II. Working Group on e-Government

Kristina Reinsalu, e-Governance Academy, Estonia

E-mail:kristina.reinsalu@ega.ee

Considering the prevailing topics and focuses of papers submitted and presented in our working group this year and before, we would like to emphasise three major topics in the Call for Papers during the years to come.

1. Topics related to outsourcing of ICT development and services in the public sector, which is nicely aligned to the general title of next year’s NISPAcee conference: "Insourcing and/or Outsourcing”. Case studies and analysis of planning outsourcing projects and the evaluation of the effects of different approaches are more than welcome under this topic.
2. Topics closely related to the first are open government initiatives at various levels of administration, which include collection, formalisation and provision of open data by public authorities, as well as the use of open data and co-sourcing/co-creation of services and solutions by private companies and NGOs or citizens. Specific examples or broader analyses are expected here.
3. We would also like to address the topic of cyberspace security, which is of constantly growing importance. To mention but a few, the following are some of the preferred topics: security issues on using public data; steps and measures for securing different online procedures, and the balance between addressing specific needs of target groups without violating privacy principles and requirements.

However, the working group is also open to presentations of other aspects of e-governance research or research within the neighbouring fields of m-government (e.g., m-services or apps for engaging citizens) and similar. The contributed articles may take the form of a case study, a report of cross-country or cross-sectorial survey or comparative analysis of showcases or policies, or a policy proposal or analysis.

For those who are planning to perform an evaluationof more traditional aspects of implementation, performance and impact of e-government and e-governance (e.g., provision of e-services/ e-participation via the Web pages of local governments) we have a proposal. Before beginning to develop your own evaluation methodology, we encourage you to take a look at the references provided here about any existing or used papers/methodologies and the catalogue of indicators:

This may not only give you new ideas and improve the quality of your research/paper, but also give you and us a good basis and perquisites for more substantial and credible comparative studies between NISPAcee countries.

We would also kindly encourage you to amend your abstracts and full papers with a short separate sub-section of practical points for practitioners which are related to the content presented in your paper, wherever possible. These sections should clearly highlight the practical value of the present research and its results, listing a couple of concrete recommendations for practitioners, typically politicians, as well as public administration employees and leaders.