[AISWorld] 7th Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems (MCIS) 2012

[Gian Marco Campagnolo]

7th Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems (MCIS) 2012
Track : eGovernment in the Mediterranean Context and Beyond 

Track Chairs:
Nancy Pouloudi (Athens University of Economics and Business) Gian Marco Campagnolo (University of Edinburgh) Gianluigi Viscusi (University of Milan Bicocca)

Recent socio-political events, such as the twin emergence [1] of the deepest European economy recession since the 1930s[2] and the so called “Arab spring”[3], are setting the stage for both developed and developing countries to radically rethink the IT project for Public Sector institutions. On the one hand, less developed Mediterranean Countries are in the process of inventing eGovernment processes, often for the first time, within the context of renewed democratic state building initiatives. On the other hand, more developed countries are aspiring to re-invent the public sector in the spirit of greater efficiency, given the lack of resources. Against this complex setting, our current understanding of eGovernment, as depicted in the extant academic literature, may be challenged.

Diverse theoretical perspectives, different analytical angles and fresh empirical findings can help revisit, enrich and perhaps dispute the current models and frameworks for eGovernment study. There are several areas where there is already evidence that research and practice can benefit from further research contributions. For example, given their supposed potential for both creating efficiencies and strengthening citizens’ sense of democratic participation, web 2.0 technologies seem to play an important role both in developed, transitional and developing economies. In particular, eGovernment as the provision of electronic services to citizens is evolving towards a open government perspective that encompasses and overtakes both the ideas of e-democracy and e-participation. Thus, eGovernment asks for further investigation as the field of activity where policy design, social networking and regulation enabled or enacted by information and communication technologies take place. Similarly, it has become clear that alongside technical challenges, the success of eGovernment projects relies on appropriate political, organizational and societal conditions. Specifically, research in eGovernment needs to challenge the current understanding of eGovernment projects as purely technological, characterized by a “publishing” mind-set, aiming at the delivery of services to customers. Instead, we need to encourage research that highlights the relevance and complexity of regional and municipal contexts as well as citizen participation in eGovernment projects, with associated benefits and constraints. This need is particularly relevant in the unique socio-economic context of the Mediterranean Region.

In this vein, this track invites research and research-in-progress papers, posters and panels that bring to the fore the contemporary challenges of eGovernment research and practice. Submissions can include conceptual and review papers as well as empirical studies (qualitative or quantitative). Papers with a local or national focus in the Mediterranean region, as well as cross-country comparative analyses are particularly welcome. We would like to encourage authors to consider and discuss the new insights that their work brings to eGovernment research and practice. 
For example, what are the different ways in which governments (can) react to the challenge of re-thinking the IT project for Public Sector after the crisis?Topics of interest to this track include but are not limited to:	

adoption of eGovernment services in the Mediterranean Region;
case studies of eGovernment initiatives in the Mediterranean Countries;	
case studies on open data in eGovernment;
case studies of open innovation in eGovernment;
cross country comparative analyses of eGovernment initiatives;
digitally born eGovernment services (eGovernment services that do not just replicate offline services);
e-governance;
eGovernment and the digital divide enablers and barriers of eGovernment in different local and national settings; 
e-services and citizen trust; 
evaluation of eGovernment initiatives, from an organisational, political, economic and/or societal
perspective;
infrastructural innovation in eGovernment services (e.g. interoperability and integration);
infrastructures of information policy; 
initiatives of eGovernment invention and re-invention in the light of the recent political events; 
participatory experiences of citizen involvement in the development of eGovernment applications; •	public relationships mediated by convergence of new media; 
the role of IS in the modernisation and transformation of local government;
use of social media in eGovernment projects.

Endnotes

[1]http://www.monde-diplomatique.es/?url=editorial%2F0000856412872168186811102294251000 %2Feditorial%2F%3Farticulo%3D8ca803e0-5eba-4c95-908f-64a36ee042fd 
[2] European Commission, Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs, (2009) ‘Economic Crisis in Europe: Causes, Consequences, and Responses EUROPEAN ECONOMY 7’, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. 
[3] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/mar/22/middle-east-protest-interactive-timeline

Bios of track co-chairs

Dr Athanasia (Nancy) Pouloudi (pouloudi at aueb.gr) is Associate Profession of Information Systems Management at the Athens University of Economics and Business. She is the Region 2 (Europe-Middle East-Africa) Representative of the Association for Information Systems (AIS). Her research interests regarding e-government include issues of implementation, organizational and societal adoption and e- participation.

Dr Gian Marco Campagnolo (g.campagnolo at ed.ac.uk) is Lecturer of Science, Technology and Innovation at the University of Edinburgh (School of Social & Political Science). He has been actively participating to the establishment of the first Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems (MCIS). In 2008 he joined a national IT project on Interoperability and applications cooperation among Regions
(http://moourl.com/ICARsummary), covering issues of local IT development in rural areas. He does fieldwork in Italian Government Organizations, with an interest in the role of ICT in the long term public sector transformations.

Dr. Gianluigi Viscusi is post-doc research fellow at the Department of Informatics, Systems and Communication (DISCo) of the University of Milan Bicocca. Research interests concern methodologies for information systems planning, eGovernment, business modelling and IS strategy alignment. He has experience in strategic planning and eGovernment policy design in Meaddle East and Maghreb Countries. He is co-author with Carlo Batini and Massimo. Mecella of the book “Information Systems for eGovernment A Quality of Service Perspective” (2011,Springer Verlag).
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