T his special issue aims to unpack what competencies public managers, policy makers, and public leaders need to manage and cope with the digital transition and what this implies for teaching digital governance. We situate digital governance into a wider context of socio-technical change, by using a multilevel perspective based on transition scholarship and the recent debate on directionality. This allows us to capture the public sector capabilities needed for governing the different spheres of digital transition, as well as the individual skills and knowledge required from public officials. We situate the six studies in this special issue within our multilevel perspective. The contributions provide concrete examples of skills and knowledge needed and what it implies for public management programs. Furthermore, based on our multilevel framework we identify avenues for future research into organizational and strategic capabilities for the digital transition and the operational, reflective, and political skills needed to foster these capabilities.

This article explores how to regain control over digital-induced change by nurturing digital competence through structural arrangements. Digital competence is a critical resource that cannot be limited to hiring people with technological skills in the ICT department, and which implies a broader transformation of the work and professional identities in public sector organizations. Unique in-depth data from a case study of an AI unit established to build internal technological expertise shows how organizational structure can help to empower civil servants and managers to act as catalysts. The AI unit was initially established as a data science lab and then restructured into interprofessional development teams. The two organizational arrangements cultivated different types of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and capabilities. The data science lab fostered competence in experimental work, and the interprofessional development teams fostered collective problem-solving. The findings demonstrate the importance of carefully considering structural arrangements as a resource for building digital competence.

Educational programmes in eGovernment or digital government attract a diverse set of students who are interested in the public sector and technological trends. These programmes aim to train a new generation of digital government professionals. However, we know relatively little about how such programmes succeed in training translators who are able to bridge the world of the public sector and that of digitalization. In this paper we systematically study the characteristics and motivations programme applicants to the Erasmus Mundus MSc in Public Sector Innovation and eGovernance, as well as the programme outcomes in terms of the substantive interests of students as reflected in MSc theses and post-study career choices. We find that the number of applicants from an IT or tech background remains rather low, and that the applicants almost exclusively come from outside of Europe. Applicants show a good grasp of the relevance and urgency of digital transformation to develop their countries, yet application letters suggest a weaker tech-inspired motivation to study digital public governance. Finally, we find that consulting firms with a specialisation in public sector projects and digital governance hold significant appeal to graduates.

The influence of digital technology on the public sector necessitates the diffusion of new professional knowledge and skills. Approaches to education and training are needed that engage with complex societal challenges of digital technology and that do this by drawing and combining insights from, different scientific perspectives. This approach, which could be referred to as transdisciplinarity , may be an effective strategy for training a new generation of public sector professionals in digital governance. However, this subject has not yet been given much theoretical attention. The present study undertakes a scoping review of 73 articles and book chapters, focusing on existing scholarly approaches to digital public governance education and their connection to core themes of transdiciplinarity. It then theorizes ways that these can be addressed in educational programs in higher education. The analysis results in a framework focused on (1) conceptualizations, (3) learning styles and learning content and (3) existing limitations of the literature on transdisciplinarity in digital public governance education.

The open government data (OGD) movement claims to contribute to transparency and increased citizen understanding of government action. However, the literature so far shows these goals are not being reached, as ‘common’ (non-expert) citizens fail to access and understand OGD. This research makes an empirical contribution to this debate through a design experiment in the form of a field lab with a governmental agency, data visualization experts, and non-expert citizens in the Netherlands. In this field lab, the current practice of disseminating OGD by a regional water authority on the issue of drought was redesigned based on non-expert citizens’ needs. Our findings show that non-expert citizens prefer data storytelling techniques over OGD portals or traditional OGD visualizations such as graphs or dashboards. This is informative for the current shift from OGD geared at expert users, to OGD geared at fostering effective transparency with non-expert users. We also build on existing research to develop new evaluation criteria for OGD visualizations, and find that completeness and usability seem more important than objectivity in disseminating OGD with non-expert citizens when communicating about complex policy problems.

This study investigates the significant influence of patriarchy on the potential acceptance and use of local digital government innovations in resource-constrained countries, building on studies that highlight patriarchy’s impactful role in shaping innovation. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was adopted as the evaluation theory ( n = 270) using Ethiopia as a case study. The results from structural equation modeling (SEM) reveal that patriarchy moderates the relationship between facilitating conditions and usage behavior. Contrary to conventional assumptions, we found that despite facing systemic barriers, women demonstrated higher engagement levels with the local digital innovation compared to their male counterparts, even when they did not perceive direct job-related benefits. This revelation not only challenges prevailing gender stereotypes but also underscores the resilience of women in circumventing patriarchal constraints. The study significantly contributes to theory by contextualizing the UTAUT model within a patriarchal framework, bringing out how societal norms and gender dynamics shape technology adoption in public sector settings. Practically, our findings advocate for gender-sensitive policies and interventions to bridge digital divides, emphasizing the need for inclusive strategies that account for underlying societal structures. By providing empirical evidence from a resource-constrained setting, this research offers important insights for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers aiming to foster equitable digital engagement and harness the full potential of digital government innovations.

Although schools are recognised as relevant actors in addressing the lack of skills of citizens for participating in Open Data ecosystems, educational approaches have not been clearly defined. In this paper, a design-based research methodological framework has been used to iteratively develop a learning design grounded in data literacy and real-world problem-solving to build Open Data competencies in elementary school. We conducted three cycles including five interventions in Danish schools with 117 pupils and nine teachers in 7th to 9th-grade. The first exploratory cycle provided contextual insights. The second cycle focused on designing an authentic game. The third cycle focused on supporting the Open Data competencies. We have iteratively developed The Open Data Newsroom, a role-playing game that immerses students in a data journalism process to solve a local environmental mystery with data. The results show how central design elements such as an authentic Open Data practice, local open data, physical and digital elements, and real-world complex problems support the development of Open Data skills, keeping students engaged, and creating an authentic experience in Open Data learning designs. The discussion section elaborates on how game-based and authentic learning approaches are central for integrating Open Data in elementary school education.

In today's data-driven world, the value of data lies in its ability to inform and drive decision-making and power AI models. As data democratization advances, Open Government Data (OGD) plays a key role, but the true value of open data hinges on its relevance to actual needs of the user (society, businesses etc.). This study explores Taiwan's approach to high-value datasets (HVD) -a critical subset of OGD- publication. Through qualitative interviews with government officials, scholars, and NGOs, we explore the strategic, technical, and application aspects of HVD publication. Study reveals that while Taiwan draws from international frameworks, it tailors its HVD themes to address national issues, such as environmental resilience and social challenges. However, gaps in data interoperability and limited engagement with end-users remain challenges, which are critical for maximizing the impact of HVDs. Practical challenges such as staff continuity, digital literacy, and systematic impact assessment further hinder progress. To address these challenges, we propose a HVD opening lifecycle roadmap that constitutes a strategic plan to support policymakers in navigating the process of opening HVD. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the HVD ecosystem, underscoring the importance of continuous improvement and stakeholder engagement in the HVD lifecycle.