A Decade of Digital Governance: IS-Lab Publishes 10-Year Commemorative…

Marking a significant academic milestone, the Information Systems Laboratory (IS-Lab) at the Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering, University of the Aegean, announces the release of a comprehensive commemorative volume titled “2016 – 2026: Ten Years of Digital Governance Through Student Research”.

Curated by Prof. Yannis Charalabidis based on coursework developed in the “Electronic Governance II” master’s module, the publication brings together 50 landmark postgraduate research papers produced across the last decade. Spanning an impressive 2,236 pages, the compendium captures the real-world evolution of public sector modernisation in Greece as examined, evaluated, and re-imagined by graduate students and active public administration professionals.

Chronicle of a Digital Decade

The selected works reflect the transformative shifts that defined Greek and European digital public administration between 2016 and 2026, exploring core strategic domains:

• Open Data & Citizen Participation: Fostering civic engagement, algorithmic transparency, and collaborative policy design.
• Interoperability & Process Re-engineering: Dismantling bureaucratic friction and streamlining administrative workflows across state bodies.
• Smart Cities & Public e-Services: Municipal digital transformation and citizen-centric service design.
• Artificial Intelligence in Governance: Implementing intelligent decision-support systems, regulatory compliance frameworks, and ethical AI in the public sector.

The editorial coordination of the volume was led by two postgraduate researchers of the laboratory, reflecting IS-Lab’s ongoing commitment to collaborative scholarship, where practical administrative insight meets academic rigor.

The compendium is dedicated to all the students and alumni whose critical thinking and dedicated research have contributed directly to building an open, modern, and citizen-first public administration.

Researchers, public sector officials, and practitioners can explore the complete volume and download individual papers through the open repository index:

👉 Access the Volume Index & Papers (10 Years of Digital Governance)

IS-Lab Leads €2M European Initiative to Revolutionize AI-Driven Entrepreneurship…

In a major milestone for academic innovation and European research leadership, the Information Systems Laboratory (IS-Lab) of the Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering at the University of the Aegean has taken the helm of TALOS, an ambitious international initiative designed to reshape digital entrepreneurship through the power of Artificial Intelligence.

Selected through a highly competitive evaluation among hundreds of pan-European proposals, the project is backed by a €2 million grant under the EIT Higher Education Initiative (HEI). With its official launch underway, TALOS focuses on bridging the gap between scientific discovery and venture creation, empowering students, researchers, and academic staff across STEM disciplines to build viable, high-impact spin-offs and digital businesses.

Transforming Education and Scaling Startups with AI

Rather than treating entrepreneurship as an afterthought to technical studies, TALOS embeds cutting-edge digital intelligence directly into the academic and commercialisation lifecycle through two interconnected priorities:

• Applied Academic Curricula: Integrating tailored course modules into undergraduate and postgraduate programs covering practical opportunity recognition, value proposition validation, data-driven business models, ethical AI considerations, regulatory compliance, and go-to-market strategies.
• Intelligent Venture Acceleration: Developing agent-based AI mentoring solutions and digital evaluation tools. These systems will offer automated, evidence-backed critique on pitch decks and business plans, providing continuous tracking and actionable metrics for emerging startups.

A Strong Pan-European and Global Consortium

Coordinated by the University of the Aegean, the two-year initiative unites a diverse coalition of academic institutions and industry leaders across Europe and beyond:

• Academic Partners: University of Camerino (Italy), University of Koblenz (Germany), University of Nicosia (Cyprus), Istanbul Gelişim University (Türkiye), and Air University (Pakistan).
• Industry & Innovation Leaders: Maggioli Group, Athens Technology Center (ATC), Crowdpolicy, and TAGES, reinforced by an extensive network of 13 associated regional and cross-continental stakeholders.

Through TALOS, IS-Lab continues to reinforce its role as a leading digital innovation hub, fostering an entrepreneurial mindset that translates university research into real-world economic and societal value.

For more information, explore the official EIT TALOS Project Page or contact the team at info-islab@aegean.gr.

Prof. Yannis Charalabidis Appointed Track Chair at ICEGOV on…

The Information Systems Laboratory (IS-Lab) is proud to announce that Prof. Yannis Charalabidis, Director of IS-Lab at the Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering, University of the Aegean, serves as Track Chair at the prestigious ICEGOV (International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance), organized by the United Nations University (UNU-EGOV).

Prof. Charalabidis co-leads Track 5: “Harnessing Emerging Technologies for Smarter and More Efficient Public Services”, a core thematic stream addressing how disruptive digital innovations transform public administration and state operations worldwide.

Focus on Next-Generation Public Sector Innovation

Track 5 invites leading scholars, digital governance experts, and policymakers to investigate the real-world operational and administrative deployment of cutting-edge technologies, including:

• Artificial Intelligence & Autonomous Systems: Algorithmic accountability, ethical governance, and AI-enabled decision support in public administration.
• Robotics, UAVs & IoT: Practical integrations of unmanned aerial vehicles, sensors, and smart robotics in municipal and central government services.
• Blockchain & Next-Gen Connectivity: 5G networks and distributed ledger technologies driving efficiency, transparency, and data integrity.
• Organizational Transformation: Overcoming institutional barriers, managing public sector change, and strengthening multi-technology adoption among civil servants.

The appointment highlights IS-Lab’s enduring international leadership in electronic governance, digital transformation policy, and secure public sector technologies on the global stage.

For more information on the track structure and conference agenda, visit the official ICEGOV Conference Portal or contact the laboratory team at info-islab@aegean.gr.

