Symposium: Global Electronic Government Research and Practice Community Symposium
Leaders: John Bertot, Nitesh Bharosa, Yannis Charalbidis, Tomasz Janowski, Marijn Janssen, Theresa Pardo, Scott Robertson, and Hans J. Scholl

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF VALERIE GREGG

Symposium Program

The aim of this symposium is three-fold:

1. To present the progress in Electronic Government research during 2009 as seen through the outputs of major conferences and journals in the area,

2. To examine how research challenges identified during HICCS-42 have been addressed in 2009, and

3. To define a new set of challenges towards HICCS-44.

The full day symposium will bring together members of the global research and practice community on Electronic Government, providing a sense of direction to community-wide research efforts and focusing such efforts upon major challenges and problems of practical importance.

We are dedicating this symposium to the memory of Valerie Gregg, co-founder of the Symposium, long-time Program Manager for the Digital Government Research at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), and Government Fellow at the Center for Technology in Government, University of Albany, State University of New York. Valerie was a tireless and passionate champion of the Global Electronic Government Research and Practice Community. Her departure is a profound loss to our community.

The symposium comprises seven main parts:

1. OPENING – Setting the scene for the symposium, defining its rationale, aim and structure.

2. REMEMBERING – Valerie Gregg

3. SESSION 1 – Providing best examples of Electronic Government research in 2009 through the presentations of meritorious papers from selected conferences and journals by their authors.

4. SESSION 2 – Presenting major directions and critical lessons learnt from Electronic Government research, observed during 2009 through selected conferences and journals by their Program Committee or Editorial Board Chairs, with presentations in Session 1 serving as concrete examples.

5. SESSION 3 – Summarizing the challenges identified through the Electronic Government Strategy Workshop at HICCS-42 and examining if and how such challenges have been addressed during 2009, taking into account the examples and overviews presented during Sessions 1 and 2. What research gaps can be observed in view of the challenge-research analysis?

6. SESSION 4 – Carrying out the Electronic Government Strategy Workshop, in view of the newly emerging needs, evolving context for research applications in the area, and challenge-research gaps identified during Session 3, identifying or re-emphasizing research challenges for 2010. How to promote research in critical understudied areas towards HICSS-44, and beyond?

7. CLOSING – Summarizing what has been achieved by the symposium, capturing the state of the Global Electronic Government Research and Practice Community emerging from the different sessions, identifying the measures to further strengthen the community in 2010, and receiving ideas and expressions of interest to organize the next symposium during HICSS-44.

John BERTOT (Jbertot@fsu.edu) serves as Director of the Center for Library & Innovation (www.liicenter.org) and Associate Director for Research for the Center for Information Policy and Electronic Government (www.cipeg.umd.edu) at the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland. His research spans library and government agency technology planning and evaluation, information and telecommunications policy, and e-government. Bertot serves on the Board of the Digital Government Society of North America, and editor of Government Information Quarterly (www.elsevier.com/locate/govinf).

Nitesh Bharosa (nbharosa@yahoo.com) is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management at the Delft University of Technology. He holds an Master of Science degree in Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management from this University. His research interests include information quality, coordination and orchestration, particularly in complex and heterogeneous networks such as multi-agency disaster management. He has served as session chair during multiple international conferences including ISCRAM and HICSS and has acted as co-editor for the Information Systems Frontiers
journal. His work has been published in several journals including Decision Support Systems, Information Systems Frontiers and the journal of Cognition, Technology and Work. During the 2008 ISCRAM conference he received the Best Paper Award for his work on Information Coordination in Disaster Response Networks.

Yannis CHARALABIDIS (yannisx@epu.ntua.gr) is an Assistant Professor in the University of Aegean, in the area of eGovernment Information Systems, while also heading eGovernment & eBusiness Research in the Decision Support Systems Laboratory of National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), planning and coordinating high-level policy making, research and pilot application projects for governments and enterprises worldwide. A computer engineer with a PhD in complex information systems, he has been employed for 8 years as an executive director in Singular IT Group, leading software development and company expansion in Eastern Europe. He writes and teaches on eGovernment Information Systems, Interoperability and Standardization, eParticipation and Government Transformation in NTUA and the University of Aegean.

Tomasz JANOWSKI (tj@iist.unu.edu, Primary Contact) is the founder and head of the Center for Electronic Governance at United Nations University IIST in Macao. A researcher and practitioner in Electronic Government with keen interest in ICT for development and capacity building, Tomasz has led a number of research, development and capacity-building projects funded by Macao Foundation, World Bank, UNDP, Microsoft, etc., organized many capacity-building events in developing countries, and served as PC member and chair at numerous conferences. He has written on the topics of foundations and frameworks for Electronic Governance, tools and applications of formal techniques, and rigorous development of enterprise systems, particularly systems for the public sector.  

Marijn JANSSEN (M.F.W.H.A.Janssen@tudelft.nl) is an Associate Professor within the Information and Communication Technology section and Director of the interdisciplinary SEPAM Master programme of the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management at Delft University of Technology. He has been a consultant for the Ministry of Justice and received a Ph.D. in information systems (2001). He serves on several editorial boards and is involved in the organization of a number of conferences. He published over 140 refereed publications. More information: www.tbm.tudelft.nl/marijnj.

Theresa PARDO (tpardo@ctg.albany.edu) is the Deputy Director of the Center for Technology in Government located at the University at Albany. She is also a faculty member in Public Administration and Policy and Informatics at the University. Theresa has written extensively on a range of topics related to IT innovation in government including cross-boundary information sharing, trust and knowledge sharing, and preservation of government digital records. She has received research funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Library of Congress, among others. She was recently appointed as a senior adviser to the Informatization Research Institution, State Information Center, P.R. China.

Scott ROBERTSON (scott.robertson@hawaii.edu) is an Associate Professor
in the Information and Computer Sciences Department at the University
of Hawaii. He holds a Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from Yale University.
Professor Robertson is a senior member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and a Fellow of the American Psychological Society. His research interests include user studies of browsing for information about political candidates on the Internet, studies of the use of social networks in political decision making and attitude formation, and use of information networks for social activism.

Hans J. SCHOLL (jscholl@u.washington.edu) serves as an Associate Professor in the Information School at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA. He earned a Ph.D. in Information Science from the University of Albany, NY/SUNY and also holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from the GSBA Zurich, Switzerland. His research interests revolve around human-originated complex systems, in particular, in the contexts of technology evolution, information management, electronic government, organizational change, process change, business intelligence,
information systems success, and private-sector firm survival.