Since the advent of the digital age, the transformation of government operations, policy-making, citizen engagement, and public services has fundamentally reshaped the relationships between citizens and public institutions. Digital government, as a field of study, has evolved to address the complex challenges at the intersection of technology, governance, and society. Over the past decades, Government Information Quarterly (GIQ) has played a pivotal role in documenting and shaping this evolution from basic computerization to sophisticated digital transformation initiatives. The impact of digitalization extends across all aspects of public administration, from service delivery and policy-making to citizen engagement and democratic processes. This study brings together perspectives from leading digital government scholars to examine the nature of digital government research. Through the analysis of the journal's distinctive identity and characteristics, evolution, theoretical landscape, and methodological approaches, it offers insights into how GIQ has evolved to a transdisciplinary platform that bridges theoretical foundations with practical applications while consistently addressing emerging technological challenges, fundamental public sector values, and high-value public policy goals.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly adopted by public sector organizations to provide better public services and to transform their internal processes. AI is now considered a key enabler for digital innovation and transformation in the public sector. However, AI is still relatively a new research area in the field of digital government. The term, AI, captures a wide range of technologies, techniques, and tools such as machine/deep learning, natural language processing, robotics, computer vision, and more recently Generative AI. While these AI technologies afford different applications and benefits in the gov- ernment context, they also create social, ethical, and legal challenges. These challenges require solutions combining both technical (e.g., data and algorithmic solutions to minimize bias) and institutional (e.g., governance structures and processes) mechanisms. The special issue is a collection of articles that contribute to a better understanding of the issues associated with AI deployment in different areas of government operations. They cover AI applications in the areas of emergency re- sponse, policy analysis, public bids, and citizen participation. The contributions also address the challenge of realizing a legal transparency regime for AI in government and the effect of AI in bureaucratic decision-making.