[EGOV LIST] CFP Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-59), January 6-9, 2026 | Hyatt Regency Maui

[Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar via eGov-list]

CALL FOR PAPERS

Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-59), January 
6-9, 2026 | Hyatt Regency Mauihttps://hicss.hawaii.edu

*Digital Government Track*

*Smart and Connected Cities and Communities Mini-track*

Digital transformation has emerged as a paramount priority for many 
cities and communities, with the objective of enhancing citizen 
well-being and the efficacy of public administration and communities, 
but it also poses significant challenges at the complex intersection of 
technology and society. Despite the extensive body of literature 
dedicated to smart cities and communities, the concept remains fuzzy due 
to its multidimensional and multifaceted nature that extends beyond the 
mere use of technology and infrastructure. In this regard, technology is 
a necessary condition for becoming a smart city or smart community, but 
it is not the only aspect considered when analyzing digital developments 
in our living environment. It should be integrated with the natural and 
built environments to enable and empower citizens, through individual 
and/or communal quests for wellbeing.

In recent years, emerging technologies have undoubtedly provided many 
possibilities for developing smart cities and communities and also 
brought opportunities to solve urban and community challenges. An 
increased number of studies indicate that emerging technologies 
significantly influence social life, catalyzing new needs of citizens 
and transforming how they are addressed, influencing people’s ability to 
exercise their “right to the city/community” and affecting social 
sustainability. While Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) 
implementation have traditionally dominated the discourse on smart 
cities and communities, significant challenges remain regarding the 
governance, digital inclusion, strategic planning, resilience, and 
social and cultural sustainability of these technological contexts. 
Issues such as city and community governance, information integration, 
data quality, privacy and security, institutional arrangements, 
resilience, inclusion, sustainability, and citizen participation require 
greater attention to plan human-centered smart solutions and monitor the 
social consequences of their implementation. The growing popularity of 
technologies such as artificial intelligence, metaverse, chatbots, open 
data, big data, blockchain, and so on, have opened new avenues for 
addressing these issues in the urban and communities’ contexts, but they 
have also brought some other challenges such as ethical issues or a new 
wave of digital divide and/or inclusion of citizens with low-tech 
skills, which requires continuous research in this area.

This minitrack aims to explore the aforementioned topics, with a 
particular focus on the social challenges faced during the 
implementation of smart solutions as well as on the impact these 
initiatives have on the community, to understand how new technologies 
can shape the decision-making processes, resilience, sustainability, and 
livability of local communities and, as a result, the wellbeing of their 
residents.

  As a result, areas of focus and interest to this minitrack include, 
but are not limited, to the following topics:

-Typologies of smart cities and communities

-Impact of smart technologies on citizens and local communities

-Theory and practice of smart citizenship – technological competencies 
vs. user experience

-Emerging technologies in smart cities and communities (artificial 
intelligence, big data, open data, social media and networks, digital 
twins, metaverse, chatbots, etc.)

-Elements, prerequisites, and principles of smart governance as the 
foundation for creating smart urban and regional spaces

-Impact of smart governance models on urban resilience and quality of life

-Smart cities and smart government – focal areas, current practices, 
cases, and potential pitfalls

-Cases, rankings, comparisons, and critical success factors for smart 
cities, communities, and regions

-Governance models of smart cities and communities for disaster risk 
mitigation

-The role of digital technologies in both increasing community 
livability and improving social sustainability and inequalities

-Smart services

-Urban-rural gaps in smart communities

-Strategic planning patterns in implementing ICTs for enhancing 
resilience and sustainability capacities in smart cities and communities

-Implementing ICTs to build social and cultural capacities of urban 
resilience and sustainability in smart cities

-Building knowledge societies for smart cities and communities

-Smart cities and communities and their contribution to the Sustainable 
Development Goals (SDGs)

-Local contextual conditions that impact smart cities and communities’ 
initiatives

-The role of metropolitan areas in the development of smart cities and 
communities

-The role of community-rooted institutions in the development of smart 
cities and communities

-Digital inequalities and the challenge of inclusion in the smart cities 
and community’s contexts

-Emerging technologies impact on digital divide for socially sustainable 
and inclusive smart cities

-The inclusion of people with disabilities in the smart cities and smart 
communities’ context

* Important dates*(https://hicss.hawaii.edu/ <https://hicss.hawaii.edu/>):

  June 15, 2025: Papers due

August 17, 2025: Notification of Acceptance/Rejection

September 4, 2025: Deadline for authors whose papers are conditionally 
accepted to submit a revised manuscript

September 22, 2025: Deadline for Authors to Submit Final Manuscript for 
Publication

October 1, 2025: Deadline for at least one author of each paper to 
register for the conference

January 6-9, 2026: HICSS Conference

**

*Mini-track Co-Chairs:*


Manuel Pedro Rodríguez Bolívar (primary contact), University of Granada, 
Spain (manuelp at ugr.es <mailto:manuelp at ugr.es>)

Gabriela Viale Pereira, Universityfor Continuing EducationKrems, Austria 
(gabriela.viale-pereira at donau-uni.ac.at 
<mailto:gabriela.viale-pereira at donau-uni.ac.at>)

Erico Przeybilovicz, CTG UAlbany, SUNY (eprzeybilovicz at albany.edu 
<mailto:eprzeybilovicz at albany.edu>)