dg.o 2007

8th Annual International Digital Government Research Conference

Bridging Disciplines & Domains

May 20-23, 2007

Sheraton Society Hill, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Call for Papers

The International Conference on Digital Government Research is a forum for the presentation and discussion of interdisciplinary research on digital government and its applications in diverse domains. Interested participants are invited to submit research papers as well as proposals for panels, system demonstrations, posters, and pre-conference tutorials and workshops. Each year the conference focuses on:

• Research on digital government as an interdisciplinary domain that “encompasses inquiry at the intersections of computing research, social, political, and behavioral science research, and the problems and missions of government agencies.” (US National Science Foundation, 2005)

• Unique partnerships of university research and government professionals.

The Conference Committee particularly encourages interdisciplinary and cross-cutting submissions. Best paper awards will be given to those papers selected as most fully representing the interdisciplinary and cross-cutting nature of exemplary digital government research. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Social Science Research and Citizen Interactions: digital democracy and governance; government processes and decision-making; organization and management; public policy issues and implications.  Public values such as privacy and trust; e-participation in democratic processes; digital divide, transparency and usability; universal access to information and services.

• Computer Science and Information Technology Research to Support Government: Collaboration tools; cyberinfrastructure for digital government domains; digital libraries and knowledge management; geographic information systems; information integration; interoperable data, networks and architectures; large scale data and information acquisition and management; human-computer interaction; multiple modalities and multimedia; software engineering for large-scale government projects; service-oriented architectures; technology transition and transfer; the semantic web; grid computing.

• IT-Enabled Government Operations and Government Application Domains: Case studies or evaluation of information technology adoption and diffusion in government; IT tools for government planning; integration of data and services; long-term preservation and archiving of government information; security, privacy, and information assurance, criminal justice , law enforcement, and courts; crisis management, education, emergency response, and security; ecosystems informatics (for ecological research or natural resources management or policy); electronic grants administration; electronic rulemaking; government statistics; national infrastructure for community statistics; health and human services; legislative systems, national and international digital government efforts and cooperation; transportation systems & urban planning.

Important dates

Submissions types and formats

• Research Papers (maximum of 10 pages).
• Student Research Papers (maximum of 10 pages).
• Panels (maximum of 5 pages).
• Birds-of-a-Feather Sessions (maximum of 2 pages).
• System Demonstrations (maximum of 2 pages).
• Posters (maximum of 2 pages).
• Pre-conference Tutorials (maximum of 2 pages).
• Pre-conference  Workshops (maximum of 2 pages).

Submissions must not exceed the maximum number of pages specified for each type of submission. Please use no page numbers. Paper headers should be incorporated onto the first page of text rather than on a separate cover page and include only the paper title.  Papers will be reviewed through a double blind review process. Therefore, author names and contact information must be removed from all submissions.

All submissions must follow file format requirements of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Proceedings: http://www.acm.org/sigs/pubs/proceed/template.html  Please note the textbox containing the permission statement appearing in the bottom left hand corner of the first page should NOT be included.  Authors will retain the copyright to accepted papers.  As part of including accepted papers in the conference program, we will ask authors when they submit final copy to grant permission to include the paper in the hardcopy conference proceedings, in the ACM Digital Library, and on the Digital Government Society web site.

Copyright Information

Authors will retain the copyright to accepted papers. ACM requires that we obtain formal permission to include the dg.o 2007 proceedings in the ACM Digital Library. By submitting a final version of the paper, you agree that the Conference Committee may include your paper in hardcopy form in the dg.o 2007 proceedings and in electronic form at the Digital Government Society of North America site and in the ACM Digital Library. However, if you do not submit a signed ACM copyright form, we will be unable to include your paper in the conference proceedings. Since you will retain the copyright, you are free to post your paper electronically at other venues or make use of it in further publications.

For the ACM Digital Library, please download the ACM Copyright Permission Form, provide all requested information, and fax the signed copyright form to Program Co-Chair Marijn Janssen (Delft University of Technology, Netherlands) at +31-15-2783741. Alternately, you can email a PDF of the signed copy to Marijn Janssen. If you have trouble faxing to the Netherlands or cannot email a signed copy, please contact Marijn to work out an alternative arrangement.