Prof. Yannis Charalabidis and Assoc. Prof. Charalampos Alexopoulos Inaugurate…

The International Summer School on Digital Government (OpenGov 2026) officially commenced on the island of Samos, gathering international researchers, practitioners, and students to explore the transformative impact of Artificial Intelligence on public governance.

The academic program was inaugurated by Prof. Yannis Charalabidis and Assoc. Prof. Charalampos Alexopoulos from the Information Systems Laboratory (IS-Lab), Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering, University of the Aegean. Setting the tone for an intensive week dedicated to AI-driven public sector modernization, they outlined the core thematic tracks and officially launched the highly anticipated OpenGov 2026 Ideathon Challenge.

Key Insights on AI Conformance & Digital Governance

During the opening sessions, Prof. Yannis Charalabidis delivered a keynote lecture addressing how Artificial Intelligence can automate and reinforce legal and regulatory conformance assessment, presenting advanced methodologies to ensure public digital systems strictly adhere to regulatory frameworks, notably the EU AI Act.

The opening day featured an exceptional lineup of international keynotes and technical sessions, including:

• Prof. Joep Crompvoets (KU Leuven): Analyzing opportunities, governance readiness, and institutional realities of AI adoption in government, moving beyond technological hype.
• Dr. YoungSik Kim (United Nations University – UNU-EGOV): Examining global AI governance, institutional readiness across the Global South and the EU, and strategic lessons from South Korea’s digital modernization.
• Prof. Iraklis Varlamis (Harokopio University of Athens & GRNET): Presenting practical insights from the GR digiGOV-innoHUB initiative on scaling experimental AI pilots into production-grade public services.
• Dr. Georgia Koutrika & Eleni Petra (Athena Research Center): Demonstrating next-generation, semantic- and NLP-powered data discovery architectures for advanced public information systems.

The successful launch of OpenGov 2026 underlines the active role of IS-Lab faculty members in shaping the international digital government research agenda and fostering cross-border capacity building.

For more information on the summer school’s agenda and proceedings, visit the official OpenGov Portal or contact the laboratory at info-islab@aegean.gr.

International eGov-CeDEM-ePart Conference Commences in Athens

Athens hosts the prestigious international eGov-CeDEM-ePart Conference, gathering leading scholars, researchers, and public administration practitioners from around the globe to discuss advancements in digital governance and electronic participation.

Throughout the three-day academic forum, a comprehensive program featuring 72 peer-reviewed research papers will be presented, highlighting emerging technologies, data-driven policy design, and modernization frameworks for public sector organizations.

The Information Systems Laboratory (ISL) of the Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering warmly commends Prof. Euripides Loukis, Prof. Teta Stamati, Prof. Ida Lindgren, and the entire organizing committee for their substantial efforts in coordinating and hosting this milestone conference in Greece.

Following the completion of the Athens sessions, the conference will travel to Kristiansand, Norway, for its next annual edition.

See more on the project here: https://lnkd.in/p/dSv_A_Hu

Prof. Yannis Charalabidis Appointed Judge at the BITE Awards…

The Information Systems Laboratory (IS-Lab) is pleased to announce that Prof. Yannis Charalabidis, Director of IS-Lab and Professor of Digital Governance & Entrepreneurship at the Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering, University of the Aegean, has been appointed to the Judging Committee of the BITE Awards 2026 (Business IT Excellence Awards).

Organized annually by BOUSSIAS Events, the BITE Awards represent Greece’s premier institutional benchmark for recognizing excellence, breakthrough innovation, and leadership in information technology and digital transformation across both the public and private sectors.

Evaluating Groundbreaking Digital Transformation Initiatives

As a member of the distinguished judging panel comprising prominent industry leaders, academic scholars, and institutional representatives, Prof. Charalabidis will contribute to evaluating pioneering projects across critical digital disciplines, including:

• Enterprise Systems & Strategic ICT: Innovative implementations of cloud architectures, ERP/CRM ecosystems, and business process automation.
• Emerging Technologies: Cutting-edge deployments of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data analytics, IoT, and cybersecurity frameworks.
• Public Sector Modernization: High-impact digital governance initiatives and smart public services designed to improve citizen and enterprise engagement.

This role reflects IS-Lab’s ongoing commitment to bridging cutting-edge academic research with industrial innovation, reinforcing continuous dialogue with the broader digital technology and startup ecosystem.

For more details on the competition and the judging committee, visit the official BITE Awards Portal.

New digital entrepreneurship project for the University of the…

DIGIMPACT is one of the new EIT projects announced today, and is the result of distinction in a highly competitive process, in which more than 1500 education, research and development institutions of the European Union participated.

The new project, under the coordination of Gdańsk University of Technology and with the participation of Universität für Weiterbildung Krems, Universidad de Granada and Crowdpolicy aims to promote digital entrepreneurship in areas of sustainable development, and to improve the teaching of entrepreneurship in higher education, through introducing new methods and tools.

See more on the project here: https://lnkd.in/dph32UfU

The first UN LOSI report for Greece and Cyprus

An important snapshot for Greece and the University of the Aegean, in Pretoria
The first UN LOSI report for Greece and Cyprus is announced

After the session at the hashtag#icegov 2024 conference in Pretoria, South Africa, where the oncoming LOSI report for Digital Services in Municipalities from Greece and Cyprus was announced.

The report was created by our researchers at the Digital Governance Research Centre, of the Department of Information and Communications Systems Engineering, University of the Aegean in Samos, following the signing of a relevant MoU with UN for the territory, some months ago.

The Greek LOSI report will show the status of Greek cities in their digital transformation paths, for the first time with a widely applied methodology, allowing for analytical comparisons and further recommendations for action by the municipalities.