dg.o 2019

The Digital Government Society (DGS) will hold the 20th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research – dg.o 2019, with a theme “Governance in the Age of Artificial Intelligence“.  dg.o 2019 will be hosted by the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (formerly the Dubai School of Government), Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 18-20 June, 2019.  The dg.o conferences are an established forum for presentation, discussion, and demonstration of interdisciplinary research on digital government, political participation, civic engagement, technology innovation, applications, and practice. Each year the conference brings together scholars recognized for the interdisciplinary and innovative nature of their work, their contributions to theory (rigor) and practice (relevance), their focus on important and timely topics and the quality of their writing.

THEME & TRACK TOPICS:

The 20th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research will feature the main theme of “Governance in the Age of Artificial Intelligence“. The growing applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are triggering numerous opportunities—as well as challenges and dilemmas—for governments worldwide. Traditional forms of service provisioning, policy-making and enforcement are changing due to the inclusion AI algorithms, mechanisms and techniques. The growing digitization of government operations, the universal datafication of societal activities, behaviors and sentiments, as well as the maturity and feasibility of big data techniques and applications have collectively laid down solid foundations for industrial-scale operationalization of AI across most governments and societal sectors. This year’s timely theme, builds on the dg.o 2018 conference which focused on governance in the data age. The rapid growth of the data-driven economy and the use of intelligent mechanisms result in rapid digitalization of government operations and the emergence of new governance structures. This datafication and AI revolution is boosted by growing smart cities applications, Internet of Things (IoT), social media, mobile apps, among other sources of big data.

Governments still face limited understanding of the multifaceted changes brought about by the advent of AI in governance. An increasing number of governments, international organizations, leading research centers, think tanks and global private sector corporations are coming together to explore these changes. However, there is a dearth of thought-leadership in the areas of policy, development and societal implications of AI. This knowledge gap is a key developmental barrier as many governments wrangle with the societal, economic, political and ethical implications of these transformations.

During the past two decades, the dg.o conference has been at the helm of the digital governance transformations. In its 20th anniversary, the dg.o 2019 conference will build in past themes to explore the fast maturing artificial intelligence drive embraced by an increasing number of governments and businesses worldwide.

Finally, the dg.o 2019 will be held at the MBR School of Government in Dubai, UAE. The UAE government has officially acknowledged the importance of AI in government operations, economic and societal development. For example, on the strategic level, the UAE government has issued the national “UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy”. On the organizational level, it has also appointed a “Minister of State of Artificial Intelligence”, a global first, who is tasked with coordinating the government’s AI efforts and driving the government’s AI agenda. On the global level, the UAE is also proactively contributing to the global agenda addressing the multi-faceted implications of these transformations. For example, the government has recently introduced its “Fourth Industrial Revolution” agenda and took the lead on putting together a council to address the manifestations of the fourth industrial revolution and its impact on society and economy, it is leading a global blockchain council, while convening a global AI expert group of practitioners and thought-leaders. These developments align well with the conference theme, and will increase the impact of the knowledge created during the conference on policy, whether through the tracks, workshops, submission, and discussions.