[AISWorld] Fwd: Call for papers: Blockchain-based Applications for Information Sharing and Management in e-Government

[Svein Ølnes]

Dear researcher,

As Topic Editors for Frontiers in Blockchain's "Blockchain-based
Applications for Information Sharing and Management in e-Government
<https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/19196/blockchain-based-applications-for-information-sharing-and-management-in-e-government>"
we invite you to submit your research within the topic (see CfP text
below). Ideally, we should have the abstract within April 30th and a full
paper within the 21st of July this year.

We hope the topic is interesting to you and that we can publish more
research in this important area and application of blockchain technology.

Best regards,
Svein Ølnes, Western Norway Research Institute
- on behalf of the Topic Editors


*About the topic*

In the past years, researchers and practitioners have highlighted the
potential of Blockchain Technology (BCT) and distributed ledger technology
(DLT) to revolutionize government processes. Transactions and information
exchange between governmental organizations (G2G), between business and
government (B2G), as well as between governments and citizens (G2C), can be
transformed by using blockchain-based applications. These applications can
benefit stakeholders by improving the efficiency of information exchanges
(e.g. leading to less fraud and fewer mistakes than paper-based
registrations) and can contribute more widely to an inclusive society (e.g.
by means of secure and user-controlled digital identities, access to data
for all, rule of law and at the same time privacy protection). All papers
should include detailed consideration of how the work contributes to
‘good’, and for whom.

BCT offers the opportunity to organize information exchange and retrieval
between multiple government agencies on the one hand and with other
organizations on the other hand: with private organizations, NGO’s, but
also with citizens. These processes relate to information exchange at
different levels of government, be it national, federal, provincial or at a
municipal level. Blockchain-based applications can be an efficient and
effective way to deliver government services by means of breaking down
centralized information silos that exist between these organizations.
Subsequently, BCT has the potential to create secure and immutable data
processes that support services delivery in all kinds of governmental
processes: land registry, identities, permits, procurements, taxation,
health care provision, simplified access to data, maintaining a history of
all transactions, data protection etc.

Digital innovations for information sharing and management in e-government
require solid analysis of extant information architectures, processes and
involved stakeholders to design the necessary digital innovation.
Governmental organisations need a thorough understanding of the blockchain
design principles, the possible applications in the domain of e-government
and the exploration of governance mechanisms to deal with the limitations
and challenges of the BC technology. Governance of blockchain technology is
important for its use in both the public sector and the private sector.
Governance can also be *of* the technology, which will typically be a
responsibility for governments, and *by* the technology, which will concern
both public and private sectors.

Case studies can contribute to this understanding and illustrate the
potential of blockchain in G2G, B2G and C2G processes, highlighting the
benefits it brings to transactions and information exchange in these
contexts. We welcome original research papers, (literature) review papers
and case-oriented papers that address the design and implementation of
blockchain-based applications for information sharing and management in
e-government. Submissions are preferably linked to empirical use cases,
demonstrations, and evaluations of applications, and all papers should
consider and emphasize for whom the use of these applications creates
benefit or value.

This Research Topic seeks papers that cover (but are not limited to) the
following topics in the domain of e-government:

• Use cases in a diversity of domains for B2G and G2G information exchange
• Building BCT-based platforms and infrastructures
• Interoperability issues: communication and cooperation between blockchain
networks
• Standardization for blockchain architectures for public services
• Scalability of blockchain-based applications in public sector
• Legal aspects of smart contracts in public services delivery
• The role of Self-Sovereign Identities and its legal aspects
• Quality of data to address the garbage in/garbage out problem
• Governance and control in practice, including related legal issues of
decentralized applications
• Organizational and institutional factors in the adoption and deployment
of blockchain platforms and applications

Keywords: Blockchain Technology, Digital Government, Information Sharing,
Public Service Delivery, Interoperability, Standardization, Governance

*Important Note*: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within
the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as
defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide
an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any
stage of peer review.