JeDEM - eJournal of eDemocracy and Open Government

Editorial 18(1)

Noella Edelmann — 2026-09-05

An Iterative Framework for AI Adoption in the Public Sector: Insights from a Swiss Case Study

Václav Pechtor — 2026-09-05

In the step from prototype to the productive, the sustainable use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications remains a significant challenge. This creates a demand for frameworks that guide organisations and help to bridge this gap in specific domains. This study validates the Adoption Framework for AI in the Public Sector (AFAIPS) by examining its application in a Swiss AI chatbot project for healthcare cost verification, addressing how an iterative framework can be used to navigate public sector constraints. Using a detailed single case study within an Elaborated Action Design Research (EADR) setting, this research recorded a 34-week AI chatbot implementation over eleven iterations, drawing evidence from project documentation and user interviews. The findings show that AFAIPS effectively guided the project through its adoption phases, enabling user-driven development and flexible adjustments. Iterative prototyping and continuous feedback were essential for handling public sector limitations and technical uncertainties. Key results included organisational learning, such as the development of "AI-ready" documentation, and strategic changes like planning for external Machine Learning Operations (MLOps) support to address internal capability gaps. This study provides empirical validation of AFAIPS in public healthcare administration, offering new insights into how an integrated framework — combining the Diffusion of Innovations theory (DOI) with Design Thinking (DT), Lean Startup (LS), and MLOps connects theory with the practicalities of government AI implementation, to improve public value. For public managers and policymakers, this research offers a validated roadmap and practical strategies for stakeholder engagement, iterative development, and agile management to guide digital transformation and AI governance.

Social Practices of Citizenship and Digital Transformation: A Latin American Perspective

João Paulo dos Santos da Silva — 2026-09-05

This study examines how social movements and organizations in Latin America use digital technologies to promote and assert rights, thereby seeking to reshape social practices of citizenship. The present study commences from the perspective of citizenship as practice to propose a theoretical model of citizenship in the digital context. This theoretical model encompasses the categories of actions related to digital technologies and their impact on social practices of citizenship. A systematic literature review was conducted, with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework used. A total of 43 papers were selected and analyzed for this study. These papers examined actions undertaken by social movements and organizations using digital technologies to influence social practices of citizenship in the Latin American context. The analysis of the papers enabled the categorization of six strategies for action involving digital technologies, three types of social practices affected by citizenship, and three forms of sociotechnical adequacy.

Governing Before Rules. Shadow AI among Legislative Advisors in Mexico City

Sergio Arturo Bárcena Juárez — 2026-09-05

Generative AI enters legislative advisory work before parliaments adopt formal rules. This article examines this "adoption-rules gap" through an exploratory case study of the Mexico City Congress. Combining a diagnostic survey (N=42) and a co-design workshop, we investigate how frontline advisors manage "shadow AI" without stable institutional oversight. Findings reveal that while adoption is evenly divided, half of the surveyed advisors use AI for auxiliary tasks like document synthesis and preparatory drafting. Crucially, they articulate a shared practical boundary against the unsupervised delegation of final normative text and legal reasoning. Using a three-layer heuristic, we frame these informal rules-in-use as enacted internal governance. Ultimately, the study demonstrates that while informal safeguards help manage short-term cybersecurity and accountability risks, they remain fundamentally fragile until codified through formal training, secure infrastructure, and documentation procedures.

Digital Divide, Cybersecurity Risk Perceptions, and Trust in Malaysian Government E-Participation: A PLS-SEM and fsQCA Analysis

Jiaqi Liu — 2026-09-05

Government digital platforms have expanded rapidly across Southeast Asia, yet citizen e-participation remains persistently low. This study examines how the digital divide and cybersecurity-related risk perceptions are associated with e-participation and perceived platform effectiveness in Malaysia’s government digital platform context, and whether institutional, technology, and procedural trust moderate risk–outcome associations. Drawing on a stratified quota sample of n = 339 Malaysian government digital platform users, the study employs a complementary dual-method design: Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) for variable-oriented analysis and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) for configurational analysis. PLS-SEM path estimates show positive associations of physical access and digital skills with both outcomes, while all three cybersecurity-related risk perceptions—privacy risk, security risk, and misinformation risk—show significant negative associations with both. None of the eighteen trust × risk interactions tested survives correction for multiple testing; within this design, trust is more consistently observed as a positive direct correlate of e-participation than as a demonstrable conditional moderator. fsQCA identifies physical access as the only necessary condition for both outcomes under the reported calibration and reveals nine equifinal configurations sufficient for above-average participation within this user sample, all resting on an access-and-skills base and differentiated by core combinations of low perceived risk, affordability, and trust; configurations associated with low participation combine elevated risk perceptions with absent trust. These findings advance understanding of digital governance inclusivity, identify one necessary condition and several sample-relative sufficient configurations associated with citizen digital engagement, and offer targeted policy guidance for Malaysian e-governance.

Governing Robotic Process Automation in the Public Sector: Contextual Insights from Turkey and Sweden

Evrim Oya Güner — 2026-09-07

Scaling Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in public organizations poses unique governance challenges. While existing research primarily focuses on corporate settings, our case studies, conducted in a Turkish municipality and two public universities in Sweden, underscores the need for tailored, context-specific RPA governance models in public organizations. We observe a growing shift toward federated structures that combine centralized and decentralized approaches during RPA scaling. Effective RPA governance in public organizations demands a balanced approach integrating centralization and decentralization, supported by strong relational mechanisms. This approach should align with the specific complexity of RPA systems, the level of automation progress, and the unique characteristics of public administration contexts.