Wendy L. Currie, Audencia Business School

Anna Essen, Stockholm School of Economics

Daniel P. Gozman, University of Sydney

Sean Hansen, John Carroll University

This special issue welcomes original theoretical and empirical research articles, comprehensive reviews, and insightful essays that examine the intersection of policymaking and emerging technologies. The special issue seeks to deepen discourse on policymaking, regulation, governance, and the ethical challenges posed by digital innovation and the “digital futures” it creates (Schlagwein et al. 2025, Hovorka & Peter 2021). We seek contributions that advance robust conceptual frameworks for understanding, shaping, and implementing value-based and forward-looking digital technology policies and practices. As emerging technologies transform industries, institutions, and societal interactions, anticipatory and ethically grounded policymaking becomes critical.

Seminal work on disruptive innovation characterises emerging technologies as those that initially gain traction at the “bottom of a market” and then displace established businesses (Bower and Christensen, 1995). First-order disruptions reshape industries; second-order disruptions transform societal institutions, work practices, and public policy (Schuelke-Leech, 2018). Technologies of interest include, but are not limited to, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, quantum computing, and robotic process automation (RPA). However, how and when governance responses to technology emerge (or fail to) – and in what form – remains poorly understood (Goyal et al., 2021; Currie et al., 2023).

Digital transformation entails more than technological change; it signals the reconfiguration of economic systems, institutional structures, and regulatory frameworks. Policymaking must anticipate this evolution with frameworks that address both opportunities and risks. Scholars are called to investigate how emerging technologies are conceptualised, governed, and institutionalised across societal domains in the digital age (Gasser and Almeida, 2022; Zuboff, 2015).

Information systems (IS) research has long addressed the transformative effects of digital technologies. However, the increasing prominence of governance and policy considerations demands deeper engagement. Policymakers’ visions – framed by values such as fairness, openness, security, and innovation – will or should shape the evolution of governance models.

At present, issues of policymaking, regulation, and governance are especially salient in the case of AI, where diverse and rapidly changing regulatory challenges are evident. Different jurisdictions adopt varying strategies. In Europe, the proposed AI Act introduces a risk-based classification of AI systems and imposes strong requirements for high-risk use cases. The EU’s GDPR framework remains influential in global debates on data privacy (Junklewitz et al., 2023). The US pursues a decentralised, sector-specific model, which limits national coherence but allows flexibility. In contrast, China’s top-down model tightly aligns AI development with state goals (Roberts et al., 2021). Meanwhile, Australia and countries in Africa are exploring hybrid or consultative approaches (ALT Advisory, 2022). While other technologies will rise, differences in approaches will remain. Comparative analyses are crucial to understand how policy models are adopted, diffused, and contested. We encourage contributions that explore the evident diversity of policy responses and the role of international cooperation (or competition), legal frameworks, and institutional capacities in shaping outcomes.

Robust policymaking is essential to ensure that emerging technologies support public interest goals, avoid exacerbating inequalities, and respect fundamental rights. Without such governance, technological progress risks undermining accountability, privacy, and transparency. IS scholars have a unique opportunity to influence the development of forward-looking regulatory approaches that anticipate disruption and embed ethical safeguards. Both the theoretical and analytical tools, as well as the legal and regulatory frameworks developed for earlier economic and technological models, seem inadequate for the new world of digital technologies and need fundamental rethinking (e.g., Jacobides and Lianos, 2021).

This special issue invites submissions that bridge information systems and policy research. A key focus is the policy-practice nexus, offering insights into how organising visions for emerging technologies gain traction or fade (Swanson and Ramiller, 1997; Swanson et al., 2025). Contributions that examine how regulatory frameworks are designed, negotiated, and institutionalised are especially welcome. We encourage the use of diverse methodologies, including comparative case studies, longitudinal analyses, ethnographic fieldwork, and computational policy modelling.

We particularly welcome contributions from underrepresented regions, including the Global South, and encourage inclusion of marginalised or Indigenous perspectives.

Potential topics

• Conceptual and Theoretical Frameworks: Novel perspectives on the governance of emerging technologies, including the role of Big Tech, institutional actors, and policy entrepreneurs (Khanal et al., 2024; Butler et al., 2023; Jacobides and Lianos, 2021).
• Regulatory Approaches: Comparative analysis of AI governance, national and supranational regulation, risk-based models, and enforcement mechanisms (Seidel et al., 2025; UK Government, 2025).
• Ethics and Responsible Innovation: Frameworks for transparency, accountability, and bias mitigation in AI and other digital systems (Dennehy et al., 2022; Stahl et al., 2017).
• Human Rights and Digital Technology: Impacts of emerging technologies on privacy, discrimination, expression, and surveillance (Zuboff, 2015).
• Public and Organisational Governance: The use of emerging technologies in corporate and public administration, including issues of trust, transparency, and algorithmic decision-making (Judge et al., 2024).
• Digital Sovereignty and International Cooperation: Techno-nationalism, cross-border data governance, and geopolitical influences on policy formation (Engler, 2023; Essén et al., 2022).
• Dynamic Policymaking and the Pacing Problem: Knowledge asymmetries between technologists and policymakers, and mechanisms to improve anticipatory regulation (Currie et al., 2018; Gozman and Willcocks, 2019).
• Risk Assessment and General-Purpose Technologies: Policy responses to systemic risks, from cyber threats to market disruption, associated with general-purpose technologies (Eke and Stahl, 2024).

Timeline

• February 5, 2027: First round submission deadline
• May 7, 2027: First round decision to authors
• August 13, 2027: Second round submission deadline
• October 29, 2027: Second round decision to authors
• Submit abstract to editors (optional/email)
• Target publication date

Associate editors

• Quang “Neo” Bui, Rochester Institute of Technology
• Grazia Cecere, Institut Mines-Télécom Business School
• Jonas Hedman, Copenhagen Business School
• Stefan Haefliger, Stockholm School of Economics
• Andreas Hein, University of St. Gallen
• Sara Hofmann, University of Agder
• Stan Karanasios, University of Queensland
• Eleni Lioliou, Queen Mary University of London
• Juho Lindman, University of Gothenburg
• Daniel Schnurr, University of Regensburg
• Jonathan Seddon, Audencia Business School
• Elmira van den Broek, Stockholm School of Economics
• Eleonora Veglianti, KEDGE Business School