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The study aims to explore the role of digital economy and technology adoption for financial inclusion in the Indian context.

A conceptual framework was developed and hypotheses were tested through a survey conducted on 433 educated adults (males and females) residing in different districts of Rajasthan (India). Data was collected through a structured questionnaire and was subjected to confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modeling (second-order) was used to validate the measurement model and to test the mediating effect.

The measurement model is a confirmatory factor analysis and measures the reliability of the observed variables in relation to the latent constructs and indices shows the overall model fit. Structural model results indicate a complete mediation and a reflective impact (R² = 0.28) of the extended technology acceptance model on digital economy and financial inclusion relationship.

The study has taken into account only the perception of educated adults residing more specifically in one geographical area of a country. Thus, it limits the generalization of results in terms of implications to other regions and countries.

The proposed framework and implications are quite significant for policymakers and service providers to understand the nexus and strategic choices involved in this area. Moreover, understanding of user’s frame dependence would help in the development of digital assistive models that would perhaps mitigate the gap from participation (digital economy) to acceptance (financial inclusion).

Present study proposed a three-dimensional hypothetical model and conceptualized the digital economy (independent variable) as participation, behavioral intentions measured through the extended technology acceptance model (mediating variable) as adoption and financial inclusion (dependent variable) as acceptance to better understand the nexus. It represents the foremost step and a unique effort in this area. Moreover, the study was empirical and has wider applications both from the perspectives of end-users and service providers.

This study aims to assess the readiness of both citizens and the government for digital participatory planning (DDP) as a contribution to the undergoing transformative shift toward smart and sustainable cities to address the challenges posed by rapid urbanization. While much attention has been devoted to leveraging technology to mitigate these challenges, there has been a relative lack of emphasis on engaging stakeholders in the planning process in a smart and inclusive manner. DPP stands as a cornerstone for the development of sustainable and smart cities. However, before DPP can be effectively implemented on the ground, it is crucial to assess the city readiness for DPP to ensure its success. This assessment is undertaken as part of Oman's broader initiative to transition into sustainable smart cities in alignment with the goals outlined in Oman Vision 2040.

A generic evaluation framework was identified, validated and customized to the local context by experts using the pile sorting technique based on the social constructivism theory. Then, the revised framework was used to evaluate the readiness of a sample of local citizens and government officials in Oman for the DPP concept.

The inferential statistical analysis revealed that citizens are willing to participate in DPP when trust and transparency with policymakers are enhanced. On the government side, the results showed that there is adequate infrastructure that can enable DPP, and planners have a positive attitude toward DPP provided that trust in citizens' opinions is strengthened. This study concludes with a roadmap for preparation for DPP implementation in smart sustainable cities mandated by Oman Vision 2040. The findings and roadmap can inform policy development, decision-making and urban planning practices toward more inclusive, participatory and technologically enabled urban environments.

The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by emphasizing the significance of stakeholders' smart involvement in planning processes, social sustainability, evaluating city readiness for DPP and providing practical recommendations for DPP implementation in the context of smart sustainable cities. At a theoretical level, the study contributes a framework for assessing readiness for DPP and emphasizes that mutual trust is not only important for conventional participation practices but it is also essential for smart citizens. This study argues that a building or a city is not sustainable unless it is seen as such by its stakeholders, including the end users. Therefore, effective and smart involvement of the citizens in smart city planning is a precondition for the success of the future cities.

The purpose of this paper is to explain how public sector accounting has changed and is changing due to public governance development.

This paper conducts a traditional literature review based on selected studies in the fields of accounting, public administration and management. The aim of the review is to explain how diverse forms of public governance influence the fate of public sector accounting, including accountability, performance measurement, budgeting and reporting practices.

Public governance is developing into more inclusive but also complex forms, resulting in network, collaborative and digital governance. Consequently, the focus and practices of public sector accounting have changed, as reflected in new types of accountability, performance measurement, budgeting and reporting practices.

Drawing upon literature from different fields enables a deeper understanding of the changes in public sector accounting. Nevertheless, the intention is not to execute a systematic literature review but to provide an overview and resolve the scattered body of knowledge generated by previous contributions. The areas of risk management and auditing were not included and deserve further attention.

This paper discusses the need to continually redefine and reassess public sector accounting practices, by recognising the interdependencies between different actors, citizens and digital technologies.

This conceptual contribution is based on the observation that digital inequalities literature has not sufficiently considered digital footprints as an important social differentiator. The purpose of the paper is to inspire current digital inequality frameworks to include this new dimension.

Literature on digital inequalities is combined with research on privacy, big data and algorithms. The focus on current findings from an interdisciplinary point of view allows for a synthesis of different perspectives and conceptual development of digital footprints as a new dimension of digital inequality.

Digital footprints originate from active content creation, passive participation and platform-generated data. The literature review shows how different social groups may experience systematic advantages or disadvantages based on their digital footprints. A special emphasis should be on those at the margins, for example, users of low socioeconomic background.

By combining largely independent research fields, the contribution opens new avenues for studying digital inequalities, including innovative methodologies to do so.

Growing interest in the use of digital technologies and a Putnam-inspired debate about youth engagement has drawn researchers from outside of the study of social movements into research on the topic. This interest in youth protest participation has, in turn, developed into a substantial area of research of its own. While offering important research contributions, we argue that these areas of scholarship are often not well grounded in classic social movement theory and research, instead focusing on new media and/or the relationship between activism and other forms of youth engagement. This chapter seeks to correct this by drawing on interviews with 40 high school and college students from a moderately sized southwestern city to examine whether traditional paths to youth activism (i.e., family, friends, and institutions) have changed or eroded as online technology use and extra-institutional engagement among youth has risen. We find that youth continue to be mobilized by supportive family, friends, and institutional opportunities, and that the students who were least engaged are missing these vital support networks. Thus, it is not so much that the process driving youth activism has changed, but that some youth are not receiving support that has been traditionally necessary to spur activism. This offers an important reminder for scholars studying youth and digital activism and youth participation more broadly that existing theory and research about traditional pathways to activism needs to be evaluated in contemporary research.

