Electronic Markets – The International Journal
on Networked Business

Call for Papers

Digital Networks and Societal Challenges

Guest Editors

Susanne Leist,Universität Regensburg, Germany,

Marco De Marco, Uninettuno University, Rome,Italy,

Eusebio Scornavacca, University of Baltimore, USA,

Kanliang Wang, Renmin University of China,

Theme

Our world is dynamic and becoming increasingly complex.Unemployment, poverty, illiteracy, crime, corruption, pollution, climate change, underdevelopment, inequality, and immigrationhave become global social challenges.For some time now, ICT and especially digital networks have been used to decrease the impact of some of these global social problems. For instance,law enforcement agencieshave gained first promising experiences with the application of cloud-based predictive policing software. The new software technology generates predictions on the places and times that future crimes are most likely to occur in orderto better prevent crime in communities.In case ofnaturaldisaster such as floods, hurricanes or animal diseases,smartphone-based alerting and management systems can improve information flow and facilitate early warning systems.Today thousands of refugees and migrants make their journey safer and share important information by using (their) smartphones. New technologies for mining social media have been applied to support emergency services by real-time parsing and analyzing public messages.

However, with the help of digital networks, the impact of global social problems is not only reduced. The use of ICT in networks simultaneously createssocial problems such as loss of privacy, systemic risks in financial systems, and digital divide to name but a few. For instance, social networks open opportunities for companies to get access to data and user information, there is, however, only a thin line between mistakes in programming and what is intended to be allowed.Speculations in the financial markets have contributed to economiccrises threatening the future of billions of people. Digital divide indicates a relative inequality between those who have access to,and can use ICT including havingthe skills to make use of those new technologies (which are those who have more) and those who have less.

The aim of this special issue is to illustrate the research regarding ICT in networks and its relation to social challenges. Thus, the focus of submissions should beonresearch that can improve people's life’s and establish newtrends and practices in the usage of ICT in networks. Research exploring the role of ICT in networks promotingparticipation,increasing transparency, and implementing shared value are of particular interest, along with the role of ICT in networks in both the creation and maintenance of socialproblems.

Central issues and themes

Possible topics of submissions include, but are not limited to:

  • ICT in networks for managing or disrupting the tensions, contradictions and paradoxes in complex social problems
  • Affordance and constraints of digital networks that create or worsen complex social problems
  • e-Government and democracy
  • Open disaster and minimization of the effect of disaster
  • Digital networks and urban service delivery
  • Social networking and health care
  • Digital networks for crime prevention
  • Disaster management using Social networks
  • Digital innovations to escape poverty
  • Managing the world food problem via ICT
  • The vulnerable as producers andinnovators with digital networks
  • Tele centers as paths for affordable computing
  • Digital networks and workplace inclusion of the vulnerable within society
  • Acquisitionand absorption of knowledgewith digital networks
  • Public/private partnerships, job creation, and economic growth
  • Bridging the digital divide
  • Gender discrimination and digital networks
  • Surveillance and privacy in the fight against terrorism
  • ICT4D and mobile technologies
  • Networked business models for social entrepreneurship and social problems
  • How ICT-enabled platforms help NGOs achieve social mission

Paper submission to this special issue is intended and limited solely to the authors of the best papers accepted and presented at the ICTO2016 conference. ICTO 2016 conferencewill be organized in Paris the 3d and 4th of March 2016 ( All submitted papers are subject to electronic plagiarism control.

We encourage contributions with a broad range of methodological approaches, including conceptual, qualitative and quantitative research. We also welcome contributions addressing related topics not listed above (please contact the special issue editors in that case to discuss the fit prior to submission).

All papers will be peer reviewed and should conform to Electronic Markets publication standards. Electronic Markets is a SSCI-listed journal and supports methodological and theoretical pluralism, i.e. empirical or theoretical work, qualitative research, design science and/or prototypes are all welcome by the journal. If you would like to discuss any aspect of the special issue, please contact the guest editors.

Submission

All papers must be original, not published or under review elsewhere. Papers must be submitted via our electronic submission system at

Instructions, templates and general information are available at

Please note the preferred article length must be in a range of 3,500 to 6,500 words.

Important deadline

* Submission Deadline: March 15, 2016

Electronic Markets - The International Journal on Networked Business

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