Years of worldwide economic depression do not only shatter private-sector ?rms and strain public-sector budgets, they also test the viability of academic conf- ences and other scholarly events. Given this context it is remarkable how well the eighth EGOV conference maintained its standing as an annual international conference with a global reach. Submissions from Europe increased over those from other parts of the globe. However, the conference upheld its attractiveness toscholarsfromaroundtheworldasavenueofhighreputation.The2009EGOV conference brought together scholars and practitioners from ?ve continents and 32 countries. Previous EGOV conferences were dedicated to three main areas, which ov- lap in part: eGovernment, eGovernance, and eParticipation. While the overlap still exists, a vibrant and sizable community has formed around topics of p- ticipation, inclusion, and democracy in the digital age. For the ?rst time, with ePartthistopicalstrandorganizeditsownconferencewithseparateproceedings. ePartaims to reviewresearchadvances inbothsocialandtechnologicalscienti?c domains, seeking to demonstrate new concepts, methods and styles of eParti- pation.
The Chairs of both conferences consider it important to maintain close links and are committed to co-locating the two events in the years to come.