The Smart Cities concept is the special theme of this years conference, as it is a focal point for a number of digital government initiatives: It requires state-of-the-art citizen interaction in mobile- and web-based services as well as a widely-accepted electronic ID. It also hinges on the availability of an Internet-capable infrastructure and the corresponding cloud services as well as the business intelligence to use the data stream for real-time decision making and adaptability. Finally, conventional eGovernment services still constitute the backbone of public ICT. The smart city can therefore be seen as a yardstick for the technological maturity of a society and its public administration. Beyond this focus, the conference as usual deals with the whole range of the latest developments in the fields of eDemocracy and eGovernment with a special focus on governance in the Danube Region. The volume therefore endeavours to contribute to the exchange of knowledge and experience in the field among the countries of the region.

Dona Scola, Information Society Development Institute