This chapter studies Digital (or Electronic) Government in Latin American (LatAm) countries from a comparative perspective. It analyzes a group of countries with a significant degree of economic diversity and public administration heterogeneity. This chapter presents data about the development of the Information Society in Latin America, regarding the diffusion of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and the Internet in the countries of the region and taking into account the digital divide phenomenon. It also analyzes Digital Government from a regional perspective, pinpointing intergovernmental institutions and international organizations devoted to design and define, and, in some cases, implement, shared perspectives and a common agenda within this region. This overview is brought forward by a comparative approximation to the development of e-Government readiness in LatAm countries, using data from the United Nations reports. Additionally, this chapter analyzes sectional e-Government dimensions, including digital public administration national agendas, electronic public service delivery websites, interoperability initiatives, social media technologies, open data and open government strategies, and the future of technology in public sector of the region. Therefore, this chapter is important to understand the role of ICTs as one of the most recent sources of innovation and reform in public administrations Latin America.

This chapter introduces the book by revolving around its core concept: digital citizenship. This introductory chapter on digital citizenship regimes in the postpandemics could be established by including several brief discussion points that gradually introduce and lead us comprehensively to the chapters of the book previously introduced. These discussion points are informative and attempt to introduce progressively to the key chapters of the book as follows: (1) Urban-Digital Citizenship Nexus; (2) Advancing Recent Literature on Citizenship; (3) Rescaling Nation-States: Pandemic Citizenship and Algorithmic Nations; (4) Beyond the Smart Cities; (5) Exploring Digital Citizenship Towards Technopolitical Dynamics; (6) Borderless and Pandemic Citizenship; and (7) In Summary: Towards Future Research and Policy Avenues in the Postpandemics.

This paper aims to examine small business’ participation in digital marketing and to integrate the do-it-yourself (DIY) behavior model and technology acceptance model (TAM) so as to explore the motivations and expected outcomes of such participation.

Data from 250 small business owners/managers who do their own digital promotion are collected through an online survey. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the relationships between the models.

The results contribute to the understanding of small business’ digital marketing behavior by finding support for the idea that the technological benefits may not be the only motivators for small business owner/managers who undertake digital marketing. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, the authors find that the DIY behavior model applies to small business owner/managers who must perform tasks that require specialized knowledge.

The limitations of this research are that the motivations to undertake digital marketing are limited to those contained in the DIY and TAM models, and the sample may not be representative of all owners and managers who perform digital marketing for their small businesses. Therefore, future research is needed to determine if further motivations to conduct digital marketing exist and whether other samples produce the same interpretations.

This study presents empirical evidence supporting the application of the DIY model to a context outside of home-repair and extends the understanding of digital footprint differences between large and small businesses.

This article explores how digital exclusion measured by citizens' occasional social media use and their skeptical social media attitude may affect their satisfaction with democracy (SWD), which is critical for public engagement and democratic stability in Europe.

This study employs multilevel regression to test the hypotheses proposed in the context of Europe and uses cross-level data sources. Individual-level data, including social media use frequency and attitude and SWD, come from the 2012, 2014 and 2016 Eurobarometer surveys. Country-level data are derived from multiple pre-existing datasets.

The empirical results suggest that digital exclusion measured by occasional use and skeptical attitude are negatively associated with the likelihood of SWD. Additionally, the negative effect of a skeptical attitude increases in importance over time. Finally, although government transparency can mitigate the negative effect of a skeptical attitude, its role in mitigating the negative effect of occasional use is effective only in countries with moderate or low transparency levels.

This study preliminarily explores the direct, changing and conditional impacts of digital exclusion in social media on SWD. It also deepens our understanding of digital exclusion by differentiating between its physical and motivational aspects, which relate to public engagement and equity and then comparing their relative importance.

This aim of this paper is to examine the existing gender digital inclusion evaluation guidance and proposes future research recommendations for their evaluation. Despite modern progress in towards gender equality and women’s empowerment movements, women’s access to, use of and benefits from digital technologies remain limited owing to economic, social and cultural obstacles. Addressing the existing gender digital divide is critical in the global efforts towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In recent years, there has been a global increase of gender digital inclusion programmes for girls and women; these programmes serve as a mechanism to learn about gender-specific digital needs and inform future digital inclusion efforts. Evaluation reports of gender digital inclusion programmes can produce critical insights into girls’ and women’s learning needs and aspirations, including what works and what does not when engaging girls and women in information and communications technologies. While there are many accounts highlighting the importance of why gender digital inclusion programmes are important, there is limited knowledge on how to evaluate their impact.

The thematic analysis suggests three points to consider for the gender digital inclusion programmes evaluation: context-specific understanding of gender digital inclusion programmes; transparency and accountability of the evaluation process and its results; and tensions between evaluation targets and empowerment of evaluation participants.

The thematic analysis suggests three points of future focus for this evaluation process: context-specific understanding of gender digital inclusion programmes; transparency and accountability of the evaluation process and its results; and tensions between evaluation targets and empowerment of evaluation participants.

The authors propose recommendations for gender digital inclusion evaluation practice and areas for future research.