*** 15th IFIP International Conference on eGovernment (IFIP EGOV 2016) and 8th IFIP International Conference on eParticipation (IFIP ePart 2016) *** 5 - 8 September 2016, Guimarães, Portugal www.egov-conference.org, www.epart-conference.org General eParticipation Track - Call for Papers The General eParticipation track will take place within the dual 15th IFIP Electronic Government (EGOV) and the 8th Electronic Participation (ePart) Conference 2016. The dual conference will be hosted by the United Nations University Operating Unit on Policy-Driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV, http://egov.unu.edu/) and the University of Minho (http://www.uminho.pt/en). The IFIP EGOV and IFIP ePart conferences together attract around 150 participants per year. Participants registering for one conference can also attend the other conference for no extra charge. Details of the conference can be found at http://www.egov-conference.org/egov-2016. The General eParticipation track aims to present the best of recent developments in the multidisciplinary field of electronic Participation (eParticipation), covering a wide range of technical, political and social areas. The papers will present new and innovative developments in this expanding discipline. The General eParticipation track will focus on, but is not limited to, the following topics: * Foundations of eParticipation research including theories, methods, models and approaches; * The role of social and mobile media and Web 2.0 in eParticipation; * Transparency and open access for eParticipation; * Design and co-creation of participatory public services; bottom-up initiatives; Privacy, security and ethical considerations in eParticipation * Advances in eParticipation Domains: Online deliberation and discourse, participatory budgeting, eConsultation, ePolling, and eLegislation, eElectioneering, eCampaigning and eVoting; * Advances in participatory policy making using policy modelling, simulation, impact assessment and visualisation methods and tools; * eParticipation and big data; * The role of eParticipation in national and global crisis situations; * Comparative analyses of eParticipation practices; * Impact assessment and public value considerations of eParticipation on real world decision making; * Digital literacy and its consequences for eParticipation; * eParticipation projects: design, implementation, evaluation, quality and impact Submission Guidelines The General eParticipation track (as all tracks in the conferences) allows for four distinct types of submissions: * Research papers (max 12 pages, published in LCNS Springer); * Ongoing research and innovative projects papers (max 8 pages, published by IOS Press); * Workshops and panels on pertinent issues (2 pages, published by IOS Press); * Poster proposals (2 pages, published by IOS Press); * PhD colloquium submissions (8 pages, published by IOS Press). Completed research papers: papers in this category deal with completed research. They should have both relevance and a strong focus on scientific rigour and may be a maximum of 12 pages. Papers in this track will be peer reviewed for rigour, relevance, originality and clarity of presentation. Abstracts or incomplete papers will not be accepted. On-going research papers: these papers describe novel concepts, works-in-progress, or other ideas and issues that are not currently suitable for a completed research paper. They may be a maximum of 8 pages. Papers in this section will also be peer reviewed, but the emphasis is on relevance more than scientific rigour. Workshops and panels: proposals for workshops and panels (2 pages) should include rationale, objectives, expected outcomes and approach to audience participation. Posters proposals (2 pages) will not be blind reviewed. Authors of accepted submissions are expected to bring their posters which will be displayed to the conference audience. PhD Colloquium: prior to the conference (Sunday, Sep. 4, 2016), a PhD student colloquium will be held providing an international forum for doctoral students under the guidance of senior scholars for presenting their work, networking opportunities and cross-disciplinary inspiration. Papers of accepted submissions will be included in the proceedings. The General eParticipation track papers must contain original material not previously published or currently submitted elsewhere. Paper submissions should be anonymous and follow the relevant templates. Submissions must be made through the conference’s management system. Proceedings All accepted completed research papers will be published by Springer Verlag (LNCS). Accepted submissions in all other categories will be published by IOS Press. After the conference, both volumes will be submitted to Thompson Reuters for evaluation in order to be indexed in the Web of Science Conference Proceedings. Important dates Submission system closes on March 31, 2016 April 15, 2016: Submission of workshop/panel/poster/PhD colloquium contributions April 30, 2016: Notification of acceptance/rejection decisions for papers May 15, 2016: Notification of acceptance for workshops/panels/posters/PhD colloquium contributions May 20, 2016: Camera-ready papers of accepted completed research/ongoing research/workshop/panel/ poster/PhD colloquium contributions Track chairs Efthimios Tambouris, University of Macedonia, Greece Panos Panagiotopoulos, Queen Mary University of London, UK Oystein Sæbo, University of Agder, Norway Program Committee Please check the conference website for an updated list.