Abstract
An information and knowledge society creates its value by gathering, processing, evaluating, and sharing digital products and services. However, no citizens can be left behind in the process of introducing Web-based technologies to the administration, as this creates a digital divide. Representatives of the governments, international organizations, and universities should develop a vision for eDemocracy and eGovernment.
eDemocracy is defined as the support and enhancement of civil rights and duties in the information and knowledge society. Options for participation allow citizens to strengthen an open society. One option involves the inclusion of the citizens even in the early stages of the planning; improved information and discussion forums; barrier-free Web access in electronic votes and elections; and the formation of communities in different public sectors.
The term eGovernment covers information and communication processes between governmental institutions, private companies, and citizens. In addition, its focus should be put on the development of electronic services for taxation, social security, health care, enrollment in education, and job search, among others. Governmental institutions offer their electronic services not only to citizens but also to companies and organizations. In addition, the government uses Internet technologies to unify and improve the processes within its respective organizations.
The special section on eDemocracy and eGovernment (SIEDEG) is a peer-reviewed special section of IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computing . It covers technical aspects of eSociety, eGovernance, eParticipation, eDemocracy, eGovernment, and eHealth. The main objectives of SIEDEG are as follows: first, to generate and disseminate knowledge in the areas of eDemocracy and eGovernment, applied in the academic sector, government, and industry worldwide; and second, to discuss the regions transition to an information and knowledge society that will accelerate and enhance regional economic, social, cultural, and technological development and exchange.
SIEDEG addresses the main issues of public administration and electronic democracy with an academic and practical perspective. In this special section, 11 papers were submitted and three were accepted.
The first paper entitled “Who You Should Not Follow: Extracting Word Embeddings from Tweets to Identify Groups of Interest and Hijackers in Demonstrations,” by Recalde et al., focuses on group recommendations of users with the same political view and users they should not follow that are using hijacked hashtags. Authors use data collected from demonstrations, and their results show the effectiveness of the approach in automatically identifying hijackers as people they should not follow.
The second paper entitled “Preference-Enriched Faceted Search for Voting Aid Applications,” by Tzitzikas and Dimitrakis, introduces, analyzes, and evaluates an alternative approach for voting advice applications defined as preference-enriched faceted search. This approach allows users to prioritize their preferences, giving additional levels of transparency and information to users. In this work, the authors compare their approach with the questionnaire-based methods using different criteria for evaluation purposes.
The third paper entitled “Variable-Specific Classification of Zones, Pairs of Zones, and Clusters of a Spatial System via Modified Gravity Model,” by B. S. Daya Sagar, proposes a modified gravity model applied on the 28 states of India for the computation of levels of interaction between the zones and demonstrate this modified gravity model.
The accepted articles published within IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computing in this special section strive to stimulate administrations and politicians by applying information and communication technologies for the public sector.
We would like to thank the authors and the reviewers for their great contributions to this special section. Special thanks go to the former Editor-in-Chief, Fabrizio Lombardi, for letting us serve as guest editors. Additionally, we would like to thank the administrative team of IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computing for their guidance and support offered throughout the editorial process.