Cedem Asia 2018

The International Conference on E-Democracy and Open Government Asia 2018 (CeDEM Asia 2016) follows the success of eleven previous conferences in Europe and three in Asia, and was hosted this year in Yokohama, Japan, from July 12th to 13th.

EGOV-CeDEM-ePart 2018 represents the merge of the IFIP WG 8.5 Electronic Government (EGOV), the IFIP WG 8.5 IFIP Electronic Participation (ePart) and the Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government Conference (CeDEM). The EGOV-CeDEM-ePart proceedings bring together the essence of academic and practical knowledge on e-government, e-democracy and open government, and e-participation. The peer-reviewed ongoing research papers, project descriptions, reflections and viewpoints, workshop and panel proposals, posters, and the PhD colloquium papers found in these proceedings capture the newest developments, trends, tools and procedures, and demonstrate the many ways that these impact society, the polity, and the economy.

This book provides a conceptual toolkit to understand the changing technologies and dynamics of political campaigning in India. Examining political campaigning and party strategies across many Indian states, with special attention to regional politics, histories, cultures, social and technological contexts, the book discusses the potential impacts of campaign strategies on electoral outcomes. Political campaigning reached a tipping point with millions of social media users engaging online with family and friends, political issues, parties and candidates in India’s 2019 parliamentary election. Although India’s political parties had been working with consultants and professional advertising agencies for decades, by 2019, millions of first-time voters as well as older voters were microtargeted with campaign messaging by parties and their affiliates, including frequent misinformation from unknown sources supporting one party or another. Filling a key gap in political communication research on election campaigns in digital India, the chapters in this book capture how political campaigning is important for the electoral fortunes of political parties in India’s diverse regions and states. This book will appeal to students, scholars, and practitioners in political communication, public administration, and political consulting, as well as anyone interested in data-driven political campaigning. It will also be an invaluable reading for those interested in South Asian studies. This book was originally published as a special issue of South Asian History and Culture.

The Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government Asia 2016 presents papers that cover the latest developments in digital governance and politics. The integration of digital information and communication technologies in citizens' everyday lives sustainably changes the interaction with governments. Politics already embraces digital and mobile technologies and government follows the example. These conference proceedings reflect on the impact of a permanently connected society on forms of governance and political communication. The CeDEM Asia 2016 brings together experts from academia and practitioners as well as representatives of business and policy makers. The conference provides a forum for transcontinental exchange and inspires the audience to consciously change and broaden their perspectives on their research.

The European Conference on e-Government has been running now for 18 years. This event has been held in Italy, Ireland, Belgium, UK, Slovenia, to mention a few of the countries who have hosted it. This year we are refocusing the conference to look more broadly at the area of Digital Government. The conference is generally attended by participants from more than 40 countries and attracts an interesting combination of academic scholars, public sector workers and individuals who are engaged in various aspects of Digital Government research and application.

Many East Asian states have undergone profound economic transformations over the last two decades. Singapore and Hong Kong especially have adapted to shifting economic and technological conditions by transforming themselves into ‘smart developmental states’. In these cities, the proliferation of digital technologies has given rise to new growth sectors and opened up new areas of political contestation within these early proponents of the developmental state model. Providing a theoretical and empirical discussion of the Asian developmental state model, the book assesses the evolution of the developmental state model, considers recent developments in the field and evaluates the development state’s continued relevance as a conceptual framework for understanding the politics of economic development. Focusing on digital and technology-enabled economic activities in Hong Kong and Singapore, the author explores the various policies that allow developmental states to stimulate economic growth, ensure organizational coherence, and engage businesses and other stakeholders. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of political economy and economic development in Asia as well as business professionals and other practitioners.

What are the key challenges facing our increasingly digitized democracy, and how might we as citizens contribute to resolving them? This book explores these questions, adopting a multi-disciplinary approach that combines work from media studies, journalism studies, and political science scholars, and draws on trends in countries including Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Egypt, and Indonesia. The book is divided into four main themes: (1) the impact of digital communication on politics and government; (2) the future of news and journalism in the network society; (3) the potential of digital media to enhance civic engagement and social inclusion; and (4) visions for the future of digital democracy.