Research papers (maximum of 10 pages).
These submissions report innovative digital government research results, in the form of a formal scholarly paper. Relevance to digital government must be made explicit. Authors must identify the research topic(s) being addressed by the paper to assist the program committee in the review process.

Student research papers (maximum of 10 pages).
Digital government research papers authored solely by students should be submitted to this track. Student papers will also receive a double blind review organized and administered by the student program committee.

Panels (maximum of 5 pages). 
Proposal should include the goal of the panel, a summary of the digital government issues or questions the panel will address, and statements about the value of the discussion to conference attendees and how well suited the topic is to a panel discussion.  In addition, the proposal should include information about the expertise of the moderator and panelists in the selected issues and questions.  Please include names, institutional affiliations, addresses, email and phone numbers of the contact person, moderator and panelists.

Pre-conference Tutorials (maximum of 5 pages).
dg.o tutorials are half- or full-day presentations offering deeper insight into the scientific and government domains, research topics or methods, technologies or field experience of veteran digital government researchers and practitioners.  Each conference registration includes one tutorial or workshop.

Pre-conference Research Workshop (maximum of 5 pages).
The dg.o Program Committee invites proposals on any topic of shared interest among digital government researchers.  Individuals proposing workshops will assume the responsibility of identifying and selecting participants for the workshop and for conducting workshop activities.  Each conference registration includes one tutorial or workshop.

Birds-of-a-Feather (maximum of 2 pages).
Birds-of-a-Feather discussions provide an opportunity for participants to connect around selected topics. Proposals should identify the conveners, the target audience, and key discussion questions.

System Demonstrations (maximum of 2 pages).
System demonstrations are held concurrently with the poster session to the accompaniment of good food and professional fellowship. The submissions should outline the nature of the system and describe why the demonstration is likely to be of interest to dg.o attendees. Demonstrations of interest include systems under development or in active use in research or practice domains.  Submissions should be in camera-ready format - following the format requirements of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Proceedings.  Submissions should include authors' names and contact information according to that format.  All accepted submissions will appear in the proceedings, and authors are expected to present their work at the poster/demo session at the conference.  Each station is provided a table, an easel, and Internet access.  Monitors will be available for rent. Selected demo and poster submissions may be asked to give an oral presentation in the research sessions. 

Posters (maximum of 2 pages).
The poster session, held in conjunction with the system demonstrations are meant to describe research contributions less substantial or complete than those described in research papers. The submission should outline the nature of the research and describe why the work will be of interest to dg.o attendees.  Submissions should be in camera-ready format - following the format requirements of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Proceedings.  Submissions should include authors' names and contact information according to that format.  All accepted submissions will appear in the proceedings, and authors are expected to present their work at the poster/demo session at the conference.  Posters prepared for the conference should measure approximately 36" x 48." Each poster station is provided a table and an easel. Selected demo and poster submissions may be asked to give an oral presentation in the research sessions. 

For more information

To receive updates about the conference as they become available, please subscribe to dgOnline, the newsletter of the Digital Government Society of North America (DGSNA).

General Conference Co-Chairs
Judith Bayard Cushing, The Evergreen State College,
Theresa Pardo, University at Albany/SUNY

Program Co-Chairs
AlanBorning, University of Washington
Marijn Janssen, Delft University of Technology

System Demonstration and Poster Session Co-Chairs
J. Ramon Gil-Garcia, University at Albany/SUNY
Soon Ae Chun, City University of New York

Student Chair
Travis Kriplean, University of Washington

Panel Chair
Nancy Wiegand, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Tutorial and Workshop Chair
Laura Steinberg, Southern Methodist University

Finance Chair
Yigal Arens, University of Southern California,

Government Liaison
Lawrence Brandt, National Science Foundation

Liaison to the Digital Government Society of North America
Sharon Dawes, Center for technology in Government