Track chairs

Claire Li, University of Roehampton, London
David Freeborn, Northeastern University London

Track call

Digital transformation is reshaping how public sectors interact with citizens, communities and wider society (Li 2026; Li & Freeborn 2025; Li, Du & Xiao 2025; Li, Razzaq, Irfan & Luqman 2023). From digital government platforms and data-driven public services to AI-enabled decision-making and online participation, information systems are increasingly embedded in public management. These developments raise important questions about how digital technologies change public service delivery, institutional practices, transparency, accountability, trust and public value creation.

At the same time, social networks and digital platforms have become central spaces for communication, participation and collective action. Networked relations shape how information circulates, how trust and influence are distributed, and how citizens connect with public institutions and with one another (Granovetter 1973; Castells 2010; boyd & Ellison 2007; Borgatti et al. 2009). In public sector contexts, social media and platform-based interactions can create new channels for transparency, participation and collaboration, while also introducing risks around fragmentation, exclusion, misinformation and uneven institutional responsiveness (Mergel 2013; O’Connor & Weatherall 2019). This track invites papers that examine the intersection of public sector digital transformation and social networks, particularly studies that explore how digital technologies reconfigure relationships between public organisations, citizens and society. We welcome exploratory, conceptual, empirical, comparative and critical studies using diverse methodological approaches, including case studies, social network analysis, qualitative inquiry and mixed methods.

References

Borgatti, S. P., Mehra, A., Brass, D. J. & Labianca, G. (2009). Network analysis in the social sciences. Science, 323(5916), 892-895. doi:10.1126/science.1165821.

boyd, d. m. & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210-230. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x.

Castells, M. (2010). The Rise of the Network Society (2nd ed., with a new preface). Wiley-Blackwell. doi:10.1002/9781444319514.

Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), 1360-1380. doi:10.1086/225469.

Li, C. (2026). Governance consequences of digital and commercial models in public services. In A. Stafford, L. Bradley, S. Pazzi, D. De Widt, P. Guven-Uslu, D. Yates, F. Gebreiter, J. Liu, J. Brackley, N. Hyndman, M. Liguori, C. Li & S. Russo (Eds.), Commercialisation of Public Services: Ongoing Issues and Implications for Public Value and Accountability. BAFA Public Services and Charities Special Interest Group. doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.32145631.

Li, C. & Freeborn, D. (2025). Exploring AI-powered digital innovations using the technology acceptance model: A transnational governance perspective. The UK Academy for Information Systems Conference Proceedings 2025. arXiv:2504.20215.

Li, C., Du, X. P. & Xiao, P. (2025). Revolutionising education: Leveraging AI to boost student engagement through constructivist and social collaborative learning: A study of Perusall. The UK Academy for Information Systems Conference Proceedings 2025, 25. https://aisel.aisnet.org/ukais2025/25.

Li, C., Razzaq, A., Irfan, M. & Luqman, A. (2023). Green innovation, environmental governance and green investment in China: Exploring the intrinsic mechanisms under the framework of COP26. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 194, 122708. doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122708.

Mergel, I. (2013). A framework for interpreting social media interactions in the public sector. Government Information Quarterly, 30(4), 327-334. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2013.05.015.

O’Connor, C. & Weatherall, J. O. (2019). The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread. Yale University Press.