This LNCS conference set constitutes the proceedings of the 24th IFIP WG 8.5 International Conference on Electronic Government, EGOV 2025, in Krems, Austria, held during August 31–September 4, 2025. The 25 full papers presented were carefully selected from 116 submissions. They were categorized under the topical sections as follows: E-Government and E-Governance; Emerging Issues and Innovations; Open Data; Smart Cities; AI, Data Analytics and Automated Decision-Making.

Implementing Automated Decision-Making (ADM) systems in public administrations raises several tensions: between efficiency and ensuring fair decisions, between public transparency and individual privacy, and between standardization and discretion. To develop legitimate ADM systems that balance these tensions, we need to better understand the phenomenon on the societal, organizational and individual levels. To this end, we conduct a multidisciplinary literature review with the analysis utilizing Coleman's macro-micro model of social action, in which individual attitudes and actions relevant to ADM are related to ADM social structures and outcomes. We develop an ADM framework that captures and conceptualizes these macro-micro relationships and use this framework to identify gaps in research and motivate a research agenda. Our results also reveal a changing decision space between public officials and citizens that, if well investigated, may facilitate the development of citizen-centric ADM solutions and effective human-machine hybrids. We illustrate how the framework and ADM decision space can contribute to research, practice and policy. © 2025 The Authors

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into public sector decision-making processes signifies a paradigm shift with profound implications for power dynamics. This chapter uncovers the ways in which the (partial) automation of decision-making, facilitated by AI, redistributes power in public administrations, with particular emphasis on civil servants' discretionary power. By grounding our analysis in the fundamental concepts of power, we aim to propose a typological framework that identifies and explores four types of power shifts: upward, horizontal, outward and reinforcement. Each type encapsulates a unique set of changes induced by AI, from the centralisation of authority and standardisation of processes to the empowerment of technical experts. This conceptual exposition not only encourages academic discourse but also provides actionable insights for policymakers navigating the complexities of AI adoption in decision-making. The chapter underscores the importance of considering the ramifications of these power shifts on accountability, transparency and democratic values. It concludes by highlighting the need for empirical research to validate and expand on the proposed framework, with the goal of informing the development of responsible and equitable AI adoption in the public sector. 

Public organizations are increasingly using automated decision-making (ADM) as a means for improving efficiency. The automation, however, risk undermining their legitimacy if not carefully constructed to preserve public values. This paper aims to provide a synthesis and analysis of literature on ADM in the public sector from various disciplines. We illustrate dominant themes in the public sector ADM literature and unveil areas that require further research. We call for (1) fine-grained conceptualizations of ADM, that accommodate differences in e.g., types of decisions and levels of government; (2) further attention to decision-making hybrids, where both humans and algorithms have agency, and how such hybrids should be developed to avoid biases; and (3) preventive safeguards that protect individual rights while ensuring the public interest in transparency. We thus contribute with an overview of the dominant themes in the public sector ADM literature, and directions for future research on this topic.

This paper explores organizational work environment issues related to Human Resource (HR) process automation. While HR process automation promises efficiency and productivity gains, it also introduces new challenges. These include organizational changes in the conditions and requirements for work, with the potential of significant impact on the employees’ working with these technologies. Our research examines this relationship, highlighting the need to consider organizational work environment issues early in the automation process. We present preliminary findings from a literature analysis and an ongoing case study on automation of the onboarding process at a large industrial company, emphasizing the need for user involvement throughout the design, implementation, and use of the automated system. The study contributes by illustrating the relationship between HR process automation and work environment. Our continued and future work aims to contribute with theoretical insights on, and practical guidelines for, organizational work environment interventions related to HR process automation.

Automation of public service provision has gained renewed attention as emerging technologies are said to enable automation of tasks that were previously seen as requiring human involvement. However, the merits of these automation technologies are often exaggerated. More knowledge is needed on public service automation, and much can be learned from adjacent research fields studying human-automation interaction. To lead by example, this work applies Bainbridge's (1983) concept of ironies of automation. The purpose is to (1) present ironies of automation, (2) explicate how these ironies can come into play when implementing automated systems in the public service context, and (3) outline implications that follow for public service automation. This is achieved by relating ironies of automation to contemporary studies on Robotic Process Automation (RPA) developments in Swedish local government. The analysis results in five ironies and a set of implications for public service automation. The ironies and implications for public service automation direct attention to key challenges that must be acknowledged in future automation implementations and show that further investigations and theoretical developments are needed on e.g., problems introduced by automation; tasks, roles, and responsibilities that follow on automation; how to design the interface between humans and automated systems in a way that facilitates monitoring, take-over, and maintenance; and, tools and methods for assessing the impact and quality of automated systems. This paper thus provides a foundation for future empirical investigations and further theoretical development on public service automation.

Citizens are oftentimes the central unit of analysis in e-government research and treated as one of the stakeholders receiving the most benefits from public sector digitalization. Still, they are mostly described in generalterms, and it remains unclear what roles they can assume in relation to e-government. Different understandingsof the citizens’ role in e-government may impact research, because they entail different axioms mainly in relationto the technological frame for e-government but also for the citizens’ relationship to public sector organizationsin general. The aim of this article is to investigate and conceptualize the citizens’ role in e-government based onpublic value positions. We depart from Rose et al.’s (2015) framework of value positions for managing e-government. After reviewing and analyzing extensive research on e-government, we use this framework tocontribute a clarification of the citizens’ role in each value position. Our analysis shows that the ideal citizen isconceptualized differently across the four value positions; ranging from an external entity that should servicethemselves using digital self-services, to an engaged agent that should be actively involved in policy making andservice delivery. In addition to this new perspective on the citizens’ role in e-government, we contribute with anextension of the public value positions framework. The extended framework presented in this article makes thesedifferences visible and we discuss consequences of the citizens’ role in e-government for other dimensions of theframework. 

Swedish municipalities are expected to contribute to the fulfilment of the Swedish Digital Agenda, by digitalizing and automating as much work as possible. There is currently a gap between the expectations, as expressed in policies, and the outcomes of digitalization and automation initiatives in municipalities thus far. The aim of this study is to address this gap by exploring the purpose of digitalization and automation initiatives as expressed by employees in three Swedish municipalities. We do this by applying a public values and pragmatist lens to identify ends-in-view, departing from an established model of public values. We conduct an interpretative analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with employees at three Swedish municipalities. Our findings illustrate discrepancies between employees’ ends-in-view, in comparison with those expressed in policies on local government digitalization and automation. Despite the official Swedish digitalization strategy expressing that digitalization “is not a goal in itself”, we illustrate how compliance with directives is an important driver, as well as a feeling of having to keep up with others and showcasing a “modern” organization. These ends-in-view illustrate that digitalization projects are indeed being initiated for the sake of digitalization (without clear long-term goals) rather than for particular purposes, potentially creating digitalization practices in which the end goals of digitalization are lost along the way.