ePart) 2009 - First international conference on eParticipation (ePart) 2009

International conference on eParticipation (ePart) 2009 - the first international conference dedicated to eParticipation research. Linz (Austria), parallel to and co-located with EGOV 2009 within the DEXA conference cluster.


The scope of the ePart09 covers the whole range of research in eParticipation. Its principal aim is to review research advances in both social and technological scientific domains, seeking to demonstrate new concepts, methods and styles of eParticipation.

ePart is dedicated to innovative and rigorous eParticipation research. It aims to bring together researchers from a wide range of academic disciplines. ePart provides the scientific community with a platform for discussing and advancing research findings, for networking among researchers, and for providing an environment for young researchers to enter into a community which deals with a highly complex and multi-faceted discipline of research.

The first ePart conference focuses on, but is not limited to, the following topics around eParticipation:

The Research landscape, directions and foundations
Research methods, method integration and techniques
Comparative analyses of eParticipation practices
Quality and impact of eParticipation projects
Inclusive eParticipation
Understanding online conversation and supporting deliberation
Representatives and eParticipation
Social networking and eParticipation
Cultural and normative differences in eParticipation
Education, training courses, and curricula
Governance and eParticipation toolbox
Policy modelling, simulation and visualisation
eConsulation, ePoling, eLegislation, eVoting.
The conference allows for four distinct types of submissions (see also submission guidelines):

Completed research papers
Ongoing research and innovative projects
Workshops and panels on pertinent issues
PhD colloquium submission.
The programme also includes a PhD student colloquium providing doctoral students with an international forum for presenting their work, networking opportunities and cross-disciplinary inspiration.
ePart originates from work conducted within the DEMO-net project, which is the European Union funded Network of Excellence on eParticipation (www.demo-net.org). Over the lifetime of DEMO-net, a vast amount of knowledge and research findings on eParticipation has been produced. DEMO-net partners and other experts in the field of eParticipation from different disciplines continue to advance research in this field. Yet up to now, eParticipation has only been a theme within other conferences such as in eGovernment, eBusiness and Information Systems conferences. With this first international conference on eParticipation (ePart), DEMO-net corrects that deficiency and supports the formation of this high-level scientific conference.

ePart is closely aligned with EGOV and the EGOV community. The organizers consider both conferences as sister conferences and have committed themselves to co-locating the two events in the years to come. Rationale for this co-location is that many experts belong to both fields of research (especially in computer science and information systems fields).

In its first year, ePart will be organized within the DEXA conference cluster. All accepted completed research papers will be published in "Lecture Notes in Computer Science" (LNCS) by Springer Verlag. Outstanding research papers from the conference will be selected for further development and publication in a special issue of the eParticipation Journal. Ongoing research and innovation projects papers will be published by Trauner Druck along with relevant papers of the EGOV conference.