Call for Expression of Interest - ICEDEG Venue 2023

Background 

Due to the pandemic Covid-19, we canceled our scheduled conference: "ICEDEG 2020 - Seventh International Conference on eDemocracy & eGovernment - April 2021 (online)."

Instead, we are adapting to a new way of conducting our annual conference until this health threat is eliminated globally. This is based on the concept of blended conferencing. 

We intend to hold our 2022 international conference with a combination of physical as well as virtual modes. We believe that the topics and issues we are calling for this conference are critical and have to be selected in such a way to provide expert and scientific answers to the issues pertaining to these important factors:

1. Technology platforms of Information about what is happening regarding the health global developing situation due to the appearance of the Covid-19 pandemic.
2. Methods and strategies of e-democratic sharing of such information, identifying resources and practices that could have helped decision-makers from simple clinics to governmental bodies 
3. Global-governance recommended strategies suggested by lessons learned for future human risk mitigation (not limited to health only).

The Organizing Committee will issue detailed suggested themes, however, we welcome suggestions on particular themes that belong or contribute one way or another to the understanding of any of these factors.

ICEDEG 2023 Organization 

The Organizing Committee (OC) of the annual professional conference on electronic democracy and the electronic government is intending to organize the 2021 conference as follows:

1. Plenary Virtual Sessions 

• Opening: a virtual plenary session open to all participants from any country.
• Interim: a virtual plenary session open to all participants from any country.
• Closing: a virtual plenary session open to all participants from any country.

2. Conference  Specialized blended sessions 

• This is a set of up to ten sessions.
• Each session is dedicated to a theme and subthemes
• The organizers for each of these sessions will be called BSO (Blended Session Organizer). 
• A BSO is a small group in a country that would organize a physical session of a limited number of attendants (according to the regulations and practicality of each organizer) where experts and researchers lead this session, and opening up the session virtually to anyone who registers for attendance online. 
• The BSO will provide a summary report of the session in time after the conference. 
• Accepted papers will be processed by the ICEDEG organizing committee as planned irrespectively whether the presenter attending the session in persona or online.

Call for Expression of Interest 

ICEDEG is inviting interested academicians, professional groups, and societies who may be interested to become a BSO to organize a session of threshing ten sessions. The BSO is expected to do assume the following tasks:

• The selection of a limited audience is according to the discretion of the organizers. 
• The selection of the panel to invite for presentation. This will be done in coordination with the ICEDEG program committee.
• The ICEDEG will provide the technical platform for online meetings.
• The organizers are free to organize a side offline discussion of the session if they wish.
• A report after a week from the conference session, about details of the session, as well as all papers and comments, photos, or videos were taken. Also provides a summary of the results and recommendations if any.
• The ICEDEG committee will provide the cost of the session expenses such as any hospitality, media and photos and video recording, brochures and announcements hard copy printing, etc. This is decided mutually between the ICEDEG organizing committee and each accepted BSO committee before the session based on the financial suggestions of each BSO.

Expressions of interest should provide brief information as following:

1. A one-page summary of the session theme or focus that the organizers wish to focus on.
2. A brief description of the interested BSO such as the name, scope, and contact person of the organization or group interested to organize a session.
3. Any other information that the interested party likes to share with the organizing committee.

We welcome any inquiry about the idea of the session and its organization. Please contact the Communications Chair at Saleem.gz@gmail.com.

The Expression of Interest should be addressed to:

Dr. Saleem Zoughbi, Communication Chair,
Email: saleem.zoughbi@edem-egov.org | Saleem.gz@gmail.com

PD Dr. Luis Terán, Founder and Program Chair – ICEDEG

Email: luis.teran@unifr.ch