Inau­gu­ral Lec­tu­re by Pro­fes­sor Rony Me­dag­lia

Inaugural Lecture

Over the past five years, digital government has undergone a profound transformation. What was once framed primarily around efficiency, service digitization, and e-government maturity, has increasingly become entangled with questions of power, sustainability, data governance, and artificial intelligence. Drawing on recent research at national, EU, and United Nations' level, this inaugural lecture will trace key developments, from AI adoption to sustainability-oriented digital governance, and highlight emerging tensions around governance, competencies, and legitimacy. Building on these insights, the lecture will outline a forward-looking research and practice agenda that positions digital government as a central driver of public sector innovation, in a context of rapid technological change and societal uncertainty.

About Rony Medaglia

Rony Medaglia's research focuses on digitalization in the public sector, from the perspectives of digital service provision, citizen engagement, and sustainability, in local and global contexts. He has worked as expert for the European Commission and for the United Nations and has engaged in numerous bi-lateral research collaborations in China, also with the support of the Sino-Danish Center for Education and Research (SDC). Rony has received the Danish Society for Education and Business (DSEB) award for his work in digitalization education (2019) and societal impact (2025).