Speakers

Adegboyega Ojo is Full Professor at the School of Public Policy and Administration, Carleton University, Canada. Prof. Ojo is also Canada Research Chair in Governance and Artificial Intelligence. His research is primarily in the area of digital government. His research focuses on how AI, data-driven innovation and advanced analytics improve government services and address societal challenges while ensuring ethical implementation. He examines the technical and policy conditions needed for AI adoption in the public sector, with a focus on transparency, accountability and social impact. Before joining Carleton University, he was a tenured faculty at Maynooth University and earlier a Senior Research Fellow & Head of the E-Government Unit at the Insight Centre for Data Analytics, University of Galway, Republic of Ireland. He also worked at the Centre for Electronic Governance, United Nations University in Macao SAR, China, where he supported governments in Africa, Asia, and Latin America in developing digital government strategies. Adegboyega is Associate Editor of the Government Information Quarterly Journal (Elsevier), Digital Government: Research and Practice journal (ACM) and also the Information Polity Journal (IOS Press). 

Michał Kuszewski is an AI and ethics specialist serving as the Chief Specialist for Innovative Economy at the Warsaw City Hall, where he coordinates the "Generating Innovations" program as part of Warsaw's 2030 Strategy. Combining his background in psychology and UX design with experience in public administration, he takes an interdisciplinary approach to challenges associated with new technologies in urban governance. Michał is the coordinator and co-creator of the "Guidelines for Responsible Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Warsaw City Hall" - one of Europe's first municipal-level initiatives establishing comprehensive ethical frameworks for GenAI use in public administration. He created and leads an inter-departmental working group comprising representatives from eight Warsaw City Hall offices, collaborating with external experts from SWPS University, EGO, and the Center for Ethics of Technology at the Humanities Institute. Currently, Michał coordinates a group of experts focused on developing and implementing responsible AI practices in municipal services. He actively promotes knowledge about responsible AI use in public administration through conferences and expert groups, including participation in the AI Working Group at the Ministry of Digital Affairs. His work demonstrates how ethical considerations can be effectively integrated into technological innovation, setting standards for cities seeking to implement AI responsibly while ensuring citizen rights and democratic values

Tomasz Janowski is an Associate Professor at Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland; an Invited Professor at the University for Continuing Education Krems, Austria; an Associate Editor of Government Information Quarterly; and a President-Elect of the Digital Government Society. An expert in digital government, sustainable digital transformation, and digital transformation for sustainability, he has been on Stanford University's list of the World's Top 2% scientists, both for lifelong career impact and single-year impact, continuously since 2023. He brings nearly two decades of experience within the United Nations system, including serving as the founding head of UNU-EGOV. He has lectured to academic and policy audiences in over 60 countries and led more than 40 projects with a combined value of over USD 9 million, including projects with funding from international organizations such as the Commonwealth Secretariat, the European Commission, EIT, IDB, OSCE, UNDP, UNESCO, UNU, and the World Bank. 

João Álvaro Carvalho is an Adjunct Professor at the United Nations University (UNU-EGOV) since 2015. He is also a full professor at the Department of Information Systems, School of Engineering, University of Minho and a researcher at Centro ALGORITMI, University of Minho.
His academic interests are focused on the fundamentals of information systems and enterprise development interventions that involve adopting, using and exploiting information technology. He is also interested in research approaches and methods and in information systems curricula and education. The results of his work have been published in book chapters, journal articles and conference proceedings. He has supervised around 20 doctoral students and more than 30 master’s degree students.

Prof. Dr. Vera G. Meister is a Full Professor for Business Information Systems and Knowledge Management at Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences, where she also serves as Vice President for Teaching and Internationalization. Her academic work focuses on business process modeling, knowledge engineering, enterprise knowledge graphs, and digitalization in organizations. She has extensive experience in university teaching, research leadership, and international academic cooperation, as well as a strong background in applied research and e-learning systems. She holds a PhD in Mathematics and combines interdisciplinary expertise from mathematics, economics, and information systems.

Magdalena Ciesielska is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Informatics in Management, Faculty of Management and Economics, Gdańsk University of Technology, Poland. She holds a PhD in Business Economics and Management.  Her research focuses on digital government, smart and sustainable cities, and the governance of digital transformation in the public sector. She examines how digital technologies, including AI, reshape public service delivery, citizen engagement, and institutional arrangements. She has served as a track chair and reviewer at major international conferences in information systems and public administration and has been involved in several international research projects, including EU-funded initiatives on smart cities, digital governance, and service innovation. Her work has been published in leading international journals and presented at top-tier conferences.

Yulia Bartashevskaya is Associate Professor, Head of the Department of Information Technologies at Alfred Nobel University. She took part in projects for the digitalization of education. She was the head of the research topic: "Methods and algorithms in computer modelling problems"; a participant in the international project "Digital Ukraine: ensuring academic success in crisis"). She has experience in the creation, implementation and positive accreditation by the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance of study programs (Ukraine) in the specialty "Computer Science" (bachelor's and master's degrees).