation of digital innovations for public service. Recent developments in digital innovations — such as artificial intelligence, IoT, blockchain, social networking platforms, 5G, etc.— offer strategic opportunities for public value creation. These digital innovations are tools for us to solve monumental challenges facing our society such as pandemics, climate change, and sustainable development. More importantly, there is a return to focus on societal needs and values to guide digital innovations and to move away from technology push only for the sake of innovations.

Specifically, the conference aims to advance research and practice of public value creation via digital innovations by leveraging collaboration and community-oriented solutions in an inclusive manner. Collaboration can span the boundaries of individuals, organizations, sectors (public, private, and voluntary), and national borders in such forms as data and technology collaboratives, public-private partnership, and regional or global technology standards and policies. Communities can take on a virtual, physical, or blended form with a local, national, or global reach such as people’s local communities and our global community of the Digital Government Society (DGS). Community is also about taking a holistic (community-as-a-whole) approach to integrating digital innovations such as smart city and intelligent government. Inclusivity is about bridging socioeconomic and digital divides in governance such as inclusive civic engagement and e-participation. Inclusivity also entails openness, transparency, and leveraging digital means to engage community members for public value creation.